Network effects mean that universal provision has the [->] potential to be both cheaper and better for each of its users; the fact that everyone has access to it is almost a side effect. This also explains why the provision of other basic human needs, like food and housing, isn't considered to be infrastructure: if your neighbors aren't adequately housed, it doesn't negatively affect your household in the same way as it does if they don't have adequate sanitation. And unlike electricity or telecommunications provision, your groceries generally don't get cheaper if your neighbors eat too. Even though food and housing security for all is a public good, it's "only" in the sense of having social value, not in the economic sense. I found this to be something of a grim realization because of how far it went toward explaining how Americans can take universal water provision, electricity, and roads mostly for granted while ensuring that everyone in their community is fed and housed remains an ongoing political and social problem.

— How Infrastructure Works by Deb Chachra (Page 108 - 109)