#infrastructure-financing

#infrastructure-financing

Imagine the Google Switching Center. Now try on the Sony Pictures In-Railroad Entertainment System. And the Morton's Steakhouse dining car. Naming rights have rescued major California businesses before. Now the chief of the often-belittled California High-Speed Rail Authority (HSR) thinks they may be at least part of the answer to keeping the half-built bullet train system going long enough to actually carry passengers.

Curry discussed her recent article for the California Planning and Development Report on Sacramento's attempt to use an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD) to revitalize its downtown. The financing tool, designed to help cities fund projects like affordable housing and transit-oriented development without raising taxes, has struggled to gain traction statewide. Sacramento's effort to launch a district around its downtown railyards hit obstacles due to political disagreements and questions about long-term revenue streams.