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and a share of the pipes in his neighborhood.

Congratulations, you just described a cooperative! Now, in order to reduce costs, your neighborhood merges with a number of other neighborhoods, and next thing you know you have a city-wide cooperative. Said cooperative proceeds to provision it's own wells and water treatment facilities because it's cheaper than constantly paying the profits of a private company.

Also looking at the cost of 12" vs 8" pipe is nutty, because most of your costs are labor to dig a trench and bury the pipe.

Very good! You just identified another reason why running duplicate networks is very uneconomical, making competition impractical. Hint: It was just an example.

The developer can put them in and charge for maintenance and access. In fact, letting the supplier own them is very stupid because, as you've said, it's a conflict of interest of epic proportions, and all the regulation in the universe could never make up for it

Then what's preventing the developer from also becoming the supplier? In this case I'd probably prefer to use the term 'infrastructure owner' or 'transporter'. What's preventing them from charging you out the rear even if they aren't the supplier? For that matter, separating the supplier and transporter adds a lot of paperwork and therefore expense, and in terms of energy/water they normally end up so closely related anyways that they might as well be one company.

Also, I mentioned electrical connection, not water. Still, how about $1k for up to 350 feet?, and it's mandatory. Even if you don't hook up to the water, if they have a main within 350' you have to pay the connection charge and minimum fee. Of course, I wonder how they'd handle it if you didn't pay when you don't have any water to shut off...

In addition 3/8th HDPE? Some quick research says that the MINIMUM size for the service connection is 3/4", and 1" is more normal today. Here's $5k for the city of Ann Arbor. Want new construction? $30k for water and sewer.

Keep in mind that we were talking about connecting - not just running some line.

and a share of the pipes in his neighborhood.

Congratulations, you just described a cooperative! Now, in order to reduce costs, your neighborhood merges with a number of other neighborhoods, and next thing you know you have a city-wide cooperative. Said cooperative proceeds to provision it's own wells and water treatment facilities because it's cheaper than constantly paying the profits of a private company.

Also looking at the cost of 12" vs 8" pipe is nutty, because most of your costs are labor to dig a trench and bury the pipe.

Very good! You just identified another reason why running duplicate networks is very uneconomical, making competition impractical. Hint: It was just an example.

The developer can put them in and charge for maintenance and access. In fact, letting the supplier own them is very stupid because, as you've said, it's a conflict of interest of epic proportions, and all the regulation in the universe could never make up for it

Then what's preventing the developer from also becoming the supplier? In this case I'd probably prefer to use the term 'infrastructure owner' or 'transporter'. What's preventing them from charging you out the rear even if they aren't the supplier? For that matter, separating the supplier and transporter adds a lot of paperwork and therefore expense, and in terms of energy/water they normally end up so closely related anyways that they might as well be one company.

Also, I mentioned electrical connection, not water. Still, how about $1k for up to 350 feet?, and it's mandatory. Even if you don't hook up to the water, if they have a main within 350' you have to pay the connection charge and minimum fee. Of course, I wonder how they'd handle it if you didn't pay when you don't have any water to shut off...

In addition 3/8th HDPE? Some quick research says that the MINIMUM size for the service connection is 3/4", and 1" is more normal today. Here's $5k for the city of Ann Arbor. Want new construction? $30k for water and sewer.

Keep in mind that we were talking about connecting - not just running some line.

But as always, leave it to the US govt to take a good idea and f*** it up beyond hope.
I couldn't find a picture of the traffic sign approaching these roundabouts but it's even more confusing than the picture.

Are you talking about the signs with the little arrow like you see on the ground in that photo (and you can see them in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqBNX77oTeg )? If so, I disagree...I find those signs/arrow very helpful and, once you know how they work, incredibly easy to understand and plan ahead. I haven't been through that particular roundabout, so maybe it falls apart in practice in that circumstance.

But as always, leave it to the US govt to take a good idea and f*** it up beyond hope.

Here in Phoenix, they put in a roundabout (a pair actually) at a freeway intersection. They had to completely redo it a year later because they screwed up the lanes. They rebuilt it with a lot better signage and lane markings and it's much easier to use now.

Here in Michigan, we're starting to replace stop sign/lights intersections with roundabouts, and on the whole, I really like them... when done right.

But as always, leave it to the US govt to take a good idea and f*** it up beyond hope. I couldn't find a picture of the traffic sign approaching these roundabouts but it's even more confusing than the picture.

The first time I went through this roundabout, I couldn't read the sign fast enough to really tell where to go and basically dove into the first roundabout in almost blind panic. Luckily it was late at night and there were no other cars, but I can only imagine the mass confusion at high traffic.

Other cities, like CmdrTaco's nearby Ann Arbor are using positive reinforcement to encourage recycling. It offers "points" for recycling. "Points can be redeemed for rewards - such as discounts and offers -- from local and national businesses".

It will be interesting to see which approach works better in terms of improving recycling, though I suspect that Ann Arbor's recycling rate is already pretty high.

I'd ideally like to also have a list of all ongoing road construction projects, estimated completion dates, as well as current progress (updated daily/weekly).