Urbanexus Update - Issue #17
Please scroll down for my weekly selection of information and opinion about real estate and community development.
The economy and financial markets
Gig economy not as big as you might think Hype about the "gig economy" aside, Americans are becoming more attached to their jobs and communities, not less.
The Great Recession and 2008 financial crisis
The 2008 financial crisis was perhaps the most pervasive and devastating economic disruption since the Great Depression of the 1930. Starting with the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market, its domino effect rippled outward, leaving almost no economy untouched.
Real estate markets
New-home sales, prices at decade high in Phoenix New homes are going up in the Phoenix area at the fastest pace in 10 years. Prices are climbing faster than they have in five years.
Most undervalued cities in America
For the third year in a row, SmartAsset analyzed data for 200 cities to find the most undervalued cities in America. Pittsburgh took the top spot.
Why aren’t millennials buying houses? — www.curbed.com A new report says student loans, high rent, and location preferences are among impediments to Millennial homeownership
Community development and urban design
One year after the passage of Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) rezones in Seattle's Chinatown-International District (CID) neighborhood, the community is contemplating its challenging present and striving to preserve hope for its future.
The opposite of gentrification
If these communities are going to, at the same time, decry the invasion of newcomers and oppose most development, then they face but one option: they must promote development elsewhere.
Supertall buildings in NYC This is precisely the living condition supertalls are designed to engineer: one that maximizes the privacy of the super-wealthy.
Apartment buildings in Sutton Place on the east side of midtown Manhattan were designed by Rosario Candela in the 1920. They are featured in a small exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York.
Mixed use of a different sort Spacious — which converts upscale restaurants in New York and San Francisco into weekday work spaces, before the dinner hour — is part of a broader debate over how to use spaces in cities as labor costs make restaurants an even more challenging proposition.
Transportation
Self-driving bikes — crosscut.com
This episode of ReInventors, looks at how Professor Tyler Folsom and his students at University of Washington Bothell are spearheading a grassroots effort to test and develop lighter, more affordable, personal rapid transit: self-driving bikes—actually trikes.
The Seattle Department of Transportation proposed a pilot project that it hoped would help cut down on the soul-crushing gridlock that grips the city center every rush hour: Private buses. Then the Seattle City Council voted unanimously to quash that plan.
Matt Slepin interviews real estate leaders
Jane Graf on alleviating poverty through affordable housing — leadingvoicespodcast.com
Jane is the President and CEO of Mercy Housing based in Denver and operating nationally, one of the country’s largest nonprofit affordable housing organizations.
Ken Woolley on self-storage becoming an Integral part of the real estate Industry — leadingvoicespodcast.com
Ken grew up in Northern California’s Bay Area, eventually receiving his M.B.A. and Ph.D. from Stanford in Business. He was aware of the self-storage industry in California, but when he moved to Boston he saw a gap in the market that piqued his interest in the industry.
Wealthy real estate people
The Real Deal New York prepared a short video on the top five in real estate, based on Forbes rankings.
Environment
California meets greenhouse gas reduction goal years early — apnews.com
California greenhouse gas emissions fell below 1990 levels, meeting an early target ahead of schedule and putting the state well on its way toward reaching long-term goals to fight climate change.
Around the world
Nigeria’s mega-city, bursting with opportunity but strained with disorder, offers a cautionary preview of the future.
Statistics on global urbanization Researchers contest widely-accepted United Nations' predictions on urban population growth.