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Finally

Thank you, Mortgage Bankers Association and WSJ!  Finally some realistic numbers about the mortgage crisis.  I think many uninformed people are too quick to point at first time home buyers, low to moderate income borrowers or even people who may have non-traditional income, requiring a non-prime loan product.  At any rate, this is worth a read.  American's are greedy and felt entitled to homes they did not put any money down to obtain.  Low/no equity makes this type of home ownership a much more complicated type of renting.  Why then do we even have the mortgage interest tax deduction?  We aren't encouraging home ownership and neighborhood stability in these cases.

Home ownership is good for some people, but not everyone.  The popular housing forms are bad for the fiscal (infrastructure and services costs) and environmental health of America at the local, state and national level.  And, some American's act spoiled and overly-entitled when it comes to purchasing homes, household goods or just about anything.  Credit is not ownership.   

Tangents that I don't have time to elaborate on but that I think are worth noting in the context of home ownership:

1) New home purchases drive consumer credit debt for home decorating and furnishing purchases.

2) The low quality, unsustainable, car-centric type of home development that dominates the market is bad.  (The whole lifestyle of getting into the car and driving around until you go and buy something... aka how people live in St. Louis, for example...)

3) Lack of public transportation and density in this type of development hurting the enviroment and health and well-being of so-called home owners.

4) Most school districts have manditory civic/political/government instruction in order to graduate from high school, so why don't we include a lesson or two on financial planning and credit responsibility.

4) This is a petty addition because the items mentioned above are actually important, but people are being naive/stupid/short-sighted when they say they are "builidng a house" when they are actually just choosing finishes from a set of standard Home-Depot like options for their house.  It is just a marketing campaign from a home builder.  Get a clue!  Did you ever hire an architect? 

A Sigh of Relief

I love art and I enjoy the sometimes ridiculous object-buildings which have become the norm for art museums in recent years.  That said, I was relieved and pleased to read that the Fishers have decided to abandon plans to locate their museum at the Presidio.  Although their statement says that they might consider other Presidio locations, I am hoping they've learned their lesson and will not try to blight the Main Post once again.   

There is something obnoxious and outrageous to me about the way in which the Fisher's insinuated themselves and their view of what a public place should be without regard to what park users, preservationists or virtually anyone else want (save, of course, Don's fellow Trustee's).  No doubt, trade offs will be made in order to add amenities to and preserve historic character of the Presidio.  Will the Presidio reorganize to be a more private agency than the Trust?  The Presidio will change, but I don't like the idea of private individuals dictating the use of this resource in this manner.  This is some sort of alternative universe version of urban renewal where rich and obnoxious people rule... oh wait, that might have been our version of urban renewal... 

Apparently Don Fisher demanded more space than the current SFMOMA for the collection, so negotiations to donate his collection to MOMA broke down.  There is an interesting and odd tension here.  A person with a noted art collection wants to share it with the public, even offering to build the museum.  At the same time, this person is unwilling to work with people who want to help the art be exhibited and enjoyed by the public.  It would be nice to see the Fisher's use the public relations issues and community tension the resulted from the Presidio plan as an opportunity to recreate the concept of the museum.  Why not engage in a public process of planning, siting and programming the space?  The building has the opportunity to serve the community in a new and fully integrated way which the Fisher's do not recognize.  And, I don't mean a community meeting room located next to the security desk that is rented out at a discounted rate to non-profits.  Why not challenge the conventional museum experience?  There is a chance to reconfigure the function of this museum and integrate it in the fabric of the city in a completely new way.  Why not work with the residents of San Francisco to make this museum a showcase for art and community?  If the Fisher's want to give the public a gift of art, why not work with that public? 

And, one final question: why can't the Presidio keep the bowling alley?

Links for background information.

Architecture + Preservation + CA = Great Blog

I am new to this area, professionally speaking anyway, and read up about the transition from the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board to the new, stronger Historic Preservation Commission.  When I researched the backgrounds of the board and commission members, Istumbled on to Johanna Street's blog.  I really love it. 

Victory!

After my weeks-long campaign to arrest the destruction Rittenhouse Square's beauty, I am pleased to report that the ugly trash cans were relocated, obstructing the entrance to the park. 
Now, if only that shed would be (re)moved. 

PA to CA

Philadelphia City Hall.
Penn's hand, as though he was waving goodbye.  (I highly recommend going to the top of City Hall.  I think it was 5 bucks, but worth it.  You can see the whole city from up there!)
Okay, this next one need explanation.  We got a late start and spent the first night in New Stanton, PA.  The Days Inn offered breakfast.  The photo shows to chaffing dishes of frozen items.  The adjacent sign says that "to protect our environment and conserve our natural resources" people have to heat their own breakfast items.  The sign also mentions wanting to reduce of food waste.  These are reasonable goals, but the ice crystals on the sausage and eggs are more likely to reduce food waste than the sign.  Somehow, I think those have been sitting around for a few months with no takers.  I guess Days Inn reduced their food expense, too.  Isn't there a health problems associated with letting frozen food sit out and then refreezing it? 
When we were in St. Louis, we received a quilt that the cat immediately enjoyed.

Next stop, Kansas City.  Country Club Plaza will get its own post, but here is a adaptively reused theatre ;)

A wind farm surprised us in the middle of Kansas.  I really want to get close to the turbines someday. 

In Denver, we visited Rockmount Ranch Wear.  A worthwhile stop.  Not only did Rockmont innovate with the first snap buttons, but they make cute children versions of they vintage style shirts.  I must mention Vesta, an incredible dinner stop.  I will write a separate post about it later, but it was hands downt hebest food we had on our trip.  (Yes, the whole dipping concept at Vesta sounds gimicky, but the food eas incredible and the service phenomial.)

Next, we hit Arches National Park.  The weather was dicey and our time short, but we did see an arch and the famous Three Gossips. 

After driving for what felt like several years on the rural one lane roads of Utah, we made it to Salt Lake City.  We visited the captiol, which was seemingly unguarded and open to the public on Sunday, and the Morman Temple.  Around the capitol, there were a number of beehive motifs.  This has to due with a comment Brigham Young made about beehives being self sufficent. 

Here is the temple reflected in the fountain in front of it.  There were some hilarious foreign tourists there taking photos.  Oh dear.

We made a final stop in Utah to enjoy the salt flats.  Yes, it tastes salty, but I am not going to tell you how I know that.  In the middle of it, the middle of nowhere, there was an odd tree statue.

Nothing exciting happened in NV, but we did make it to Tahoe.  Beautiful.  The perfect way to enter California.

 

Did Rittenhouse Square Get Uglier?

Recently I commented on how the trash cans at Rittenhouse ruined the design of a corner entrance.  Well, the new shed is now visible and it makes me really wonder will be next.  Okay, maybe it isn't as bad as the trash cans, but it is very large and flanking it on both sides with the fencing to disguise equipment just dwarfs the shed and makes it stand out even more.  What do you think?

Hmmm... Looking at the proportion of the shed to the fenced areas makes me think of stringing together animal cracker boxes into a little train when I was a kid.

Lucky Ride on BART

After exiting the train this evening, we saw an empty bench with a wad of cash.  I was fumbling with my bag to get my BART ticket out, so the crowd cleared.  The money did not belong to anyone, so we picked it up.  $14 bucks!!  We decided that we had to spend it on treats this evening, which required some budgeting and careful planning. 

On the way home from the station, we stopped at 7 Eleven.  So, we started our feast with two coconut popsicles priced at two for a dollar.  We immediately ate these, so they are not included in the photo below.  For the rest of our shopping spree, we headed over to the Berkeley Bowl.  We ended up with some Sake for $1.69, a baguette for $1.99, some Humboldt Fog cheese for $4.90, a mango for $1.69 and a slice of cake for $2.95.  Not a bad haul.  The cake was surprisingly good.  It was sponge cake with white frosting and lemon curd.  Yum.  The cheese never disappoints and the sake was tasty.  Yay for free money.

Fantastic Blog

I love this blog. 

Effingham, Illinois

Effingham is in the middle of nowhere.  At least from the perspective of driving between Philadelphia and St. Louis.  Those are cities with larger stars on the map.  Effingham gets a dot.  That said, marketing can make a big difference.  Effingham get this.

Very cleverly, Effingham used the pattern made by the intersecting highways as its city logo.  I like that they are embracing what they are.

Just down the hill from the sign, there is a 60 foot high cross.  Effingham really is at the crossroads of opportunity. 

Overheard at Graduation

Someone's Mom to Random Graduate in bathroom: You are that girl who got the Master of Spatial Analytics, right?

Random Graduate: Yes.

Someone's Mom: What is that?

Random Graduate: Geographic information systems, mapping...

Someone's Mom: You mean like Google Maps?

Random Graduate: Yes, like Google Maps.

Somehow, I fear that this poor girl has had this conversation several times before.