Although Neistat is now a resident of California instead of the long time setting of his formerly daily weekly vlogs in New York City, he still visits from time to time. In his studio during his latest vid is a man named Ryan Serhant and if you want to live in NYC for a year here's an opportunity.
Free rent, free transportation (does this mean a free vehicle with unlimited gas or paid for NYC subway passes), and wow free food. I'm sure this is geared towards those who want to get into the entertainment scene of NYC or into some major industry that has a home there. Perhaps you want to work on Wall Street or find a broadcast outlet or perhaps you dream of making it on Broadway for example. I wonder if they'd give it to someone who just wants to live in NYC for a year.
Well go find out. Go to this site Free Year NYC and find out. If you dare, apply you might be lucky!
[VIDEO] Why are housing prices in California rising? So you mean it's not only the use of zoning in some municipalities that limit supply? Or even an attempt at this "green dream" of mandating expensive and higher quality materials to insure energy efficiency?
Well I had better hold off on that Golden State dream. One issue (housing prices) among others (rising homeless population) why living out there will remain a dream.
Clark Atlanta University freshman and sophomores must live on campus to ensure they “receive a strong foundation and create a path of success,” the school’s website says.
But for many students, campus living served as a distracting stressor instead of a stabilizing element on the first day of the fall semester. Sophomore Asma Alamin spent Wednesday morning in Augusta, where she lives, seeking information about temporary housing instead of going to class like she’d planned.
The 23-year-old received an email from CAU in April that included her housing assignment and roommate’s name. When she got to campus on Monday, there was a “huge line” of students waiting for dorm keys.
The students were eventually asked to sign in and wait for a call with more information, Alamin said. The school later told her no dorms were available.
“I feel like Clark needs to be there for their students,” the pre-med student said Wednesday. Alamin said she feels let down, having had higher expectations for the Historically Black College and University (HBCU).
A CAU spokesman said in a statement Monday that students who hadn’t completed the “financial enrollment process are being offered temporary housing.” Alamin said that option wasn’t presented to her.
Clark Atlanta’s crisis is indicative of the problems of many small colleges. Institutions that are financially strapped or don’t have large endowments like larger, predominately white institutions that often survive on the revenue from tuition and housing. Because of this, these kinds of issues become prevalent, especially at historically black colleges.
Sara Goldrick-Rab, a professor of higher education policy and sociology who researches college housing at Temple University, says colleges force students to live on campus oftentimes because colleges view housing as a money-maker.
Ahhhh housing is a money maker, but then what excuse does CAU have to not having housing available for students? I wanted to say HBCUs should do better, and why because many of their students are coming from backgrounds which enables them to procure student loans and grants. And if CAU is a lot like Morehouse - a private university - going there isn't cheap.
My experience at Morehouse especially during the first decade of the 21st century gave me a lesson about how Morehouse ran their affairs. There were points where I feel as if the prestigious institution could've done some things more efficiently especially registration, housing or financial aid. Perhaps make it more easier for students and their families to understand the process. I often felt Morehouse had nothing on the community college I left behind to go to Atlanta.
Then someone shared this article which shows it's not just HBCUs that have this problem. Evidently this is a problem at UC Berkely, having more students than beds to provide for them - especially if they must stay on campus the first two years of college.
There has to be a solution. Perhaps stop enrolling more students than they can accomodate. Perhaps make some changes to their procedures in situations like this. Perhaps find ways to accomodate the demand and that might mean you'd have to create some housing in the surrounding neighborhoods which during my time at Morehouse didn't exist.
It's been quite a while since covering the great American city of Detroit aka Motor City. As has been advertised in the news over the years Motown has suffered from population loss. Not only that there are a lot of foreclosed homes and vacant lands which have also been turned into urban farms.
Of course for the purpose of today's post Curbed Detroit looks at those homes which cost at least $65K. One home shown on their post costs about $60K two of the homes show in that post cost $69.9K.
If you can get through the many issues of Detroit which probably could amount to taxes and crime, a good deal could be had. Of course the basic rule of real estate is get in before the prices increase. Detroit may be a city in decline, however, nothing is forever! Detroit may rise from its decline.
The family known for the chewing gum and the namesake of the Chicago Cubs home Wrigley Field - and the family formerly owned the north side MLB franchise until the early 80s also has a namesake home which has recently been sold. It's strange to me to say that this mansion on the north side - specifically 2466 North Lakeview Avenue - was a foreclosure. And looking at the selling price $4.65 million it's still very much out of my reach.
Regardless I'll say when I'm finally ready to build my own house I have found the model. Perhaps scale it down and hopefully resembling a style of mid-century architecture. Just think perhaps as close to a Pill Hill style home as one could get built in the 21st century.
[VIDEO] The video I'm sharing with you was shown over at E.M. It showed one man's attempt at alleviating the homeless problem in Los Angeles. He calls them houses I call them sheds and these are structures which often are on the sidewalk or on a street. Well there isn't a private property to places these structures on.
Let me level with you, I have the absolute worst expectations of homeless people. My current job has odd hours that includes being on the CTA L in the early morning hours and often - especially during winter - the homeless are stretched out on the train sleeping. I don't like it, but how much resources are going to be dedicated towards keeping them off of CTA trains?
So this struggling musician you see here being interviewed, I support his own grassroots efforts to help the homeless of LA. For those who appreciate these small houses it gave them something. Problem is the city officials wanted to rebuff this solution to the point where the personal effects of these individuals were seized with these houses and no opportunity to collect them.
Last summer one part of my vacation was spent in this area known as Skid Row. I even have a picture of it and will show you below. I was at an Los Limousines bus station waiting to ride to Las Vegas. It was a patently unpleasant experience with the smell of urine in the air. On the other hand really sad to see so many people out on the streets in such a prosperous city as Los Angeles
What I will say regarding this issue is that if I could, my goal would be the provide resources so that we can provide these houses for homeless people in any city. Preferably on vacant lots not on streets and sidewalks. Hopefully we can provide those individuals with the services they need to improve their lot.
I've grown to appreciate mid-century modern architecture. There are plenty examples of these buildings on the south side. Not just Hyde Park/Kenwood, but further south. Perhaps here I will share my own observations with you.
Meanwhile you should read McMansion Hell to see what they have against these McMansions. We've seen them out there around the country. Surely you've seen them in the Chicago area and I know I've seen them in the suburbs of ATL.
BTW, if you've got the cash there is a mid-century modern revival. If you already own such a home this is what you can do to keep it maintained.
FTR, I'm posting this to lighten the mood just change subjects for a bit from the new administration in Washington. Perhaps the good times will roll again we shall see.
If only I had enough money to get into real estate. I would like to do rehab a house the way this greystone on the north side of Chicago had been. It's either that or build a house exactly the way this greystone was rehabbed.
As the "blogmaster" for The Sixth Ward I've followed real estate in the often beleaguered south side neighborhood of Englewood. Recently there were information on a vacant lot program which allowed Englewood neighbors in a pilot program to purchase and close on vacant lots there. The cost wasn't entirely cost prohibitive.
It's certainly cost prohibitive to build on those lots if that's what you chose to do with them. At the same time it's not necessary to build on those lots although if I was able to purchase a lot that's exactly what I would like to do. If nothing else until one gets the capital to build anything it's OK to turn these lots into oases instead of lots where weeds would grow and trash would collect.
Of course Englewood isn't the only neighborhood in Chicago where such a program is necessary. And who knows perhaps I'll have the luxury of buying a lot in the future and hopefully build the house I want to build. Or more likely have some property when a neighborhood turns around.
I mention Englewood because I'm starting to believe it's on the cusp. With a major CTA rail line and then a Whole Foods Market coming to such an impoverished neighborhood it seems very likely.
Now to start getting ready to get into real estate.
Today we take another quick trip to the Motor City.
For years I've read about young Caucasian gentrifiers who are coming to Detroit to buy up the properties and spark a revival for the beleaguered Michigan city. Then there's a flip side, most cities that have properties that are delinquent on property taxes and you can buy them from the original owners. Sometimes that means you'd have to put the owners out.
That's what this Guardian article from last month says about these young gentrifiers in Detroit. Many of them realized that they have to put the owners out after buying their homes via an auction. In one case the new owner sold the house back although for a lot more than he paid for it while helping the original owners take care of some of their taxes.
As much as I want to own some real estate in the future, it would be difficult for me to have to consider something like this. It would be very difficult for me to want to put out the people who lived in their houses. It would be even more difficult to want to sell the property back to them.
Regardless this is a good article and I hope you give it a read.
Manoogian Mansion Residence - Detroit by yrvelouria
Over at Curbed Detroit we've learned that the new Mayor of the Motor City - one Mike Duggan - has sold his home and is moving into the city's mayoral mansion. Not only that he's electing to rebrand the home.
While that move could be seen as PR move, as the writers of Curbed stated "the house simply isn't very big". The home is only about 4,000 square feet apparently big, but not mansion big. And at that Curbed further states Mayor Duggan would "lose a third of his living space compared to his old house".
In doing this post I also thought, how much is this residence worth to Detroit? Why isn't this one of those assets that could be sold to get Detroit out of bankruptcy? I'm sure it has been looked at as other city-owned assets were.
Sometimes I wish I can get into real estate. The thing is, my interest would not be in being a real estate agent having to sell property. It would be as much as developing as anything else.
If I was interested in developing, perhaps it's possible to start with "flipping" houses. That's as much about developing as in building on a vacant lot. And of course one could always progress to that level.
At least until that time Chicago magazine has an article about flipping houses. It's almost two years old, but surely it gives you an idea of what to do if this is what you want to do. Of course before one engages in such a venture every building isn't the same and of course it's all about the money. If it proves to cost more to fix than to sell it and you can see that upfront don't spend the cash.
Easy for me to say at this moment since well I'm not out flipping houses. ;)
[VIDEO] On Sunday, CBS' 60 Minutes took a look at Detroit and the many people who are doing their part to save this city and some frustrated citizens and firefighters. We see the vacant Detroit neighborhoods, and the very vibrant downtown which is largely owned by the owner of Quicken Loans Dan Gilbert!
BTW, Curbed Detroit noted Gilbert's tweet about this story. He wasn't very happy and believed the story they should've covered was "A city’s soul that will not die was the story & they missed it". It was evidenced in this story even if it wasn't entirely positive.
Below is another video that I wanted to share with you from Reason.tv!
[VIDEO] Well another take on the sentencing on Kwame Kilpatrick the former Mayor of Detroit. Curbed Detroit shared this video of Mayor Kilpatrick's old house and aside from the fact that it had been broken into and they showed the screen door no longer had it's knobs it appeared to be a very nice home. He probably moved out not long before he became Mayor since well Detroit has a Mayoral residence.
I recall that Kilpatrick had already been to jail pleading to guilty to charges that caused him to resign from his office in 2008. More recently he has been sentenced to 28 years in prison on various charges of corruption. That's much more than our very own Rod Blagojevich we thought he got it stiff! OUCH!
Well it looks like while demolition is going on at the site of Ronald Reagan's Hyde Park apartment building, the building itself remains in tact for now with a 90-day hold. The Alderman who represents that area where the University of Chicago hospital seeks to expand is more serious about a plaque to mark President Reagan's Hyde Park residence.
BTW, Ruberry at Marathon Pundit offers those concerned an e-mail address to this alderman to let them know to keep Reagan's old Chicago apartment in tact! Feel free to let her know what you think about demolishing this building.
John Ruberry wants his post to be shared and so I shall share. It's safe to say Obama's Chicago neighborhood of Hyde Park was briefly home to another president almost 100 years ago. In fact a year ago I wrote a post about that apartment building where a young Ronald Reagan once lived.
A year ago there were some activists who wanted to preserve this residence, and today it's in the shadow of the University of Chicago hospital and they're looking for room to expand. This building is also owned by UChicago according to Ruberry.
[VIDEO] He really needs to post more videos. Actually I wish I could utilize my YouTube account more. This video he shows us how to replace some parts in his antiquated toilet:
When you live in an old house with an old-fashioned 3.5 gallon tank, you either learn how to replace ballcocks and float arms or you call a plumber. Since the one in my bathroom recently needed replacing, I decided to record the replacement process for posterity (and YouTube). Thank you, Lowe's, for stocking a product that millions of homeowners still want and need. And Home Depot, if you're not going to carry ballcock assemblies, why the flying **** do you still stock the float balls and arms!? Strange.
And no, I'm not putting in a low-flow toilet. I'm the only one living here; it's not like there's five kids and the toilet's constantly being flushed.
A story out of the 1871 Great Chicago Fire. Did apple cider really save a house from the fire? Was this house unique amongst the many structures to survive the fire? John Schmidt at his WBEZ blog gives us the answer!
Well the architecture blogger over at Chicago Public Radio makes a comparison between people like Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, and Sean Hannity with Rachel Maddow, Jon Stewart, and of all people Keith Olbermann. Perhaps the housing choices of the right wing isn't much different than the housing choices of the progressive. I don't think he's really that impressed although he would have expected the "progressive" to live in more forward looking quarters. Besides some of those homes look very nice, but give me a Chicago bungalow any day whether I'm conservative or progressive. BTW, I don't consider myself a progressive! ;)
Read this ChicagoBreakingNews article about a Black couple who filed a complaint against homeowners who said outright that they "preferred" not to sell their home to a Black. I can't believe this still occurs today, but we see it will make the news.
Newsalert makes a connection between this Bridgeport couple and the Chicago mob and Chicago Democratic machine.
Also note we're talking about Bridgeport historically this neighborhood has been hostile towards blacks. In fact the 1919 race riots had their principals between both Bridgeport and the Black Metropolis.
It's entirely possible that someone here in Chicago is actually going to attempt to listen to her. They could be a politician looking for cheap political points or even housing activists. It does sound good, but I just wonder if it's financially feasible.
Either way, while I'm sure she can justify her conclusions I wouldn't celebrate her as an expert!
