Charles Marohn
Charles Marohn (known as “Chuck” to friends and colleagues) is the founder and president of Strong Towns and the bestselling author of “Escaping the Housing Trap: The Strong Towns Response to the Housing Crisis.” With decades of experience as a land use planner and civil engineer, Marohn is on a mission to help cities and towns become stronger and more prosperous. He spreads the Strong Towns message through in-person presentations, the Strong Towns Podcast, and his books and articles. In recognition of his efforts and impact, Planetizen named him one of the 15 Most Influential Urbanists of all time in 2017 and 2023.
When a school is placed miles away from the families it serves, the consequences show up immediately.
Three case studies reveal how top-down funding creates rigidity, waste, and systems that cities cannot afford to fix or abandon.
The Ocean State’s roads and bridges are failing. Rather than prioritizing repair, officials pursued an $85 million expansion that will cost decades of future maintenance.
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The Complete Streets concept has run its course, not necessarily because the vision was flawed, but because the system it embedded itself into was never built to support it.
The invention of the printing press democratized access to information. With that came a lot of uncertainty.
At Ride for Your Life, hundreds rode to the Lincoln Memorial to mourn lives cut short by dangerous streets and to call for a future where no family has to endure the same loss.
When homes are priced beyond what local incomes can sustain, the system stretches the debt instead of fixing the root problem.
In 2008, Strong Towns was just a small blog with a big question; by 2025, it has become a nationwide movement with hundreds of local groups making real change on the ground. Things have changed in countless ways, yet the core mission has never been clearer.
This project in Salem, Oregon, shows how federal funding rewards cities for optimistic benefit-cost narratives, not fiscal health or return on investment analysis.
How two identical park buildings reveal the power of small design choices.
13 years after a new stadium and set of highway ramps promised to bring economic revitalization to Chester, Pennsylvania, things have only gotten worse.
Los Angeles didn’t mismanage its way into crisis. It built its way here.