Charles Marohn to headline 2026 Housing Matters Symposium

The Polk County Housing Trust Fund (PCHTF) has announced the 2026 Housing Matters Symposium, a half-day event April 30 featuring local and national voices on housing solutions for Central Iowa. This year's event, Yes in My Neighborhood, focuses on community-scale solutions that expand housing choices and strengthen neighborhoods, with keynote speaker Charles Marohn of Strong Towns. The event is presented with support from AARP Iowa and the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO).

Marohn will speak on his recent book, Escaping the Housing Trap: The Strong Towns Response to the Housing Crisis. The book explores pro-housing policy choices in a time when homes are essential investments for owners and increasingly unaffordable for many.

Strong Towns, the organization Marohn founded, describes six policy choices local communities can make to become "Housing-Ready Cities." The organization also champions ways to support local small scale developers, something the Polk County Housing Trust Fund does through our new Develop the Developer Launchpad.

PCHTF will be announcing more exciting speakers soon to highlight examples of how these ideas apply to Central Iowa. To register now for Housing Matters Symposium (April 30 at the Iowa Events Center, free) visit https://hms26.eventbrite.com.