Even with high prices in much of the country, the real-estate market has been laid low, mainly by higher interest rates. This has been filtering through to the job market, in both construction and sales activity. The latter sector involves many players but especially the broker/agents. It’s hard to get a national read on thisContinue reading “Home-Sales Pinch Is Felt by Those Smiling Realtors”
Category Archives: General Blog
No Room for the Inns at Long Island’s Mecca
On hotels, as well as housing generally, the Hamptonites of New York are conflicted. They don’t want more homes that crowd their landscapes and roads, but they do want residential “affordability” for their kids and service workers. They don’t want weekend AirBNB rentals in their neighborhoods, but they do want to curb an alternative: additionalContinue reading “No Room for the Inns at Long Island’s Mecca”
Political flight: Les snowbirds vont en Afrique du Nord
One surprising winner from the Trump trade and troll war on Canada is Tunisia. As Canadian snowbirds look for alternatives to wintering in the U.S., some scan the globe for bargain opportunities. In French-speaking Quebec, that favors Francophone destinations, especially those that offer la bonne transaction and 90-day visa-free stays. A spot enjoying apparently double-digitContinue reading “Political flight: Les snowbirds vont en Afrique du Nord”
Nailing a Cost Element in the Young’s Plight
Various data points show an affordability crunch for younger Americans. Although these measures have been challenged, it’s obvious that in popular metro areas, prices have escalated quickly and with political effects. But are these age cohorts at the same time choosing to outspend previous generations on rather optional costs of living? Many have noted theContinue reading “Nailing a Cost Element in the Young’s Plight”
Who’ll Celebrate Generational Political Gains?
A younger generation of politicians is scoring victories around the U.S. on the back of grievances about affordability and a perceived narrowing of longtime avenues of opportunity. This upheaval has reached Congress and been most noticeable among Democrats, especially progressives or socialists. Although many Millennial and Gen Z Americans stand ultimately to reap considerable inheritancesContinue reading “Who’ll Celebrate Generational Political Gains?”
Chase, Fintech and a Dinosaur’s Paper Checks
Citigroup chair and CEO Jane Fraser, speaking at an event at the Council of Foreign Relations last evening, got around to fintech competition, leaving me thinking of a peeve I have with her biggest rival, J.P. Morgan Chase. Noting that Citi has the largest global physical presence of any U.S. commercial bank, Fraser observed thatContinue reading “Chase, Fintech and a Dinosaur’s Paper Checks”
A Woman Who Fostered New Americans
As the immigration wrestles continue in the streets and courts and in Washington politics, America lost a great “reformer” on the matter last month. Florence Phillips died at age 95 after spending nearly 20 years helping probably thousands of newcomers to the U.S. learn the basics of belonging here and ideally become citizens. Her EnglishContinue reading “A Woman Who Fostered New Americans”
40 Years of Opening Up Hamptons Public Spaces
“Public-private partnerships” usually refer to some kind of development project. But they can also be the opposite, a form of nature preservation. That’s been a frequent occurrence in recent decades on the East End of Long Island, N.Y. One form this has taken is a willingness of civic groups to look after properties that aContinue reading “40 Years of Opening Up Hamptons Public Spaces”
Build But Don’t Park Here? A Town Says No To That
Zoning reformers want to get rid of some strictures that were written into urban and suburban planning laws in the 1900s. Mostly, these changes are pushed by New Urbanists or YIMBY* activists who seek to remove “exclusionary” regulations that deter new housing, especially for potential residents of lesser wealth or income. But, not surprisingly, theseContinue reading “Build But Don’t Park Here? A Town Says No To That”
Big Part of Phone Costs Is In the Small Text
Recently I succumbed to replacing my mobile phone. Though I chose one of the simpler Android models, and avoided nearly all add-on accessories, the price jumped up as I got to checkout. The reason: New York’s voracious taxing authorities. Whether it be on monthly usage bills or on purchases of the devices, governments have seizedContinue reading “Big Part of Phone Costs Is In the Small Text”
