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May 25, 2007

Smallest coolest apartments 2007

'Smallest coolest apartments 2007'

Each year the innovative folks at Apartment Therapy award the smallest, coolest apartments across the country, and now around the world. Now when they say smallest, they really do mean smallest (ie some winning pads are 300 s.f.), but they also hold true to being utterly cool as well.

First place (top image), London - This tiny 300 s.f. residence won for its adaptability to different uses, moods. The kitchen and work areas can actually be concealed! Notice how the tops of the chairs fit right into the table to provide more room. The unit has an outside balcony with table and chairs, and overlooks an outdoor green worthy of a small palace.

Second place (second image), Santa Monica, CA - This was a favorite for how the home owner utilized daylighting, warm colors and textures to make her home seem much larger than its 294 s.f. size - and that's with a living room, bedroom, bath, and kitchen.

Third place (third image), Canal Street, New York City - Higher ceilings and a larger footprint of 462 s.f. make this loft seem spacious compared to the other two, especially given a view of its kitchen and dining area. Notice the work den with the bed above it, and the smart use of an all-white theme that makes the place
seem brighter yet still welcoming.

Fourth place (bottom image), New York City - This one's best left to the homeowner to describe, "I like to think of my space as a very well appointed hotel suite. Situated in an old hotel, it has a bedroom, living, and office area as well as a bar in under 300 s.f. A cohesive color palate anchors the areas, keeping the space clean and organized with out feeling cluttered."

Check out the 2006 and 2005 winners.

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May 24, 2007

Amsterdam at night

'Transparency tyranny' will result in better places

What is transparency tyranny? From Trendwatching.com: "Old economy fog is clearing: no longer can incompetence, below-par performance, ignored global standards, anti-social & anti-eco behavior, or opaque pricing be obscured. In its place has come a transparent, fully informed marketplace, where producers have no excuse left to underperform.

Transparency tyranny represents what people really think of what's out there - think The Daily Show in each and every one of us. It's no longer just the reviews on Amazon and iTunes, and review sites like Epinions, TripAdvisor and the thousands of review blogs out there, but even reviews of the reviewers themselves.

The next phase of transparency tyranny is representing what people really think of what should be out there. One Finnish real estate business, Igglo, has photographed every building in Helsinki, among other cities, and allows people to make offers on buildings not yet available, as well as notifying 'earmarked' homes when they are indeed for sale. Zillow allows U.S. homeowners to set 'make me move' prices to their homes that aren't on the market. Eventful allows locals to demand a concert that should be taking place in their zip code.

...and that's where beta communities come in - listening to what people really they think should be in their community, then actually building it for them (like what you see in the above photo).

Image source: Han Van Reenen.

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May 23, 2007

Santee Court, Los Angeles

Key to attainable housing? Combining multiple elements

Nowadays, one affordable housing strategy isn't enough to make a difference. You need several all at once, and the Urban Land Institute illustrates just that in their article, Housing the Masses. Here are some of the programs that need to be combined:

Inclusionary zoning - This is esssentially an affordable housing requirement as a % of total units, often 15%-20%. San Diego, Tallahassee, Palm Beach, and Key West, Florida, have recently passed such ordinances. L.A. requires 20% of housing in downtown projects to be affordable, and in the Washington DC any government assistance is coupled with an inclusionary housing requirement.

Parking reductions - The costs from parking requirements alone can kill a project before it ever gets started. L.A. reduced the parking requirement for projects within 1000 feet of a transit center to 1.25 spaces per unit from 2.25, and the city of Miami allows developers to provide residential parking off-site.

Inexpensive quality building materials - As JetBlue proves, you can be hight style at low cost, like the concrete and exposed-brick-wall exteriors at Santee Court (pictured) in downtown Los Angeles’s Fashion District, and Chinese granite countertops instead of Italian stone.

Smaller homes - There are several dozen entries on this in the Housing & Lofts section. The bottom line is households are shrinking, and so should homes.

Financing options Trusted developer-construction partnerships create cost efficiencies. Triple-bottom-line-oriented investors will accept lower-than-normal profit margins of 9-10% rather than the normal 15-20%. Low-interest financing via government programs, low-income tax credits, historic tax credits and new market tax credits all significantly lower housing costs.

Land trusts - See previous entry. Nonprofits and cities purchase land reserved for workforce housing.

Image source: crawwler

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May 22, 2007

State sponsored housing, NM

Land trusts preserving attainable housing as well as wilderness

Land trusts, like the Trust for Public Land, are widely known for purchasing and permanently conserving parks and natural lands. Now a new form of land trust, such as one created by the California Community Foundation in 2003, are preserving land for housing affordability. Partnered with private sector developers that specialize in workforce housing**, building costs are lowered by 30 to 50 percent. In exchange for being able to buy a home below market value, the owner agrees to sell the home for the amount invested plus only a maximum percentage of the property’s appreciation value.

Following this model, the City of Winter Park established a land trust in 2005, buying up land, deeding it to the trust, then negotiating with local contractors to build homes at below-market prices. In this arrangement, the building is owned by the buyer and can be sold or inherited, but the land remains in the trust on a 99-year land lease. In Florida alone, 17 land trusts are operational or incorporating, while 13 are being considered.

Newark Redevelopment Projects, Newark, NJ

Universities, hospitals, and school districts in California and Hawaii are increasingly using the land trust model to build housing for their constituency at 30 to 40 percent below market value, allowing them to more effectively recruit and retain top employees.

**Workforce housing is often referred to as non-government-subsidized affordable housing.

Images: Two proposals by UniDev proposals, a land trust-based developer in Maryland.

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May 21, 2007

Paris flower shop

Main streets go virtual to serve local community

We all know Amazon.com serves the world's goods, but how about if you just wanted to buy online from local neighborhood shops? Not only that, but what if delivery was free?! Well Pop to the Shops is another one of those 'it was a matter of time' services, though only in the UK.

What are the benefits to the consumer?
- Most local shops are open fewer hours and days, so this expands their hours to 24/7.
- Buy from all the stores in the neighborhood and pay once.
- Indie stores offer many items unavailable in chain stores or online, as well as items you would rather have delivered rather than shipped.

How does the Pop to the Shops make money?
They charge merchants 10-15% commission, which is pretty decent considering they wouldn't have to spend anything on marketing.

What are the benefits to the neighborhood?
- Economically speaking, a lot, as you can find out here - local stores give back 70% more to the community than chains.
- Culturally, it helps create more revenue sources to keep the unique indie stores around.

Image source: maody

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