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.

Articles by Charles Marohn

The Trouble with Abundance

Abundance looks to reform from above. We think you shouldn’t wait for permission.

The Trouble with Abundance
NYC’s Congestion Pricing Was Flawed—But Killing It Won’t Fix Traffic

The Trump administration’s elimination of congestion pricing was shortsighted, but NYC’s congestion pricing was deeply flawed from the start. If congestion pricing is ever going to work as intended, it needs to be revamped with the right priorities.

Highways
Streets
NYC’s Congestion Pricing Was Flawed—But Killing It Won’t Fix Traffic
How Much Does a Mile of Road Actually Cost?

The Federal Highway Administration has a chart full of answers to that question you might find useful.

Highways
Streets
How Much Does a Mile of Road Actually Cost?
The 30-Year Mortgage Was Bad. The 40-Year Mortgage Will Be Even Worse.

The Federal Reserve just cut interest rates. Some people are celebrating the move as making housing more attainable, but it's really just reinforcing the housing trap. Need proof? Look no further than the 40-year mortgage.

Housing
The 30-Year Mortgage Was Bad. The 40-Year Mortgage Will Be Even Worse.
The Housing Market Is a Bubble Full of Fraud, and It’s Going To Pop

The U.S. is in a massive housing bubble fueled by widespread fraud. With banks incentivized to look away and Wall Street and Washington incentivized to keep housing prices artificially high, a bottom-up approach is the only hope for bringing sanity back to the housing market.

Housing
The Housing Market Is a Bubble Full of Fraud, and It’s Going To Pop
How Brainerd’s New Ice Machine Exposes Community Apathy and Decline

Brainerd, Minnesota’s newest addition isn't exactly cause for celebration. Instead, this “high-tech” ice machine reveals deeper issues with public investment, community apathy and neighborhood decline that can plague cities.

Accounting
How Brainerd’s New Ice Machine Exposes Community Apathy and Decline
What Strong Towns Really Says About Infrastructure Spending

Are urban areas really more financially sustainable than suburbs? Do urban areas inherently have higher infrastructure costs? Here's what Strong Towns actually says about the Suburban Experiment and infrastructure spending.

Accounting
Highways
What Strong Towns Really Says About Infrastructure Spending
City Engineers Are Unbelievably out of Touch on Parking Reform

City engineers rely on faulty logic and misrepresentations to maintain the status quo. This was made blatantly clear in a recent letter from the City Engineers Association of Minnesota (CEAM) — and it’s why a growing number of engineers are breaking from the party line to support reform. Here are CEAM’s top four arguments against parking reform and why they’re wrong.

Parking
City Engineers Are Unbelievably out of Touch on Parking Reform
It’s Not Just Houston That’s Broke. So Are Silicon Valley Cities.

The financial struggles of Houston and the cities of the Silicon Valley area—as well as tens of thousands of others across North America—have the same underlying cause.

Accounting
It’s Not Just Houston That’s Broke. So Are Silicon Valley Cities.
Here’s the Real Reason Houston Is Going Broke

Houston’s fiscal problems are less critical than other major cities with large budget shortfalls—yet, their mayor is correct when he said his city is broke, that the financial approach of the city is clearly not working. Here’s why.

Accounting
Here’s the Real Reason Houston Is Going Broke
Strong Towns' Guide to the Election Year

Every four years, a small but vocal portion of our audience calls on Strong Towns to react to the politics surrounding national elections. This is our response.

Strong Towns' Guide to the Election Year
Make Safe Streets a Culture War and We All Lose

Demonizing the 91% of Americans who drive by putting them into the category of "asshole humans” is a bad and ultimately losing strategy for creating safer streets.

Streets
Make Safe Streets a Culture War and We All Lose