Not Just Bikes | Why American Cities Are Broke - The Growth Ponzi Scheme [ST03] @NotJustBikes | Uploaded January 2021 | Updated October 2024, 1 week ago.
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This is the 3rd video in the Strong Towns series, and is probably the most important core topic: the fact that American car-dependant cities and suburbs are financially insolvent, and function like a Ponzi scheme. This is the reason most American cities are bankrupt.

If you learned something from this video, consider donating to Strong Towns:
strongtowns.org/membership

Watch the rest of this series here:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJp5q-R0lZ0_FCUbeVWK6OGLN69ehUTVa

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NJB Live (my bicycle livestream channel):
youtube.com/channel/UC9v57F4xz46KaDsvWfCv8yw

This video is a summary of the "Growth Ponzi Scheme" articles, published by Strong Towns:
strongtowns.org/journal/2020/8/28/the-growth-ponzi-scheme-a-crash-course
strongtowns.org/journal/2020/5/14/americas-growth-ponzi-scheme-md2020
strongtowns.org/the-growth-ponzi-scheme
strongtowns.org/journal/2011/6/13/the-growth-ponzi-scheme-part-1.html
strongtowns.org/journal/2011/6/14/the-growth-ponzi-scheme-part-2.html
strongtowns.org/journal/2011/6/15/the-growth-ponzi-scheme-part-3.html
strongtowns.org/journal/2011/6/16/the-growth-ponzi-scheme-part-4.html
strongtowns.org/journal/2011/6/16/the-growth-ponzi-scheme-part-5-finale.html

Strong Towns publishes a lot of cases studies of American municipal insolvency. Here are a few of them:
strongtowns.org/journal/2010/1/11/the-cost-of-development-local-roads-edition.html
strongtowns.org/journal/2009/3/30/the-cost-of-development-one-example.html
strongtowns.org/journal/2010/3/17/the-cost-of-development-walker-industrial-park.html
strongtowns.org/journal/2010/5/5/the-mailbox-tower-historic-harbor-renaissance.html
strongtowns.org/journal/2012/1/2/the-cost-of-auto-orientation.html
strongtowns.org/journal/2014/7/22/the-cost-of-auto-orientation-update.html
strongtowns.org/journal/2014/7/29/the-taco-johns-of-buffalo.html
strongtowns.org/journal/2020/11/13/kansas-city-ebook-md2020

There is a lot more to read, too! Strong Towns has a library of articles about building strong and resilient towns and cities that goes back over 15 years:
strongtowns.org/stmedia

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Other References & Video Sources:

Give Yourself the Green Light (1954) (Public Domain)
Henry Jamison Handy
archive.org/details/GiveYour1954

According to Plan: The Story of Modern Sidewalls for the Homes of America
Henry Jamison Handy
archive.org/details/Accordin1952

Settlement Pattern and Form with Service Cost Analaysis
Halifax Regional Municipality - Regional Planning
usa.streetsblog.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2015/03/Halifax-data.pdf

Traditional Development - #6 in the Strong Towns Curbside Chat Video Series
Strong Towns (YouTube):
youtube.com/watch?v=AGxni1c-klM


Chapters:

0:00 Intro
0:05 The History of Sprawl
1:03 What is a Ponzi Scheme?
1:51 The Problem
2:19 How it Started
4:17 Graphical Examples
6:27 The Excuses
7:35 The Canadian Example
8:12 Conclusion
9:02 Patreon Shoutout
9:18 Outro