State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

In World's Most Expensive City for Building, an Attempt to Lower Costs

Governing: Since President Trump released his long-awaited infrastructure proposal last month, much of the focus has been on the relatively small amount of federal funding -- $200 billion -- that the White House believes will jump-start $1.5 trillion in total investments from state and local governments and the private sector.

Another piece of the puzzle, however, is one that's not getting as much attention but is just as vital: why building infrastructure costs so much in the U.S.

The United States is one of the most expensive -- if not the priciest -- countries in the world for infrastructure projects. One analysis by the Urban Institute, which ranked the cost of the world’s major rail projects, found that four of the 12 priciest rail projects are based in U.S. cities: Boston, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. Often, costs are 10 or even 20 times higher than similar projects in foreign cities.

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