"Confessions of a Recovering Engineer" gives the future of transportation to regular citizens.
"Confessions of a Recovering Engineer: Transportation for a Strong Town," topped the Amazon bestseller lists in the Public Policy, Architecture, and Urban Planning and Land Use categories on Wednesday, the day of its release. Written by recovering engineer Charles Marohn, this book gives the future of our streets to the citizens who use them.
Written for a general audience, "Confessions" prepares transportation users to take their system back from a profession whose values have long been out of sync with the people it's meant to serve.
The arrival of Marohn's second book in the Strong Towns series is lauded by notable figures from the urban planning and transportation arenas, including Jeff Speck, city planner and author of "Walkable City," and Beth Osborne, director for Transportation for America, along with many others.
I’ve been waiting for this book for a long time. It’s been more than a decade since its title essay rocked me to my core; reading it was my Meg Ryan When Harry Met Sally moment. Over the intervening years, Chuck’s message has become all the more necessary, and America may finally be ready for it.
Jeff Speck, city planner and author of Walkable City and Walkable City Rules
For interviews and further information, email lauren@strongtowns.org.
People want to get where they need to go safely. They want to live prosperous lives. They want to be connected to the people whom they love. But the engineering profession has prioritized automobile volume and speed for decades. These hidden values have cost a fortune, threatened our safety, and cut us off from one another for far too long.
Our transportation system is costing more and providing us with less. "Confessions of a Recovering Engineer" explains why, how the engineering profession caused all this and what we must do to fix it.
With "Confessions," Marohn demands accountability and urges a new, bottom-up approach for a transportation system that builds wealth and prosperity for the people who use it. He gives readers the tools they need to address local engineers and leaders and take an active role in rebuilding the North American transportation system.
Every engineer, councilperson and planner will need to read "Confessions of a Recovering Engineer" to prepare for the conversations their constituents are about to lead.
Topics include:
- Understanding the inherent biases in the engineering profession.
- How roads are designed to forgive driver error at the risk of bystanders.
- Transportation financing.
- Public transit.
- Marohn's personal confession.
Marohn will tour the United States and Canada through the end of the year and into 2022 to help prepare citizens, engineers and city officials across North America to work together and rebuild our transportation system. Find tour dates here.
For more information or to schedule an interview with author Charles Marohn, contact Lauren Fisher at lauren@strongtowns.org.
Strong Towns is a national movement that helps local leaders identify the cause of decline in our cities and take action to build a stronger, financially resilient future. Strong Towns is reshaping the conversation about development in North America with its advocacy for bottom-up, incremental action.
Cover Photo by Antenna on Unsplash
