Category: Slums

Month in Review: March, 2013

17 May, 2013 (14:29) | Bankruptcy, Banks, Cities, Crime, Cyprus, Detroit, Euro, Land use, Month in review, New York City, Post Office, ratings agencies, Slums, Urbanization | 2 comments

By:David A. Smith   [Previous Months in Review available here: Feb 13, Jan 13, Dec 12, Nov 12, Oct 12, Sep 12, Aug 12, Jul 12, Jun 12, May 12]   During March, the Department of Justice sued Standard & Poor’s, an action that was five billion dollars’ worth of overdue, and included legislation with [...]

The improvable house as a self-baked fruitcake: Part 2, the ingredients

19 March, 2013 (09:28) | building technology, Essential posts, home improvement, Housing, Innovations, Philanthropy, self-building, Slums, South Africa, Technology |

[Continued from yesterday's Part 1.]   By:David A. Smith   Yesterday’s post, using as a convenient seed an upbeat article from CNN (January 8, 2013), introduced the concept of a core house, plus technological gadgets, as an improvable ‘fruitcake house’.  Construction of a basic core house, with a malleable or modifiable material for walls and [...]

The improvable house as a self-baked fruitcake: Part 1, the recipe

18 March, 2013 (15:52) | building technology, Essential posts, home improvement, Housing, Innovations, Philanthropy, self-building, Slums, South Africa, Technology |

By:David A. Smith   While for some of us a house is a completed product, something we buy one day and use the next (after enduring the travails of moving), but that’s an illusion, as even our completed house begins changing the day we move in – and for most of the world, a home [...]

Month in Review, December, 2012: Part 2, Globalized failures

8 February, 2013 (09:00) | Bankruptcy, Boston, CalPERS, disaster response, Economics, Euro, Global news, Month in review, New York City, Proposition 13, Real estate taxes, relief, San Bernardino, Slums, Speculation |

[Previous Months in Review available here: Nov 12, Oct 12, Sep 12, Aug 12, Jul 12, Jun 12, May 12]   By:David A. Smith   [Continued from yesterday's Part 1.]   In yesterday’s Part 1 of our economically grim December, we followed localized failures in Boston and New York City to the ultimate in personal [...]

Month in Review, December, 2012: Part 1, Localized failures

7 February, 2013 (12:33) | Bankruptcy, Boston, CalPERS, disaster response, Economics, Euro, Global news, Month in review, New York City, Proposition 13, Real estate taxes, relief, San Bernardino, Slums, Speculation |

[Previous Months in Review available here: Nov 12, Oct 12, Sep 12, Aug 12, Jul 12, Jun 12, May 12]   By:David A. Smith   Housing issues – and this is a housing blog, remember [Who are you reminding – yourself? – Ed.] are inherently place-based, so it’s appropriate to start our review of the [...]