Urbanexus Update - Issue #22
Please scroll down for the weekly compilation of analysis, reporting and opinion about real estate and community development. Some of the links may lead to articles that are behind a paywall.
The economy
The financial crisis of 2008 was years in the making and has had a lasting impact on American political life.
Another epic economic collapse?
The debt of the U.S. Government could well grow to 100 percent of GDP within a decade. As Irwin M. Stelzer of the Hudson Institute says, “If unlimited borrowing, financed by printing money, were a path to prosperity, then Venezuela and Zimbabwe would be top of the growth tables.”
Investment & management
REITs rally following strong earnings
REITs jumped more than 2% on the week, buoyed by a continued retreat in Treasury yields and a risk-off sentiment.
The downtown Los Angeles-based CBRE Group Inc. is reorganizing its structure into three global businesses: Advisory services, global workplace solutions and real estate investments.
Send a drone for a quick inspection With their low cost and ease of handling, drones are saving money and time on big construction projects. They could also save lives.
Courtesy of Steve Felix, this is the real estate career advice Shane Rogers would give his 25-year-old self.
Community development
Over the last half-century, Houston has developed an alternative model of urbanism. As the New Urbanist punditry mounts an assault on both suburban growth and single-family homes, Houston has embraced a light regulatory approach that reflects market forces more than ideology.
25 years of growth and density change in 66 global cities
The metropolitan areas are shown at the same scale.
Neighborhood change in Seattle
Abraham Ackley manages a butcher shop that his father, James, owns, and his grandfather, Bob, first opened in the 1960s. When he bought Bob's from his dad, who passed away in 2011, James reckons his clientele was about 85 percent Black. Now he figures it's about 85 percent White.
Why do apartment buildings look the same? — crosscut.com
Local architect Rick Mohler deconstructs Seattle’s newer apartment buildings.
Carol Schatz reviews change in downtown Los Angeles
Offering perspective and insight about downtown Los Angeles from the early 1990's to present time. Ms. Schatz shares the stories about the hard work that went into changing downtown Los Angeles. She served as the first female President and CEO of the Central City Association (CCA) of Los Angeles for more than 20 years and currently serves as president of the Downtown Center Business Improvement District.
Housing policy
What's wrong with housing in America?
Scott Cox is an architect with broad experience in banking, development and project management. He is a principal at Denver-based SLC Advisors, a home building, land development and investor consultancy that manages company level investments, housing and community development projects and repositioning/work-outs. In August 2018, Mr. Cox wrote four articles for Builder Online addressing the question of “What’s wrong with housing in America?”
Both renters and homeowners could benefit from better housing policy
Jenny Schuetz of the Brookings Institution offers recommendations for what federal, state, and local policymakers can do to make housing more affordable and equitable for American families across the country.
Economic development
Landing Amazon HQ2 isn’t the right way for a city to create jobs
Here’s what works instead. Amy Liu of the Brookings Institution outlines three ways cities can grow jobs from within.
What happened after the last HQ2-like competition
A review by Aaron Renn (@urbanophile) of how an early 1990s economic development competition similar to Amazon HQ2 has played out
Homelessness
Homeless men who live on the streets
Some perspective on the so-called “service-resistant” homeless focusing in on Los Angeles.
Life inside the RVs of Silicon Valley — www.topic.com
Profiles of ten people reveal what it’s like to be a resident of a recreational vehicle in one of America’s richest regions.
What if we treated homelessness like an earthquake? — www.kuow.org
Everyone agrees that homelessness is a big challenge for Seattle, but there are differing views about who is being impacted and what should be done.
Environment
Expect more smoky Cascadia summers It’s too early to call the smoke blanketing the Seattle area a trend, but a few hazy weeks in the coming years could be more likely, experts say.
What is the future of bees? — www.nytimes.com
Bees are central to an enormous agricultural industry — about one of every three mouthfuls of food consumed in the USA—wouldn’t exist without pollination provided 30 billion bees (and hundreds of human beekeepers) who keep the trees pollinated — and whose very existence is in peril.
Around the world
India's homeless women suffer as cities expand — www.thisisplace.org
Women, who are estimated to make up about ten percent of India's homeless population, suffer the brunt of a growing crisis brought on by rapid urbanization, soaring property prices, and a lack of shelters and affordable housing.