When The Ribbon Cutting Is the Cheapest Part

About this episode

The episode discusses the overlooked costs of public assets, focusing on a recent park overhaul in Des Moines and the importance of maintenance planning.

Des Moines just approved an $8.4 million first phase for a $54 million park overhaul. The bid came in over estimate, and there's no maintenance plan in sight — meanwhile the city was cutting services 9% across the board just last year. Norm Van Eeden Petersman talks with parks consultant Jamie Sabbach, author of the new book The Bison Principle, and writer Michel Durand-Wood about what cities consistently leave out of these decisions. Construction is only about 20% of what a public asset costs over its lifetime, and most cities aren't planning for the rest. The conversation gets into maintenance backlogs, why capital and operating budgets are really the same money, and what a city would actually decide if the 50-year cost were part of the conversation from the start. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES "Birdland Park's $54M Overhaul Moves into Construction Phase" by Jason Clayworth, Axios.com (April 2026) Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn) Jamie Sabbach (LinkedIn), The Bison Principle (Book) Dear Winnipeg (Site), You'll Pay For This! (Book) Articles Mentioned and Downzone: In Praise of Background Buildings by Gracen Johnson Places and Non-Places by Andrew Price Field of Schemes Fizzy Fuzzy…

People in this episode

Host: Norm Van Eeden Petersman

Guests: Jamie Sabbach, Michel Durand-Wood

Topics covered

• public asset management
• city planning
• maintenance costs
• capital budgets
• park development

Keywords

• Des Moines
• park overhaul
• maintenance plan
• public asset costs
• capital budgets

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Strong Towns, Axios.com

Books & works: The Bison Principle, Dear Winnipeg, You'll Pay For This!, In Praise of Background Buildings, Places and Non-Places, Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy, Team of Rivals, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York

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