Have you ever imagined spending the weekend in a grand luxury estate in the country? America’s luxury estates were built in the late 1800s during ‘The Gilded Age’, a term made popular by Mark Twain. After the Civil War, with the onset of industrialization, the nation enjoyed unprecedented prosperity, Great fortunes were amassed with the expansion of tobacco, railroads, … [Read more...] about Sharing luxury.
The Missing Middle.
Daniel Parolek is an architect, urbanist and the founder of Opticos Design, which has been working in urban placemaking and master planning for two decades. Daniel is best known for framing the idea of ‘missing middle housing’ just as the critical absence of affordable housing was becoming a major planning issue for cities nationwide. The ‘missing middle’ can be broadly … [Read more...] about The Missing Middle.
Hello, Neighbor.
Max Levine's organization, NICO (Neighborhood Investment Company), has a mission “to localize wealth creation and broaden access to neighborhood equity.” The Los Angeles neighborhood Max lives in, Echo Park, has an income average of $40,000, whereas the average home is valued at $900,000 – an enormous discrepancy. Max and his business partner, John Chaffetz, began exploring the … [Read more...] about Hello, Neighbor.
Urban economics.
Simply put, urban economics is the study of buildings and cities and why they develop the way they do. Urban economics help us to determine why certain places are so much more vital than others through the exploration of land-use, zoning, employment patterns, and the price of land. Over the last century cities have experienced massive change. With the arrival of the … [Read more...] about Urban economics.
One room at a time.
Atticus LeBlanc is the founder of Padsplit, a technology platform dedicated to affordable housing, with no barriers of entry. Atticus, who studied architecture and urban studies at Yale, has been an affordable housing advocate and real estate investor for over a decade, with a company that owns and manages over 550 affordable residential units. But he founded Padsplit with a … [Read more...] about One room at a time.