Let me be clear, I’m not interested in pursuing a political career by any stretch of the imagination. Private sector CEO’s enjoy far higher pay and can operate with far less check-and-balances than their civil service counterparts. However, a jovial colleague of mine has been serving as the self-appointed Daniel for Mayor hype artist for quite some time now, so I’ll take this time to indulge what a hypothetical city created and governed by yours truly would look like.
First, I’ll state my grounding assumptions; I’ll assume a random patch of habitable land in North America that lies outside of an earthquake zone, but other weather phenomena such as heavy rains and blizzards will occur. I will not make any assumptions regarding geographic features, except for the presence of fresh water. I will assume basic running water and functional sewage lines currently exist. I’ll also assume the presence of a regionally-respected research university (referred to as Regional University) within 45 miles of city limits. Furthermore, this thought experiment will be focused more on the creation and governance of the city, and while I’ll try to avoid radicalizing my audience, I’ll advocate for legislation that I’d like to see for the pretend megalopolis.
Think of this as less like Plato’s Republic and more like SimCity from the old PlayStation 1 days. Essentially, as I’ll detail below, Danielville will be modeled after a major Western European city in terms of physical infrastructure, but will have mostly centrist American policies. Danielville will be a medium tax city; it will not levy high taxes the way New York or San Francisco does as this creates an affordability crisis, which causes a net emigration. However, Danielville will not be a low-tax haven either, as this neuters infrastructure and the buying power of the government to sign bidders on service contracts. Medium taxes and minimal regulation for both corporations and people will entice population growth. Taxes on gasoline and unhealthy lifestyle choices (fast food, cigarettes, alcohol, etc) will exist but there will be no outright bans or onerous laws restricting access.
First, maintaining population density will be absolutely paramount to the financial and social health of Danielville, especially since the tax rate will be lower than other major cities. To accomplish this, zoning laws will encourage mixed uses of land. To put it another way; Danielville will allow the building of grocery stores, schools, white-collar businesses, daycares, and so on within close proximity to one another. A major, though gradual, threat to population density is demographic collapse via low birth rate. Danielville will institute a two-pronged plan to combat this. First, Danielville will have a law capping the number of hours worked by salaried employees to no more than 50 hours per week. Countries that have an extended-hours workplace culture such as Japan and South Korea are starting to suffer from demographic collapse that these universal long hours impose. Secondly, a paid three-month (at minimum) maternity leave will be signed into law. Such a law will be necessary to encourage a sustainable birth rate, and hence keep population density high over the long-term.
Next, the energy question won’t be a question at all; Danielville will have a nuclear power plant, possibly two if necessary. Nuclear power is significantly safer than it was during the Cold War, and there is absolutely no reason that a modern thriving metropolis of the future shouldn’t be using the cleanest power source we have by far. HVAC systems for all buildings will be encouraged via higher taxes on fossil fuels to switch over to electric systems. Gas stations will still exist to supply combustion engine cars, though a single-digit percentage gas tax will be implemented to discourage pollution and raise funds for the treasury.
Danielville will be a city that is served extensively by public transportation. An extensive subway system will be built, as subways are a great way to quickly transport a large volume of people. More subway lines would be built to support population demand if it’s needed later. Electric trams will be built on the surface as well, and they will be given the legal right-of-way over cars to encourage their use. Tram and subway stops will be built near schools, thus reducing the need for buses. A subway line leading to the major international airport will be included, as this comes in handy for business travelers and tourists alike. Fortunately, public transit is a great financial investment. As far as road safety is concerned, posted speed limits will be a thing of the past as signs are often ignored. Instead, roads leading to sensitive areas such as schools and neighborhoods will reduce to one lane in each direction, will be lined with large trees and have a physical divider in the center to encourage drivers to slow down. The trees also serve the benefit of being an effective carbon dioxide sink as well, as well as creating a physical barrier between drivers and cyclists/pedestrians. Western European cities already use many of these ideas, so I’m not re-inventing the wheel.
Business, as mentioned earlier, will have a relatively low tax rate, lower than that of NYC or San Francisco’s. However, and this is important, they’ll still actually be taxed! Besides having a tax-friendly environment to attract them, white-collar companies will be drawn to Danielville by the presence of an educated and future-focused workforce generated by Regional University. After all, what attracted Amazon to set up shop in Boston. Once that starts to happen, a flywheel will start to spin where graduates of Regional University will come to Danielville for the job prospects, and employers will come/stay to access the talent pool. As Regional U’s reputation grows because of this, they’ll attract brighter applicants, thus the flywheel spins even faster. This becomes a win-win for everyone involved. Professional sports are also welcome to set-up shop in the city, however, and this is really important: they’ll receive no taxpayer money to build a stadium. As much as I love billionaires, I will not be subsidizing them; if they want shiny new stadiums, then they can pay for them. However, upon successful completion of a stadium’s construction, Danielville will be courteous enough to provide a subway stop at the stadium to ferry fans to the arena for game day. That is all the public assistance owners of professional sports teams will get. After all, professional sports teams are the result of a healthy economy, not the cause of it as their owners love to claim.
As I’ve mentioned before, the police will be privatized, along with fire and ambulance services. While not legislation per se, Danielville under my leadership will focus the Private Policing Corporation’s finite funds and manpower on violent crime rather than drug use. Private Policing Corporations, along with Private Fire Corporations, Private Transit Corporations, and Private Ambulance Corporations will jockey with each other to drive down the cost of their services. Thus, instead of bloating their expenses, this will save the taxpayers money in the long run. Essentially, every non-elected government position will be staffed by an employee of a private contractor.
A city without culture is merely just a prison block. Therefore, to encourage the local arts scene, I’ll decriminalize graffiti. Property owners will still be free to pursue civil action if they wish, though locking up an aspiring Banksy is not a constructive use of a Private Policing Corporation’s time and resources. Part of the mixed-use zoning laws I mentioned earlier will include space for public parks and small outdoor music venues. There are plenty of low-cost ways of encouraging a local writers scene, though this is outside the scope of an article about governance. The best thing the municipal government can do for its creative culture is to stay out of the way.
Park spaces will also encourage citizens to get out and move. A healthy population is a productive population, and most employers know this as well. The tree-lined streets mentioned earlier will also make it much safe for cyclists and pedestrians as well, thus making calorie-burning more common in everyday life. Much like the EU currently does, and what NYC tried and failed to do, Danielville will heavily tax sugary foods, foods high in saturated fats, and alcohol, though there will be no outright bans. Though unlike the EU, no laws restricting where/to whom such foods can be sold will be passed. Consumers will be free to make sub-optimal health choices, if that is their wish.
However, I do not have all of the answers either, and one should be wary of a candidate that claims to. In my cabinet, I would first need to fill the spots for an education advisor. I want to ensure that Danielville youths attend Regional University (or get vocational training, which I’m also fond of) and then stay in Danielville post-graduation to keep the flywheel spinning at maximum speed. While I gave some general stances on healthcare from a fitness and nutrition standpoint, I’ll need an advisor on healthcare policy to aid me in hospital-building and other related decisions. I’m not an enough of an expert in that field and won’t stand at a hypothetical podium and pretend to be one. As mentioned earlier, I’m not an expert in the arts, literary, and music arena, so I’d also be looking to add a cultural advisor to my cabinet as well.
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