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Comment by throw0101a | Hacker News Reader

Strong Towns has plenty of case studies of different places, to varying degrees, losing quite a bit of money on maintenance:

- Spokane: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/10/24/dispatches-fr...

- Kanas City: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2020/5/5/kansas-citys-fa...

- Cobb County: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/8/3/cobb-county-add...

- Collin County: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/9/27/a-texas-sized-...

- Baxter: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2015/1/18/the-classic-ca...

And then add to that the costs of climate change for car-centric development. And health effect costs of car-centric development.

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That some cities get in trouble for any number of reasons isn't news and has been true throughout history, but to call America a Ponzi scheme is essentially meaningless. You might as well call civilization itself a Ponzi scheme that requires new members when they turn 18 to participate while old members at 65 cash out.

Outlining why civilization was a mistake is interesting, but not sure what good can come out of it: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

> but to call America a Ponzi scheme is essentially meaningless

Calling one specific economically advanced civilization a ponzi scheme because it has radically different and unsustainable development policy is far from meaningless given there are obvious models outside of the US that we could transition to.

> You might as well call civilization itself a Ponzi scheme that requires new members when they turn 18 to participate while old members at 65 cash out.

You might as well call all investments a ponzi scheme if our only requirement is that some people are buying in while others are exiting. The interesting aspect of an investment (or civilization/development policy) is how sustainable it is and how transparent it is about its sustainability.

> Outlining why civilization was a mistake is interesting, but not sure what good can come out of it

Strong Towns doesn't advocate that civilization was a mistake, and the good that can come of their work is not continuing to double down on unsustainable development practices.

> That some cities get in trouble for any number of reasons […]

Yes, but when you are told of specific reasons why cities can get into financial trouble it can allow you to avoid them.

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