I’ve written a lot about how growing up in Detroit was instrumental in my desire to improve and revitalize cities. Watching a city being hollowed out and disgraced in the ‘70s and ‘80s can have that impact.  read more »

For the last century, no state more epitomized the ideals of upward mobility and technological and cultural innovation than California.  read more »

You won’t read much about this in major media outlets, but nearly every week, local communities across the US are rejecting or restricting solar and wind projects.  read more »

Sometimes you try to put a positive gloss on a situation, but the underlying concerns that cause the need for such spin come back to bite you.  read more »

It appears to be a rule of modern politics that politicians must pander to voters. The latest example of this  read more »

Just a quick note on an encouraging article by James Rodriguez of Business Insider. Rodriguez reports a significant reduction in house prices in Austin, Texas, due to building a large number of single-family homes and apartments. I was unable to discern whether the article dealt with the Austin market (the metropolitan area) or the city (which is a housing submarket). Nor could I tell if his insightful comparison to San Francisco was the housing market (metro) or the city submarket.  read more »

Overall, immigration has both positive and negative effects, something rarely acknowledged by advocates on either side.  read more »

Last week, I took my 2012 Acura to my longtime auto repair shop, Rising Sun Automotive, for an oil change.  read more »

Last week, the shopping period for my classes at Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) was disrupted on Zoom by a  “Divestment Coalition” of campus groups, including the Sarah Lawrence Socialist Coalition and the Sarah Lawrence Review.  read more »

In the coming US presidential election, the key battleground lies with the working and middle classes.  read more »