There is really no way to fix the problem though. The problem with Dallas and cities like it is not one of management or ruling political party. It is simply a problem of urban design. Low-density sprawl doesn’t pay for its own maintenance. You have a “city” full of people that expects city-level services with rural population densities. There just isn’t a big enough tax base to cover the infrastructure and services that people expect. Elect Republicans. Elect Democrats. Elect DSA. Elect the Klan. It makes no difference. You can’t vote your way out of math.
You can keep the low-density game going for awhile by propping things up with growth. The initial infrastructure buildout gets paid for by developers, and that cost gets rolled into the purchase price of everyone’s homes. But the property taxes people can afford to pay just aren’t anywhere near what is needed to keep a low-density city like that going. But eventually you can’t grow anymore. Cities like Dallas will either have to substantially densify or face bankruptcy and collapse. They may have to kick certain particularly low-density neighborhoods out of the city entirely in order to shore up finances.
To get a feel for the size of budget hole we’re talking about, imagine this. Imagine if once every 30 years your city put a levy on your home equal to 50% of its value. Every 30 years each homeowner would have to take on a second mortgage to pay these levies. That’s about what a city would actually have to charge to truly cover the cost of suburban infrastructure and to keep everything properly maintained.
There is really no way to fix the problem though. The problem with Dallas and cities like it is not one of management or ruling political party. It is simply a problem of urban design. Low-density sprawl doesn’t pay for its own maintenance. You have a “city” full of people that expects city-level services with rural population densities. There just isn’t a big enough tax base to cover the infrastructure and services that people expect. Elect Republicans. Elect Democrats. Elect DSA. Elect the Klan. It makes no difference. You can’t vote your way out of math.
You can keep the low-density game going for awhile by propping things up with growth. The initial infrastructure buildout gets paid for by developers, and that cost gets rolled into the purchase price of everyone’s homes. But the property taxes people can afford to pay just aren’t anywhere near what is needed to keep a low-density city like that going. But eventually you can’t grow anymore. Cities like Dallas will either have to substantially densify or face bankruptcy and collapse. They may have to kick certain particularly low-density neighborhoods out of the city entirely in order to shore up finances.
To get a feel for the size of budget hole we’re talking about, imagine this. Imagine if once every 30 years your city put a levy on your home equal to 50% of its value. Every 30 years each homeowner would have to take on a second mortgage to pay these levies. That’s about what a city would actually have to charge to truly cover the cost of suburban infrastructure and to keep everything properly maintained.