Actual Costs of Urbanity.

[SHOFEAR]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Taxpayers also have to pay for downstream impacts on infrastructure, and of course, developers don't pay to maintain infrastructure in new communities forever and ever. After a set period of years, maintenance costs move to the citywide tax base.

I take it that Shofear is a developer, based on his reference to "my projects", and since suburban homebuilders tend to insist that they do pay their way, 100 percent (despite the facts and the general consensus of the entire planning profession) it's not a surprise to hear that insistence. It's still disingenuous at best, though. Once all the accounting is done with, most Canadian greenfield development costs more taxpayer money than it produces. It's a fact and there's no way around.

I'm a project manager with a large land development firm. I actually deal with these costs daily. I'm not some idealistic internet social justice warrior.