Speaking About the Issues Changing Work and the Workplace
Had a great morning speaking to the Purposeful Intent conference in Toronto about the future of work. So much to discuss given that we really are at a pivotal moment in economic history.
Category: Real Estate
Here’s a New One: The ‘Divorce Mortgage’
Here’s a new one to me: the ‘divorce mortgage’. No its not some crazy, invented term to describe a financing vehicle (my mind went back to ‘plain vanilla swaps’ from the days when derivatives were the buzz), but rather exactly what it sounds like: a mortgage that suits people who own a home together but […]
Rust Belt Cities: So Uncool They are Cool Again
We all know the how the narrative goes: manufacturing is dead, and those old cities known as industrial centers are as well. It is not a hard case to make it if you take a quick tour of places like Pittsburgh or Detroit in the U.S., or maybe Windsor, Ontario in Canada. What were once […]
The Ghostly Example of Aging Japan
We all say it, and we worry about it too: we are an aging society, and that’s going to have repercussions. In Canada, the median age of the population is now close to 41 while in the U.S. it is still-youthful 37ish but rising (according to the last census, seven states have a median age […]
Don’t Call it Having Roommates, Call it ‘Coliving’
I had barely heard about Campus Coliving and their business model before I saw the sad announcement yesterday that they were closing down the company, a result of not being able to make any money at it. The problem I’d say is that as a company they were ahead of their time. We have not […]
Silicon Valley and the Not-Fair Economy
There are so many facets of the shuttle-bus-to-Silicon-Valley story that fascinate me. The fact that people are willing to commute a fair distance to be able to live in San Francisco while working for tech companies 60 miles away has big implications, and not just for the bus drivers who are in the news this […]
Expedit Bookcases and Swedish Meatballs Might Go Uptown
If Ikea says it’s a trend, it must be a trend. The giant furniture retailer known for its affordable products as well as its make-a-day-of-it-and-eat-the-meatballs approach to shopping, is thinking of changing strategy. Noting that tight budgets mean people do not want to shell out for fuel to drive to suburban stores, the Swedish group […]
Keep Portland Weird (Or Forget About a Real Estate Boom)
I have never been to Portland, Oregon but it sounds like a pretty cool place. As it turns out, it is so cool that lots of people have gone there. Thing is, now that they are there they are not sure what to do with themselves. This piece from The Upshot describes the Portland mystique […]
Americans Shun the Suburbs for the Cities
It is kind of an urban myth, if you’ll pardon the pun: there is a story afoot that people are leaving the suburbs and moving back to the cities. I’ve written about the trend myself, but honestly perhaps the best evidence that it is true are the endless condos that are sprouting up it seems […]
Should You Invest in Cities?
Boomers have moved into the cities – but that might not drive city growth forever.