[jyl]

This is not a well formed question, more of a frustration inviting discussion.

Why does it cost so much to build things now?

In Portland, the lamentable state of roads and infrastructure is a constant topic. We're told that for a simple concrete median island to make a safer pedestrian crosswalk, it costs $20,000. A flashing yield to pedestrian signal costs $25,000. A traffic signal at a dangerous intersection costs $200,000. A 1/4 mile of painted-stripe curb-adjacent bike lane costs half a million.

Other infrastructure projects seem equally expensive.

Private construction too. Building conventional 4-5 story apartments - wood frame over a first story podium - costs $200,000 per unit. Building a house or duplex - wood frame, level lot - costs $180-220 per square foot.

And of course we've heard about the staggering costs of large projects like a new bridge across the Columbia (estimated $3-5 billion, they spent $250 million just on preliminary studies and planning), LA to SF high speed rail line (est $80 billion), etc.

Why do these things cost so much? Can we bring the cost down? Is it a hard or soft cost issue? I've tried to look at hard vs soft costs and generally find that soft costs are at least 1/3 of the total.