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Reviews
Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity by Charles L. Marohn Jr.
tooshark's review
4.0
Fresh ideas; the arguments are compelling and well-researched. The writing is a little dry for me, but it's clear how influential this book has been & will continue to be in urban planning.
readsacb's review
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
This book was wonderfully informative & really working for the seeming goal of itself up until the last chapter. Then, the book sort of took a nosedive for me. It seemed like if the author wanted this last chapter's message in the book; then, it should have been way shorter with maybe the spirit of it. So, my advice is to consider just skipping the last chapter if you read this book. But that's up to you if you read it.
cperko's review
4.0
There is some really great information in this book that definitely aligns with the general recommendations for traditional and historic development patterns. It is against big box for a different reason than I have heard in awhile - and helped me to rethink some of the development patterns of all at once and to a final state. I was already in support of everything he proposes, but for different reasons. The last chapter he really goes out of his depth and trying to appeal on a personal/social level that just seems to fall flat. Especially given he is a white male. There is definitely some unexamined privilege that is very obvious. I think his work could do with some expert in the field of social justice and what that means in terms of the built environment. Lots of work to do, but it's a start.
bromptonymous's review
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Everyone should read this book. Everyone should understand why their town is going broke and what to do about it.
hsandorf's review
4.0
Great book for anyone interested in affordable housing, local government, and creating communities from towns. However, many of Marohn's analogies and personal anecdotes just didn't land for me.
pearseanderson's review
3.5
Very interesting book that taught me a lot about what Strong Towns means and why it's so important. A lot of this book was like "WOOOAH, that explain's a looot". Other times, less was explained, like the race dynamics of what Chuck is proposing, his conservative view of federal debt that others critique, or his lack of nuance when it comes to who's rallying for infrastructure - he calls them all a cult, lumping together preservationists and repairpeople with builders and developers.