I disagree somewhat with the author here around the issues. For instance, he uses the $20/ft/road and points out they need roughly double the tax base to support their current roads.
Sure, that’s a way to look at it. Alternatively, they can cut back the roads, fill with gravel and honestly it might be cheaper to just build and maintain a concrete facility. If you can cut the price of laying concrete by 50% thatd also be a solution. Alternatively, pre-purchase X tons per year and reduce costs that way letting the concrete makers in the area expand and reduce overhead.
Regarding city planning, yes totally agree. I’d argue the major issue is that we lost manufacturing here in the United States. Factories paid relatively well, and were running at 20% fewer people per capita in the workforce than in the 60s. This means less wealth generated across the board, less wealth in these towns, etc.
Finally, IMO as a town the best investments are those that attract more jobs and wealth. So make fresh paint available for free to any businesses. Hire better police. Cut back on road quality. Cut back on taxes for businesses that bring net jobs. Invest in community activities, particularly for kids. Advertise.
It’s a difficult spot to be in, the reality is that smalls towns across the country were decimated between the 1990s - 2020s. Most of it was policies sending stuff over seas and reducing wealth creation in rural towns (where factories used to run). To fix that will require some national solutions and scaling back the towns which haven’t seen growth (and many declined) in 30 years