Charles Marohn

Charles Marohn is an American author, land-use planner, municipal engineer, and the founder and president of Strong Towns, an organization which advocates for the development of dense towns and the restructuring of suburbia.[1][2][3][4][5]

Early life and education

Charles L. Marohn Jr grew up in Baxter, Minnesota on a small farm.[6]

He graduated from Brainerd High School. Marohn received a BA in Civil Engineering and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Minnesota.[1]

Strong Towns

Marohn started Strong Towns as a blog in 2008. He was frustrated with projects he was working on which he believed were actively harming the places they were supposed to help.[2] As he gained many readers, he realized there was a need for an organization that advocated the principles he espoused. Strong Towns became a non-profit organization to "support a model of growth that allows America’s towns to become financially strong and resilient."[7]

Marohn believes that post World War II suburban development has been a failure, due to it being inherently economically unsustainable. Low-density communities do not produce the tax revenue necessary to cover either their current services, or the long-term costs of maintaining and replacing their services. Suburbs are very difficult to adapt to an efficient, dense model because they were built as fully developed places.[6]

In 2012, he coined the word "STROAD" - a street/road hybrid, which has become popular among urbanists and planners.[8] According to Marohn, stroads are the "futon" of transportation alternatives. "Where a futon is an uncomfortable couch that also serves as an uncomfortable bed, a STROAD is an auto corridor that does not move cars efficiently while simultaneously providing little in the way of value capture."[6]

Personal life

Chuck lives with his wife and two daughters in Brainerd, Minnesota.[9]

He is an avid fan of the Minnesota Twins.[9]

Publications

Books
  • Thoughts on Building Strong Towns, Volume I 2012
  • A World Class Transportation System: Transportation Finance for a New Economy (2014)
  • Thoughts on Building Strong Towns, Volume II 2016
  • Thoughts on Building Strong Towns, Volume III 2017
  • Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity (Wiley, 2019)[10]

References
  1. "Crisis in the Suburbs: One Man's Fight to Fix the American Dream". Time. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  2. "Q&A: Focused on "strong and resilient" towns". Fauquier Now. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  3. "A Stronger America Needs 'Strong Towns' First". The American Conservative. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  4. "Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity". Manhattan Institute. 2019-10-10. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  5. "'Jane Jacobs Goals Through Robert Moses Tactics'". Reason.com. 2020-01-19. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  6. Callaghan, Peter (2015-12-02). "Why a conservative Republican from northern Minnesota wants to kill the suburbs". MinnPost. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  7. Communities, AARP Livable. "Strong Towns Website". AARP. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  8. "What's a Stroad and Why Do Stroads Matter?". Planetizen - Urban Planning News, Jobs, and Education. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  9. "Charles Marohn". Strong Towns. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  10. "Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity | Wiley". Wiley.com. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.