Good News: The End Is Near. Really.
We're about to be freed to innovate, stripped of the comfortable delusion that someone else will pick up the tab.
What shrinking governmental budgets may mean for placemaking, the environment, the economy, infrastructure. It's the Death of Denial.
PlaceMaker Ben Brown writes:
"Here’s how Governing magazine summed up discussions at its early February Outlook in the States and Localities conference this way: 'Even as the national economy begins to turn around, (Fiscal Year) 2012 will be the worst budget year for states and cities so far.'"
"An analysis of federal spending received per dollar of taxes paid by states in 2005 by the non-profit Tax Foundation found that 32 of the 50 states got more back then they paid into federal coffers. Not news widely shared by those who get elected to government by denying its effectiveness."
"Waking from a dream state forces us to take responsibility for living in a more complex environment. We have to stop pretending we can do – and pay – for everything. Just as the Tea Party tantrum will subside, so must all the other tantrums we throw, whether we’re pounding the desk for single-minded environmentalism, single-minded economic development strategy, or single-minded infrastructure initiatives."
"Instead of fighting to optimize one component of complex systems at the expense of all the other components, we have to think comprehensively and imagine integrated, cost-effective solutions."
"The tough road out of the current frustration and confusion may be more clear (soon). But be forewarned, the way forward won’t be like the way we’ve come."
