What Makes for a Strong Town?
A look at Jackson Mississippi's water crisis
In the last month I've grown fascinated by urban planning and design. Cool huh? I’ve thought about people and actions which lead to outcomes of community prosperity (or not), but recently I’ve realized in many ways it’s the built environment that sets the stage. An organization called Strong Towns, and its founder Charles Marohn, put this idea on the map for me, all the way down to the impacts on human health and well-being.
The Jackson, Mississippi Water Crisis is a public health disaster by all measures. People don't have access to clean water for weeks or months, leading to countless negative health outcomes, deaths, and continued obstruction to daily routines and business operations. But what public planning and design decisions, beginning in the post-WWII Era, set Jackson on its current trajectory? The podcast I want to share today discusses the Suburban Experiment as the culprit to blame for Jackson’s current catastrophe. The speaker attempts to detract from a few recurring themes in today’s media onslaught, focusing in on suburban expansion as the root cause—of many of today’s public policy shortcomings, not only water management.
There are a few layers to this, but the basic premise is that tax revenue from a city’s residents does not cover the repair costs for increasingly expansive suburban infrastructure—roads, pipes, sewers, etc. In order to pay for these repairs, cities approve further housing development projects, which will eventually require their own repair 25-50 years down the line. Thus, the cycle continues, eventually leading to municipal insolvency—in other words, bankruptcy.
During my listen of the Jackson Water Crisis podcast, I found this to be the most interesting fact:
Between 1960 and 2020, the population of Jackson, Mississippi has increased by 6%, while the city's physical footprint or land area has tripled. This means that the population of Jackson, which has very modestly increased, is being asked to cover the costs of 3x the land and built infrastructure.
I understand the information and content overload we're all faced with and any links I include in posts are generally supplemental reading for those particularly curious-minded folk. This podcast is the exception. My goal with this newsletter is for you to listen to this podcast and grapple with the message: the dire situation in Jackson is only the beginning of what’s in store for America’s cities and towns.
If you don’t have access to Spotify or find it simpler, you can listen using the embedded audio file below:
Questions to consider:
What does it look like when a city goes broke?
Who foots the bill when municipal bonds default?
Are we already seeing the result of municipal insolvency in action across US cities?
I’ve now listened to this podcast twice and what I appreciate most is the recognition that communities are capable of helping themselves. Who knows an issue better than those living it everyday? But if aid should come, it’s best served in a form that builds capacity and diminishes those burdens which obstruct people from progress. That is what makes for a sustainable and Strong Town.
As always, thanks for reading :)
If you’re really interested in learning more about the Strong Towns philosophy and the campaign against further suburban expansion, I suggest starting with this video series. Another interesting example came be found here, describing urban design changes which would make a sole Taco John’s location more productive, both financially and in terms of physical space.