The December 2009 issue of Computer Graphics World quotes Joe Letteri, a senior visual effects supervisor for the film "Avatar," describing the technical challenges of the project: "We had to go through a complete re-tooling and re-architecting." Gosh, architecting the first time is hard enough...
Case Shiller April Numbers Fuel “Double Dip” Chatter
All 20 cities in the Case Shiller Index follow the same general shape, with a peak - or bubble - in the middle, and recurring lows - or double dip. Los Angeles and New York are consistently above the 20 city average (top) while Chicago is below the average. Phoenix had higher highs, and lower lows. The New York Times has revamped its interactive graph
94% of Surveyed Realtors Participated in Short Sales. 60% Of Those Closed.
"...Ninety-four percent of the REALTORS® who participated in the survey say they were involved in a short sale transaction in 2010, but 70 percent of those short sale transactions with a lender or servicer were ranked “difficult” or “extremely difficult” transactions... Many underwater homeowners who have been hit by the recent economic crisis can no longer afford to stay in their home and just need to sell their home as expeditiously as possible but are unable to largely because of the complex and cumbersome short sale process,, Unresponsiveness, onerous procedures, And long processing delays were cited as frequent problems REALTORS® experienced in working with lenders and servicers during the short sale process... The survey results show that the short sale system is clearly flawed..." - California Real Estate Magazine
The Healthy Homes Conference being held in Denver in June states as its goals:
-Deliver the connection between housing and health
-Showcase emerging trends in healthy homes
-Make healthy homes attainable for everyone
-Reveal latest research and innovation
-Expand partnerships across disciplines
-Reduce disparity, improve housing quality, and increase health and safety of our Nation’s homes
The program website is healthyhomesconference.org
The S&P/Case Shiller 20-city composite index is "a hair above" its 2009 low. Average home prices across the United States are back to levels where they were in the summer of 2003. - Reuters
Tue 26 Apr 2011 07:28 AM |
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Fri 22 Apr 2011
Recent Posts From Our Facebook Page
We've been somewhat neglectful of our blog lately but we've been putting links up on our Facebook page. Here are a few:
Pondering the term "Livable" as in "Livable Communities"... Some quick Googling revealed that under the aegis of the Livable Communities Act passed in late 2010 there is now something called the "HUD-DOT-EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities," set forth some "Livability Principles" which it pledges to foster via the agencies named. They are:
-Provide more transportation choices. Develop safe, reliable, and economical transportation choices to decrease household transportation costs, reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil, improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and promote public health.
-Promote equitable, affordable housing. Expand location- and energy-efficient housing choices for people of all ages, incomes, races, and ethnicities to increase mobility and lower the combined cost of housing and transportation.
-Enhance economic competitiveness. Improve economic competitiveness through reliable and timely access to employment centers, educational opportunities, services and other basic needs by workers, as well as expanded business access to markets.
-Support existing communities. Target federal funding toward existing communities—through strategies like transit oriented, mixed-use development, and land recycling—to increase community revitalization and the efficiency of public works investments and safeguard rural landscapes.
-Coordinate and leverage federal policies and investment. Align federal policies and funding to remove barriers to collaboration, leverage funding, and increase the accountability and effectiveness of all levels of government to plan for future growth, including making smart energy choices such as locally generated renewable energy
-Value communities and neighborhoods. Enhance the unique characteristics of all communities by investing in healthy, safe, and walkable neighborhoods—rural, urban, or suburban.
The lead agency appears to be the Environmental Protection Agency, which has a Smart Growth page on its website, where it lists other members of the Smart Growth Network. Two of our long-time affiliations are linked there - The American Institute of Architects and the National Association of Realtors (although the AIA link on the page is expired). The American Association of Retired Persons isn't listed on that page, but it shows up in a lot of search results for "Livable Communities" and related terms. In fact in conjunction with the National Association of Homebuilders they have an annual Livable Communities Award. A report by AARP's Public Policy Institute entitled "Opportunitys for Creating Livable Communities" identifies these six essential components: Housing, Transportation and Mobility, Land Use, Cooperation and Communications, Understanding the Community, and Leadership. They also published an "Evaluation Guide" to help consumers to "understand and improve" their communities.
...RAY SUAREZ: But you have got persisting low interest rates and month-on-month decreases in prices. Why hasn't that brought new buyers into the market that starts to stabilize prices?
ROBERT SHILLER: Well, that's one of the mysteries. You know, it has to do -- people really are not interested particularly in buying homes now. You know, you can see that in NAHB's homebuyer -- traffic of new homebuyers, housing permits and starts. Sales of new homes are at record lows. I don't know. It seems like people are in a wait-and-see attitude. They're -- you know, the unemployment rate is 8.9 percent, really high. We had a depression scare. Now people think it's over. We have had good growth for a number of months, but they're not -- I think people are just not so sure. And they're just not ready... PBS Newshour and Case Shiller Indices
All 20 cities in the Case Shiller Index follow the same general shape, with a peak - or bubble - in the middle, and recurring lows - or double dip. Los Angeles and New York are consistently above the 20 city average (top) while Chicago is below the average. Phoenix had higher highs, and lower lows. The New York Times has revamped its interactive graph
The Healthy Homes Conference being held in Denver in June states as its goals:
...RAY SUAREZ: But you have got persisting low interest rates and month-on-month decreases in prices. Why hasn't that brought new buyers into the market that starts to stabilize prices?