Across the United States,communities of every size are on the front lines of a rapidly changing climate, aging infrastructure, an affordability crisis, and rising expectations to deliver reliable, affordable services under increasingly growing fiscal pressures. Local leaders are being asked to do more often with limited staff, uncertain funding, and systems that were never designed for today’s conditions.

As mayor of Phoenix, I see these realities every day. Extreme heat, water scarcity, population growth, and economic competitiveness are not abstract challenges. They shape every infrastructure decision we make. We must balance difficult trade-offs, frequently with incomplete information and significant uncertainty. And Phoenix is not an outlier. Cities of all sizes, particularly small and midsized communities, carry so much of the responsibility for the infrastructure that underpins public health, safety, and economic opportunity across the country…