[B’ Spokes: I’ll pull a couple of examples from this article that I think the Baltimore area needs to pay attention to. And for those of you not familiar with Strong Towns, a stroad is something that is supposed to function as a street and a road but fails at both miserably.]
By CHARLES MAROHN, Strong Towns
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Examples #2: A street in a city is in disrepair and a maintenance project is planned. In evaluating the project, it is discovered that new growth and a rise in property values along the street has doubled the revenue the city is getting from within the project area to $400,000 per year. An enhancement that would widen sidewalks, installed decorative lighting and make other improvements would add $50,000 per year to the long term costs of the project, bringing the total annual cost to $100,000 per year. The city goes ahead with the project with the knowledge that the tax base has grown a sufficient amount to cover the long term costs.
Example #3: A STROAD runs through the city, bisecting two neighborhoods in a way that artificially separates them. Development along the STROAD is not very productive, providing an annual revenue stream of only $400,000. The cost to maintain the STROAD alone is $600,000 per year, which does not include costs for policing, responding to accidents and other normal city costs. The city secures a grant from the federal and state governments to put the STROAD on a road diet, narrowing the overall surface, connecting the adjacent neighborhoods and improving the overall prospects for the corridor. As a result of the project, the annual cost to maintain the STROAD (now a street) decreases to $300,000, an amount now covered by the corridor’s revenue stream. The growth in value expected along the corridor — if it materializes — will only enhance the city’s already marginally-positive position.
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https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2013/4/8/city-as-banker-and-venture-capitalist.html