Population growth is good for cities in so many ways. More jobs and economic vitality – public officials tend to love growth. But, there are detriments as well. With more citizens to serve, infrastructure and resources get stretched very quickly. There is rarely enough revenue to cover the need for increased resources and services. That […]
The nation’s water infrastructure has taken another hit – and it will be a costly one. Just one day after U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials put state drinking water systems on notice that the agency was about to step up its enforcement of lead contamination rules for drinking water, a price tag was attached […]
When making a list of frightening possibilities, one could easily overlook aging bridges, dams, pipelines and roads that are no longer safe. People rarely worry about a bridge collapsing or a dam breaking, but events such as these are becoming all too common. In fact, October’s heavy rains and flooding in South Carolina caused the […]
Cities have huge issues related to transportation – massive traffic congestion, necessary road expansions, too few sidewalks for pedestrians, inadequate bike lanes, safety issues and poor air quality caused by idling vehicles. Solutions are hard to come by and big changes are emerging in highway planning. Transportation planners are rethinking how roads should be designed […]
Can’t get a signal on your iPhone or Android? Exasperating! No one reacts well to that. We all want instant gratification…and good, strong signals for our wireless devices. We are important customers…but, there are times when others are more important. If emergency workers and first responders can’t get wireless access, it’s more than exasperating. Broadband […]
Maybe more than you think! If you are a community leader, a nonprofit board member or a parent interested in public safety or education, chances are you are involved in what could be called a latent megacommunity, even though the term may not be common. Megacommunities are designed to provide values and benefits to people […]
Historic weather conditions are resulting in astronomical costs to taxpayers. Public officials try hard to plan, predict and handle disasters efficiently, but that’s an impossible task. No disaster is the same, there are no patterns and when one occurs, people need immediate relief. There’s reason to wonder if government can ever be equipped to ensure […]