korrents
Charles Marohn

Charles Marohn

@charles-marohn · 9 positions · On ppll ↗

Civil engineer and land use planner, founder and president of Strong Towns, author of Escaping the Housing Trap. Argues that the American pattern of development since the Second World War does not generate enough wealth to maintain the infrastructure it obliges cities to keep.

Charles Marohn did not write this page.

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2 of Charles Marohn's claims fit 3 mental models. Most often: Compounding, Everything decays without maintenance, Second-order thinking.

Models they name

Their own words name the idea.

Everything decays without maintenance

Institutions, code, cities and knowledge run down by default; keeping something alive is work that has to be paid for.

Used by 28 others

The American suburban pattern of development does not pay for itself: a city takes the cash from new growth and, with it, a maintenance bill it can never cover.

Mental modelSecond-order thinking

  1. Charles Marohn Civil engineer and land use planner Put these two characteristics together and you have a key insight; Cities routinely trade near-term cash advantages associated with new growth for long-term financial obligations associated with maintenance of infrastructure. The Growth Ponzi Scheme, Part 1strongtowns.org · 17 Jun 2011All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsPut these two characteristics together and you have a key insight; Cities routinely trade near-term cash advantages associated with new growth for long-term financial obligations associated with maintenance of infrastructure.

    ↗The Growth Ponzi Scheme, Part 1strongtowns.org

    17 Jun 2011

Models we see in what they say

Our reading: their claim applies the idea without naming it. The claim is theirs; filing it here is ours.

Compounding

Small gains that build on themselves beat big one-off wins; so do small losses.

Used by 18 others

Second-order thinking

Ask "and then what?": follow a decision past its first effect to the ones that come after.

Used by 88 others

The American suburban pattern of development does not pay for itself: a city takes the cash from new growth and, with it, a maintenance bill it can never cover.

Mental modelEverything decays without maintenance

  1. Charles Marohn Civil engineer and land use planner Put these two characteristics together and you have a key insight; Cities routinely trade near-term cash advantages associated with new growth for long-term financial obligations associated with maintenance of infrastructure. The Growth Ponzi Scheme, Part 1strongtowns.org · 17 Jun 2011All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsPut these two characteristics together and you have a key insight; Cities routinely trade near-term cash advantages associated with new growth for long-term financial obligations associated with maintenance of infrastructure.

    ↗The Growth Ponzi Scheme, Part 1strongtowns.org

    17 Jun 2011