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

How Affordable Housing Distracts People From Housing Affordability

Building affordable housing seems like a win for cities struggling in the Housing Trap. So then why does it sometimes make things worse?

Housing
How Affordable Housing Distracts People From Housing Affordability
Driving Went Down. Fatalities Went Up. Here's Why.

Americans drove less during the early months of the pandemic, yet traffic fatalities increased. Experts thought fatality rates would've since reverted. That didn’t happen.

Streets
Highways
Driving Went Down. Fatalities Went Up. Here's Why.
Christmas Cookie Inflation Index, 2021 Update

What grandma's recipe for Christmas cookies tells us about inflation.

Accounting
Christmas Cookie Inflation Index, 2021 Update
The Strong Towns Hiring Process

We often get questions about our hiring process, so we’ve laid it all out here so that others can put it to use in building their own teams.

The Strong Towns Hiring Process
Engineers Should Not Design Streets

Engineers are great at building roads, but we should never ask them to build our streets.

Streets
Engineers Should Not Design Streets
The Christmas Cookie Inflation Index

What can grandma's cookie recipe tell us about inflation?

Accounting
The Christmas Cookie Inflation Index
Understanding the 85th Percentile Speed

This observation of human behavior has long been a source of frustration for safety advocates, but that doesn’t make it wrong.

Streets
Understanding the 85th Percentile Speed
America's Growth Ponzi Scheme

The American pattern of development creates the illusion of wealth. Today we are in the process of seeing that illusion destroyed…and with it the prosperity we have come to take for granted.

Accounting
America's Growth Ponzi Scheme
This is the End of the Suburban Experiment

Contrary to what has been asserted elsewhere, the suburbs are not about to have a renaissance. In fact, there are many reasons to believe we are nearing the end.

Housing
This is the End of the Suburban Experiment
The Spooky Wisdom of Cities

Members
Housing
The Spooky Wisdom of Cities
The Strong Towns Approach to Public Investment

Making better use of what we have already built is a hyper-local undertaking, one done at the block level.

Accounting
Streets
The Strong Towns Approach to Public Investment
Most Public Engagement is Worthless

It is the experiences of real people that should guide our planning efforts. Their actions are the data we should be collecting, not their stated preferences.

Most Public Engagement is Worthless