A BRASH BUT BRILLIANT YOUNG MAN SENT A MEMO TO his board of directors outlining his plans for the new business magazine he intended to publish. The memo said, in part, “We will not be over-optimistic. We will recognize that this business slump may last as long as an entire year.” The man was Henry Luce, the magazine was Fortune, and the date? November 1929. Luce and his new magazine flourished despite the “slump,” but his forecast, obviously, was a little off the mark. Read more
Let There Be (Sky) Light
VERY FEW PEOPLE WILL DEBATE THE merits of a skylight: It brings light into a dark space, creates nice ventilation, and offers heat gain in the winter. The question, though, is whether or not intentionally cutting a hole in your roof is an archaic idea whose time has passed. Read more
THERE IS A HOUSE IN OMAHA, NEB., that is unlike any other house in the state—perhaps the ountry. Built under HUD's Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH), this “concept” house is loaded with 60 of the best technologies and products home building has to offer and is seen as a model for the future of home construction. The roof the agency chose to use on the house is made from metal. Read more
“AT 4,000 SQUARE FEET, THE NATIONAL Homebuilder Mainstream e looks like any other house in its Raleigh, N.C., subdivision. Underneath the brick, though, is the first house in the country to be built using an existing plan in a typical neighborhood while following the NAHB's Model Green Home Building guidelines. Read more
THIS NOVEMBER, VOTERS IN Tucson, Ariz., weigh in on a bill that ostensibly would repeal a monthly $14 garbage pickup fee, but could also create a moratorium on building permits. The measure is called the Tucson Water Users' Bill of Rights, as the fee is applied to Tucson Water customers. The initiative would also prohibit “toilet-to-tap” reclaimed water from being used as drinking water. Read more
MILWAUKEE MIGHT NOT JUMP TO MOST people's minds as a retirement hot spot, but it's one of five cities—along with Atlanta, Boston, Portland, Ore., and Chandler, Ariz.—noted in a new AARP report on great places for seniors to enjoy life. Read more
NEW YORK CITY'S POLITICIANS put some clamps on home builders in August when Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed a new law that requires builders of one, two, and three-family homes to obtain a license from the city. Read more
- Owner of Hall Financial Services, a Matthews, N.C.–based mortgage broker, is being forced to sell his own home to help reimburse clients as part of a legal settlement. - A recent report by four nonprofit advocacy groups finds that roughly one-third of California's cities and counties now have inclusionary housing programs. - Clise Properties is selling a 13-acre tract in downtown Seattle, according to a report in The New York Times. Read more