Despite alarming claims about the nation's roads and bridges, a column in the Chicago Tribune argues that the administration's proposed infrastructure spending doesn't match actual needs.

Writing in the Chicago Tribune, Steve Chapman argues that the United States doesn't actually need President Biden's "infrastructure binge." Biden "made gaudy promises to 'transform' our transportation networks, 'revolutionize' railroads and urban transit, and upgrade water systems, broadband, bike lanes, home weatherization and just about anything else you could think of," according to Chapman, writing before reports of the Biden administration developing a $3 trillion infrastructure plan broke.
Yet reports from the Reason Foundation and the Milken Institute Review show less-than-alarming numbers when it comes to the country's roads and bridges. The Reason Foundation's Annual Highway Report found that "the percentage of urban interstates rated in poor condition was lower in 2018 than a decade earlier," and, according to Brown University economist Matthew A. Turner, "investment in the interstate, in bridges and in public transit buses has matched or exceeded depreciation over the past generation."
Chapman argues that it should be up to states and localities to fund the infrastructure projects that affect them. "The great majority of infrastructure assets are owned by state and local governments, and it’s their constituents who would gain the most from resurfacing roads or bolstering bridges," he writes. "If they are going to reap the economic benefits of such investments, shouldn’t they be willing to pay for them?"
Others contend that many major infrastructure projects require federal oversight and funding, and that federally funded projects create well-paying, long-term jobs and economic opportunity. An October 2019 report from the House Budget Committee states that "federal support is especially important for larger-scale projects that affect multiple jurisdictions, require a broader source of revenues than is available to local communities, or create or sustain public goods that should be widely available to all."
FULL STORY: We don't need Biden's infrastructure binge

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San Francisco Just Ended Single-Family Zoning
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Land Banking to Prevent Transit-Oriented Displacement in Los Angeles
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) will implement a new land banking program to mitigate gentrification and displacement around future transit lines.

San Francisco to Reconsider Inclusionary Zoning as Development Slows to a Crawl
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California Senate Committee Kills Freeway Expansion Bill
The proposed legislation would have prohibited new construction in historically underserved areas that often bear the burnt of the negative impacts of freeways.

Initiative Brings Capacity Building to Booming Rural Towns
A research and capacity building initiative based at Utah State University seeks to help fast-growing tourist meccas in the West plan for smart growth.
City of Bothell
Town of San Anselmo
Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency (TPA)
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Harvard Graduate School of Design Executive Education
Harvard Graduate School of Design Executive Education
City of Apache Junction
City of Helena
Gallatin County, Montana
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