Infrastructure maintenance of suburbs

[turar]

I've come across a link to this article on another site I frequent, and thought it would be interesting to board members:

 

http://www.grist.org/sprawl/2011-06-22-the-american-suburbs-are-a-giant-ponzi-scheme

 

While the title is a bit too catchy, I thought the points raised were interesting, although I'm curious to see some of the sources for numbers cited. If true, this might have pretty scary consequences. Does anyone know how close to reality the claims are?

[StubbleJumper]

So the whole article essentially states that property taxes are not high enough to cover the long term maintenance costs for infrastructure in the suburbs?  And? 

 

That which cannot continue won't.  Municipalities will eventually need to crank up property taxes, and there will be a corresponding decline in the value of the housing stock (ie, if you crank up my property tax by $5k per year, the value of my house ought to decline by around $75k).

 

As long as the property tax increases are gradual, life goes on.  If it happens overnight, it could be a shocker.  FWIW, even if the true cost of suburban housing were imposed on homeowners, I suspect that there would still be a large segment of the population who would continue to opt for the advantages of suburban housing.

 

 

SJ

[ERICOPOLY]

(ie, if you crank up my property tax by $5k per year, the value of my house ought to decline by around $75k).

 

Rents will climb as well (taxes are ultimately passed on to renters), so it may not be as steep as that.