The comment section of this post is also really thought-provoking! Municipal mergers, dismantling the transportation-housing-economic development silos, a federal/state infrastructure bank? Imagine what our town would look like if we implemented some of these!
It feels like we’re in ‘late stage suburbia’ with post-war suburbs unable to produce the housing they need to support themselves, municipal budgets stretched thin funding aging, sprawling infrastructure & larger funding cuts to things like schools coming as average age increases. For most, the solution is allowing for more infill development, providing an increased tax base, at lower costs to the municipality than traditional sprawling development patterns, while supporting a community's future and allowing folks to age in community with dignity and housing choices. Local planners know this. Economic development directors know this. Most local elected officials know this... It's up to all of us to convince the broader general public that the last 70 years of overly restrictive, sprawling, euclidian zoning has hamstrung our ability to grow and sustain our communities and it's harming all of us today and will only get worse unless it's addressed today.