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Reviews
Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity by Charles L. Marohn Jr.
derekcaelin's review
informative
medium-paced
3.75
The main rails against infrastructure, which I've never heard before.
steffers7's review
3.0
Some interesting ideas here, and definitely worthy of discussion and thought. I'm not sure the content was there for a whole book, but I did enjoy it.
icbikecommuter's review
4.0
If we hope to have American prosperity (and I’d like to say save our planet as well) we need to examine how we spend our daily life and our cities could be designed in smart and successful ways. After World War II our cities went on a growth spree and have not stopped -accumulating debt while also not working for most people. Our challenge now is to not expand infrastructure but make better use of what we have built. Value per acre is a quantifiable number to consider when the city is discussing projects. Cities that take on debt are brining future spending into the present while obligating future residents to pay for the spending.
paulusminimus's review
5.0
Well I didn't think a book about city financing could make me cry but here we are.
His personal account near the end of the book of his decision to move from his cul-de-sac suburb to a dense urban neighborhood and the description of what his life was like after was a window into a life that is a literal fantasy to me, and apparently something I have a deep and unmet desire for: Community.
Real, actual community.
That's what this book made me hungry for, showed me what's keeping it from me, and maybe how to get it someday.
His personal account near the end of the book of his decision to move from his cul-de-sac suburb to a dense urban neighborhood and the description of what his life was like after was a window into a life that is a literal fantasy to me, and apparently something I have a deep and unmet desire for: Community.
Real, actual community.
That's what this book made me hungry for, showed me what's keeping it from me, and maybe how to get it someday.
thespicerack's review
5.0
In between a 4.5 and a 5. Very interesting concepts in. Left me with a lot to think about regarding the future of our cities. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 we're so gripping and stimulating that they often stopped me from wanting to play Zelda (that's saying a lot right now). This is a must read for everyone imo
donovangleeson's review against another edition
challenging
informative
sad
5.0
An absolute must-read. Makes me want to run for city council.
Shocking, terrifying, and honestly kinda depressing. So clearly lays out, with research to support, the nagging feeling of why cities like Chicago are so much more compositionally robust than cities like Dallas. (unimodal population density function, proportional land values to land-improvement values, INCREMENTAL growth mechanisms, etc.)
If you’ve ever heard me lament zoning, this book (along with the 3rd in the series: Escaping the Housing Trap) is why.
"The Municipal Ponzi Scheme"
From a municipal finance perspective, "our poor neighborhoods tend to subsidize our wealthy neighborhoods."
Shocking, terrifying, and honestly kinda depressing. So clearly lays out, with research to support, the nagging feeling of why cities like Chicago are so much more compositionally robust than cities like Dallas. (unimodal population density function, proportional land values to land-improvement values, INCREMENTAL growth mechanisms, etc.)
If you’ve ever heard me lament zoning, this book (along with the 3rd in the series: Escaping the Housing Trap) is why.
"The Municipal Ponzi Scheme"
From a municipal finance perspective, "our poor neighborhoods tend to subsidize our wealthy neighborhoods."
georgieem's review
3.0
I appreciate a book like this that states its thesis and supports it. I think the problems Marohn sees are real problems, and I understand where he's coming from. However, I still end up with complex feelings about the solution he offers.
I agree with his overall thesis; we should absolutely make small, incremental changes and build infrastructure in a way that facilitates human interaction. I think we have a philosophical difference in how and why our infrastructure has gotten to this point. He points out very rational reasons why a for-profit mindset makes sense in city planning. While I agree we can encourage the behaviors we want through policy changes, government is separate from business because there are other social factors to be considered. A system built upon racism will continue to disenfrancize minorities if we don't actively work against it. We've seemingly tried to cut down the middle policy wise, leaving us with the worst of both; We subsidize business expansion with mindless suburban sprawl and the communities themselves suffer.
In short, I mostly agree, but I am suspicious of the ability of the market to humanely carry out the solution.
He talks about throwing away ancient knowledge and at no point mentions the indigenous peoples who lived in north america for far longer than the colonists and their offspring. A lack of social connection almost certainly is part of why depression has skyrocketed over the past few decades, but I feel like he's also failing to take into account rising inequality and climate change.
And on the subject-- the climate was rarely mentioned. For a book on infrastructure written in 2016, this is shocking to me. He talks about the foolishness of not expecting profit on road investments, but never questions the concept of eternal growth economically.
I don't think Marohn is wrong, and in fact, I mostly agree and think people should act to fix their communities. We do need strong towns, and our current policies need to change to make room for multi-use, walkable places of value. But again, I have disagreements with how he wants to go about changing things on a larger, state-wide and national scale.
I agree with his overall thesis; we should absolutely make small, incremental changes and build infrastructure in a way that facilitates human interaction. I think we have a philosophical difference in how and why our infrastructure has gotten to this point. He points out very rational reasons why a for-profit mindset makes sense in city planning. While I agree we can encourage the behaviors we want through policy changes, government is separate from business because there are other social factors to be considered. A system built upon racism will continue to disenfrancize minorities if we don't actively work against it. We've seemingly tried to cut down the middle policy wise, leaving us with the worst of both; We subsidize business expansion with mindless suburban sprawl and the communities themselves suffer.
In short, I mostly agree, but I am suspicious of the ability of the market to humanely carry out the solution.
He talks about throwing away ancient knowledge and at no point mentions the indigenous peoples who lived in north america for far longer than the colonists and their offspring. A lack of social connection almost certainly is part of why depression has skyrocketed over the past few decades, but I feel like he's also failing to take into account rising inequality and climate change.
And on the subject-- the climate was rarely mentioned. For a book on infrastructure written in 2016, this is shocking to me. He talks about the foolishness of not expecting profit on road investments, but never questions the concept of eternal growth economically.
I don't think Marohn is wrong, and in fact, I mostly agree and think people should act to fix their communities. We do need strong towns, and our current policies need to change to make room for multi-use, walkable places of value. But again, I have disagreements with how he wants to go about changing things on a larger, state-wide and national scale.
andjhostet's review
4.0
A really great book, that looks at city planning and urbanist ideas, but from a fiscally conservative point of view.
The basic premise, is that since WWII, cities have been continuously growing, and creating a negative feedback loop. The growth creates huge maintenance obligations, and the only way to create more cashflow to pay for the maintenance is create more growth, creating a downward spiral of bankruptcy and insolvency. Most of the towns in America are on the brink of bankruptcy, and will not be able to pay maintenance obligations, debt/interest payments, and pension payments for former and current employees.
The only solution, is to cut the dead weight. Focus on the neighborhoods that create revenue (dense neighborhoods, usually lots of older buildings, lots of small businesses), promote walkability and transit, and get away from car dependency.
This is a fascinating conclusion because it's the same conclusion that leftist urbanists and new urbanist urban planners tend to come to, but Charles coming from a fiscally and politically conservative perspective.
He generally made his point pretty well, but occasionally would stray off the path with some pop psychology tangents, or semi-relevant anecdotes. While this book was fairly short and effective, I think it definitely could have been trimmed a bit. The last chapter diverged into some weird spiritual, anecdotal, philosophical rant that went nowhere but tried to be profound. Just stay in your lane bro.
The basic premise, is that since WWII, cities have been continuously growing, and creating a negative feedback loop. The growth creates huge maintenance obligations, and the only way to create more cashflow to pay for the maintenance is create more growth, creating a downward spiral of bankruptcy and insolvency. Most of the towns in America are on the brink of bankruptcy, and will not be able to pay maintenance obligations, debt/interest payments, and pension payments for former and current employees.
The only solution, is to cut the dead weight. Focus on the neighborhoods that create revenue (dense neighborhoods, usually lots of older buildings, lots of small businesses), promote walkability and transit, and get away from car dependency.
This is a fascinating conclusion because it's the same conclusion that leftist urbanists and new urbanist urban planners tend to come to, but Charles coming from a fiscally and politically conservative perspective.
He generally made his point pretty well, but occasionally would stray off the path with some pop psychology tangents, or semi-relevant anecdotes. While this book was fairly short and effective, I think it definitely could have been trimmed a bit. The last chapter diverged into some weird spiritual, anecdotal, philosophical rant that went nowhere but tried to be profound. Just stay in your lane bro.