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Charles Marohn

What Charles Marohn thinks about housing

@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.

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Only Charles Marohn on housing. See everyone on housing

4 dated positions, 2011 to 2017, in their own words. Our reading of what Charles Marohn has said — not written or endorsed by them.

4 positions so far — this page is not yet offered to search engines.

  1. Our readingCities have only ever built wealth incrementally, by many small improvements over a long time, not by big projects.

    Their wordsYet, incremental investment is how cities have always built wealth.

    ↗The Power of Growing Incrementallystrongtowns.org 2nd of 4 in this piece

  3. Our readingThe break in how cities are built is that places used to be improved continuously and are now built once, at scale, to a finished state.

    Their wordsPre-Depression development was incremental on a continuum of improvement while post-War development is built at a large scale to a finished state.

    ↗The Power of Growing Incrementallystrongtowns.org 3rd of 4 in this piece

  5. Our readingA neighbourhood redevelops itself when rising land values meet permission to build more intensely, and it stagnates when either half is missing.

    Their wordsIt is incrementally rising land values, combined with the ability to redevelop to something more intense, that naturally prompts the redevelopment of property in decline.

    ↗The Power of Growing Incrementallystrongtowns.org 4th of 4 in this piece

  6. 6 years earlier

  7. Our readingSuburban growth is a Ponzi scheme because a city of finite size cannot keep growing at an accelerating rate, and only that would pay the bills it has taken on.

    Their wordsOf course, with the suburban model, it is physically impossible for a city of finite dimension to grow indefinitely, let alone at amounts that accelerate forever.

    ↗The Growth Ponzi Scheme, Part 1strongtowns.org 2nd of 2 in this piece