Urban Living Would Be Better if Big City Governments Were Less Incompetent
One of the silliest things about the urbanism movement is its insistence that suburbanites abandon single-family homes, spacious yards, and placid neighborhoods for the excitement of big-city living. In those cities, we can supposedly experience more “community,” reduce our carbon footprint, and take a bike to buy overpriced groceries at a bodega rather than drive our SUV to Costco.
By all means, developers should be free to build whatever the market demands—including characterless multi-family box housing. I dislike zoning and couldn’t care less that my single-family suburban house is near duplexes and stores. But I often wonder why advocates for urban living rarely grapple with a main reason many people won’t live in cities: the incompetence of urban governments.
In a recent column, the Los Angeles Times’ Steve Lopez looked at a most basic area of municipal governance: sidewalk maintenance. Los Angeles, he reported, has created an online process for residents to request help to fix mangled sidewalks, but found it can take City Hall a decade to get to it “if you’re lucky.” He’s conclusion is spot on: “Your first and best option is to pack up, sell the house, and move out of town.”
That’s years after, he noted, the city agreed to spend $1.4 billion on the problem after a lawsuit. City governments vary, but the bigger the city, the less likely its officials will respond to citizens’ run-of-the-mill concerns about quality-of-life concerns such as dangerous intersections, impassable sidewalks, gang activity, etc. Suburban cities can be incompetent too, but the last time I emailed an official in mine I received a polite response within the hour.
By contrast, I own a rental property in a larger Northern California city and spent months simply trying to get anyone to even answer my simple question about pruning a city-owned tree. I finally gave up trying. Here in supposedly wretched suburbia, my neighbor called the police department to complain about speeders and a motorcycle cop set up a patrol the next day. Go figure, but people rather live in places where the government is at least responsive.
Local governance varies greatly, but bigger cities are dominated by public-sector unions that are more interested in spending money than providing quality services. They exert their power whenever a politician gets out of line and starts worrying about constituent concerns rather than just boosting the budget for those services and the pay for those who provide them.
Is it any wonder it took many months and more than $1 million for San Francisco to build one toilet (Google “toilet-gate“) in a park—and that was after private companies donated the structure and the labor?
By the way, I added up the annual total compensation for Los Angeles’ superintendent of buildings, f
Article from Latest
The Reason Magazine website is a go-to destination for libertarians seeking cogent analysis, investigative reporting, and thought-provoking commentary. Championing the principles of individual freedom, limited government, and free markets, the site offers a diverse range of articles, videos, and podcasts that challenge conventional wisdom and advocate for libertarian solutions. Whether you’re interested in politics, culture, or technology, Reason provides a unique lens that prioritizes liberty and rational discourse. It’s an essential resource for those who value critical thinking and nuanced debate in the pursuit of a freer society.