How should engineers be thinking about building wealth in communities? That’s just one of the questions Chuck Marohn asks of Ian Lockwood, a recognized national leader in sustainable transportation policy and urban design.

Podcast, Marohn, ST Podcast, Safe & Productive Streets, Top StoryStrong TownsMay 1, 2023Podcast, podcast, engineers, engineering profession, transportation, Safe and Productive Streets

No City Should Rely Primarily on a Sales Tax for Funding

At a glance, the sales tax is a nearly invisible revenue source that is also a cash cow. Yet, for local governments, it is the most distorting of taxes. Here’s why.

Marohn, Transparent Accounting, Top StoryCharles MarohnMay 1, 2023sales tax, Transparent Local Accounting, tax revenue, local government, city government, municipal finance, finance, financial solvency, local finance

Award-Winning Complete Street Just Another Deadly Stroad

Agar Road in Hyattsville, MD, has been lauded as a successful "Complete Street." But this so-called Complete Street is, in reality, completely dangerous—and a woman has lost her life because of it.

Safe & Productive Streets, Marohn, Trending, Top StoryCharles MarohnApril 10, 2023Complete Streets, Safe and Productive Streets, Crash Analysis Studio, Safety, safety, car crash, Pedestrian Safety, pedestrian safety, STROADS, transportation

What’s Going On With the Recent Bank Failures?

In this week’s episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck Marohn talks about the financial system, and provides insights on what’s currently happening in the banking industry.

Podcast, Marohn, ST Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsApril 3, 2023Podcast, podcast, banks, finance, Inflation, Economy

We Can Have Both More Housing and Good Urban Form

It’s not difficult to have good urban design, the kind that respects neighbors and the neighborhoods they live in. It’s actually a lot less work than the processes we use to administer the suburban zoning codes we have today.

Marohn, Top Story, Trending, Community StoriesCharles MarohnApril 3, 2023urban design, NIMBY, YIMBY, Brainerd MN, Minnesota, housing, Housing, density, neighborhood, aesthetics

Is a Drunk Pedestrian Killed by a Driver Something To Care About?

People find it easy to blame a drunk driver for an accident, but what about a drunk pedestrian?

Safe & Productive Streets, Marohn, Transportation, Top StoryCharles MarohnMarch 27, 2023Safe and Productive Streets, transportation, Pedestrian Safety, pedestrian safety, pedestrians, car crash, Safety, public safety, Public Safety, confessions book, Confessions of a Recovering Engineer, Crash Analysis Studio

Growth Through Destruction

Can built environments grow even stronger after experiencing some form of destruction?

Podcast, Marohn, ST Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsMarch 20, 2023Podcast, podcast, complexity, complex systems, Complexity

On the Conservative Reaction to 15-Minute Cities

On today’s episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck Marohn dives into controversies surrounding the concept of the 15-minute city.

Podcast, Marohn, ST Podcast, Walkability, Top StoryStrong TownsMarch 13, 2023Podcast, podcast, walkability, 15-Minute Cities, politics, mixed use, Neighborhoods

The Property Tax System is Broken—Regrid Works on Tools to Help Fix It

Alex Alsup comes back to the Strong Towns Podcast to talk about property taxes and assessments in Detroit—and a useful tool that homeowners, assessors, and nonprofits can use in balancing this imbalanced system.

Podcast, Marohn, ST Podcast, Transparent Accounting, Top StoryStrong TownsFebruary 20, 2023Podcast, podcast, Transparent Local Accounting, property tax, maps

The Sensitivity That Killed Frank Radaker

We’ve become desensitized to the car crashes—and the factors that cause them—that kill people like Indianapolitan Frank Radaker every day on our streets. It’s time to change that.

Marohn, Safe & Productive Streets, News, Top Story, TrendingCharles MarohnFebruary 20, 2023bicycling, cycling, Crash Analysis Studio, Safe and Productive Streets, STROADS, car crash, Indiana

Jeff Speck on the 10th-Anniversary Edition of Walkable City

Jeff Speck joins Chuck Marohn on the Strong Towns Podcast to talk about the latest edition of his book, Walkable City, which features 100 new pages of information for anyone wanting to make their city stronger.

Podcast, Marohn, ST Podcast, Safe & Productive Streets, Top StoryStrong TownsFebruary 13, 2023Podcast, podcast, Safe and Productive Streets, walkability, books, Jeff Speck

The Question I Get Most Often

Many people who want to change things for the better in their place want an example of another town or city that’s already got it all figured out—somewhere they can copy. Here’s why that won’t necessarily work.

Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnFebruary 6, 2023strong towns approach, little bets, incrementalism, complexity, Complexity

Lawsuit Update: Making a Stand for Engineers in the Minnesota State Court of Appeals

In this Strong Towns Podcast, listen to the latest update on our lawsuit agains the Minnesota board of engineering licensure and the oral arguments made in front of the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

Podcast, Marohn, ST Podcast, Engineering Profession, Engineering Reform, Top StoryStrong TownsJanuary 30, 2023Podcast, podcast, engineers, engineering ethics, engineering profession

Warren Buffett Doesn’t Like Spending on Streetcars (but Has No Problem With Crazy Highway Spending)

Warren Buffet has broken his practice of “staying out of local politics" to criticize a streetcar project in his home city of Omaha, NE…but why does he have nothing to say on the city’s ridiculous and reckless highway projects?

End Highway Expansion, Finance, Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnJanuary 30, 2023End Highway Expansion, public transit, public transportation, Streetcars, finance, local finance, investing, public investment, highways, Nebraska

Mike Hathorne: Where Does Decision-Making Need to Occur in Our Communities?

Commun1ty.one Principal and Strong Towns member Mike Hathorne joins the podcast today to talk about the concept of subsidiarity.

Podcast, Marohn, ST Podcast, Local Government, Top StoryStrong TownsJanuary 9, 2023Podcast, podcast, local government, member commentary

Vaccines Reduce Auto Crashes...?

The Reckless Driver™ narrative reaches a whole new level of absurdity, associating reckless driving with failure to vaccinate against COVID-19.

#SlowtheCars, Marohn, Coronavirus, Safe & Productive Streets, Top StoryCharles MarohnJanuary 9, 2023coronavirus, Safe and Productive Streets, car crash, STROADS, politics, Street Design, #SlowTheCars

Ben Hunt: In Praise of Bitcoin

This week on the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck Marohn chats with Epsilon Theory’s Ben Hunt about Bitcoin.

Podcast, Marohn, ST Podcast, Top Story, TrendingStrong TownsJanuary 2, 2023Podcast, podcast, investing, finance, personal finance

Financial Outlook for 2023 and Beyond

What kind of financial challenges can our cities and towns expect to face in the new year?

Infrastructure, Marohn, Transparent Accounting, Top Story 2Charles MarohnJanuary 2, 2023financial solvency, Transparent Local Accounting, Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure bill, infrastructure cost

The Reckless Driver Narrative: 2022 in Review

Let’s take a moment to reflect on the progress we made this year countering the Reckless Driver™ narrative that safety officials were pushing at the end of 2021.