tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59758609791668656722024-03-13T16:37:50.364-07:00Cogito UrbanusGregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.comBlogger222125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-90538119451716538052019-06-12T10:31:00.001-07:002019-06-12T10:31:58.841-07:00A Very Untidy Future For Cities<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Believe it or not, we spent two weeks in Southern California on vacation. I live in Northern California and to tell someone that you are, willingly, going to SoCal for pleasure, is for a Californian to admit to voting republican. It is something that one doesn’t, in polite liberal company, admit to. But LA is cool, damn cool in fact – especially when the weather is great (as it was).<o:p></o:p></div>
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We did something that we’ve never done, drove Highway 1 from Carmel to Malibu, with a stop at San Simeon and Hearst Castle. I recommend it, take the main house tour, that’s the best. It is an interesting introduction to the southern half of California. Fake opulence, decorative arts bought in pre-war Europe at cost, the buildings faux interiors from gutted churches plundered by Franco to pay civil war debts, damn it’s just like a lot of Los Angeles. They even have an English left-over cruise ship.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I digress. The real purpose of this missive (I apologize for my intermittent posts – been too busy with my other books), is the remarkable change in ground transportation I saw everywhere. It is the age of the Chinese-made scooter, bicycle, mini-bike, and their innumerable variations based on who the service provider is. There’s an app for that – literally. <o:p></o:p></div>
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San Francisco and other major cities have been at war with themselves over these devices. The reason for objections and even down right hostility is said to be safety. My take is that the cities are uncomfortable with the idea of being partners with a profit-making venture that literally reminds me of herding cats. You can buy one at Costco for about $500, at $2.00 a mile rent to the provider you can see it doesn’t take long to make a profit.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I first saw them in quantity in Santa Monica, the have overrun Venice, and filled the corners of intersections in Long Beach – they are everywhere. Get the app, hold it over the device, get on board, and go. Then you are supposed to return it to a company run (Lyft, Lime, Jump, Spin, and dozens of others) holding area. They will be collected that evening and recharged. I did forget to mention that all these devices are battery run and motorized. You pay by the miles traveled, it’s billed to your credit card, all you do is jump on and drop it when you get there. And I mean drop, we saw them in the gutters, hanging from trees and fences, and stacked like so many discarded bits of junk.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The use rate is not cheap, $1.50 to $2.00 per mile. But it is better than walking. Most people probably don’t go more than a mile or two, use them to get from here to there. They don’t mix well with pedestrians, so I saw a lot of scooters in the street – and they don’t mix well with cars.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As with everything they are being studied to death. I’m guessing every major city in the world is dealing with this, and spending big bucks, dinaros, pesos, euros, pounds, francs, and yen trying to justify their use and place on their city’s streets (and mostly how to tax the blighters). I wonder what it would have been like if the automobile had been so heavily studied in 1900 when they first arrived (I’m guessing horses would still be popular). There are many similarities.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m old. For me to put my feet or butt into or on one of these machines would be a frightening experience. I envision twisted arms, scraped knees, broken wrists, and scarred foreheads. But in Venice and Venice Beach it is the wild wild west of scooters – there had to be thousands everywhere, and they were being used, everywhere. I get it. One more reason not to walk, one more reason not to enjoy the scenery (not when trying to avoid SUVs, buses, and trucks), one more reason to nickel and dime your way to poverty (I exaggerate).<o:p></o:p></div>
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In today’s society it seems that we have come to this: how can I create and then become a service provider of a cool company, so I can skim off a few pennies from my fellow citizens, and all willingly given. There’re cell phones, fuel surcharges, service surcharges (San Francisco’s famous tax on health benefits for waiters), and now scooters and bicycles. At the end of the year I wonder how much this all adds up to.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m trying not to act old—just sound old and wise. That’s my prerogative, and as a soon to be septuagenarian, I stand guilty. I remember tiny black and white tvs, aluminum foil antennas, the folk’s first car with air conditioning, Ed Sullivan, transistor radios that would fit in you hand, the change from wooden golf clubs to metal (and now exotics), The Rolling Stones before the wrinkles and heart operations, and when you would actually dress to go out to dinner.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Style, class, propriety, good command of the English language (and quality swearing, not the crap that’s employed today that passes for conversation), proper manners, the ability to use a fork (damn, just look around you at any restaurant), and most critically, civility. That’s where the downfall of this new transportation will fail, cities will outlaw them because the users would not follow the most basic rule of any human community – “Clean up after yourself.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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I love all the new stuff: the interconnectivity of Apple devices, the instant communications, car interiors nicer than my own family room, unfettered access to goods from around the world, my Keurig coffee machine (greatest invention of the 21<sup>st</sup>century – so far), Amazon and self-publishing, and statin drugs (see above). I’m waiting to see if this fake meat thing is real.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Stay tuned . . . . . . .</div>
Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-58816453170608209392018-12-22T08:09:00.000-08:002018-12-22T08:11:20.897-08:00<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yQ0rEf6kReY/XB5faVpTzGI/AAAAAAAACk8/17eqCi0x9IEziiuG4zwirKkgWfwS3JLBwCLcBGAs/s1600/Alfano%2B3%2BBooks%2Bsmall%2B12-21-18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Such a Deal!</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I am proud to announce the third novel in the Detective Tony Alfano thriller set, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><b>CHICAGO FIX</b></i>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It’s 1933 Chicago, the Century of Progress Fair draws over a million people a week to the city. And not all of these people are looking for fun. It’s the politics, the night life, the rackets, and the mob that draw them. Does the city turn away from this evil and dissipation – hardly. Often, they are willing participants. Detective Tony Alfano, a righteous cop in an unholy land, is the corrupt mayor’s sword of truth and justice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pre-orders until December 31, 2018. It’s on Amazon for only $0.99.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Click on Tony and he'll take you there.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Fix-Alfano-Thriller-Thrillers-ebook/dp/B07L8MT7PM/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1544971583&sr=1-1&keywords=chicago+fix&fbclid=IwAR1O2lU-IPlj6_K-vo7IWGqagIrjbyR56t4GAW7T4xMo9e_ldUuEEa5sN2U" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1099" data-original-width="493" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QytB63vRISU/XB5gh9Mys-I/AAAAAAAAClI/e18s2ZKZveoxwQXrh32I_Iaqij2fE9quwCLcBGAs/s320/Tony%2BAlfano%2B12-23-18.jpg" width="143" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Click me baby!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Alt Link:</span></div>
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https://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Fix-Alfano-Thriller-Thrillers-ebook/dp/B07L8MT7PM/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1544971583&sr=1-1&keywords=chicago+fix&fbclid=IwAR1O2lU-IPlj6_K-vo7IWGqagIrjbyR56t4GAW7T4xMo9e_ldUuEEa5sN2U</div>
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Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-74470086263143440132018-12-14T06:25:00.000-08:002018-12-14T06:25:49.961-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6wsIqi9HDCE/UMYjOwArlOI/AAAAAAAAAyI/ZngSHBVqZLg/s1600/Toy+train+sets+for+children+0-24+months.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6wsIqi9HDCE/UMYjOwArlOI/AAAAAAAAAyI/ZngSHBVqZLg/s400/Toy+train+sets+for+children+0-24+months.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This blog was originally posted way back in 2010 (how times have <u>not </u>changed). This is a story about high-speed rail in California and it had so many comments, I've reposted almost every year for my new readers and to remind my old ones. But now, even after eight years, nothing seems to have changed and, in fact, political positions have sadly become even more locked in place as the costs continue to sky-rocket. Construction in the Southern San Joaquin Valley are uncontrolled and they do not know where it will end. And technologies, such as the electric car and the autonomous auto, will probably kill the thing before it can reach its potential.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Governor Brown, Moonbeam, is gone, officially he's gone over the rainbow and his hand selected successor will be soon sworn in. I'm not sure what Gavin Newsom's real position is on this railroad. I'm kind of thinking he's his own guy and wants new tech, not republished nineteenth century. It it weren't for the politics (one party rule) in Sacramento, this train would have died years ago. When you complain about the current state of things in Washington (just don't start), just look at what we have here.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">The story has been slightly updated . . .</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">A Toy Train for Christmas</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Parts and Players:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Santa Claus (The Big Guy) – Washington D.C.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Billy (Good Little Boy) and Tiffany (Good Little Girl) – California, Florida, Washington State, Illinois, New York, et all</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sally (Not so Good Little Girl) –Ohio and Wisconsin</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Toy Train – High Speed Rail</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">(Many of these children have during the last eight years opted out of this grand Christmas present. But I leave them in for history's sake.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Our Scene:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Santa’s huge toy shop in one of the big department stores (not that there are many left); a long line of children wait to tell Santa what they want for Christmas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The first child climbs up on Santa’s knee with the help of one of the elves. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “And what’s your name little boy?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Bill<span style="font-size: large;">y</span>, Santa Claus, Billy.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Have you been good?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Oh yes Santa, I have been very, very good.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Excellent Billy, excellent, and what do you want for Christmas?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Oh Santa I want an erector set to build bridges and new infrastructure for my brother, a whole village of affordable dollhouses for my little sister, and a turkey with all the stuff and stuffing for my dad, see he’s lost his job.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “I’m sorry to hear about that, I’ll see what I can do. Billy, you want so much for your family and that’s good, very good, but Billy, what do <b><i>you</i></b> want for being so good?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Billy thought for a moment then turned his head to Santa with a huge smile. “Santa I want a toy train. It would be the most wonderfulous thing in the whole world, a toy train that I can play with, run the track all through my room and maybe even in the hallway. It just has to be the most special and wonderous train, all shiny and sparkly and new. And, oh, oh, Santa that would be so great and it would be real cool ‘cause none of friends would have a train like it and they all would wan’na come over and see it and play with me in my room. Please Santa, please. Mom says that they have them in France and China, even though I don't know where those places are.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “But Billy I gave you a set of Hot Wheels and racetrack a few years ago and a really cool airplane and terminal set last year. Aren’t they fun to play with anymore? How about a nice electric car?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Nah, Santa. I broke the racetrack and the planes just aren’t any fun anymore, but a toy train would be real cool, did I say the other kids would wan’na come over and see it.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Yes you did, but Billy, that is a very big toy for someone your size.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “No. I’m a big boy, see!” Billy puffed himself up real big.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Yes, I guess you are<span style="font-size: large;">,</span> now that you are all puffed up. Yes, Billy, Santa has to agree that you are a big boy now and can take care of such a wonderfulous toy. Santa will see what he can do. Just watch for a big ‘green’ box under your Christmas tree.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Oh thank you Santa, thank you.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Billy, with the help of the elves (who were all smiling and singing, <i>I've Been Working on t<span style="font-size: large;">he Railroad</span></i>), climbed off Santa’s knee and slid down the slide into a huge pile of ‘green’ cotton candy. Billy was in heaven.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> The next child in line wasn’t sure about Santa, he was so big and his suit was all red and furry. The bells on all the elves (who were scurrying about still talking about the good little boy, Billy), jingled and jangled creating such a wonderous din. This all scared the little girl. When the elves helped her onto Santa’s knee, Santa wasn’t sure what was going to happen. He was afraid for his suit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “And what’s your name little girl?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Sally,” she said quietly, still shaking.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “That’s a pretty name, have you been a good little girl?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Sally thought for a moment. She looked at the Big Guy and all the elves dressed in 'green' elf costumes, 'green' cotton candy billowed all around them, it was a wonderous sight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Santa, I have <i>not</i> been a good little girl. I have saved my lunch money and not given it to my friends at school like my teacher says I should. I used it to help my dad and I bought him a new tie, he was trying to get a job, and he did Santa, he was so happy. And I yelled at my brother when he bought some ice cream just after he had a whole mouthful of candy. So you see, I have not been a good girl.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “I see, yes Sally, those aren’t good things to do, you should always mind your teacher.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Yes, Santa.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “But Sally, the elves and I know you can improve and be a better human being. I just know you want something for Christmas. Billy, that fine young man, who sat on this very knee just before you;<span style="font-size: large;"> se<span style="font-size: large;">e,</span></span> he's playing in the 'green' cotton candy, said all he wanted was a toy train, all shiny and sparkly and new. Wouldn’t you want a toy train? Santa has a whole box full of them at the North Pole.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Sally thought for another moment then looked over at the next child standing in line, her name was Tiffany. She wore a bright dress and was all smiles. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Can you hurry, Sally<span style="font-size: large;">?</span>” Tiffany demanded, stamping h<span style="font-size: large;">er <span style="font-size: large;">shiny</span></span> Mary-janes. “I just have to talk to Santa and, unlike you, I have been a very good little girl.” Even the elves could hear Tiffany’s strong Valley Girl accent.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Sally looked back at Santa. “Santa, I really don’t want a toy train; I know that if I get it my parents will have to buy more track so that I can run it down the hallway and then I will have to get more cars and a new engine and then I will have to buy one of those fancy train stations and I will have to get a little bridge to run the train over the other tracks and then a crossing thing with arms that go up and down and then I will have to get a huge box to keep them it and besides, it will be fun for a little while, then I will get bored and want something new and then it will just sit around and be in the way and besides it will only go in a circle and not really go anywhere really fast.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Santa was shocked; not because she said it all in one sentence and one breath, it was because <i>everyone</i> wanted a toy train, that’s why he had a box full.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Sally, you just aren’t a very good girl; you only think of yourself and not others.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Sally was saddened to hear that from Santa who had always been a hero to her. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Santa,” Sally said, “why don’t you give the toy train to Tiffany, she is always a good little girl and wears really nice clothes, nice shoes, has a wonderful tan, and always has a smile. I think she gives her lunch money to the teacher who uses it for good things. Yes, Tiffany is a good little girl, give her the toy train. She deserves it and besides I have heard that her parents are real rich and can buy her all the tracks and stations she wants.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Santa was very pleased, he had so many trains to give away and the line of good little boys and girls disappeared around the ‘green’ cotton candy mountain.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Santa, pulled from his reverie, felt a tug on his sleeve; Sally looked up at him with her sad eyes. “Santa I really don’t want anything for myself, but if you can, my little brother wants a Red Ryder BB Rifle.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Santa was stunned and outraged beyond belief as to what his ears had heard. He pushed Sally slid off his knee and past all the 'green' cotton candy<span style="font-size: large;"> and</span> watched as she crawled to the slide and started down its slippery surface. But she stopped just for second and took one last look at the Big Guy and all the wonderous elves and the piles o<span style="font-size: large;">f</span> 'green'<span style="font-size: large;"> cotton candy<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span>and heard them exclaim ere she slid out of sight, “Sally, you’ll shoot your eye out.”</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 22pt;">Merry Christmas and Happy New Year</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Stay Tuned . . </span>. .</div>
Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-85153353899463020922018-02-09T09:16:00.001-08:002018-02-09T09:16:16.659-08:00FREE, FREE, Toulouse For Death<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>TOULOUSE FOR DEATH</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">FREE TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">February 9th to the 11th, 2018</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e1FAO94UsOE/Wn3WfsHWXvI/AAAAAAAACes/qpnGV--iEbUWEA43buMfDteY8tPztywkwCLcBGAs/s1600/EBOOK%2BCOVER%2BTOULOUSE%2B7-8-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1050" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e1FAO94UsOE/Wn3WfsHWXvI/AAAAAAAACes/qpnGV--iEbUWEA43buMfDteY8tPztywkwCLcBGAs/s400/EBOOK%2BCOVER%2BTOULOUSE%2B7-8-14.jpg" width="262" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Story:</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: start;">This is the third book in this action adventure series, The Sharon O’Mara Chronicles. In TOULOUSE FOR DEATH, Sharon O’Mara is asked to help a friend’s dying godfather return four magnificent Impressionist paintings; the most important a large canvas by Toulouse Lautrec, to their rightful owners. Seems simple, but O’Mara learns these paintings were stolen during the final days of World War II from a plundered Nazi treasure trove. She is now confronted, seventy years later, with horrific events that throw her back into Hitler’s obscene war against the Jews. Her efforts to return these paintings forces O’Mara to combat the New Nazi Reich in a deadly race to find a secret key hidden in Paris that may enable these international criminals to restore the Nazi’s to their former vile glory. It is a race to the death.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: start;">NEWLY EDITED FOR 2018</span></span></div>
Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-84724481669630821452017-12-20T17:10:00.000-08:002017-12-20T17:10:04.807-08:00A Toy Train for Christmas <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6wsIqi9HDCE/UMYjOwArlOI/AAAAAAAAAyI/ZngSHBVqZLg/s1600/Toy+train+sets+for+children+0-24+months.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6wsIqi9HDCE/UMYjOwArlOI/AAAAAAAAAyI/ZngSHBVqZLg/s400/Toy+train+sets+for+children+0-24+months.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This blog was originally posted way back in 2010 (how times have not changed). This is a story about high-speed rail in California and it had so many comments (I've reposted almost every year) for my new readers. But now, even after seven years, nothing seems to have changed and, in fact, political positions have sadly become even more locked in place as the costs continue to sky-rocket. And technologies, such as the electric car and the autonomous auto, will probably kill the thing before it can reach its potential.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We've had Governor Brown now for seven years. It it weren't for the politics (one party rule) in Sacramento, this would have died years ago. When you complain about the current state of things in Washington, just look at what we have here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It has been slightly updated . . .</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"></span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">A Toy Train for Christmas</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Parts and Players:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Santa Claus (The Big Guy) – Washington D.C.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Santa’s Helpers (Men and Women in Elf Costumes) – State Governments</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Billy (Good Little Boy) and Tiffany (Good Little Girl) – California, Florida, Washington State, Illinois, New York, et all</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sally (Not so Good Little Girl) –Ohio and Wisconsin</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Toy Train – High Speed Rail</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Our Scene:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Santa’s huge toy shop in one of the big department stores; a long line of children wait to tell Santa what they want for Christmas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The first child climbs up on Santa’s knee with the help of one of the elves. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “And what’s your name little boy?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Bill<span style="font-size: large;">y</span>, Santa Claus, Billy.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Have you been good?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Oh yes Santa, I have been very, very good.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Excellent Billy, excellent, and what do you want for Christmas?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Oh Santa I want an erector set to build bridges for my brother, a whole village of affordable dollhouses for my little sister, and a turkey with all the stuff and stuffing for my dad, see he’s lost his job.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “I’m sorry to hear about that, I’ll see what I can do. Billy, you want so much for your family and that’s good, very good, but Billy, what do <b><i>you</i></b> want for being so good?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Billy thought for a moment then turned his head to Santa with a huge smile. “Santa I want a toy train. It would be the most wonderfulous thing in the whole world, a toy train that I can play with, run the track all through my room and maybe even in the hallway. It just has to be the most special and wonderous train, all shiny and sparkly and new. And, oh, oh, Santa that would be so great and it would be real cool ‘cause none of friends would have a train like it and they all would wan’na come over and see it and play with me in my room. Please Santa, please.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “But Billy I gave you a set of Hot Wheels and racetrack a few years ago and a really cool airplane and terminal set last year. Aren’t they fun to play with anymore? How about a nice electric car?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Nah, Santa. I broke the racetrack and the planes just aren’t any fun anymore, but a toy train would be real cool, did I say the other kids would wan’na come over and see it.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Yes you did, but Billy, that is a very big toy for someone your size.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “No. I’m a big boy, see!” Billy puffed himself up real big.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Yes, I guess you are<span style="font-size: large;">,</span> now that you are all puffed up. Yes, Billy, Santa has to agree that you are a big boy now and can take care of such a wonderfulous toy. Santa will see what he can do. Just watch for a big ‘green’ box under your Christmas tree.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Oh thank you Santa, thank you.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Billy, with the help of the elves (who were all smiling and singing, <i>I've Been Working on t<span style="font-size: large;">he Railroad</span></i>), climbed off Santa’s knee and slid down the slide into a huge pile of ‘green’ cotton candy. Billy was in heaven.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> The next child in line wasn’t sure about Santa, he was so big and his suit was all red and furry. The bells on all the elves (who were scurrying about still talking about the good little boy, Billy), jingled and jangled creating such a wonderous din. This all scared the little girl. When the elves helped her onto Santa’s knee, Santa wasn’t sure what was going to happen. He was afraid for his suit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “And what’s your name little girl?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “Sally,” she said quietly, still shaking.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> “That’s a pretty name, have you been a good little girl?”</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Sally thought for a moment. She looked at the Big Guy and all the elves dressed in 'green' elf costumes, 'green' cotton candy billowed all around them, it was a wonderous sight.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> “Santa, I have <i>not</i> been a good little girl. I have saved my lunch money and not given it to my friends at school like my teacher says I should. I used it to help my dad and I bought him a new tie, he was trying to get a job, and he did Santa, he was so happy. And I yelled at my brother when he bought some ice cream just after he had a whole mouthful of candy. So you see, I have not been a good girl.”</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> “I see, yes Sally, those aren’t good things to do, you should always mind your teacher.”</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> “Yes Santa.”</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> “But Sally, the elves and I know you can improve and be a better human being. I just know you want something for Christmas. Billy, that fine young man, who sat on this very knee just before you;<span style="font-size: large;"> se<span style="font-size: large;">e,</span></span> he's playing in the 'green' cotton candy, said all he wanted was a toy train, all shiny and sparkly and new. Wouldn’t you want a toy train? Santa has a whole box full of them at the North Pole.”</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Sally thought for another moment then looked over at the next child standing in line, her name was Tiffany. She wore a bright dress and was all smiles. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> “Can you hurry Sally<span style="font-size: large;">?</span>” Tiffany demanded, stamping h<span style="font-size: large;">er <span style="font-size: large;">shiny</span></span> Mary-janes. “I just have to talk to Santa and, unlike you, I have been a very good little girl.” Even the elves could hear Tiffany’s strong Valley Girl accent.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Sally looked back at Santa. “Santa, I really don’t want a toy train; I know that if I get it my parents will have to buy more track so that I can run it down the hallway and then I will have to get more cars and a new engine and then I will have to buy one of those fancy train stations and I will have to get a little bridge to run the train over the other tracks and then a crossing thing with arms that go up and down and then I will have to get a huge box to keep them it and besides, it will be fun for a little while, then I will get bored and want something new and then it will just sit around and be in the way and besides it will only go in a circle and not really go anywhere really fast.”</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Santa was shocked; not because she said it all in one sentence and one breath, it was because <i>everyone</i> wanted a toy train, that’s why he had a box full.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> “Sally, you just aren’t a very good girl; you only think of yourself and not others.”</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Sally was saddened to hear that from Santa who had always been a hero to her. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> “Santa,” Sally said, “why don’t you give the toy train to Tiffany, she is always a good little girl and wears really nice clothes, nice shoes, has a wonderful tan, and always has a smile. I think she gives her lunch money to the teacher who uses it for good things. Yes, Tiffany is a good little girl, give her the toy train. She deserves it and besides I have heard that her parents are real rich and can buy her all the tracks and stations she wants.”</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Santa was very pleased, he had so many trains to give away and the line of good little boys and girls disappeared around the ‘green’ cotton candy mountain.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Santa, pulled from his reverie, felt a tug on his sleeve; Sally looked up at him with her sad eyes. “Santa I really don’t want anything for myself, but if you can, my little brother wants a Red Ryder BB Rifle.”</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Santa was stunned and outraged beyond belief as to what his ears had heard. He pushed Sally slid off his knee and past all the 'green' cotton candy<span style="font-size: large;"> and</span> watched as she crawled to the slide and started down its slippery surface. But she stopped just for second and took one last look at the Big Guy and all the wonderous elves and the piles o<span style="font-size: large;">f</span> 'green'<span style="font-size: large;"> cotton candy<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span>and heard them exclaim ere she slid out of sight, “Sally, you’ll shoot your eye out.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: .25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 22pt;">Merry Christmas and Happy New Year</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: .25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: .25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Stay Tuned . . </span>. .</div>
Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-64646027069514825562017-10-18T12:48:00.003-07:002017-10-18T12:48:34.442-07:00BOOK SIGNING OCTOBER 20, 2017<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">ATTENTION -- ATTENTION -- ATTENTION</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-03UDSwrQ2Fs/Weev6LNLW_I/AAAAAAAACeE/eBVW1WwuWrksAwK6xxvac2X3ichr7ekxgCLcBGAs/s1600/Book%2BPassage%2BPresentation%2B10-20-17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-03UDSwrQ2Fs/Weev6LNLW_I/AAAAAAAACeE/eBVW1WwuWrksAwK6xxvac2X3ichr7ekxgCLcBGAs/s640/Book%2BPassage%2BPresentation%2B10-20-17.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b></div>
Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-12039786746309916112017-06-30T14:28:00.001-07:002017-06-30T14:28:13.391-07:00The De-Malling of America<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZxW2Gfb6LPU/WVbBNAaUe3I/AAAAAAAACc0/sSXZNVIbkSgY2MNnFk_TIH6y-indfLWFACLcBGAs/s1600/metronorthkc10*750xx648-365-0-44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="648" height="179" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZxW2Gfb6LPU/WVbBNAaUe3I/AAAAAAAACc0/sSXZNVIbkSgY2MNnFk_TIH6y-indfLWFACLcBGAs/s320/metronorthkc10*750xx648-365-0-44.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in;">
Ten years ago, before the Great
Recession, I was a consultant to one of America’s largest retail shopping
center owners. The stated goal was to see if we could redesign, repurpose, and
reprogram the concept of their existing shopping centers to include housing. We
focused on two malls, one in Southern California and another in the San
Francisco Bay Area. The idea was to include during the remodel of the mall, a
significant number of residential units into the property’s footprint. There
was all this delicious asphalt ready for housing; all we had to do was set
goals and then a direction.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in;">
The effort failed, mostly because of
the collapse of the financial markets, housing, and the bankruptcy of the
client. However, I still believe that these sites are gold mines for the
current and on-going realignment of retail and commercial space for two good
reasons.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The sites usually have excellent access and are
at important and critical transportation nexus points.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">2.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">In most instances the underlying dirt is either
free (paid for out of the old center’s previous life) or at a substantial
discount to the nearby costs of land.</span></li>
</ul>
<!--[if !supportLists]--><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MTv91rruElA/WVbBNP6eRTI/AAAAAAAACcw/28k8TxU2dYkNA9l9dGa1A3f-uio06fsXQCEwYBhgL/s1600/1754ca1558bfb616d757d987448d7afe32cf32cc_2880x1620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="112" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MTv91rruElA/WVbBNP6eRTI/AAAAAAAACcw/28k8TxU2dYkNA9l9dGa1A3f-uio06fsXQCEwYBhgL/s200/1754ca1558bfb616d757d987448d7afe32cf32cc_2880x1620.jpg" width="200" /></a>Additional
bonuses are that many have modern infrastructure (more or less) and willing
politics. Nothing gets a city’s attention faster than a decline in sales tax
revenues. It is projected that a quarter of all malls will close during the next five years.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
In
some instances these old malls can be rebuilt as town centers, dense
residential neighborhoods, or a mix of commercial, retail (service and restaurant),
housing (rental and for sale), and even transportation hubs. The old concept of
single use zoning is rapidly fading and new concepts are immerging.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
The
greatest difficulty I found with many of these development companies is a lack
of expertise and imagination. They know housing, they know retail, they know
office, but they refuse to understand each other’s land uses. This has to
change.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
It
will also require cities to change zoning and land use models. Many communities
built into their General Plans a long term program that is now inflexible and
counterproductive. No matter how important, it can take years to modify and
codify them – this while everything around them collapses and disappears. The
market place is not a kind and benevolent beast. As Ludwig von Mises said in
his great book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Human Action</i>, “The
market is supreme!” Believe it!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xz0uHoZKVOA/WVbB9rzU5qI/AAAAAAAACc4/hmHKOZMF60wbIFcQiq8aMao9F-w9Qh6NQCLcBGAs/s1600/amazon_logo_RGB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="1250" height="117" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xz0uHoZKVOA/WVbB9rzU5qI/AAAAAAAACc4/hmHKOZMF60wbIFcQiq8aMao9F-w9Qh6NQCLcBGAs/s320/amazon_logo_RGB.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
We
are discovering that now, it is often a hard slap to the face. Amazon buying
Whole Foods is just one example; the real examples are the high-end retailers
such as Nordstrom, fighting loosing battles to just stay alive over 6%
reductions in year to year sales. Shoppers? If you want loyalty, get a puppy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
I
worked for an architectural design studio back in the 1970s that focused on the
newest thing in retail shopping, the “enclosed” mall. Our clients were the big
boys of the day (they are still around, but certainly not the big boys they
were). These new malls destroyed the old town centers and main streets of
America, especially in the Midwest and the East. And now, the Internet is doing
the same thing; it is a revolution that is both cultural and financial. Sure
you can point a finger at Amazon, that’s easy. But in reality, it is every brick
and mortar retailer who is offering their products online and with a broader
selection and home delivery.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
The
models are changing, the way we shop is changing, what we buy is changing, and
most especially <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">why </i>we buy is
changing. Even the way we live is changing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
During
the last fifty years nothing has occupied architects, urban planners, and city
officials more than what will become of our cities. We have had
anti-suburbanists, neo-traditionalists, urban revivalists, edge city believers,
survivalists, futurists, and even blow-the-hole-thing-up-ists, telling us how
cities MUST be redesigned. Most without a clue or real plan.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
I
remember a science fiction story from my youth where everyone lived in their
own little cell, it was a nice cell, comfortable, with entertainment and all
the necessities of life, and everything arrived at the door—all you had to do
was ask for it. Paranoia raged, we were defensive and protective of our cell—all
because we didn’t go out anymore.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
Are
we there yet?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
Stay
tuned . . . . .<o:p></o:p></div>
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Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-88330201296600246462017-06-19T09:02:00.001-07:002017-06-19T09:08:58.483-07:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin-left: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>TRAVEL MUSINGS - EUROPE 2017</b></span></div>
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I apologize for not keeping this blog up to date - too much going on, as you can see from the blog below. I will try to be better.<br />
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I promised a report on our thirty days traveling Europe from London to Spain to France and Italy. Here are my observations, and they are based on a lot of travel over the years. <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Except</span> two or three western Mediterranean stops, we previously had visited most of these cities over the last twenty or more years. I could have written ten thousand words, so consider yourselves spared.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We have been traveling to England and Europe since 1989. My wife has written four books on the gardens of <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">England,</span> and I’ve included many of these locations in my own stories. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Sadly, a few events happened in England while we traveled – the Manchester horror, and the killings in London’s Borough Market area (we were visited just a few days earlier). We were also there for the British snap election, the ongoing Brexit issues, and watching their media treat Prime Minister May like Donald Trump. I have to say the Prime Minister reacts with a lot more style.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Regarding the terror attacks, the British seemed resigned, stiff upper lip and all. The press rants and raves but not once did I see a serious discussion of why this is happening, which requires a difficult level of introspection. The press wrings their collective hands and interviews every politician who will sit for their cameras. It was convenient that they were still set up for the post-election interviews only days after Borough Market, and many of these same talking heads – both political and media, said the same things. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; text-align: center;">The Shard from Borough Market - London</td></tr>
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I think my most interesting observation is that the Moslems in London (visitors, refugees, native born) were significantly more visible than in any of the other countries we visited. Women wore their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hajibs</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">chadors</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">burqas</i> everywhere. I saw no other <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">burqas</i> and very few <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hajibs</i> anywhere else on our travels, but they were ubiquitous in London. To stroll through Harrods (owned, as I found out, by Qatari royal family), one believes they are in an Arab souk, almost to the point of intimidation. I doubt that Moslems are any less devout in Spain or Italy, but they certainly are making their collective presence known in London. England, for more than a thousand years, has gone out of its way to accommodate everyone who comes to their island. There now appears to be a very palpable wariness and weariness on the part of the English toward Muslims. I believe there are many on both sides who are very afraid, and these “rogue” attacks only heighten that fear.<o:p></o:p></div>
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London itself was extremely busy and almost chaotic, street traffic was the worst of all the cities we visited. To try and reduce the traffic, they tax you for entering the core of the city with cameras checking your license plates or something. A taxi driver said to us, “No one bloody cares, they still drive in!” The stores were crowded, young people were everywhere, the usual tourist venues were packed. The pound’s drop in value to the dollar made things, even in expensive London, more affordable to us. It was twenty-five percent higher during our last visit four years ago. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; text-align: center;">The Ramblas in Barcelona</td></tr>
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Barcelona was also busy and almost as crowded as London. The beaches (some of the best urban beaches in Europe) were packed, and the international tourists were in full throat and wandered in thick packs. Again the young dominated the streets and restaurants. Everywhere the Chinese (the latest mass tourist movement), moved in busloads, walked in groups, <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">and as</span> the Japanese of the 1990s, were everywhere. I assume that China’s travel agencies are having a great year. Many Russians and Eastern Europeans as well. There were also more families traveling together, from all countries and age groups, than I’ve seen before. Why someone would travel with children under eight years old is beyond me. Hardly the relaxing time you imagined. However, it is a sign of the world’s expansion of wealth; two travelers are expensive, but a family (often extended with relatives and grandparents) is something else again.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; text-align: center;">The Royal Princess in Cartegana</td></tr>
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Our ship for the seven-day cruise during the middle leg of the journey (from Barcelona to Rome) was the Royal Princess. She is one of the twenty largest cruise ships in the world, and even <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">though,</span> at 3,500 passengers, it never seemed crowded. The smaller ships may have lower passenger <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">counts,</span> but there is also less ship square footage – I believe they seem more crowded. An inordinate number of our fellow cruisers were from Australia and New Zealand (it’s their winter right now). Great fun and attitudes, we seemed to have bonded with a few of the Aussies in the laundry room. I’ve never met an unhappy Australian.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We visited small cities on the Mediterranean. We docked at Cartagena, Spain and Gibraltar (still English and proud of it), Marseilles for Provence, Genoa for Northern Italy, and Livorno for Tuscany, and eventually Rome. The ship’s massive size requires significant port facilities, its one drawback for visiting smaller cities.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cruise Travel Observations:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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First off, I realize that there are many who think traveling on a cruise ship is expensive, boring, restrictive, and uncomfortable. I thought that at one time. Now, not at all. We spent far more on land costs (hotel, meals, entertainment) per day than we did on a daily basis for our cabin (which includes room, food, entertainment). If you throw in the air and land travel costs, from city to city, cruising is even less expensive. Essentially you can participate as much or as little as you want. You can engage other passengers or not. It is a wonderful hotel that travels wherever you want to go. There are hundreds, if not thousands of venues (countries, cities, <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">historical</span> locations), on dozens of cruise lines, at multiple price levels, that can literally take you anywhere in the world (including rivers and canals). We are hooked, try it. I’m sure that you will like it.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; text-align: center;">Gibraltar</td></tr>
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Gibraltar and Cartagena survive on tourists and the cruise ships. Beyond being entry ports to the inland regions of Spain and their long and important histories, today there is little else in these two cities of serious importance. Cartagena has an ancient Roman amphitheater and museum, a street of shops, and an interesting harbor. Outside of those, not much else. Gibraltar, because of its small size (3 square miles – most of it a mountain) needs to employ Spaniards from the nearby cities for its restaurants and services. We were told that the Spanish cities surrounding Gibraltar have high unemployment so this city is important to the region. The citizens of Gibraltar are concerned by the effects of Brexit – it could be significant for them. Spain is <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">rumbling</span> to take Gibraltar back, though I doubt it will happen. Over ninety-five percent of the residents voted to stay with Britain in a past election. Gibraltar and its famous monkey’s were on my bucket list, they are now checked off.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Genoa was a surprise; visually it’s a magnificent city that climbs the hills that wrap the ancient harbor. Traffic was intense and, as I found throughout Italy, seems to belie the reports that Italy is a financially sick country. The roads were busy with bright new cars, the restaurants wonderful, the trains beyond full, the people seemed happy – but what do I know. Italy is a major (if not the number one) world destination for travelers and tourists. The major cities are intense, noisy, and exciting. However, hotels are popping up that are marginal and some, absolutely god-awful terrible (we found this out in Rome and left one after one night), never believe the internet or even the reviews. Stick to the big hotels and brands – it is worth it, spend the bucks, you usually won’t regret it. Taxis are affordable, there <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">is</span> buses and transit in all the cities, but they are beyond crowded. Taxis, while costly, make better use of your time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Visit Lucca; it is worth the quiet and the chance to reflect and wander a city that once was an important Roman city. During the <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Renaissance,</span> it had a history of battling Florence and other of Italy’s city-states. It has surrounding defensive ramparts and earthworks that are now trails and parks, all very cool. <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Some</span> famous Italian musicians and composers came from Lucca.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Rome is eternal—there I said it. Unfortunately, I grew tired of the rough cobblestones of the streets and sidewalks. The number of sprained tourist ankles has to reach the thousands every year. The buzzing of a million scooters and motorbikes, tiny cars, taxis, buses, and crowds all add to the cacophony. Everywhere there are <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">tour guides</span> holding up some type of flag, pompon, or number. They (yes, we did it in Lucca) all wear little radios around their necks to listen to the live commentary in their own language. Some are very good, others not so much.<br />
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A fun moment was over a pizza we were having in Piazza Navona. We were in a corner bistro watching tourists – and Rome is very good for watching tourists, even if you are one yourself. Groups, one after the other, came through a nearby passage, stopped, took a breath and then collectively raised their two hands in adoration of the magnificence of what lay before them. Like a prayer was being offered to the gods that were once worshiped here. Well, actually they were all raising their phones to take a <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">picture</span> or a selfie. The preening and posing, especially by the girls <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">before</span> a selfie, is actually quite humorous – we are a very self-absorbed species, I can tell you that. Must see locations are the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel, the Pantheon, and the small neighborhoods that make up the city’s older parts—but be prepared for crowds.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Regarding my comments that led off this article, I saw little of the ethnic and religious posturing in Spain and Italy that I saw in England. <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Why</span> I’m not sure. Italy has absorbed ten of thousands of refugees from Africa (and buried thousands that drowned trying to escape the strife of the North African nations). Every plaza and venue in Rome and Florence had well-armed police and army personnel patrolling. While there’s some petty crime, pickpocketing, and the usual gypsies, I never felt the same fear that one can get in some big American cities. Maybe it’s the swarm/school mentality of travel; in great packs of tourists you feel safer, it’s the old and wounded that get picked off.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; text-align: center;">Florence, Italy and the Arno River</td></tr>
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Florence and Venice are delightful, but I <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">suggest traveling</span> in winter or early spring. <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Like</span> other places, they were crowded. Food, when traveling can be hit or miss. We were <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">lucky,</span> and the best meals were impromptu affairs. <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">A delightful discovery</span> is the Padua, Italy made, Aperol aperitif. This spritzer is a bright, <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">orange-colored</span> aperitif, mixed with Prosecco and club soda, add an orange slice for effect. I’m a scotch <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">drinker,</span> but in <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">London,</span> we were offered an Italian martini made with Sabatini gin. That and another discovery, Vallombrosa gin, are now on my menu.</div>
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The ability to travel and see the world is a luxury we have during this brief period of world history. There were times during the last century when our adventures were almost unheard of and impossible. Today, the common person can pack up, safely and economically travel almost anywhere in the world. We met people from Australia, New Zealand, Nepal, American expats in Barcelona and a couple that spends six months a year on cruise ships. The staff on the ships and at the hotels are from dozens of countries. Conversations were often too brief, we wanted to know more.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I saw more expensive automobiles in London than anywhere else I’ve traveled. There were more Bentleys, Ferraris, Rolls Royce’s, <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Maybachs</span>, Aston Martins, Porches, and other types of autos I never <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">knew</span> existed; we watched four (with very stupid drivers) Lamborghinis race through Hyde Park in London. The highpoint was the Bugatti Chiron (3+ million dollars) parked in front of our hotel. This is “in your face” display of wealth, and may also contribute to the tensions…just saying.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Never stop traveling, get out of your rut, look around, talk to people, eat strange food, discover <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">gins</span> made in Tuscany, realize that there are hundreds of types of wine out there (beyond California boring basic four kinds), and sit and watch the people. And above all, enjoy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We traveled on a Boeing 787, an Airbus A-346 and two A-319s, sped across Italy on high-speed trains at almost 200 kph. Jumped in and out of taxis, limos, buses, escalators, elevators, ferries, water taxis, vaporetti, and our 1083-foot long cruise ship. The hotel rooms were suites and one-room disasters. The bathrooms were always an adventure; the showers, an exercise in cautionary entering and exiting. However, all were clean and very neat.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And someday, we will learn to travel light.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bon Voyage!!</div>
Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-91336216981236927092017-01-03T15:35:00.001-08:002017-01-03T15:35:47.977-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Venice, Missing - A New Gregory C. Randall Book</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">Publisher’s Marketplace Announcement<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">It’s been a while since my last post, I apologize to all my readers who thought that I either quit blogging or ran off to Tahiti (great thought, BTW). What I have been up to is writing, seriously writing. Finished two books since August, one that was taking in by a publisher, and another that is being shopped by my agent. Every book or manuscript goes through a series of steps or stages, from initial concept through drafts, rewrites, edits, line edits, actually until the thing looks like road kill (and often feels like it too). That’s when you present it to a publisher hoping they too see what you started with, so many months before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">Big Announcement:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">What a great way to start the year! I’ve been writing fiction and non-fiction for twenty years. I have two active thriller series (see columns left and right) and three others underdevelopment. I’ve self/indie published nine books. Writers want to share our stories with others, and Kimberley Cameron has helped this writer achieve this dream, a real contract with a real big-time publisher. So here you are as posted in the upcoming <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Publishers Marketplace</b>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">Fiction: Thriller</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">Greg Randall's VENICE, MISSING, book one of the Alexandra Polonia Series, involving two women protagonists—each carrying heartbreaking burdens from their pasts and seeking retribution for bloody wars and shattered families— as they confront their enemies, personal ghosts, and eventually each other in the ancient city of canals, to Jessica Tribble at Thomas & Mercer, in a two-book deal, for publication in 2018, by Kimberley Cameron at Kimberley Cameron & Associates (world).<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">I’m going to frame that and put it on the wall. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">Not to worry Sharon O’Mara fans, a new book is on the way, hopefully this summer. Sharon and Kevin are in Ireland, nasty stuff happens, but of course our friends manage to win the day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">And not to forget Tony Alfano—our Chicago detective is hard on another case. Fists fly and bodies fall as Alfano chases down another villain during the Century of Progress Fair. Its 1933, those bygone days of yesteryear, when men were men, women soft and lanky, and Chicago politicians acted just the same.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Some new characters are in the works. New Guy: he’s spy in Rome during World War II and a follow-up book in Cairo. Good historical stuff here, OSS and CIA, sexy brunette, and very bad Nazis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">The new year looks very promising, can’t wait to get started.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">More later . . . . . .</span></div>
Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-67194917551945172882016-03-26T08:16:00.002-07:002016-03-26T08:16:13.326-07:00FREE - FREE - FREE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J6uxZ7bIyv4/VvanXxQJuvI/AAAAAAAACUw/zINqiZQgpXYNODCBfPDDhWAjdtvOiSAZA/s1600/Diamonds%2BEbook%2BFree%2B3-26-16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J6uxZ7bIyv4/VvanXxQJuvI/AAAAAAAACUw/zINqiZQgpXYNODCBfPDDhWAjdtvOiSAZA/s400/Diamonds%2BEbook%2BFree%2B3-26-16.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Diamonds-For-Death-Sharon-Chronicles/dp/0965651061">CLICK HERE</a></b></span></div>
<br />Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-41185682260518928832016-02-03T09:24:00.000-08:002016-02-03T09:24:29.409-08:00The 10 Best/Worst Inventions of the 21st Century – So Far<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0in;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eRbwcps0SNk/VrI0Oz4qNwI/AAAAAAAACR8/aOHRshwLOdY/s1600/415AQMKJ3WL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eRbwcps0SNk/VrI0Oz4qNwI/AAAAAAAACR8/aOHRshwLOdY/s200/415AQMKJ3WL.jpg" width="155" /></a>Obviously this is my list, while most of these are on a lot of people's lists there are many others not included. We each have our favorites.<br /><br /><br /><b>1.</b> The <b>Keurig Coffee</b> maker (K-Cup) – while
technically from the latter part of the 1990s, this appliance caught on in the after
being wholly acquired by Keurig Green Mountain Coffee and revolutionized the
coffee industry as much as Starbucks changed coffee drinking. Starting in 2008,
innumerable brands of coffee, soup, tea, became available at the local
supermarket for the machine. I love the thing, and don’t start with all the
baloney about the throw away cups. I ask you, how many wine and liquor bottles
did you toss this week? And what about that countertop roll of paper towels
that you replace each week? And at 5:00 a.m. who wants to make a full pot of
coffee? </div>
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<br /><b>2. </b> <b>Apple iPad</b> (2010) and the ensuing wave
of personal tablets. If one item changed how we deal with everything from
entertainment to logistics it was the invention of the iPad and its imitators.
In your hand you can contain a library, access to patients records, maintain
shipping records, managed inventories, display restaurant menus, and even waste
innumerable hours playing WarCraft. I actually invented the original reader
tablet <a href="http://writing4death.blogspot.com/2011/05/update-13-i-invented-ereader.html"><b><span style="color: red;">(go here)</span></b></a>,
I was just fifteen years too early.</div>
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<br /><b>3. </b>The (now)
ubiquitous <b>Smartphone</b>. While the
successor to a number of late 20<sup>th</sup> century PDAs and Blackberries,
the iPhone (2007) set off the mad scramble to change how we entertain,
interact, and access the world around us. While a lot like the tablet, the
Smartphone’s advantage was its cellular connection, size/portability, and ever-expanding
world of Applications (Apps). It has also lead to police citations for
distracted driving, users injured after walking into poles, ponds, and
crosswalks, and more selfies than the world should ever need or want. In fact
the <b>selfie</b> might be considered a 21<sup>st</sup>
century sub-invention of the Smartphone.</div>
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<br /><b>4. Facebook </b>(2004). This social media
application took the world like Genghis Khan did in the 13<sup>th</sup>
century. No description is necessary – if you don’t know what this is you
probably are in the 13<sup>th</sup> century. I often believe that Facebook is
like being forced to spend the rest of your life at your Aunt Milly’s with her
cats being required to go through the photo albums of her bus trip to Bulgaria
in 1973 with Trump driving and Hillary doing the tour guide thing.</div>
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<br /><b>5. Print On Demand – POD</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-431L8706cp4/VrI2kraeCMI/AAAAAAAACSk/IY4Qqg1Idkw/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="116" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-431L8706cp4/VrI2kraeCMI/AAAAAAAACSk/IY4Qqg1Idkw/s200/Unknown.jpeg" width="200" /></a></b></div>
<b> </b>Like most
technologies, POD is a derivative of the high-speed reproduction systems
developed during the last forty years (Xerox, Minolta, etc.). POD differs in
that with one machine produces a professional book of fiction or non-fiction a
in less than five minutes (often much less). The Espresso Book Machine (Xerox)
was first installed in 2007. This is both a physical invention and a data
system using interrelated tools for data storage (book files), sales access
(book page at Amazon, etc.), and input (authors/publishers). It has
dramatically changed and expanded the number of books (paper) available.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0in;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h0DaaR6IAcc/VrI2vS7_x4I/AAAAAAAACSo/0cRcC6Aok6g/s1600/3_amazon_kindle_logo_font.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h0DaaR6IAcc/VrI2vS7_x4I/AAAAAAAACSo/0cRcC6Aok6g/s200/3_amazon_kindle_logo_font.jpg" width="200" /></a><br /><b>6. Amazon Kindle (2007) and the eBook. </b>I
ask you, does an ebook really exist? Without a reading device such as the
Amazon Kindle and subsequent tablets, or iPad, or smartphone, or even you
computer, the ability to read an ebook is impossible. Yet, this electronic
collection of whatever it is has revolutionized – and I mean revolutionized –
the world of writing and publishing. I would offer that more than 90% of those
with a tablet device or a computer have downloaded at least one ebook—admit it.
Jeff Bezos and Amazon not only changed how we buy books but how we read them as
well.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0in;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oPgpdzX05vE/VrI0Va8iq2I/AAAAAAAACSE/SX5BtHbF3Zs/s1600/the-big-short.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oPgpdzX05vE/VrI0Va8iq2I/AAAAAAAACSE/SX5BtHbF3Zs/s200/the-big-short.jpg" width="200" /></a><br /><b>7. The Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDOs).</b>
I didn’t say they would all be positive - go see the movie the Big Short<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mJIq7BiAUWI/VrI0zVC1aEI/AAAAAAAACSM/BdbULeJ7Vpo/s1600/google-earth-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"> Wikipedia Says :<i style="font-size: small;"> </i><i><span style="color: #1c1c1c; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I</span>n the early 2000s,
CDOs were generally diversified,</span></i><i><sup><span style="color: #092f9d; line-height: 115%;">[5]</span></sup></i><i><span style="color: #1c1c1c; line-height: 115%;"> but by 2006–2007—when the CDO market grew to hundreds of
billions of dollars—this changed. CDO collateral became dominated not by loans,
but by lower level (</span></i></a><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_ratings#Corporate_credit_ratings"><span style="color: #092f9d; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">BBB or A</span></a>)
tranches recycled from other asset-backed securities, whose assets were usually
non-prime mortgages,<span style="color: #092f9d; font-size: x-small;"> </span></i><i><span style="color: #1c1c1c; line-height: 115%;">and are known as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_CDO"><span style="color: #092f9d; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Synthetic CDO</span></a>. These CDOs
have been called "the engine that powered the mortgage supply chain"
for nonprime mortgages,</span></i><i><sup><span style="color: #092f9d; line-height: 115%;">[7]</span></sup></i><i><span style="color: #1c1c1c; line-height: 115%;"> and are credited with giving lenders greater incentive to make
non-prime loans</span></i><i><sup><span style="color: #092f9d; line-height: 115%;">[8]</span></sup></i><i><span style="color: #1c1c1c; line-height: 115%;"> leading up to the 2007-9 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subprime_mortgage_crisis"><span style="color: #092f9d; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">subprime
mortgage crisis</span></a></span></i><span style="color: #1c1c1c; line-height: 115%;">. </span><span style="color: #1c1c1c; line-height: 115%;">And the world was
given the Great Recession and the destruction of my company.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #1c1c1c;"><span style="font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></span><b>8. YouTube (2005).</b> And yes, you can become
a movie producer of cat and puppy videos all in the comfort of your own home.
You too can put your wedding movies out there for everyone to see, and yes this
simple company and its camp followers has led to the destruction of the
traditional porn industry – is nothing sacred? YouTube Movie production is the direct result of the blending of softwares, cameras, phones, and creative
genius (for some), and is now significantly responsible for how we store old
memories (digitization) and create new ones.</div>
<div>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0UKhag7RewM/VrI1s_F63XI/AAAAAAAACSU/d6aJuxuMMgQ/s1600/google-earth-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0UKhag7RewM/VrI1s_F63XI/AAAAAAAACSU/d6aJuxuMMgQ/s200/google-earth-logo.jpg" width="197" /></a><br /><b>9. Google Earth (2001). </b>For armchair
travelers, planners, geographic voyeurs, and vacation planners, Google Earth is
just plain cool. With its 3D function you can get a feel for the land<br /> nd the
structures of cities, with its street view walk or drive the cities and
countries of much of the world. Combined with its ad features for hotels,
businesses, restaurants, and almost everything else that pays to play, it can
make a business. (also includes Google Maps here).</div>
<div>
<br /><b>10. DNA Testing.</b> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wBCtGAbGFUM/VrI142bfPxI/AAAAAAAACSY/KqCwg6aocTw/s1600/AncestryDNA_logo-660x161.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="48" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wBCtGAbGFUM/VrI142bfPxI/AAAAAAAACSY/KqCwg6aocTw/s200/AncestryDNA_logo-660x161.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
AncestryDNA, 23and Me,
Family Tree, etc. are all companies that will test your DNA to try and place
your genetic ancestry based on their huge pool of DNA tests. Like the
commercial though, you may think you were German and discover that you are
really Scottish, or Norwegian, or Dalmatian (the region, not the dog). Not done
this myself, kind of spooky out their in my gene pool.<br /><br /><br />Also Rans:<br /><ul>
<li>iPod (2001)</li>
<li>Bluetooth (2000ish)</li>
<li>Skype (2003)</li>
<li>Robotics – ongoing
for the wounded and injured</li>
<li>Drones – I am so
tired of them</li>
<li>Tesla Electric Car
– While cool, I think its financial success is still debatable</li>
<li>Roomba Vacuum
Cleaner (2002)</li>
<li>Flat Screen TVs –
Smart TV</li>
<li>NetFlix (late 20<sup>th</sup>
century DVD – but took off in the digital world)</li>
<li>Medical devices for
the heart, pancreas and other organs</li>
<li>Innumerable international
political organizations – most corrupt and derivative</li>
</ul>
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Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-74098723650400065682015-12-24T08:31:00.002-08:002015-12-24T08:31:42.117-08:00Merry Christmas to All<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-acZ675ZCubc/VnwdhTUlTuI/AAAAAAAACRY/M9y2P97k7Tk/s1600/cute_teddy_bear_holding_a_christmas_gift_dressed_for_the_holidays_0521-1009-1113-4826_SMU.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-acZ675ZCubc/VnwdhTUlTuI/AAAAAAAACRY/M9y2P97k7Tk/s400/cute_teddy_bear_holding_a_christmas_gift_dressed_for_the_holidays_0521-1009-1113-4826_SMU.jpg" width="365" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Have a wonderful Merry Christmas</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">and a Happy New Year from</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Greg Randall and all the folks</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">at Windsor Hill Publishing</span></div>
Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-17027761964302441572015-10-22T10:05:00.000-07:002015-10-22T10:05:21.724-07:00The Latest and Confusing Housing Reports<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NlxXEzRoDeA/VikVzlxAEVI/AAAAAAAACQY/6VN5lxMZRGg/s1600/roller-coaste%2Bhousing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NlxXEzRoDeA/VikVzlxAEVI/AAAAAAAACQY/6VN5lxMZRGg/s320/roller-coaste%2Bhousing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Trying to track the
ups and downs of the housing market is like handicapping the various races for
president. Whose up, whose down, and why—place your bets, chumps. It’s all a
jumble of meddling politicians, social correctiveness (the new politically
correct), flat interest rates, job migration, oil prices, NIMBYism,
millennials, boomers, college debt, and Fannie-Mae and Freddie-Mac (who do
control the loan market – look <a href="http://fortune.com/2015/10/20/fannie-and-freddie-wont-go-away/?xid=timehp-popular">HERE</a>).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0in;">
The following articles are some of
the more interesting articles of the last few weeks that deal with this whole
“roof over my head” issue. Remember that the days of “market rate” housing are gone;
in some areas more than a third of a home’s cost (and more) can be attributed
directly and indirectly to local entitlement and underlying land costs. To believe that the housing market responds to the supply and demand theories of the last century are well, so last century.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Apartments:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0in;">
Who’s really
renting? Good discussion <a href="http://www.globest.com/news/12_1223/national/multifamily/Which-Generation-Is-Really-Driving-the-MF-Market-362828-1.html?ET=globest:e47952:426094a:&st=email&s=&cmp=gst:California_AM_20151021:editorial">HERE</a> on the renters that are populating the new
apartment complexes. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Labor:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The Wall Street
Journal noted that one of the biggest problems in the housing construction is labor – seems that when those Mexicans went home they took their
abilities with them – they have not come back (<a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/10/19/heres-where-all-the-construction-workers-went/">HERE</a> for a different look). <o:p></o:p></div>
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Also <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/labor-shortage-pinches-home-builders-1444688976">HERE</a>, for a take on the impact of this shortage of construction workers.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Housing Starts UP and DOWN – Whatever<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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It seems that every
week we get hit with the latest in housing stats from somewhere – and even during
the same week they have different conclusions. Take your pick:<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here’s the New York
Times’ take: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/business/economy/us-housing-starts-increased-in-september.html?_r=1">U.S. Housing Starts Increasein September</a></b>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0in;">
And the Wall Street
Journal: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-housing-starts-up-on-multifamily-construction-1445344391">Home Construction Rebounds AmidSurge in Multifamily Units</a></b>:<o:p></o:p></div>
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Next month they will both print some form of a retraction.<br />
<br />
And <a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/3589816-housing-stocks-are-a-mixed-bag">HERE'S</a> what the impact is on housing stocks.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">And Home Prices Keep Rising – One Reason:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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If you have to
provide one subsidized unit (affordable) for every ten approved units, isn’t it
fair to believe that every one of those free-market units is now more
expensive? I assure you the builder is not going to eat the difference no
matter how big his heart. Affordable housing hurts everyone, but it wrong to
believe that – <a href="http://www.mainebiz.biz/article/20151020/NEWS0101/151029996">GO HERE</a> on Portland, Maine’s latest move (Portland, Oregon did
something like this years ago). <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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And in San
Francisco they are still leading from the rear, <a href="http://abc7news.com/education/sf-mayor-announces-plan-to-provide--affordable-housing-for-teachers/1045018/">HERE</a>:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">And it’s not YOUR fault:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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When it comes to
buying the consumer has no clue, they can’t make correct and appropriate
decisions, obviously we need the government to step in, or so says Noble Prize
winning economist, Robert Shiller <a href="http://www.zillow.com/research/robert-shiller-phoolish-consumers-11033/">HERE</a> . </div>
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But then again
there are few other economists that would argue his point – i.e. <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/artcarden/2012/09/29/the-greatest-thinker-youve-never-read-ludwig-von-mises/">Ludwig von Mises</a> for one.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0in;">
<b>And it’s not your
fault either – Part 2,</b> </div>
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Apartment builders should have thought about the THIS
change:<o:p></o:p></div>
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And now we have to
think about the new paradigm: On-Line Shopping. Where do apartments store and
then deliver packages to their tenants? Should new homes have more secure
exterior package drop-offs - <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/package-gate-big-landlord-blocks-deliveries-after-deluge-of-parcels-1445333401">HERE</a>?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Stay Tuned . . . .
. .<o:p></o:p></div>
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Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-12565340969278773752015-10-12T08:34:00.000-07:002015-10-12T08:34:18.198-07:00Blue Highways - On The Road Again - Part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mfyax50H5yw/VhvRslrSrRI/AAAAAAAACPs/nIoKhgQB8mQ/s1600/IMGP0958.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mfyax50H5yw/VhvRslrSrRI/AAAAAAAACPs/nIoKhgQB8mQ/s320/IMGP0958.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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As I said last
week, my wife and I have often discussed over the years of traveling the roads
of the western United States. Lord knows, I’ve done the LA-San Diego to San
Francisco trip maybe thirty times, even the SF to Phoenix interstate dance a
few times. Twenty-five years ago we went north to Portland and Bend, Oregon.
But the real west, the old west of cowboy lore and Injuns and pioneers and
mountains has eluded us – and what about the new West – they were all there to
be seen. And we, for forty-five years, had been very remiss.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Leg Three:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Utah and Arizona<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Last week’s post
followed the Randalls from the Bay Area north to Sun Valley, then Montana,
Yellowstone to Jackson Hole, with our midway stop being Park City. After Park
City we wound through Salt Lake City. Now, for a Californian (and like most
Californians it seems) no one gives Salt Lake much of a lick, but as we drove
south on I-15 (one of our few interstate legs) I was stunned by the growth
around Salt Lake and Provo. It all reminded me of the Bay Area as it wraps
around the southern end of San Francisco Bay. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CUGBpy950co/VhvR7BQVn-I/AAAAAAAACP0/z8cY3FIS05Y/s1600/Trip%2BMap%2BSept%2B2015%2Brev%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CUGBpy950co/VhvR7BQVn-I/AAAAAAAACP0/z8cY3FIS05Y/s320/Trip%2BMap%2BSept%2B2015%2Brev%2B2.jpg" width="289" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3,700 Miles</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The last time I
drove through Salt Lake City was in 1969; sure I’d dropped in at the airport a
time or two while in transit, but never directly through the town or the
region. Today it is not a town but a huge and thriving metropolis. Since the
1950s the population of the region has grown 308% from 500,000 to now over two
million. Its growth fills the valley from north of Salt Lake City south to
beyond Provo. A couple of reasons why: good jobs (highest rate of growth in
U.S.), average home price of $204,756, condos in the $160,000 range, and two
bedroom apartments rent for $1200. It’s a two and three story urban complex,
and with little imagination it reminded me of San Jose. It is, like portions of
Idaho (Twin Falls, Idaho Falls), something to watch – homes are affordable, good
air, spectacular scenery, and stable economies can lead to great things.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We headed south
down US 191, through Price, Utah and to Moab. Spectacular red stone bluffs,
deep canyons, and high open desert led to some of the most bizarre rock
formation around Moab – a decidedly touristy spot that straddles 191 south of
I-70. Well worth the trip. It’s here, in this geologically wonderful region,
where many of the National Parks are located: Arches National Park, Canyonlands
National Park, Upper Cathedral Valley, Capitol Reef National Park, Glen Canyon
National Recreation Area and dozens of study areas, and national forests. We stopped
in a small town on a high plateau, Blanding, for the night. The country
surprised me; this was ranch and cattle country, great fields of alfalfa and grazing
land—no desert here. Actually quite beautiful.<o:p></o:p></div>
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My goal for the
trip was Monument Valley and its incredible red sandstone buttes. This is not a
National Park but lies totally within the Navajo Nation reservation. These
buttes and adjacent formations reach over a 1,000 feet above the valley floor
and were one of film director John Ford’s favorite movie sets (Stagecoach, My
Darling Clementine, She wore a Yellow Ribbon, to name a few).<o:p></o:p></div>
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From there we
headed to Page, Arizona. A relatively new city built to support the
construction of the Glen Canyon Dam (1957). This is the gateway to the Glen
Canyon National Recreation Area and Lake Powell. Strange but interesting town
of 7,000 that sits on a mesa above the surrounding Arizona desert at 4,300 feet
above sea level. A few films were made in the area, most notably the disastrous
Edgar Rice Burroughs Mars movie, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">John
Carter</i>. We spent one night, found a good Italian restaurant, relatively
cheap gas, a Denny’s breakfast (sorry, no Barsoom Martians), and then on to the
North Rim of the Grand Canyon.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A left-turn at
Jacobs Lake and then a 45 mile drive down a 2 lane cul de sac (longest I’ve
driven) takes you to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. This drive,
surprisingly quiet and picturesque, passed an area that, like Yellowstone in 1988,
experienced a forest fire in 2006 that has changed thousands of acres of fir
and pine forests. Significant regrowth is occurring.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Not much can be
said about the Grand Canyon. Its your usual mile deep hole in the ground, ten
to twenty miles wide, and layers of rock that can take you back a billion
years. As I said—not unusual—but spectacularly fantastic nonetheless. At North
Rim your view of the canyon is a thousand feet higher than the south side.
There are fewer crowds and there is a sense of intimacy with this wonder, where
on the south there are far more crowds. This is a must on anyone’s visit to the
region.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YPSZAwqary0/VhvSRC_s2fI/AAAAAAAACP8/HZ5tIjMU6aY/s1600/Park%2BCity%2BUtah%252C%2BGrand%2BCanyon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YPSZAwqary0/VhvSRC_s2fI/AAAAAAAACP8/HZ5tIjMU6aY/s400/Park%2BCity%2BUtah%252C%2BGrand%2BCanyon.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Leg Four:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Arizona, Nevada, and California<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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One of the stranger
places we ran into was on a stretch of I-15 (the interstate between Salt Lake
and Las Vegas). What the devil is St. George, Utah? Wikipedia says there are
more than 150,000 people in the metropolitan region, mostly white, mostly
Mormon. It sits in the middle of nowhere (with spectacular scenery though). Why
it is one of the fastest growing urban areas in the United States makes you
scratch your head. It is hot and very dry. Its leading industry is tourism (or
the flow through of tourists), why else live here, not sure. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid</i> was
filmed near here. The chunk of I-15 heading south into Arizona and Nevada is
one of the most incredible pieces of highway engineering I’ve ever seen (and
scariest).<o:p></o:p></div>
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It was about this
time we made a change in plans; after Las Vegas (another mile deep canyon in
the middle of the desert), for a day of R&R we were then on to Mammoth and
Yosemite in California. We changed our minds and after two weeks of mountains
and desert we wanted to see water—so after stopping for a day in Vegas we
headed almost due west to Carmel and Monterey, California. Just one note about
Las Vegas, it is as much a state of mind as a place. To be honest, after what
we had seen the previous two weeks, we were bored with the place. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We’ve driven north
and south in California many times, Highway 99, I-5, and Highway 101, but never
directly east to west from Barstow to Bakersfield to Paso Robles. While the
physical geology is not as impressive as Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah, it does have
some of the greatest agricultural lands in the west. But even here you could
tell the drought was taking its toll. The land, even for September, looked
drier and stressed. We took state Highway 46; if you have a chance take this
road. It is quintessentially California: farm land, cotton, nut crops and what
I assumed was more than twenty square miles of pistachios – now that is a lot
of nuts. Then on through the mountains and down into the “other” vineyard
region of California – Paso Robles. In many ways even more dramatic than Napa
and Sonoma. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We turned north and
almost finished our trip in Monterey (it is 510 miles from Las Vegas - a very
long but interesting day). Two days later we were home in the East Bay.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9PeGDbkk5BA/VhvSfQnWHQI/AAAAAAAACQE/SP-WAy12cWo/s1600/IMG_1752.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9PeGDbkk5BA/VhvSfQnWHQI/AAAAAAAACQE/SP-WAy12cWo/s320/IMG_1752.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last Night of Trip - Monterey, California</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I hope I haven’t
bored you too much with this travelogue, but I recommend this trip. The western
United States is a spectacular country with amazing things to see (it will test
your knowledge and creative use of superlatives – we often just settled on WOW),
to experience, and most of all appreciate. Take the time and just do it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Stay Tuned . . . .
. . . . <o:p></o:p></div>
Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-68070769090732494162015-10-05T08:51:00.000-07:002015-10-05T08:52:44.900-07:00Blue Highways – A Road Trip – Part 1<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ztqw54abvCA/VhKb5RUCn-I/AAAAAAAACPY/SEC26AwDMFY/s1600/Montana%2BRoad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="130" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ztqw54abvCA/VhKb5RUCn-I/AAAAAAAACPY/SEC26AwDMFY/s200/Montana%2BRoad.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue Highway</td></tr>
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My wife and I have
often discussed over the years of traveling the roads of the western United
States. Lord knows, I’ve done the LA-San Diego to San Francisco trip maybe
thirty times, even the SF to Phoenix interstate dance a few times. Twenty-five
years ago we went north to Portland and Bend, Oregon. But the real west, the
old west of cowboy lore and Injuns and pioneers and mountains has eluded us –
and what about the new West – they were all there to be seen. And we, for
forty-five years, had been very remiss.</div>
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<br /></div>
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A favorite high
school author (and still to be sure) was John Steinbeck and when his book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Travels with Charley</i> was published in
1962--it became a favorite. It teased me as a teenager about America and the
places that were beyond the prairies of the Chicago and Midwest which
eventually lead to a solo cross-country jaunt in 1969 to LA and San Francisco. Two
years later my bride and I moved from Chicago to San Francisco taking the still,
under construction in places, interstate system using I-70 to Denver, south on
I-25 to Albuquerque, west on I-40 (some of the old Route 66), and eventually
stopping at the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, and finally San Francisco. That was
April 1971.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In 1982 another
American highway travelogue was published, and like Steinbeck, William Least
Heat-Moon in his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blue Highways</i>, tried
to find the true American—who ever they are—by traveling the two lane highways
of America, not the high speed interstates. His book, remarkable for its insight,
clarity, and humor, again struck a cord in my traveling soul. But for the past
twenty-five years Europe and other exotic places called and we answered. The
western trip seemed to elude us, “Maybe next year.” Well this was finally the
year.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our goal was a
simple clockwise loop, from Walnut Creek to Walnut Creek. This was not to be a
camping trip, no sleeping under the stars. My idea of camping includes marble
countertops in the bathroom (call me a retired boy scout). At my age crawling
out of a sleeping bag is not a pretty sight. But it was also not going to
ultra-first class, economy is good if there’s legroom.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Steinbeck along
with his traveling companion, Charley the poodle, towed a trailer (now in his
Salinas museum) behind a new pickup truck. Heat-Moon drove a green van with a
camp stove and portable toilet. Sorry guys – AARP approved hotels were our base
line and certainly anything above that was more than acceptable. Our horse was
a red Ford Escape with 3000 miles on it when we rolled down the driveway. Our goal
was to see as much as we could in seventeen days. The route is posted below.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X3GZl5ZGanc/VhKONr9X0CI/AAAAAAAACPA/ZlhMAGyYscs/s1600/Trip%2BMap%2BSept%2B2015%2Brev%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X3GZl5ZGanc/VhKONr9X0CI/AAAAAAAACPA/ZlhMAGyYscs/s320/Trip%2BMap%2BSept%2B2015%2Brev%2B2.jpg" width="289" /></a></div>
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First Leg:<o:p></o:p></div>
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Nevada and Idaho
and Montana <o:p></o:p></div>
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I worked as a
consultant to a mining company back in the late 1970s designing a work camp and
support housing near a town called Challis, Idaho. I wanted to see what had
changed. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We went east
through Reno onto Wells, Nevada then north into Idaho and through Twin Falls.
The last time I’d been in Twin Falls was the late 70s. The population then was about
25,000 people and agricultural based – the shock of driving through this now
very modern upsized town of more than 46,000 was stunning (I’m sure the
population was well above that in the surrounding county). Construction and new
growth was everywhere – and as we were to find out almost everywhere - there
has been tremendous growth in the west during the last twenty-five years. After
spending a few days in Ketchum and Sun Valley (where Hemmingway lived from 1935
to 1947 and later died) we headed north into Challis and discovered almost nothing
had changed in forty years. It is still a simple main street town, spectacular
surrounding mountains, and verdant fields and cattle lands below, all flanking
the Salmon River. Its population had gained about 200 people since 1980, now
about 1,000 people call Challis home (the Village Inn where our base camp had
been set up, was exactly the same).<o:p></o:p></div>
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We headed north
into Montana then east to Virginia City, Montana. Montana <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> Big-Sky country. It’s as open as a when a very young Sacagawea
lead Lewis and Clark through the region in 1805, now cattle populates the great
expanses of the country and not the Shoshone and buffalo. We stayed south of
Butte and west of Bozeman on two lane highways that were in finer shape than
California’s and headed south to the old mining town of Virginia City. What we
did find were small and seemingly prosperous towns and ranches. The country
was, to use an overworked term, awesome. Then on to Yellowstone National Park.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Yellowstone is
worth the visit. I took some good photos of the usual suspects: buffalo and elk,
the Old Faithful geyser, mud boils and the forest recovering from the massive
fires of 1988. The most traffic we ran into (on the whole trip) was at the
entry gate to Yellowstone. One of the funniest incidents were the cars backed
up behind a bull buffalo ambling down the main entry road. He was in no hurry
and his slow ponderous gate proved it. The town (just outside the entry) is
like a cowboy version of Fisherman’s Wharf; I still cringe when I think of it.
The scenery and the underlying geology of Yellowstone is very exciting, but for
drama and great photo opportunities take your time as you travel fifty miles
south to the Grand Tetons and Jackson, Wyoming.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H4zA30r4ujQ/VhKOtuscNSI/AAAAAAAACPI/-RJZFABhD-0/s1600/Montana%2BYellowstone%2BRandall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H4zA30r4ujQ/VhKOtuscNSI/AAAAAAAACPI/-RJZFABhD-0/s400/Montana%2BYellowstone%2BRandall.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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Leg Two:<o:p></o:p></div>
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Wyoming and Utah<o:p></o:p></div>
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While Ketchum and
Sun Valley, Idaho seem a tad artificial and pretentious, Jackson (also referred
to as Jackson Hole), Wyoming exhibited a warmth and what, to us, felt more like
what the modern American west is like. Compact, free parking, good to great
restaurants, and high quality galleries, modern conveniences, and an airport
that takes in Delta and United flights. Fly fishing is a short drive away, a
call will get you guides and float trips to some of the best cutthroat trout
fishing in the world (as well as brown, rainbow, and brook trout). These are
the drainages of the Madison and the Gallatin and Firehole rivers made famous
in a hundred books and movies about trout fishing in the western United States.
We will be back, in many ways the trip was worth the discovery of Jackson Hole.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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From Jackson we
headed to Park City, Utah. While Jackson retained some of the character of the
Old West, Park City has all the character of a modern resort subdivision built
outside Salt Lake City. But wait, Park City <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i>
a modern resort subdivision built 35 miles east of Salt Lake City. The 2002
Olympics made the place and even though there were good winter activities
(fueled by Salt Lake and Provo) it was the post Olympic growth of townhome
complexes, modern hotels, and professional in-migration that has fueled it’s
substantial growth. At over 6,000 feet the air is crisp and dry. The old town
is one street (and a hefty climb from one end to the other as well) of the
usual shops, restaurants, and even a brewery. It’s no longer mining that drive
the economy it’s the tourist and second homes. I think, in time, it will be a
big retirement draw as well. Two days was more then enough. But it is the rest
of Utah that can take your breath away – for better or worse. <o:p></o:p></div>
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. . . .<o:p></o:p></div>
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Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-87163969464229445492015-08-27T09:04:00.001-07:002015-08-27T09:06:52.717-07:00Top Ten Lists - Again<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bBiaCL2nUFk/Vd80HPuO1MI/AAAAAAAACNQ/Xe8WdApb8jA/s1600/top-10-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="144" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bBiaCL2nUFk/Vd80HPuO1MI/AAAAAAAACNQ/Xe8WdApb8jA/s200/top-10-2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Every once and a while I take a few minutes and peruse the
top ten list of this and that. They are always interesting. Mostly because of
the compilers themselves (What were they thinking?) than the list itself. Best places to live, cities with
the best grade schools, and those that have the best chain restaurants are fun
to read but I can assure you that no one will move just to be on one of these
lists. But, it does give a resident of “The best college town in America,” some
self-satisfaction knowing someone out there validates their choice.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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So here are few to ponder:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">America’s Most and
Least Expensive College Towns<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.realtor.com/news/trends/americas-most-and-least-expensive-college-towns/">(CLICK HERE)</a><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I was not surprised that Berkeley Cal was number one. No one
can afford to live in the Bay Area. But why Stanford isn’t on the elite list
leaves one to wonder about the list's authenticity, housing in Palo Alto is totally
insane. The least expensive is Muncie, Indiana. Yes, Muncie. I’m going to
Google Earth and find it, I do remember the name from my youth.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">America’s Most and
Least Expensive Affordable Areas to Raise A Family. <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/what-families-need-to-get-by-epis-2015-family-budget-calculator/">(CLICK HERE)</a><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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This is an in depth article about living costs in American
cities. Interesting for data geeks. But I was shocked to see that New York was
listed as the most expensive, shocked I say. What this does show is that where you
live does matter. California needs to work on getting to the top of this list.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Here’s a list of the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Top
25 Private Home Building Companies</b>. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.builderonline.com/builder-100/top-25-private-home-building-companies_o?utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=Brief&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=BBU_082615%20(1)&he=d494c1e45c1f6eef070185ad71257d78eb401a84">(CLICK HERE)</a><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Where are the
healthiest housing markets? <a href="http://wallethub.com/edu/healthiest-housing-markets/14889/">(CLICK HERE)</a><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
According to this list and the article, out of the top fifteen,
seven are in Texas, four in Colorado, and only two in California—the Bay Area
to be exact. What is more interesting is the Affordability Rank—why anyone
would think of moving to California is beyond me. But for those of us here,
have pity, we feel trapped in a gilded prison of drought and Coppertone.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Outside</i> magazine
took a pole of its readers and came up with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The 16 Best Places to Live in America – 2015</b>. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.outsideonline.com/2006426/americas-best-towns-2015">(CLICK HERE)</a></b></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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The list certainly grabs your attention from Chattanooga,
Tennessee to Lake Placid, New York. Note: there are no California cities listed
– just saying.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And one last fun one:<o:p></o:p></div>
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California finally tops the list, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The 10 Most Polluted Cities in America</b>. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://247wallst.com/special-report/2015/08/18/the-10-most-polluted-cities-in-america-2/">(CLICK HERE)</a><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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In California’s defense, the Fresno-Madera, Ca. region sits
in a bowl and with agriculture dominating the economy you get dust and all the
usual mix of agricultural byproducts. The rest of America must have its veggies.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Stay Tuned . . . . . . . .<o:p></o:p></div>
Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-23811839480870832402015-08-11T09:53:00.000-07:002015-08-11T09:53:50.305-07:00Are We Overbuilding Senior Housing?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yeWmZn3xEDo/Vcon3OXrPLI/AAAAAAAACMQ/8_C9kMOzq5s/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="126" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yeWmZn3xEDo/Vcon3OXrPLI/AAAAAAAACMQ/8_C9kMOzq5s/s200/Unknown.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
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This article in the Wall Street Journal <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/new-senior-housing-raises-concerns-supply-will-outpace-demand-from-baby-boomers-1439285401">(GO HERE)</a> got me thinking about a number of things senior related.
While housing is the most important – where, how much, equity, etc. – a number
of other issues also come into mind, such as health, mobility, travel, and
family. The focus on the WSJ article was on the businesses building housing for
the older and more challenged seniors – most of whom are NOT baby boomers.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Senior assisted living properties coming on to the market today
serve residents that are at least 75 years old and older. The first Boomers are
now 69ish and even though maybe 10,000 of us do turn 65 each day is the magic
number is age 66. I know there’s Medicare but it’s the SS check that really
counts. And THAT is the problem: managing assets, health, properties, time,
bucket lists, and family. So the issue of senior assisted living for most
Boomers is irrelevant – and too soon. Now the businesses that are building
these facilities need to be careful, true; but they will be ready (and if they
survive) for the real press and need in about fifteen years.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The issue that I see confronting most of us in the over 65
crowd (and those soon to join us) is time, health, and equity. There are
hundreds of experts out there willing to share their opinions on how to stretch
your savings until your last breath—pleasant thought, eh? Nevertheless, it’s
true, many of us have been successful in life, done right by ourselves and for
their families and want, while still healthy, to climb to the top of the Duomo
in Florence, see Antarctica, do a photo shoot in Africa or Alaska. And most
want to see their grandkids get married – something that today is a far greater
chance than ever. We are healthier, richer, and often, wiser.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-23FM7eLScfI/Vcon_j6jT4I/AAAAAAAACMY/ywMj3QBcSC0/s1600/bee-gees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-23FM7eLScfI/Vcon_j6jT4I/AAAAAAAACMY/ywMj3QBcSC0/s320/bee-gees.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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The senior housing (assisted, resort, second home) market is
incredibly diverse. By far the majority of Boomers will age in place. Their
home is literally their castle. They will stay until they can’t or won’t take
care of it. That will be a wrenching moment, we have all been there, or will
be, with our own parents when they/we are forced to find other housing. The
difficulty of planning for that day is hard. Too many variables, too much
emotion, and too much history. But we get through it and more often than not, end
up better in the end.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The most critical issue is the equity in our properties—how
do you cash it out and use it to live. Sure Social Security is there, but
hardly enough to travel on and maintain the life you’ve grown accustomed to. So
we look to our savings (equities, bonds, and assets) and how to meter their
returns and their decline. Should we sell the home? And when? Should we reverse
mortgage (and how do you really do that?)? What are our renting options? And
where? Too many options—and so much time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Stay tuned . . . . . . . <o:p></o:p></div>
Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-8086611718822522382015-07-20T13:35:00.000-07:002015-07-22T13:34:15.523-07:00The Reality of Pent Up Demand<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8oYPgNqeRFM/Va1ag7ViqDI/AAAAAAAACL4/uE93Ww5f-T0/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8oYPgNqeRFM/Va1ag7ViqDI/AAAAAAAACL4/uE93Ww5f-T0/s200/images.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
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What if you threw a party and everyone shows up. On Saturday
(July 18<sup>th</sup>) I was shocked. To be honest it was more than a shock, it
was a total smack upside the head. For those who have doubted the reality of
the marketplace and the demands that high prices and low production have on
housing, only had to be with me at the Trilogy Vineyards community in
Brentwood, California. What happened Saturday was more than just an open house,
it was a full-fledged storming of the castle and taking siege.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Background<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Trilogy at the Vineyards <a href="http://www.trilogylife.com/">(GO HERE) </a>is a resort type active adult master planned development
about forty miles east of San Francisco. It sits near the Sacramento River (five
miles north), within the eastern hills below Mt. Diablo, and is about an hour
and a half from Sacramento, and an hour from Stockton. My land planning and
landscape architecture firm has been working with Shea Homes (parent of the
Trilogy brand) for more than ten years on the project. The community’s market is
about fifteen million people that stretches from Santa Clara County to
Sacramento County (and in reality, much farther). The community has a first
class clubhouse and recreation facility, great tracts of vineyards that roll
right up to the back doors of the homes as well as extensive olive groves – one
could believe they are in Tuscany.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The Opening</div>
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For the last three months Trilogy Vineyards <a href="http://www.trilogylife.com/communities/california/vineyards/">(Go HERE)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></a>has
been marketing their new models (at least five new plans designed around the
active adult market)—single story with a master down, high-end fixtures and
appliances, well decorated, and considering the Bay Area market – very
reasonable ($650,000 to $900,000). Extensive on-air radio time was purchased
and even Masterpiece Theater on Sunday evenings was not missed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I don’t have the final numbers but by the time I arrived at
12:15 Saturday more than 1500 people had arrived (or more) and my guess is that
more than <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">4,000 prospective buyers or
interested parties</b> walked through the complex that afternoon. It was also an event that
showed off Brentwood, the medical clinics and emergency services, restaurants,
local cultural, to dispel the rumors about living out in the far reaches of the
Bay Area. A first class job all around.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The active adult (over 55 but really over 65) is a rich
market both literally and figuratively. We/they are all in the same boat: How
do I get the equity out of my home and still remain in the region and not be
required to live in some dumpy little 1,200 s.f. apartment with a bunch of
whiney thirty-somethings living next door. We/they deserve better and this is
the type of project that may appeal to us/them. The turnout seemed to prove this.
While the conversion rate may be low, the exposure is unbelievable. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The active adult residential market that is in dire need of
expansion and growth. The impact of the these types of projects roll through
the residential marketplace, these projects usually free up housing stock that
is closer to jobs and urban centers. This market—the baby boomer—has longs legs
and will be growing for the next ten to fifteen years. It’s time that more
builders get on board.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Stay Tuned . . . . . . . . . . .<o:p></o:p></div>
Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-35876219432281950792015-07-05T07:09:00.002-07:002015-07-05T07:09:55.952-07:00Just Another Brick In The Wall<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-03KFurdgpSE/VZk6NyG9VsI/AAAAAAAACLM/m6CGalbM2vM/s1600/hadrian-robot-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-03KFurdgpSE/VZk6NyG9VsI/AAAAAAAACLM/m6CGalbM2vM/s320/hadrian-robot-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in;">
Construction is changing, especially
in the housing industry. There so many technological advancements it’s hard to
stay ahead of what idea is next, which one works, and where they will lead. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in;">
This article (<a href="http://www.gizmag.com/hadrian-brick-laying-robot-fastbrick/38239/">posted in Gizmag viaBuilder Magazine – HERE)</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>shows the recent development of a brick
laying machine that can speed the construction of a home’s basic construction
by almost 20 times. Hydraulically enabled and laser controlled the machine can
build continuously without coffee and lunch breaks. Of course the real issue is
human capital—what is the impact. My guess minimal. There are fewer and fewer
people going into the construction industry (no matter what the wages), the
physical impact on the human body and the often cyclical nature of the job, makes the
decision to be a brick layer or framer or even a roofer, very difficult. Many,
after a certain age opt out, or as was found in the last downturn, returned to
Mexico (taking their skills with them). The new employee, now with a gaming and
technological skills and years playing SimCity, may find these machines to be
the answer.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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We’ve had machines that build roads
for years, this is a quick video to give you an idea as to how fast these things
can work.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PLDP6s5FPCk/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PLDP6s5FPCk?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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You want it in Brick?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in;">
<b>3D Print Your Home</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in;">
The future may be to 3D print your
new home. Here are a couple of videos to give you an idea of what is coming.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/k74rb7xl3aY/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/k74rb7xl3aY?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k74rb7xl3aY">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k74rb7xl3aY</a>
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DQ5Elbvvr1M/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DQ5Elbvvr1M?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYqBxEAtXZA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ5Elbvvr1M</a></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The home building industry has tried
for years to develop affordable manufactured homes. The idea, since the turn of
the 20<sup>th</sup> century and catalog kit homes, was to pre-make the house
and send it to the job site. Every idea has been tried, from complete modular
homes, panel construction, component (pre-built bathrooms and kitchens), and
now 3D printing. Costs and profitability will drive the direction of these
technological changes. Concrete seems to be the primary building material (it
can be easily extruded), but considering the exploding robot technology it can
be assumed that, in time, a load of lumber (pre-cut and bar coded) will arrive
on a job site, the robot will scan the lumber and building components, align
and then manufacture a balloon frame house. Easy-peesy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in;">
We are at the beginning of a new and
dramatic shift on home construction, the bigger issue will be local approvals
and the weight that the building trades can bring to bear on the these
politicians—politicians who are already stressed under the pressure for more
affordable housing (see subsidized) and the needs of the public. It will be a
bumpy ride.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Stay Tuned . . . . . . . .<o:p></o:p></div>
Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-33055215471029628302015-06-18T11:08:00.001-07:002015-06-18T11:08:34.506-07:00I'll Have the Tutti-Frutti, Please!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lIdIGry-WTQ/VYMIDXeDoII/AAAAAAAACKA/E_SwavLrOzE/s1600/pf%2Bhouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="229" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lIdIGry-WTQ/VYMIDXeDoII/AAAAAAAACKA/E_SwavLrOzE/s320/pf%2Bhouse.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My (our) first home Park Forest, Illinois</td></tr>
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Sixty years ago my
father and mother bought their first home—a brand spanking new one. It had two
bedrooms, one bathroom, a living room, a large kitchen and dining alcove, and a
utility room. It was, at most, 1,350 square feet on a 70’x120’ lot. The house
was located in the most written about post-war community in America on
Chicago’s south side, Park Forest, Illinois. Its most important and valuable
amenity was a furnace. In fact that, and the water heater, may have been all
the tech amenities it had. It did not have a garage, just a carport. And, they
were thrilled. (See current photo)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The housing
industry is in hog heaven right now. Too many buyers and not enough product—and
this includes the rental markets as well. Sure, there may be a few sane parts
of America, maybe Iowa and Kansas, where there is some balance, but not around
most urban areas and suburbs. Here, “it’s squeeze ‘em for everything they got.”
In the SF Bay Area, townhomes that would sell in Orlando for $250,000 sell for
$700,000 or more and are bid up and up <a href="http://www.deptofnumbers.com/asking-prices/florida/orlando/">(info, go here)</a>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Builders update
their price sheets weekly to adjust for the demand. Starter homes are now over
1,800 square feet and are more often at 2,400 square feet. In fact the average <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">new</i></b>
home last year was 2,679 square feet (avg.) and the median was 2,491 square
feet. Three bedrooms are a minimum, four are now typical. If one thing has
changed in the Bay Area is that the single family lot has dramatically dropped
in size; in fact most detached <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lots</i>
are now in the 2,800 to 3,200 square feet size, you can literally stand between
them and touch both homes (traditional lots in the last housing bubble were minimally
60’x100’ – 6,000 square feet).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0in;">
However, these are
just numbers that react to markets, demand, interest rates, demographics, and
governmental controls. While the rental market is hot again (due, in part, to
the lack of ready cash by Millennial buyers), even it can’t cover the demand.
And now many apartments are being designed to intentionally keep out children
and extended family. While they can’t legally be excluded, just tweaking the
design and layout does exclude families. And the rents are so high it takes
multiple wage earners (married, partners, friends, desperates) to afford them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Now back to the tutti-frutti.
The buyer wants and expects (while bitching about the price) that their new
home has everything. Here are the most of the top amenities that buyers want:<o:p></o:p></div>
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Walk-in closets
(in fact, his and her walk-ins)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Luxurious
laundry rooms (TVs, skylights, high-end appliances)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Extreme energy
efficiency (beyond double glass, insulation, and Energy Star)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Great rooms (an
open mix of kitchen, dining, family, and entertainment space)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Taller/higher
first floor ceilings (9 foot plus)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Smart-er Homes
(highest tech, fiber-optics, Wi-Fi, LED lighting, security cams and such)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Home Office (in
the case of some, two home offices)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Hardwood Floors
(They are back, no wall to wall carpets, sustainable bamboo is so nice!)<o:p></o:p></div>
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High-end
finishes (Granite or other quality in kitchen and baths – especially marble baths)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Storage,
closets, and even more storage<o:p></o:p></div>
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Minimum two-car
garage, bike parking, (urban sites need to have more on-site parking)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Fireplaces (even
though in California wood burners will probably be outlawed – gas is the
alternative)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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When luxury becomes
necessity:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kJZW1O6HAMY/VYMIsXtJFMI/AAAAAAAACKI/1ngqLRc3zuc/s1600/Carrie-Bradshaw-closet-b607181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kJZW1O6HAMY/VYMIsXtJFMI/AAAAAAAACKI/1ngqLRc3zuc/s200/Carrie-Bradshaw-closet-b607181.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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We went from
fireplaces to central heating (look at the stacks on pre-1900 homes), to all-inclusive
systems (HVAC) and now mandatory air conditioning. We are now installing solar
systems for electrical support, and extreme high-end data and entertainment
systems as standards. Kitchens look like they could be sets for the Food Channel,
bathrooms fitted like a Four Seasons hotel spa, and garages are now operating
rooms with tile floors. And all this at a cost.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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While the yard is
much smaller (smaller lot – less veggies, less maintenance = more free time;
yeah, sure), the buyer wants a community that has nearby recreation, services,
and restaurants. If possible, especially for the Boomer market, they want to
live in a resort (they feel they earned and deserve it).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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To be honest, these
desires and residential needs are the same in Florida and California; it’s the
vagaries of markets and governmental controls that separate the two price-wise.
But the other significant impact to price is all the tutti-frutti (that I would
not give up myself) that goes into these new homes. Now I ask you, don’t you
want warming draws, wine fridge, outdoor kitchen, man-cave, home-theater,
Amazon rainforest shower, gym, coffered ceiling in the bedroom, shoe racks for
200+ pairs, pet enclosure, a smart house that knows who you are, super-duper
air and water purification, and of course a live-in maid. Just saying.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-61012986243610428342015-05-29T05:53:00.000-07:002015-05-29T05:53:19.311-07:00The Rise of the Parklet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3P8arUq8ZE8/VWhgKVKj8zI/AAAAAAAACIU/7d2L4alJeU0/s1600/haight%2Bst.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3P8arUq8ZE8/VWhgKVKj8zI/AAAAAAAACIU/7d2L4alJeU0/s200/haight%2Bst.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
A new and innovative urban design
solution looking for a problem is underway in many cities from San Francisco to
Philadelphia—the parklet. They have also found a place in Brazil and elsewhere.
They are nothing more than taking back the street from the car, one parking
stall at a time.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V481jY3WnQQ/VWhgSZ-NaYI/AAAAAAAACIc/LnTm0vWBQns/s1600/informing-the-parklet_300w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="134" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V481jY3WnQQ/VWhgSZ-NaYI/AAAAAAAACIc/LnTm0vWBQns/s200/informing-the-parklet_300w.jpg" width="200" /></a>This all started (or so claimed) in
2005 when a San Francisco design company took over a parking stall (by feeding
the meters all day) and installing a pop-up park with maybe 176 square feet of
sod, benches, and boxed trees. From this radical event it grew nationally until
2010 when San Francisco completed its first permanent parklet (and accompanying
manuals, guidelines, and nascent bureaucracy). A revolution began and cities
nationwide began exploring opportunities in their downtowns and high traffic
areas.</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
This was not without some concern
by local businesses afraid to lose that one stall right in front of their door.
But cities used an interesting tactic; if the business (usually a coffee shop
or deli) was willing to “own” the parklet, they could use it to expand their customer
seats and directly affect their bottom line. Some businesses have even offered
to pay for the upgrades and improvements. Costs can run all over the place,
from remedial projects that cost $15,000 to sophisticated parklets that can run
two or three times that amount. Actually there is no limited to cost, only the
imagination.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yEIV7KRHe_g/VWhgdkeSrjI/AAAAAAAACIk/UWCjS2bL3yw/s1600/Parklet-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yEIV7KRHe_g/VWhgdkeSrjI/AAAAAAAACIk/UWCjS2bL3yw/s200/Parklet-1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
The visual impact on the street
depends on the design, the more vertical the better. The most critical design
control is the street itself. To be a legitimate parklet, the street paving and
drainage remains intact. To start removing asphalt and realigning curbs changes
the result to a sidewalk improvement not a parklet. The goal is to be cost
effective while also dramatically changing the streets look and add to the
pedestrian’s experience. Amenities have included planter boxes, pots filled
with annual color, tables and chairs, benches, trellises, shade screens—the list
is almost endless.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nCgy2uyf16U/VWhgmesCLrI/AAAAAAAACIs/gv13tw6PZus/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="134" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nCgy2uyf16U/VWhgmesCLrI/AAAAAAAACIs/gv13tw6PZus/s200/images.jpeg" width="200" /></a>Some are sleek and modern, others
funky and very, very temporary looking, some have used salvage bins with a
bench crafted into the side, others have used shipping containers (cut-in
windows and doors). One was offered as a mini-golf course. Their primary reason
is to increase and expand the pedestrian use of the street.</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
During the last hundred years the
automobile has increasingly demand more and more of the right of way. Wider
lanes, bike lanes, on street delivery zones, higher and higher parking rates,
it has been a constant war between motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians. And
the car is winning—for now.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7LaoJCxfjo4/VWhgxWFqlVI/AAAAAAAACI0/Yrr80Ic0Nwc/s1600/sf-parklet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7LaoJCxfjo4/VWhgxWFqlVI/AAAAAAAACI0/Yrr80Ic0Nwc/s200/sf-parklet.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
The climate on the West Coast and
the South favors the permanent installations of parklets. In snowy regions greater
concern is warranted and may require more temporary parklet solutions that get
setup each spring and removed in the fall. One distracted snowplow operator can
do a lot of damage.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
The urban street a tough place. So
much going on, so much to offer, so much to lose. The more we can enliven and
“activate” the sidewalk and storefronts, the better the downtown.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Stay Tuned . . . . . . .<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-26921510478842052512015-05-16T13:47:00.000-07:002015-05-16T13:50:48.680-07:00City of Light, City of Magic<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sOHWdZz9De8/VVerp34YZ7I/AAAAAAAACHQ/2npcyPw-iiQ/s1600/Terminal%2BTower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sOHWdZz9De8/VVerp34YZ7I/AAAAAAAACHQ/2npcyPw-iiQ/s320/Terminal%2BTower.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Terminal Tower - Cleveland</td></tr>
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A week ago I was in the bleeding heart
of the pejoratively named ‘Rust Belt’ of America, Cleveland. It had been many
years since I spent any time in this once great industrial city. In fact the
last time I was in Cleveland’s downtown was to pick up my marriage license at
city hall (Nixon was president then). Much has sadly gone wrong for this city
in the intervening forty plus years, and in most instances these wrongs also
happened to Toledo, Youngstown, Detroit and the other manufacturing cities that
border the Great Lakes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Dozens of books and magazine
articles have tried to figure out what went wrong. We need someone to blame—but
right now the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">why</i></b> is irrelevant. During the next decade it is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">how</i></b>
the future is imagined and then executed that it important. Cleveland has
everything going for it: great interstate connections, affordable housing,
reasonable climate (I am a climate wimp living in California), wonderful
waterfront potential, spectacular cultural institutions and museums, high
quality and respected colleges and universities. All it’s missing is a vital
and strong downtown core. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in;">
Peripheral development is strong
(especially on the suburban west side). In fact one of the most exciting new
town developments Crocker Park <a href="http://www.crockerpark.com/">(GO HERE)</a> is expanding with new condominiums
and apartments. But as happens, none of this outer ring development helps the
traditional regional core, if anything is sucks the heart out of the urban
center.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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Much is changing in Cleveland’s
downtown but much more needs to be done. A dramatic remodel to its four block
Public Square is under construction next to the Terminal Tower rail, casino,
and retail complex (don’t get me started on the casino that’s located in the
old Higbee’s retail building directly across from this remodeled park). But it
is the five block-sized open city parking
lots smack in the center of the downtown that show the tougher side of the
current urban condition. While a new city park would be delightful—twenty
thousand new employees would be better.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0qRqofd1hRo/VVeth9AWTKI/AAAAAAAACHc/z5fVJ86txIk/s1600/The%2BArcade%2BCleveland%2B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0qRqofd1hRo/VVeth9AWTKI/AAAAAAAACHc/z5fVJ86txIk/s320/The%2BArcade%2BCleveland%2B.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Arcade - Cleveland</td></tr>
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While at Kent State in the late
1960s I purchased a used camera at a shop that was in the city’s landmark
historical complex, The Arcade. This complex on Euclid is a jewel and for its
more than 125 years been an important architectural part of the downtown. Built
during the time of nineteenth century arcades and enclosed retail complexes it
is a smaller reminder of Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and Naples’
Galleria Umberto I. Today, it is still loved by the owners (in excellent
condition) but not by many others. When the prime tenant on the ground floor is
a fitness center, well, you get my point. It sits there waiting for the
revolution.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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There are now incredible public facilities
downtown that have been built during the last twenty years, the Cavaliers play
at the Quicken Loans Arena, the Indians at Progressive Field (The Jake), and
the Browns have their new stadium where the old baseball and football field (Cleveland
Stadium) stood for more than half a century (and it’s a lot nicer than the new
49’s stadium—just saying). And next door, on the meager waterfront, sits the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame (worth visiting).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7SKGIwsXuA0/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7SKGIwsXuA0?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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It is a city that has fought its
reputation as an industrial dump celebrated by Randy Newman’s song <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Burn On.</i> </div>
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But times have changed, you can
fish in that once cesspool of a river, Lake Erie is cleaner now than in a
hundred years, and there is something finally beginning to happen downtown. But
so much more has to be done and these changes must be dramatic and obvious in
order to bring people back downtown. More housing, more businesses, more of
just about everything. Time will help but this all begs the question about the
future of big downtown core cities and whether there is a future for the urban
model. That discussion is for later.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Stay Tuned . . . . . . . .<o:p></o:p></div>
Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-43380078833389058062015-04-17T10:24:00.000-07:002015-04-17T10:24:18.572-07:00200 Blog Posts and Still Writing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1dLy3DhU0Z0/VTFBHv1d1zI/AAAAAAAACGQ/RTBgAmUHCqU/s1600/California_200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1dLy3DhU0Z0/VTFBHv1d1zI/AAAAAAAACGQ/RTBgAmUHCqU/s1600/California_200.jpg" height="288" width="320" /></a></div>
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This week’s blog
is the 200<sup>th</sup> post I’ve cobbled together since starting this whole
blogging thing on June 23, 2010. It is hard to believe that almost five years
have elapsed. My father, a journalist in one of his many past lives, said
(paraphrasing), “See, the work of a weekly columnist is hard—it’s almost
impossible finding something pithy to say every week.” I can’t disagree, some
weeks I get nothing. But, here we are another week and another post. A toast—to
my post.<o:p></o:p></div>
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My little burg,
Walnut Creek, California is exploding. On a per acre basis there is more
development and construction happening in this town than most Bay Area
communities can even dream of. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-la87r04B9jw/VTFAyR7DxTI/AAAAAAAACGI/XI1VbkZgpSY/s1600/Picture4Compressed_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-la87r04B9jw/VTFAyR7DxTI/AAAAAAAACGI/XI1VbkZgpSY/s1600/Picture4Compressed_3.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "New" Broadway Plaza</td></tr>
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Currently there
are more than a 1000 apartments under construction within and around the city
center. There are also numerous projects in the final stages of planning and
approval within this same envelope. Soon a massive retail and housing complex at
the regional BART transit station, after years of planning, “may” get underway.
In the secondary ring, one to two miles out, even more is under construction –
case in point a new Safeway retail complex. So much is under construction the
city is considering taking a breath and slowing down the approval process.<o:p></o:p></div>
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One of the
largest retail projects in the region is the rehabilitation and remodeling of
the Macerich Broadway Plaza retail center. This is a $250 million dollar
facelift with up to 300,000 square feet of new retail, restaurants, and
commercial uses. This will also include new multi-level parking garages and
more than 800 new parking stalls. When completed this overall retail mix will
be one of the Bay Area’s finest (and toniest) retail destinations. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The city itself
recently approved and funded almost a half million dollars worth of downtown
improvements. These will include pedestrian upgrades, weekly food and social
events, parklets (the new urban fad), and signage and supporting marketing
banners.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Every city's, no
matter how large or small, greatest concern should be its brand. We all know
what happens when this is neglected and falls apart, look at the Detroit brand
and the Oakland brand. In fact, look at the whole “rust belt.” It take years,
if ever, to recover from a failed urban brand. It is critical that the politicals
within a community support in every way they can the developers who are
building the housing, the retail, and the commercial uses. Their job is to keep the public side looking good and provide a safe welcoming environment. It takes
very few miscues in these days of instant communication to destroy years of
hard work.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here is to
looking at 200 more blog posts. There is still much to write about considering
the strange world of electric cars, the California train to nowhere, silly
urban planning, and the always interesting housing market.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Stay Tuned . . .
. . . . .<o:p></o:p></div>
Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-5723687449413275522015-04-09T09:54:00.000-07:002015-04-09T09:54:38.514-07:00The Rime of the Ancient Mariner<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0in; mso-hyphenate: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #3f3f3f;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Water, water, every where,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0in; mso-hyphenate: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #3f3f3f;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And all the boards did shrink;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0in; mso-hyphenate: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #3f3f3f;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Water, water, every where,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3f3f3f;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Nor any drop to drink.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #3f3f3f;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Rime of the Ancient Mariner<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Samuel Taylor Coleridge</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WjY5L9I-pBg/VSauJ1qiVwI/AAAAAAAACFo/Tv44TYThaN0/s1600/20150331_usdm_home.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WjY5L9I-pBg/VSauJ1qiVwI/AAAAAAAACFo/Tv44TYThaN0/s1600/20150331_usdm_home.png" height="308" width="400" /></a></div>
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What a pickle we’re
in here in California (and the western United States for that matter). The rest
of the country overlooks their own various plagues, hurricanes, tornados,
politicians, and ridiculous winters to chastise us for our drought. As if we
caused it ourselves. Well, maybe there has been a small contribution. We have
grown exponentially during the past fifty years from about twenty million
people in the early 1970s to over 38.8 million today. Even though the rate of
growth has slowed during the last few years it is projected to reach 50 million
people by 2050. And more than half of these Californians will live in the lower
quarter of the state from San Diego to Ventura, which is fundamentally desert.
Even if this growth were reversed (see Oklahoma in the 1930s), the problem of water
supply/use would not change.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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In the thirty years
since the publication of Marc Reisner’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cadillac
Desert</i>, the problems of the state have only worsened. This post isn’t about
the past, there are more than enough books, articles, speeches, and failed
policies to show that we have done little to prepare for something that we knew
would happen. Droughts come and go, but people don’t. The state will continue
to grow – now we must deal with it. Wishing otherwise is simplistic and
foolish.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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There is one
problem – supply, there are three basic responses: conservation, increase
supply, reclamation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Conservation is
usually the easiest politically to impose. The effects are almost immediate.
Reduce the flow of water through the spigot (usually annoying the user who must
wait to fill a pan or a sink – and still eventually use the same amount of
water), reduce the flow in toilets (resulting in filthier toilet bowls), and
reduce water used for the garden. We call it irrigation here in the west; in
the east it’s sprinklers – same issue. If there is one serious change that is
starting to become socially acceptable is the removal of lawns and replacing
them with more drought tolerant landscapes. All of these will have a dramatic
impact on use – while there still is water. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Everyone hopes that
next winter will be the one that changes everything – a winter of decent rainfall.
The past four years have progressively gotten worse, less water each year. And
the type of water (rain/snow) is even more to the problem. Agriculture uses
more than 80% of the water in the state and much of this comes from reservoirs
that store the snowmelt of the Sierras. This is the fundamental problem, warmer
winters mean more rain than snow and less spring melt. This leads to deeper
water wells in the Central Valley as the well water is drawn down. Some stories
say that in some aquifers they are pumping prehistoric water that is hundreds
of thousands years old – talk about draining your bank account. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We can increase the supply of water
by:<o:p></o:p></div>
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the Arctic,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Buying water from
Canada and shipping it in pipelines (kind of like Keystone?),<o:p></o:p></div>
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Building desalination
plants on the coast and convert an endless supply of ocean water into potable
water (expensive – see Coleridge header above),<o:p></o:p></div>
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Converting idle
supertankers to carry water and fill them in Siberia or some other place with a
surplus water supply (the environmentalists will go bonkers over many of these,
I’m sure),<o:p></o:p></div>
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Prayer.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Most probably the
better fix is appropriate water use. I am now required in some of my
development projects (especially in the San Jose/Santa Clara County region) to
use grey water to irrigate the landscape. This is because the people of that
region put up the bonds to build the new infrastructure to take their processed
and cleaned effluent and reuse it within the county. Normally this processed
water is discharged into the environment through spray fields, creeks,
deep-water outfalls (San Francisco), and other non-productive systems. When
they discovered they could sell this processed water, a lot changed. This is a
very expensive no-brainer. To distribute water back into the residential market
requires millions if not billions of dollars in pipes, pumps, and new
residential plumbing systems. Will people support this type of cost remains to
be seen and how desperate we become?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Unquestionably the
most controversial will be the direct injection of this treated water into the
potable water supply, we are a long way from this eventuality but two or three
years more of profound drought will force many changes in our water use.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Stay Tuned . . . .
. . . <o:p></o:p></div>
Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5975860979166865672.post-27176198679366485372015-03-27T14:24:00.000-07:002015-03-27T14:24:28.427-07:00Why Is It Always Texas – Part 2
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4xzLH8nPwLw/VRXJ9sT5s5I/AAAAAAAACDs/6ZujtuFYxJ4/s1600/lynn-m-stone-texas-longhorn-cow-in-lupin-meadow-texas-usa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4xzLH8nPwLw/VRXJ9sT5s5I/AAAAAAAACDs/6ZujtuFYxJ4/s1600/lynn-m-stone-texas-longhorn-cow-in-lupin-meadow-texas-usa.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prime Real Estate</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in;">
<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/03/everybody-is-moving-to-texas/388775/">An article in <i>The Atlantic</i></a> got me thinking (again) about why Texas is such a
draw. Both Houston and Dallas added more than 100,000 people during the 2013-2014
timeframe and not far behind in growth was Austin. After this past winter in
the eastern Midwest and the Eastern seaboard it is a very good bet that this
trend will continue. Throw in the insane politics of many of these areas and
the best investment during the next few years may be in moving companies.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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There was a time when California
held this honor of being the prime destination of Easterners (as a kid in the
sixties I remember the Beach Boys, Little Duce Coups, Haight-Ashbury, Jefferson
Airplane, California Dreaming, all that stuff). Now they are fleeing. No water,
a democratic political machine everything political, no smoking yet marijuana
yes campaigns, did I say no water, 100 billion dollar trains to nowhere, taxes
through the roof, rents the highest in the world, home prices along the sacred
50 mile Pacific edge totally unaffordable (can’t wait to sell and get that
equity – which is a whole other market strategy), and did I mention no water.
Yes, California may have absolutely fantastic weather but it hardly makes up
for the idiots that now run this state. It was remarkably different when we
moved here in the early seventies – very different.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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But, back to Texas. Americans, as we
get older like warmer weather, just ask my back. I assume that there are many
in Boston that are glad the aerobic exercise of snow shoveling has lost its
allure and fondly think of warmer climes – at least with a January temperatures
over “frost-bite.” <i>Time</i> magazine published an<a href="http://ideas.time.com/2013/10/17/10-reasons-texas-is-our-future/"> article by Tyler Cowen</a> in late
2013 that sums up many of the reasons why Texas is the thing and America’s
future (for good or bad).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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While there are a lot of issues such
as automation and the impacts on the middle-class that are driving people to
Texas, it is jobs and inexpensive housing that are the greatest draws. Housing
is less expensive in Texas and not by a small amount of money. On average you
can buy a lot more house for a lot less money than in California, New York and
almost anywhere in the Northeast. A home in the San Francisco Bay area is
impossible for under $600,000 and the same in New York. The same house on a
larger lot in a nice community in the Houston area is $200,000. That leaves a
lot of money for other things. And it’s not due to lower incomes, in all stats
after living expenses, the average middle-class Texan is wealthier than their
social equals in New York and Coastal California. Did I mention Texas also has
no income tax.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Texas is the complete opposite of
California. From economics, politics, governmental expectations, income taxes,
and a much smaller government, they are dramatically different.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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One reason I suspect that people are
heading to Texas is because it is <i>NOT</i>
like where they live now. Americans (at one time) wanted independence and
freedom more than anything. They were told to head west, they fled the confines
of the cities and all the ills found there, they wanted safety and they wanted
to be fundamentally left alone. Nanny laws were anathemas, but we sucked it up.
We rationalized everything, accepted everything—after all we are flexible and optimistic.
But, there are still some who want to be left alone and many of them are
heading to Texas.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Stay Tuned . . . . . . . <o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Gregory C. Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07198371577534024411noreply@blogger.com0