Cities At Risk As Infrastructure Crumbles

Our country's relatively low investment in virtually all aspects of mobility-related infrastructure -- airports, public transit, railway systems, roads and bridges -- is an "emerging crisis" that will compromise the ability of the nation's cities to compete globally, according to a new report co-published by the Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young.

We're not paying attention, very much to our detriment.

As reported by Bethany McLean, Fortune editor-at-large, in an October 2, 2007 article, "...the U.S. needs $1.6 trillion in infrastructure investment over the next five years...we've been reluctant to face up to that fact, the bankers and consultants who do deals like the lease of the Skyway refer to the U.S. as an "emerging market." As McLean notes in her Fortune article, "If anyone thought that the investment wasn't a matter of urgency, the collapse of Minnesota's Interstate 35W bridge this summer, which took 13 lives, showed otherwise."

As Trisha Riggs writes on the Urban Land Institute's Web site, "America is more of a follower and no longer a world leader when it comes to infrastructure, the report states. Other countries marshal vanguard strategies and provide the contemporary lessons for developing best practices in public/private finance, intermodal transport, congestion pricing and high-speed rail. Too often (in the U.S.), projects focus on restoration rather than rethinking the model and finding possible efficiencies. There is a tendency to invest in the infrastructure we have instead of the infrastructure we will need."

With dollar figures in the trillions, philanthropy may not believe it has a role in this issue. However, I know from my travels that in cities all across the country, philanthropy is playing the role of catalyst -- funding the research, getting the word out, getting the conversation started. Share your own examples -- its hard to imagine an area where shared resources would bring more benefit.

Carla E. Dearing