Growth Ponzi Scheme - Case Studies and Examples

"Your City's Wealth Isn't Where You Think" (English and Spanish)

Not only are small investments in poor neighborhoods the lowest risk, highest returning way for a community to build wealth, they are also the best way to lift people out of poverty without displacing them from their neighborhood. This case study from Lafayette, Louisiana, shows why.

"Kansas City's Fateful Suburban Experiment"

A data-driven look at Kansas City, Missouri's, growth over time, and its history of annexing land on its outskirts, helps make clear the magnitude of the transformation that this city (and so many others) have undergone. The consequences of this transformation still haunt us today.

"Dispatches from Spokane: Living a Soft Default"

Spokane, Washington, provides a case study in the slow, painful decline that happens when we go all-in on the suburban experiment.

"Cobb County: Addicted to Growth"

Cobb County, Georgia, is a classic example of a region totally invested in the Growth Ponzi Scheme, with devastating results. This five-part series tells the whole story.

"A Texas-Sized Pavement Problem"

Collin County, Texas, illustrates what happens when road expansion happens unchecked, with no plan to pay for it.

"We Are All Detroit"

Detroit is a glimpse of what’s at the end of the road for nearly every American city and town, unless they change their present course.

"Still Pursuing Classic Approaches. Still Going Nowhere."

Brainerd and Baxter, Minnesota, are two cities offering an illuminating comparison in the difference between the traditional and suburban development models.