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.
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.
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.
Brainerd, Minnesota’s newest addition isn't exactly cause for celebration.
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.
City engineers rely on faulty logic and misrepresentations to maintain the status quo. Here are the top four arguments against parking reform and why they’re wrong.
Santa Clara, CA, might be one of the wealthiest cities in the country, but it still has the same financial struggles as places like Houston.
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.
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.
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.
"I have long believed that Americans are being gaslit when it comes to inflation, that official statistics understate the inflation we all experience."
In 2019, my basket of cookie baking ingredients cost $49.94. In 2022, that same basket costs $64.48.
A top-down approach to addressing accidents fails to make streets safer. A local approach could change that.