Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/not-just-bikes-how-bankrupt-american-cities-stay-alive-debt-st04 For centuries, cities used to be built incrementally. Improving and building on successful places, and changing or abandoning unsuccessful places. This changed in America in the 1940s, when whole neighbourhoods were built on the edge of town, to a completed state. After several generations, many of these places are financially insolvent, but are propping themselves up with an ever-growing mountain of debt. To donate to Strong Towns, visit: https://www.strongtowns.org/membership Watch the rest of the Strong Towns series here:    • Strong Towns   Sign up to Nebula and watch ad-free and sponsor-free: https://go.nebula.tv/notjustbikes Patreon: https://patreon.com/notjustbikes Twitter: https://twitter.com/notjustbikes Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/notjustbikes One-time donations: https://notjustbikes.com/donate NJB Live (my bicycle livestream channel): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9v57F4xz46KaDsvWfCv8yw --- Sources and Image Credits Thumnail photo: Suburban Sprawl, Vegas Style https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnkay/3732615241 This video is based on the work of Strong Towns, especially the "Growth Ponzi Scheme": https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2020/8/28/the-growth-ponzi-scheme-a-crash-course https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2011/6/13/the-growth-ponzi-scheme-part-1.html https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2011/6/14/the-growth-ponzi-scheme-part-2.html https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2011/6/15/the-growth-ponzi-scheme-part-3.html https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2011/6/16/the-growth-ponzi-scheme-part-4.html Aerial view of the Napa River where it divides Vallejo, California By Dicklyon - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69952050 Historical compilation of photos from Brainerd, MN Downtown Brainerd, then and now: http://www.crowwinghistory.org/brainerd_downtown_buildings.html Penny Postcards from Minnesota http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/crowwing/postcards/ppcs-crow.html $3.2 Billion to Fix Tampa's Aging Pipes? From Where? https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2019/8/30/32-billion-to-fix-tampas-aging-pipes-from-where The land of the FREE [Backus, MN] https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2010/2/17/the-land-of-the-free.html Transactions of Decline, Lowry Edition https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2010/4/20/transactions-of-decline-lowry-edition.html We Need Growth. But Only If It Generates Real Wealth. https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2019/10/9/we-need-growth-but-only-if-it-generates-real-wealth Branch Closings and Budget Cuts Threaten Libraries Nationwide https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/branch-closings-and-budget-cuts-threaten-libraries-nationwide/ We Can't Afford To Keep The Streetlights On https://www.businessinsider.com/we-cant-afford-to-keep-the-streetlights-on-2009-8 Cost of deferred maintenance for U.S. infrastructure tops $1 trillion, new report finds https://transportationtodaynews.com/news/16110-cost-of-deferred-maintenance-for-u-s-infrastructure-tops-1-trillion-new-report-finds/ U.S. and UK on brink of debt disaster http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2009/01/20/us-and-uk-on-brink-of-debt-disaster/ Mortgage Debt Outstanding, All holders Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MDOAH --- Chapters 0:00 Intro 0:05 Strong Towns 0:14 Why isn't suburbia bankrupt? 1:12 Traditional incremental development 3:13 Growth and financing through debt 4:54 Why increasing taxes isn't enough 6:44 Successful cities need successful services 7:41 Growing cities with debt 9:32 Conclusion 10:29 Patreon shout-out 10:39 Outro #StrongTowns #MunicipalDebt