More than 40,000 people walking and biking are killed on America’s roadway each year by system designs that value speed and throughput more than safety and cost.
Charles “Chuck” Marohn, Strong Towns founder and president, made the decision a decade ago to step outside the cloistered halls of the engineering profession to advocate for change in the way North American cities and infrastructure are designed.
For those following a recent decision by the Minnesota licensing board to censure Chuck, today’s Upzoned episode (hosted by Strong Towns Program Director Rachel Quednau, as Abby Kinney takes a well-deserved break) offers a reflection of how his decision to become an activist, as well as a professional engineer, has caused ripples and fissures throughout the industry.
Additional Show Notes

Learn more about Strong Towns’ fight for engineering reform.


Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.


Cover image source: Flickr.

Professional Engineers: Speak Up. The Stakes Are Life and Death.

Join Abby Kinney, Chuck Marohn, and occasional surprise guests to talk in depth about just one big story from the week in the Strong Towns conversation, right when you want it: now.

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Government & Organizations

The city of Cincinnati has pledged $200k to keep the popular bikeshare program Red Bike alive for another year. Joining us to talk about bikeshare programs and Red Bike’s financial difficulties is Bryce Mortera, a member of Civic Cincinnati. Are these programs really beneficial for residents? And if so, is there a more sustainable way to fund them than relying on sponsors?

Cincinnati Pledges $200K in Funding for Popular Bikeshare Service

The U.S. Department of Justice is opening a criminal investigation into a major software company called RealPage, which is described in the lawsuit as the “big tech” company of rental housing. It provides software that is used by landlords (and, typically, landlords who are large holders of rental property) to estimate supply and demand for their listings in order to help them maximize rents. The question is whether or not RealPage is facilitating algorithmic price fixing for some of the largest residential property owners and management firms—amounting to what DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb has described as a “housing cartel.” And since Strong Towns has just released Escaping the Housing Trap: The Strong Towns Response to the Housing Crisis, we figured there was no better time to discuss this story than now.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

Order your copy of Escaping the Housing Trap: The Strong Towns Response to the Housing Crisis today!


“DOJ escalates price-fixing probe on housing market,” by Josh Sisco, Politico (March 2024).


Abby Newsham (X/Twitter).


Chuck Marohn (X/Twitter).


Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

Department of Justice Opens Criminal Investigation Into “Housing Cartel”

Since the 1970s, the number of cars on I-70 between Denver and its surrounding resorts have jumped more than 500%. Coloradans and frequent visitors know that, in order to reach the mountains during the gridlock of ski season, you must leave as early as 3 or 4 a.m. in the morning. Writer Gloria Liu decided to investigate this chaos by jumping directly into the traffic and interviewing the people stuck in it, and the article she penned about her adventure is up for discussion on this week’s episode of Upzoned. Can I-70 be fixed? And what do famous recreational arterials like I-70 reveal about our relationship with nature in the U.S.?
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

“Colorado’s I-70 Has America’s Most Notorious Ski Traffic. Is There a Solution?” by Gloria Liu, Outside (March 2024).


Abby Newsham (X/Twitter).


Chuck Marohn (X/Twitter).


Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

Inside the Notorious Gridlock of Colorado's I-70

Cincinnati is currently undergoing a significant planning reformation effort, which involves unveiling what’s being called the Connected Communities plan. It includes a number of proposed land-use-related policy changes that are intended to help Cincinnati grow, with the goal of advancing zoning code changes, as well as supporting diversification and affordability of housing and bolstering business districts. Here on Upzoned this week to talk with host Abby Newsham about the proposal is John Yung, an urban planner, Program Manager at the Haile Foundation, and co-leader of the Cincy host committee for the upcoming Congress for the New Urbanism, which (along with the Strong Towns National Gathering) will be taking place in Cincinnati in May.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

“Mayor Pureval wants to redesign Cincinnati. Here's what that could look like,” by Becca Costello, WVXU (January 2024).


Get your tickets for the National Gathering today!


Abby Newsham (X/Twitter).


Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

“Redesigning” Cincinnati With the Connected Communities Plan

On this week’s episode of Upzoned, host Abby Newsham and co-host Chuck Marohn are joined by Coby Lefkowitz, who penned the article that’s up for discussion: “Why small developers are getting squeezed out of the housing market.” It focuses on how finance shapes our cities, why debt is used to develop cities in the first place, how lenders deal with risk, and why risk mitigation is critical to understanding why the world looks the way it does. And, most notably, it dives into America's housing financial system and why it privileges large-scale institutional development at the expense of more incremental and community-based building.
ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

“Why small developers are getting squeezed out of the housing market,” by Coby Lefkowitz, Noahpinion (March 2024).


Coby Lefkowitz (Website; X/Twitter).


Abby Newsham (X/Twitter).


Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).


Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

Professional Engineers: Speak Up. The Stakes Are Life and Death.

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