Infrastructure for Taos would be a win-win-win
Irecently overheard a discussion here in Taos, where some prominent Taoseños expressed a desire to grow and diversify our local economy. In the same breath, they downplayed the need for local infrastructure.
Here’s why that’s a problem: Infrastructure is the thing that makes local economic prosperity possible. Infrastructure consists of structures and facilities people often take for granted — such as roads, bridges, sidewalks, the electric grid, housing, our acequias, fiber-optic cables, internet, safe drinking water, sewers and parks. These are the basic building blocks of the economy.
Social infrastructure includes affordable and accessible health care, educational opportunities, day care, a functioning government, a humane police force, clean water, clean air and services for people with disabilities and substance use disorders.
Unfortunately, in Taos, we lack much of the basic infrastructure that would help our community thrive both socially and economically. We lack affordable housing, sidewalks and dedicated bike routes. We lack public spaces, such as parks, and most of the ones we do have are in disrepair. We lack a high-quality public transportation system. We lack teachers and daycare options and services for unhoused individuals. We lack a detox center and affordable long-term drug treatment facilities. We lack a reliable electric grid. We lack an urban forest plan. The list is, sadly, long. I’m sure readers could add to it.
Infrastructure also requires workers to maintain it. For example, we can all see that the roads in Taos are littered with trash. Some areas of town literally look like a municipal dump. I clean up the trash in my neighborhood, and within a week, all the trash is back. The town and the county would be wise to have a crew of employees whose job it is to keep our town clean. This is good, not only for our residents, but for the tourism that drives much of our economy.
Further, the process of creating and maintaining infrastructure provides an economic boost on its own. Jobs are created, taxes are paid and money is injected into the local and regional economy. A Taoseño gets a well-paying job building roads and sidewalks, laying fiber-optic cables or building a new park. That pay ends up in purchases that drive demand, which in turn creates even more jobs. Return on infrastructure investments are typically quite healthy, generating upwards of $5-6 over time for every dollar spent. Infrastructure is one of those win-winwin type scenarios.
The bottom line is that until we tackle these basic infrastructure needs, we will not achieve widespread, shared economic prosperity.
Going forward, economically and culturally successful communities will be those that connect their citizens with jobs, services and opportunities. Without infrastructure, there is no trade, no market, no jobs, no economy and, ultimately, no community.
Taos desperately needs infrastructure in order to achieve our community goals. Good infrastructure will prove even more important as climate change continues to worsen. How will our people get to school and work when gas costs $10 a gallon? Laugh now, but that is coming. How will small local businesses thrive without access to broadband? How will we meet our basic electricity needs without a smart grid? How will we function outside in 100-plus-degree summer days without a healthy canopy of trees to shade us?
The lack of basic functions of town and county governments have been duct-taped over by our incredible non-profit organizations and activists. Now, it’s important for our new town administration to take up some of that burden again. Now is the time to assert the public responsibility necessary to create a thriving Taos that benefits all our citizens. After all, that is ultimately what we are talking about here.