Why Do We Have to Handle 30,000 Trips per Day?

When engineers say a street must accommodate a high volume of traffic, what they really mean is, "The design of this street must prioritize the convenience of commuters over all else."

Financial Meltdown

Let’s explore the idea of inflation being “good.”

Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnJanuary 24, 2022Inflation, macroeconomics, economics, Economy, poverty, Poverty

Driving Went Down. Fatalities Went Up. Here's Why.

Americans drove less during the early months of pandemic, yet traffic fatalities increased—and have yet to go back down. And the “official” explanations for it are completely wrong.

#SlowtheCars, Coronavirus, Engineering Profession, Marohn, Roads and Streets, Transportation, Top StoryCharles MarohnJanuary 10, 2022traffic congestion, traffic engineering, engineers, Safety, transportation, car crash, coronavirus, Coronavirus, #SlowTheCars

A Year of Living with Intention

This year, I want to focus on how our small, everyday actions add up to something meaningful for the places we live in.

Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnJanuary 3, 2022new years resolutions, strong towns approach

The Best Books I Read in 2021

An annual tradition, here is Chuck Marohn’s list of his favorite books he read in 2021.

MarohnCharles MarohnDecember 17, 2021books

Christmas Cookie Inflation Index, 2021 Update

The Christmas Cookie Inflation Index has risen 10.6% in the last year. This is compared to the official inflation rate of 6.8%.

Finance, Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnDecember 15, 2021Inflation, poverty, Economy, economics

Two Different Languages

Dozens of people have been killed by vehicles on State Street in Springfield, Massachusetts over the last seven years. The public is clamoring for change, but city staff aren’t getting the message. Here’s what’s being lost in translation.

#SlowtheCars, Roads and Streets, Confessions Book, Top Story, ST PodcastCharles MarohnDecember 14, 2021Pedestrian Safety, Springfield, Confessions of a Recovering Engineer

How Do You Actually Fix a Stroad?

We respond to a question posted for us on Reddit about a stroad that seems unfixable—and maybe that’s because it is.

Marohn, Roads and Streets, Transportation, Top StoryCharles MarohnDecember 3, 2021STROADS, strong towns approach, Not Just Bikes, roads, strip malls, transportation

An Update on Our Lawsuit Against the Minnesota Board of Engineering Licensure

The most frequent request we’re getting these days is for a status update on our lawsuit with the Minnesota board of licensure. Here are the answers we can give you, for now.

Announcement, Engineering Profession, Engineering Reform, Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnDecember 1, 2021engineering ethics, engineers, engineering profession, announcement

An Ode to Donald Shoup

For #BlackFridayParking week, we’re paying homage to Donald Shoup, whose work has been hugely influential to Strong Towns.

Marohn, Parking, #BlackFridayParking, Top StoryCharles MarohnNovember 24, 2021Parking, parking, #BlackFridayParking, Donald Shoup

Where Parking Reform Ideas Go to Die...or Not?

You might be used to good ideas getting killed by committee. Here’s some inspiration to keep pushing, regardless.

#BlackFridayParking, Marohn, Parking, Top StoryCharles MarohnNovember 24, 2021Brainerd MN, parking, parking minimums, #BlackFridayParking, success, success stories

The Next Generation of Strong Towns Leaders

The next generation of local leaders won’t consign themselves to serving as wards of the state. Instead, they’ll step up as the highest level of organizing for members of a community.

Local Government, Marohn, Membership, Top StoryCharles MarohnNovember 18, 2021local government, leadership, member drive, membership

What Question Brought You to Strong Towns?

Is there a question that brought you to this movement? What answer were you seeking when you first found us?

Membership, Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnNovember 15, 2021member drive, membership

My Journey from Free Market Ideologue to Strong Towns Advocate, Revisited

I’ve had to reconcile my foundational belief in markets with my experiences working with cities. This has been a painful process.

Marohn, #InfrastructureCrisis, Engineering Profession, Infrastructure, Local Government, Top StoryCharles MarohnOctober 25, 2021Market Urbanism, Local Government Aid, infrastructure cost, Minnesota, small towns, Infrastructure, infrastructure, engineers, engineering profession, local gov

Will We Have an Infrastructure Bill? Who Cares?

We get a lot of questions about a federal infrastructure bill, but at the end of the day…does it really matter?

#InfrastructureCrisis, Federal Government, Marohn, Infrastructure, Top StoryCharles MarohnOctober 4, 2021infrastructure bill, Infrastructure, infrastructure cult, federal government, American Jobs Plan

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.

Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnSeptember 20, 2021Jobs, Strong Towns

The Environment Question

Where does the Strong Towns approach intersect with environmentalism?

Marohn, Roads and Streets, Walkability, Top StoryCharles MarohnSeptember 16, 2021environment, strong towns approach, Electric Vehicles, walkability, streets

Learning from Biology, Not Physics

In general, engineers treat cities like a physics problem, but what we need is engineers who are able to humbly grasp the overwhelming complexity of human habitat and work.

Confessions Book, Engineering Profession, Marohn, Transportation, Top StoryCharles MarohnSeptember 10, 2021engineering profession, engineering ethics, engineers, leadership, confessions book, Confessions of a Recovering Engineer, confessions excerpt

"Improvements"

So many engineering projects are formally called "improvements." The subtle bias of this language provides a glimpse at the values embedded within the profession.

All Traffic Models Are Wrong

Traffic engineers use projections of future traffic to make recommendations and decisions on transportation investments… The problem is, those projections are all wrong.