Charles Marohn is kind of a hero. In this TED talk, the executive director of Strong Towns, explains the difference between a road, which is a connection to two place and a street, which is a network of activity. He stresses the importance of returning roads to towns for community and economic development.

I first came across Marohn after he authored the excellent "Confessions Of A Recovering Engineer," which caused quite a stir in the transportation community when it came out. It remains quite relevant when discussing the need for streets for all users. After the jump is an excerpt.

Wider, faster, treeless roads not only ruin our public places, they kill people. Taking highway standards and applying them to urban and suburban streets, and even county roads, costs us thousands of lives every year. There is no earthly reason why an engineer would ever design a 14-foot lane for a city block, yet we do it continually. Why?

The answer is utterly shameful: Because that is the standard.

Read the rest of his story HERE.

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