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A review by jcppira
Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity by Charles L. Marohn Jr.
5.0
I would recommend this book to anyone with a modicum of interest in human development patterns, economics, geography, or local politics. Its modest size means it isn't a large commitment for those who might doubt their interest in non-fiction. While I've rated this book a five, I must note up front that I do take some issue with the structure; I just feel the rest is enough to make up for that concern.
On a content basis, this book and the message it delivers is incredibly important. We are facing an infrastructure crisis in the US, but it's not the one that your local pundit (liberal or conservative) has informed you of; it's far more insidious than most political outlets report.
I've been a follower of the Strong Towns movement and writing for years, and am a firm believer in the sensible, if painful, solutions that Chuck, his team, and his advocates espouse. This book distills years worth of writing by the Strong Towns team into its most essential elements. Better yet, it's written in layman's terms, so you don't need to be a professional engineer or politician to understand.
Now, for my structural concern. I applaud Chuck for avoiding a too-common, frustrating trope in short non-fiction pieces: spending the first third of the book repeatedly telling the reader: "As I'll explain in later chapters...". Instead, Chuck hops right into the core narrative any reader needs to carry forward. However, in the final chapters, I felt that a number of the passages were too often reminding me of assertions made in the first half of the novel; assertions I didn't need to be reminded of, because as I said, the book isn't very long! In short, the later chapters all contain important content, but could have done with some trimming.
I'll conclude by posting sharing one of my favorite quotations from the book, and offering to anyone that I will send you a copy of this book if you're interested in giving it a thought.
"The underlying assumption of the American development pattern is an abundance of resources"
On a content basis, this book and the message it delivers is incredibly important. We are facing an infrastructure crisis in the US, but it's not the one that your local pundit (liberal or conservative) has informed you of; it's far more insidious than most political outlets report.
I've been a follower of the Strong Towns movement and writing for years, and am a firm believer in the sensible, if painful, solutions that Chuck, his team, and his advocates espouse. This book distills years worth of writing by the Strong Towns team into its most essential elements. Better yet, it's written in layman's terms, so you don't need to be a professional engineer or politician to understand.
Now, for my structural concern. I applaud Chuck for avoiding a too-common, frustrating trope in short non-fiction pieces: spending the first third of the book repeatedly telling the reader: "As I'll explain in later chapters...". Instead, Chuck hops right into the core narrative any reader needs to carry forward. However, in the final chapters, I felt that a number of the passages were too often reminding me of assertions made in the first half of the novel; assertions I didn't need to be reminded of, because as I said, the book isn't very long! In short, the later chapters all contain important content, but could have done with some trimming.
I'll conclude by posting sharing one of my favorite quotations from the book, and offering to anyone that I will send you a copy of this book if you're interested in giving it a thought.
"The underlying assumption of the American development pattern is an abundance of resources"