Coming Soon: Trump's Infrastructure Plan

President Donald Trump teased the release of his promised $1 trillion infrastructure earlier this month. Here's how a collection of experts reacted to that prospect.

2 minute read

May 11, 2017, 2:00 PM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Highway Construction

Eunika Sopotnicka / Shutterstock

An article for Grist by Nathanael Johnson and Matt Graft surveys a collection of experts on how they would spend the $1 trillion promised by President Trump to fix the nation's infrastructure. According to Johnson and Graft, "just about all" of the surveyed experts "panned Trump's ideas," so the article expresses an awareness that Trump might be over promising on this issue.

The collection of experts includes Lynn Richards, president and CEO of the Congress for New Urbanism; Aaron Renn, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute; and Charles Marohn, founder and president of Strong Towns, among others.

In a separate article for CityLab, Anthony Flint provides a dispatch from the APA's National Conference in New York City, where Trump's expected infrastructure plans were "high on the agenda." Here, Flint also expresses reservations about the prospects for Trump's infrastructure plan by calling for a "stop-and-think moment." Flint's main concern: that rushing to build "shovel ready" projects will not allow for quality analysis of how projects will perform once they are built. Instead of "shovel ready", Flint suggests the following criteria:

A more cold-eyed approach fully considers the cost of funding, the length of the investment, and the duration of the benefits generated. Planners need to maximize benefits over the full lifecycle of any project, and be mindful of maintenance costs. Additionally, careful consideration should be given to what economists call non-pecuniary benefits and costs—those hard-to-measure ramifications.

Flint suggests more criteria, including resilience and sustainability, and points out some examples from the region and city surrounding the location of the APA's National Conference of how infrastructure projects can go wrong.

Tuesday, May 9, 2017 in Grist

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Use Code 25for25 at checkout for 25% off an annual plan!

Redlining map of Oakland and Berkeley.

Rethinking Redlining

For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

May 15, 2025 - Alan Mallach

Interior of Place Versailles mall in Montreal, Canada.

Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units

Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.

May 22, 2025 - CBC

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

May 21, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

View from hilltop residential neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles, California on a cloudy day.

LA Falling Behind on Housing Goals

Last year, the city permitted just 30 percent of the number of housing units needed to meet a growing need.

4 hours ago - LAist

Canada geese and ducks on the shore of a lake with red brick boathouse in background across the lake in Lincoln Park, Los Angeles.

Connecting Communities to Nature Close to Home

Los Angeles County’s Nature in Your Neighborhood program brings free, family-friendly wellness and nature activities to local parks, making it easier for residents to enjoy and connect with the outdoors.

7 hours ago - Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation

Children inside large slide at water park.

Palmdale’s Beloved Water Park Gets $2 Million Upgrade

To mark its 20th anniversary, DryTown Water Park has undergone major renovations, ensuring that families across the Antelope Valley continue to enjoy safe, affordable, and much-needed water-based recreation in the high desert.

May 27 - Antelope Valley Press

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.