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leftysmambosal · 7 years ago

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Mortgage rates are about to rise — but the housing market is well positioned to adapt

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images The housing market underperformed in April, with existing-home sales more than 6% below the market potential.Some fear that as interest rates rise under a more aggressive Federal Reserve, the housing market will continue to hurt.But the driving force behind the increase are healthy economic conditions that are favorable to consumers.

In April, the housing market continued to underperform its potential. Existing-home sales were 6.5 percent below the market’s potential for existing-home sales, according to our Potential Home Sales Model. Lack of supply remains the primary culprit. The inventory of homes for sale in most markets remains historically low, yet demand continues to rise as millennials further age into homeownership.

"Understanding the resiliency of the housing market to a rising mortgage rate environment puts the likely rise in mortgage rates into perspective – they are unlikely to materially impact the housing market."

One reason housing supply remains limited is because the majority of existing homeowners have 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages with historically low rates. Now that rates are rising, they are hesitant to sell their homes because there is less incentive to sell. If they sell, they would lose the low mortgage rate they currently have and replace it with a higher rate and a more expensive monthly loan payment. As mortgage rates rise further, more existing homeowners will become rate-locked into their current homes.

Given April’s 30-year, fixed mortgage rate of 4.47 percent, the market potential for existing-home sales at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) is 5.99 million. The early estimate of the annualized rate of existing-home sales in April was 5.60 million, so the market is underperforming its potential by an estimated 392,000 (SAAR) sales.

Surprise – Rate Increases of 25 or 50 Basis Points Have Little Impact on Market Potential

But, what may happen if mortgage rates increase another 25 or 50 basis points? According to our Potential Home Sales Model, if the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage increases another 25 basis points, market potential for existing-home sales would fall by 11,500 sales. If the mortgage rate increased by 50 basis points, the market potential for existing-home sales would fall by 23,000 sales. While both increased rate scenarios reduce the market potential for existing-home sales, the reduction is small compared with the overall market potential for existing-home sales – almost 6 million sales.

Understanding the resiliency of the housing market in a rising mortgage rate environment puts the likely rise in mortgage rates into perspective – they are unlikely to materially impact the housing market. While interest rates may rise, the driving force behind the increase are healthy economic conditions that are favorable to consumers. The healthy economy encourages more homeownership demand and spurs household income growth, which increases consumer house-buying power. Mortgage rates are on the rise because of a stronger economy and our housing market is well positioned to adapt.

First American Financial Group

April 2018 Potential Home Sales

For the month of April, First American updated its proprietary Potential Home Sales model to show that:

Potential existing-home sales increased to a 5.99 million seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR), a 0.7 percent month-over-month decrease. This represents a 60.6 percent increase from the market potential low point reached in February 2011. The market potential for existing-home sales increased by 1.9 percent compared with a year ago, a gain of 114,000 (SAAR) sales. Currently, potential existing-home sales is 1.29 million (SAAR), or 17.7 percent below the pre-recession peak of market potential, which occurred in July 2005.

Market Performance Gap

The market for existing-home sales is underperforming its potential by 6.5 percent or an estimated 392,000 (SAAR) sales. The market performance gap decreased by an estimated 39,000 (SAAR) sales between March 2018 and April 2018.

What Insight Does the Potential Home Sales Model Reveal?

When considering the right time to buy or sell a home, an important factor in the decision should be the market’s overall health, which is largely a function of supply and demand. Knowing how close the market is to a healthy level of activity can help consumers determine if it is a good time to buy or sell, and what might happen to the market in the future. That is difficult to assess when looking at the number of homes sold at a particular point in time without understanding the health of the market at that time. Historical context is critically important. Our Potential Home Sales Model measures what we believe a healthy market level of home sales should be based on the economic, demographic and housing market environments.

About the Potential Home Sales Model

Potential home sales measures existing-homes sales, which include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate based on the historical relationship between existing-home sales and U.S. population demographic data, income and labor market conditions in the U.S. economy, price trends in the U.S. housing market, and conditions in the financial market. When the actual level of existing-home sales are significantly above potential home sales, the pace of turnover is not supported by market fundamentals and there is an increased likelihood of a market correction. Conversely, seasonally adjusted, annualized rates of actual existing-home sales below the level of potential existing-home sales indicate market turnover is underperforming the rate fundamentally supported by the current conditions. Actual seasonally adjusted annualized existing-home sales may exceed or fall short of the potential rate of sales for a variety of reasons, including non-traditional market conditions, policy constraints and market participant behavior. Recent potential home sale estimates are subject to revision in order to reflect the most up-to-date information available on the economy, housing market and financial conditions. The Potential Home Sales model is published prior to the National Association of Realtors’ Existing-Home Sales report each month.

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leftysmambosal · 7 years ago

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House votes to create private industry panel to advise DEQ

The House passed legislation giving private businesses a role in Department of Environmental Quality rulemaking Tuesday. (File photo) (

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Senate bill to bring private business stakeholders into the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s rule-making process has passed the Republican-controlled state House.

Lawmakers voted Tuesday on a three-bill package to create an environmental rules review committee stacked with private industry representatives able to weigh in during the DEQ’s rule-making process.

The bills also would establish a permit appeal panel and an advisory board of scientific experts.

The first bill passed 57-51. It originally granted the committee veto power over the DEQ but now states the department director can seek final rulings from the governor.

The legislation now returns to the Senate. It was criticized on the House floor by Democrats evoking past disasters such as Flint’s 2014 lead-poisoning crisis.

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leftysmambosal · 7 years ago

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Bellingham approves ‘backyard houses’ to fight shortage

The Bellingham City Council approved a new law allowing homeowners to build mother-in-law units by a 5-2 vote. The city hopes the new law will ease the city’s housing shortage.

Ray Dellecker, who lives in the "Happy Valley" neighborhood for nine years, backed the measure.

"Families with limited means, young couples starting out or people who own a home and are aging in it can’t afford to stay here," he said.

With vacancy rates in the city near zero, rents and home prices are creeping out of control. That’s why Dellecker wanted the city to allow people to build so-called "backyard houses" commonly referred to as "mother-in-law" apartments on their properties that they could rent out.

Dellecker believes the small homes would permit people to live more affordably and help prospective homeowners pay their mortgages.

"Without taking some kind of effective action on affordable housing the neighborhoods are just going to gentrify and prices will become completely out of touch," he said.

Mark Sherman lives a few miles from Happy Valley but his opinions are worlds apart.

"In what city, San Francisco, Vancouver, Seattle has any of this ever worked?" he asked.

Plenty of backyard houses already exist around Bellingham, many of them converted garages. Sherman believes if the city writes them into law, housing prices will actually go up because the additional homes will make the properties much more valuable.

He also worries the push for additional density could be the first step toward condos and apartments – bringing traffic and parking problems. What’s worse, he fears for the loss of the uniqueness of his community. Looking at what has happened to Seattle’s once quaint Ballard neighborhood, now generally referred to as a "condo canyon," Sherman does not want to see the "Ballardization" of Bellingham.

"It takes livability and just throws it out with the trash," he said.

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leftysmambosal · 7 years ago

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ON REAL ESTATE: How to get the most from your appraisal

Submitted Photo

So, everyone knows that it can be hard to sell a home. Buyers and sellers have to come to the right agreement, and everyone is happy right? After all, the market dictates the value through supply and demand — but this isn’t the whole picture. The bank has to be happy as well, and that means an appraisal.

When you’ve finally reached your agreement with the seller and it’s time to sign the paperwork, the bank will have to see if they’re willing to loan you the money based on the property. This is so that if you default on your loan, they can recoup their money. So, if you sign an agreement of sale at $300,000, but the bank only thinks it’s worth $200,000, then you’re not going to be loaned the money. The bank doesn’t see that they can get that money back out.

This is one of the reasons that cash is king in real estate. A cash buyer doesn’t need the bank to agree on the value of the home, the deal you strike is enough.

So, here are some tips to make sure that your home sells for the best value:

Ask for a local appraiser

As the buyer, you’re the one who is really paying for the appraiser, and a local appraiser will have a better idea of the value in your county. This might not seem like a big deal, but it is. Based on local taxes, school districts, and general location the prices can vary greatly. If the person appraising your home isn’t up to date on the location, it can be problematic.

Get your home pre-appraised

Now, if you ask any real estate agent, they’ll tell you the horror stories of appraisers. No two appraisers can agree on the value of a home. But, as a seller, a pre-appraisal will help you find the right price. Also, when you and your buyer work your way through the process and get to the final appraisal, having a pre-appraisal in hand will make it easier to get the right appraisal for your home.

If the appraiser shows up and you hand him the pre-appraisal sheet stating $300,000 he’ll have a lot harder time to say that your home isn’t in the proper range.

Meet the appraiser on site

For the introverts of the world, meeting the appraiser may be stressful, but it can help. When the appraiser is working through the price of the house, and misses a detail here or there, you can make sure that he makes the proper note of that. You can also share information about recent sales in the area to make sure that your appraisal is enough to approve your loan.

Fight it

Now if all else fails, you are allowed to disagree with the appraisal of your house. If you think that the appraisal failed to take into account certain features that will change the value of the house, feel free to let them know. It may be enough to change their opinion.

It’s never a fun process trying to sell your house, and the appraisal process may make it harder. Working with a real estate agent can help your chances of navigating the process unscathed. Whether you decide to go it alone or get a real estate agent, if you follow the steps I listed above, you’re in a great spot to get what you need.

Wayne Megill is the Principal of The Wayne Megill Real Estate Team of Keller Williams Brandywine Valley and the President of Megill Homes, Inc. For buyer or seller representation, or for more perspective on the local and national real estate market, please email [email protected] and visit The Wayne Megill Team site at http://www.pahomesandrealestate.com

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leftysmambosal · 7 years ago

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Nature surrounds tranquil home in Happy Valley

15 Ernest Crescent Happy Valley. Image supplied to Messenger Real Estate by Timms Real Estate.

A RELAXED family lifestyle is on offer in a four-bedroom home in Happy Valley.

Set on a 777sqm allotment, the well-maintained property is surrounded by spacious lush gardens, established trees and is close to nature reserves including Tangari Regional Park.

15 Ernest Crescent Happy Valley. Image supplied to Messenger Real Estate by Timms Real Estate.

At one end of the home are the four bedrooms, three including built-ins.

All are serviced by the family bathroom, which offers a bath, shower and separate toilet.

At the opposite end of the property is a combined light-filled lounge and dining space with timber floors.

The kitchen is complete with a breakfast bar and built-in pantry and leads out to an alfresco pergola with a pond and entertainment space.

15 Ernest Crescent Happy Valley. Image supplied to Messenger Real Estate by Timms Real Estate.

A large, tranquil backyard offers space to sit back and relax in multiple areas including a raised patio among the trees.

Extra features include a double carport and garden sheds.

The home is close to the Southern Expressway, local shops and schools including Happy Valley Primary School.

15 Ernest Crescent Happy Valley. Image supplied to Messenger Real Estate by Timms Real Estate.

DETAILS

4 Bedrooms, 1 Bathrooms, 2 Carparks

Price: $379,000 to $399,000.

Agent: Timms Real Estate, ph 8471 6100, Todd Sloan 0417 881 489.

Land size: 777sqm.

Features: Spacious garden with multiple entertainment spaces, double carport.

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leftysmambosal · 7 years ago

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Meet the tent-renters! Young city-dwellers are choosing to live in makeshift backyard bedrooms as property prices continue to soar

Young city-dwellers are choosing to live in makeshift backyard bedrooms to combat rising property prices.

Waitress and model India Flevell, 19, was living in a tent pitched in a Melbourne backyard, paying $100 a week.

She told Domain that living in a tent allowed her to move easily without giving notice while she saved money for travel and to eventually buy a house.

Waitress and model India Flevell, 19, was living in a tent pitched in a Melbourne backyard, paying $100 a week

She told Domain that living in a tent allowed her to move easily without giving notice while she saved money for travel and to eventually buy a house

She pays rent to use the communal areas of the home at which she stays.

‘I’ve always wanted to live in a teepee or bell tent and deck it out all nice and honour the crazy gypsy in me,’ she said.

She found the land to pitch her tent by advertising on a Facebook group for Melbourne renters.

‘You get heaps of responses… I could just choose where I wanted and then set up, instead of being one out of however many people applying for a room,’ she said.

‘I was only going to be in Melbourne for a few months, and I didn’t want to pay bond and sign a lease and all that, so it seemed perfect.’

Her tent cost $550 and is decorated with a bed base, woven rug, fairy light, crystals and books.

She is planning to stay in her makeshift abode until winter.

Her tent cost $550 and is decorated with a bed base, woven rug, fairy light, crystals and books

Students Jess, 25, and Ben, 26, live in a caravan they originally bought for $4500 to travel around Australia.

They have now parked the caravan in a Kew, Melbourne backyard.

They pay $500 a month plus bills for the land the caravan is parked on and to access the house.

The couple say they are ‘a lot healthier and happier’ since moving in to the caravan.

The legality of such arrangements depends on council regulations, and if the landlord agrees to subletting.

Students Jess, 25, and Ben, 26, live in a caravan they originally bought for $4500 to travel around Australia

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leftysmambosal · 7 years ago

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Residents of Happy Valley turn vigilantes to protect open spaces

THANE: The rampant dumping of debris in the green zone of Manpada over the past fortnight has prompted a group of citizens from a housing complex to take up the task of stopping such destruction. The denizens of the neighbouring Happy Valley complex have made it a mission to protect the open space and have also approached the civic body and forest authorities to take action against the culprits. The citizens’ who have taken the responsibility to revive the dead plants transplanted by the TMC have started carrying out vigilance in and around the neighbourhood to prevent the indiscriminate dumping.

Over the past two to three weeks, these residents have been noticing a steady rise in the quantum of debris being dumped on the periphery of Yeoor forest range and footpath, along the road to Neelkanth Greens from Happy Valley circle. While the issue began with a small portion of soil, rocks and concrete blocks being dumped on a portion of the footpath, the approximately 10-ft high pile of construction waste now stretches to over 200 to 300m along the newly constructed footpath and forest zone.

“We had started an initiative to protect the new neem saplings that were planted by the TMC. That was when we started observing the rise in this illegal activity here. Over the past 20 days, the debris has multiplied and now occupies not only a large chunk of the forest land, but also blocks the new footpath,” said Sashikumar Nair, a resident.

“This is damaging the newly-constructed footpaths and the manholes of drains. It has also damaged the recently-planted neem trees that we have been taking care of,” said another Hillgarden society resident.

The citizens approached the government for help and are even planning to step up vigilance in the area.

“As this activity seems to be taking place in the night, we have not been able to figure out who the culprit are. We have, however, written to the TMC and forest department to look into it. We visit the area every day to tend to the plants and are on a constant lookout for the wrongdoers. However, we will be holding a meeting on Sunday to plan and step up vigilance,” Nair said.

Speaking about the issue, a forest official from Yeoor, said, “We have received a letter from residents and will be conducting a recce of the area before preparing a report. As the Yeoor range forest officer was recently transferred, we are awaiting for the new RFO who will take the necessary actions.”

Get latest news & live updates on the go on your pc with News App. Download The Times of India news app for your device. Read more City news in English and other languages.

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leftysmambosal · 7 years ago

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This contentious issue is dividing neighbors across Bellingham | The Bellingham Herald

Bellingham is wrestling with a housing issue that has sparked one of the most divisive discussions in years — a proposal to change rules that govern home additions and backyard cottages in single-family neighborhoods citywide.

Debate over accessory dwelling units in Bellingham — also called "mother-in-law units" or "granny flats" — has generated accusations of racism and elitism, according to both supporters and opponents of a contentious proposal now before the City Council.

"This ordinance as proposed by the Planning Commission does not resolve the issues of infill, affordability and diversity as it proclaims," said South Hill resident Geoff Middaugh, during a public hearing at City Hall last week that lasted nearly three hours.

"It divides us. It conflicts us," Middaugh said. "Never in my furthest imagination could I believe that a local issue like this could pit a community against itself in this manner. I’ve ended up being misframed as racist, exclusionary, against diversity."

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ADUs have become a frequent topic online among members of local groups such as Don’t Ballardize Bellingham, the Bellingham Neighborhood Coalition, Open Neighbors Bellingham and the Bellingham Tenants Union.

After hearing about 50 residents speak Monday, the City Council voted to continue discussion during a later meeting of its Committee of the Whole. A date wasn’t immediately set, but Council President Roxanne Murphy said it could be later this month.

City officials are still accepting comments on the proposed ordinance.

ADUs are small apartments or rooms that can be either part of or separate from the main house on a property.

Proposed new rules would allow ADUs in all areas zoned for single-family homes and reduce the lot size for ADUs to 5,000 square feet — about the size of a typical property in the Lettered Streets or Columbia neighborhoods, said city planner Chris Koch.

About 100 units already have been built citywide in areas zoned for single-family homes, with about the same number of illegal units, Koch said.

This map shows accessory dwelling units across the city of Bellingham.

Courtesy to The Bellingham Herald City of Bellingham

Other changes to the ADU ordinance would allow as many as four occupants, up from the current three, and limit the number of bedrooms in a detached ADU to two.

One off-street parking space would be required for each ADU and transportation and park impact fees would be waived.

Middaugh said he lacks trust in how city officials will enforce the measure under consideration.

Other speakers countered that the proposed new rules will provide Bellingham residents with a range of housing choices — especially for young professionals as they begin their careers, for children who move home after college, for adult children with disabilities, or for elderly people who need live-in caregivers.

"We must build affordable homes and we must do it now," said Cora Cole, a Western Washington University student who lives in Lettered Streets. "I don’t think that this is an Orwellian state of exception we create here this evening."

Rose Lathrop of Happy Valley, the green building and smart growth program manager for Sustainable Connections, described how she got help with a down payment for her house in 2001 when she was a 20-year-old single mother working two jobs while attending WWU.

"There’s no way that I could afford to buy a house at any point along that time — and currently couldn’t afford to buy a house today — if it wasn’t for the fact that I had help, and I was fortunate," Lathrop said.

"I would love to be able to build that ADU in my backyard, reduce my housing costs, be able to afford to send my daughter to college," she said.

Rebecca Meloy, a Columbia neighborhood resident who supports the revised rules, said the new regulations should be implemented citywide, not just in select neighborhoods. Some Bellingham neighborhoods currently have covenants that prevent ADUs, which could invalidate any new rules there.

"It is wrong to pick and choose across certain neighborhoods and cause division," Meloy said.

Rental squeeze

Bellingham officials have been trying to encourage housing in a variety of forms without adding urban sprawl as residents cope with rising home prices and skyrocketing rents.

According to recent figures from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, the median price of homes sold in the first quarter in Bellingham was $425,000.

Median rental rate in Whatcom County was $1,623 a month in February, a 5.6 percent increase compared to a year ago, according to a report from Zillow.com.

Tom Follis, a Bellingham real estate appraiser and broker, said the local vacancy rate is below 1 percent.

City officials said ADUs are a small part of the overall plan to address Northwest Washington’s housing crisis.

Much of the friction centers on detached accessory dwelling units in older Bellingham neighborhoods that are mostly single-family homes on smaller lots, said Councilman Terry Bornemann. He represents the city’s 5th Ward, which includes parts of the Sehome, South Hill and York neighborhoods.

Bornemann said he fears that the bulk of the pressure to build ADUs will be in older single-family neighborhoods with smaller lot sizes — such as Columbia, Lettered Streets, Sehome, York and South Hill.

He said restrictive covenants in some neighborhoods — he cited Edgemoor, upper Alabama Hill and Cordata — prevent such detached backyard homes.

Murphy said she thinks that some residents fear that ADUs could turn into short-term rentals or Air BNBs, changing the character of neighborhoods and causing problems with noise and parking.

Nevertheless, a pilot program for detached ADUs in Happy Valley has been a success, several city officials said.

South Hill currently has 20 legal ADUs, and the city’s original ADU measure passed in 1995 required that the council reconsider its rules when any single neighborhood reached 20 legal units.

Mayor Kelli Linville said a more broad approach toward ADUs was taken as a result of a recent survey that showed housing, homelessness and jobs among the top three subjects that Bellingham residents want to see city officials address.

‘A great alternative’

"I think it will continue to be an issue with the city and it will come back again," Linville said. "Especially for small families and couples, I think that it’s a great alternative."

Rick Sepler, director of the Planning & Community Development Department, said a new policy would allow code enforcement officers to bring illegally built units into compliance with current codes.

"To stop all development till we resolve these issues flies in the face of a statewide housing crisis," Sepler said.

Several of the opponents said that the expanded rules governing ADUs are a de facto zoning change, and they would prefer to see backyard homes and home additions regulated by a conditional use permit that would allow neighbors to have input on a project planned nearby.

In an interview at his Birchwood home, Kurt Baumgarten said he built a detached accessory dwelling unit legally under the city’s "infill toolkit" plan that was developed in the 2000s. It’s a carriage house — an apartment above a two-car garage behind his home in a former orchard overlooking Squalicum Creek Park.

"I understand the concerns and I think they’re valid but also they might be a little unfounded," he said. His building passed the scrutiny of both neighbors and city officials, he said.

Tommy Lingbloom of Sunnyland stands next to his illegal accessory dwelling, a backyard cottage originally built as an artist studio. It could become legal under rules being considered by Bellingham’s City Council.

Robert Mittendorf The Bellingham Herald

Tommy Lingbloom of Sunnyland, however, has an illegal detached ADU that was built as an artist studio at his home.

Lingbloom described how he was raised in Bellingham, attended WWU and started teaching at Bellingham Schools.

He and his wife, also a teacher, bought their house and rented its illegal studio to a handful of tenants at a reduced price. The extra income helped with their mortgage.

But the city forced him to stop renting it.

"I guess I was really naive in how all this housing stuff worked," Lingbloom said. "And now this beautiful place where someone could live is sitting vacant right now. That’s another baker, or a teacher or a church employee who does not have a place to live."

Lettered Streets resident Galen Herz said rising rents and the shortage of housing are squeezing workers, youth, the elderly, and families.

"Everyone deserves a place to call home, and every neighborhood should have homes accessible to people of all incomes. This ordinance represents a small step toward those goals," said Herz, who is a member of the Bellingham Tenants Union.

"I believe that most of us … on both the pro and anti-DADU side want what is best for people and what is best for the city," Herz said.

"ADUs and backyard cottages can improve our housing availability, allow for intergenerational living and aging in place. … We need to pass this and move on to bigger and bolder solutions that are in line with the housing challenge here."

Robert Mittendorf: 360-756-2805, @BhamMitty

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leftysmambosal · 7 years ago

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Scandal and Political Wrangling Preceded Departure of Housing Chairwoman

Shola Olatoye, standing, appeared at a news conference on Tuesday in Far Rockaway, Queens, and spoke about stepping down as the chairwoman of the New York City Housing Authority.

False filings with the federal government over lead paint inspections. Faulty boilers that left tens of thousands without heat in a frigid New York City winter. A new state monitor. A newly aggressive City Council.

The list of troubles and the ensuing scrutiny only seemed to accelerate in the final months of Shola Olatoye’s tenure as chairwoman of the New York City Housing Authority.

Then the system and its 175,000 apartments became a political cudgel wielded by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo against his downstate nemesis and fellow Democrat, Mayor Bill de Blasio. Moldering public housing apartments became a stand-in for failure, in the governor’s telling, and Ms. Olatoye retreated from view.

When she returned to the public eye on Tuesday, at a news conference in Far Rockaway, Queens, it was to say farewell. She thanked a long list of aides by name as she announced her resignation, as if to stress that her departure was of her own accord.

The mayor said they had been having conversations for “months.” In that time, news media attention to crumbling apartments, particularly from The Daily News and local television stations, reached a crescendo. Publicly, Mr. de Blasio maintained his support as top staff members at the housing authority resigned around her.

“He asked me to stay,” she said. “This was my choice.” She declined to say if she has a new job waiting for her after she leaves at the end of the month.

Before the news conference, Mr. de Blasio toured an apartment that had been refurbished in a public-private partnership. And in praising Ms. Olatoye, he offered a preview of what he said would be the future of public housing across New York City: more partnerships with real estate developers and other private companies, and further commitment to his plan to build affordable and market-rate housing on underused public housing land.

“This is the honest conversation that we’re going to have with the people in this city,” the mayor said. “This is a much bigger problem than is even being acknowledged. Until we find a way to put together over $20 billion, we will continue to have these problems.”

How much Ms. Olatoye’s departure would result in improvements for the residents of the city’s public housing, amid so much scrutiny, infighting and finger-pointing, remained an open and pressing question. Years of disinvestment and neglect by the federal government flared into a political issue that may have cost Ms. Olatoye her job — Mr. de Blasio said she chose to leave — but there is little sign of substantive improvement on the horizon.

One modest, unexpected bright spot could be found in the budget coming out of Washington: a 46 percent increase in funding for capital projects, about $160 million more, and more money for operations as well, according to estimates by the housing authority. Still, the needs at hundreds of sprawling complexes — some $20 billion in repairs — are towering.

Mr. de Blasio named Stanley Brezenoff, a longtime city official and the mayor’s go-to fixer for problematic agencies, as the interim chair, though he will not start until June, several weeks after Ms. Olatoye is to depart. But changes at the top may not result in changes at the ground level, where tenants struggle with mold and broken heating systems, even as high crime rates have eased.

“There’s no magic button to push here,” Mr. Brezenoff said. “I can promise the best possible effort to make the best use of existing resources.”

He joins a top-level staff that has seen sustained turnover.

Of the 32 senior jobs, a figure that includes all positions from vice president up to chair, about two-thirds are vacant, have acting appointees or were filled in the last year, according to an analysis of the agency’s organizational chart.

As Ms. Olatoye was asked about the high-level departures and vacancies, Mr. de Blasio turned and muttered to her. “Some of that turnover is good” she said, appearing to repeat what the mayor said to her off mic a moment before.

Ms. Olatoye said she had stayed on until now in part to help with efforts to negotiate a settlement with federal prosecutors. In 2016, the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan opened a wide-ranging inquiry into conditions in public housing and paperwork that falsely certified lead-paint inspections. One outcome of the negotiations could be a federal monitor for the authority.

There is already a court-appointed special master for mold. Last month, federal housing officials began requiring the housing authority to get approval to spend federal money, because of the false lead-paint filings. Mr. Cuomo last week ordered the city to choose an independent monitor to oversee new state spending on public housing.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Cuomo did not respond to a request for comment on Ms. Olatoye’s departure.

If problems had been building for years, it was the issue of lead paint that caused the dam to burst last year.

In November, a report by the city’s Department of Investigation found that the authority had not been conducting required inspections of apartments with young children, a lapse that began in the Bloomberg administration and continued under Mr. de Blasio.

When it was discovered, Ms. Olatoye moved to fix the problem, officials said. What she did not immediately do was tell tenants about the years in which inspections for lead hazards were not performed.

Soon after, a bone-chilling cold set in, and many boilers failed.

The two stories invited oversight and underscored how a “tale of two cities” — one comfortable, another cold — could still be told four years into Mr. de Blasio’s tenure.

LuzMarie Rodriguez said Nycha staff cleaned the floors daily when she first moved into the Gompers Houses on the Lower East Side about 10 years ago.

Since then, she said, custodial services and maintenance have deteriorated. Last summer, Ms. Rodriguez called 911 to report a pungent smell coming from the stairwell. “I thought someone was dead,” she said. It turned out to be excrement.

Still, Nycha did not clean it up for another week, said Ms. Rodriguez, 30, who works as a babysitter. She said a thoughtful tenant has begun cleaning the common hallway herself.

Inside her apartment, where she lives with her father and her two children, plaster peeled from cracked walls. “I’m covering everything up to make it look as nice as possible,” Ms. Rodriguez said.

Advocates for Nycha and low-income tenants described Ms. Olatoye as a scapegoat.

“What happened at Nycha starts at the top with the mayor and deputy mayor, Alicia Glen,” said Jonathan Westin, executive director of New York Communities for Change, a nonprofit that is an advocate for low-income tenants and that recently endorsed Cynthia Nixon’s bid against Mr. Cuomo for the Democratic nomination.

Ms. Glen, the deputy mayor who oversees housing policy, attended the news conference but sat at the end of the table. She did not speak until asked a question by a reporter. City Hall officials defended Ms. Glen, pointing to her plan to generate revenue through partnerships with private developers to create market-rate and affordable housing on Nycha land.

At the Jacob Riis Houses, a public housing complex on the Lower East Side, some residents expressed resentment and said Ms. Olatoye’s resignation had been a long time coming.

“Finally,” said Carlos Viner, 71, a retired bus driver and Vietnam veteran who has lived in the projects his whole life. He said it had taken Nycha five months to repair his kitchen cabinets. The leaks in his building are so bad, he said, that water has seeped through his apartment walls.

Ms. Rodriguez, of the Gompers Houses, said she had no idea that Ms. Olatoye had resigned and frankly, did not even know her name. “Not a clue,” she said.

But she said she would tell Ms. Olatoye’s successor that she and other tenants should be able to expect basic maintenance, like keeping common spaces clear of excrement.

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leftysmambosal · 7 years ago

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Architects around the globe are exploring “vertical land” to solve homelessness

In an example of truly thinking in three dimensions, architects around the globe are beginning to envision housing in a different way. Dubbed “vertical land,” developers are essentially utilizing scaffolding and three-dimensional printing to build homeless shelters on the windowless sides of existing buildings. It’s a controversial and drastic step towards attacking the homeless crises gripping some of the world’s most populated cities.

One of the newest project proposals is called “Homed,” and it’s already been designed and modeled by New York and Oslo-based innovation studio Framlab. The project, if embraced and enacted by the City of New York, would employ hexagonal-shaped pods with a steel and aluminum exterior and an interior composed of 3D-printed polycarbonate wrapped in wood. Each individual pod would then be stacked in honeycomb-style clusters, supported by the type of construction scaffolding that New Yorkers have been used to for decades.

“This is a response to a host of factors that the typical shelter spaces are unable to provide, many of which are crucial for acceptable qualities of life: privacy, safety, individuality, self-esteem, among others,” writes Framlab on a project overview.

The concept is the brainchild of New York-based Norwegian architect Andreas Tjeldflaat, who began investigating the idea after a conversation with a homeless man on the subway about the conditions in city shelters and the man’s choice to live on the streets instead.

“The idea of using vertical space struck me as I was walking through lower Manhattan one afternoon, pondering how the idle vertical land around me might be utilized,” Tjeldflaat said. “Knowing how land is one of the main drivers of cost when building in New York City today, I thought it would be interesting to challenge what ‘land’ might be.”

One interesting design challenge was the intention to give occupants a view of the outside, while simultaneously protecting their privacy inside. When someone enters or leaves a pod, they can lock the door. However, Tjeldflaat designed the front face of the pod from a smart-glass assembly with a layer of thin film diodes. Translucent particles provide privacy from the outside, while the exterior modules can transmit digital content, be it public artwork, civil information or commercial content, which could potentially offset the cost of the pods.

While Framlab is already assessing a potential cost per unit of around $10,000 and talking to potential partners, investors and city constituents, the company recognizes that their concept is just one small step towards a larger goal.

“Homed is a stop-gap solution to alleviate the situation,” said Tjeldflaat. “Then again, the traditional shelter offering is very much a stop-gap solution, as well–and one that comes with a set of challenges. As large groups of people often must share spaces, privacy can be a rare commodity, and many struggle to maintain their dignity because of it. This project’s most significant departure from the current offerings is the fact that these are individual spaces.”

In the United States, homelessness is a major challenge. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development keeps a figure called the “Point in Time” count, which reflects more than 554,000 homeless people across the country, including nearly 200,000 with no access to nightly shelter. But local factors can also come into play in major municipalities.

New York City, similar to many other cities around the globe, has been impacted by its own growth and evolution. Its woes have included a widening housing affordability gap, a steady decline in housing assistance, and the post-1955 disruption of the city’s robust portfolio of single-room occupancy (SRO) units.

Other designers have caught on to the potential of vertical space as well. In San Francisco, home to more than 8,000 homeless people, researchers and designers are taking a broad approach to potential solutions. One vertical solution by housing firm Panoramic Interests is dubbed the “Micropad,” an unconventional prefabricated shelter that is stackable, easy to manufacture, and versatile.

In 2015, British architect James Furzer of Spatial Design Architects proposed an award-winning project called “Homes for the Homeless.” The design involved parasitic pods made of materials similar to a “host” building, providing comfort for those used to “sleeping rough” in London while blending in with the aesthetics of the neighborhood. The project won money from Illinois-based architecture firm Fakro for its “Space for New Visions” competition and raised more on Indiegogo but remains more conceptual than practical.

A design conceptually similar to Homed emerged in Hong Kong earlier this year when studio James Law Cybertecture unveiled a prototype for low-cost, stackable micro homes housed in concrete pipes, designed to fit into gaps between city buildings. The units, called OPod Tube Housing, uses wide concrete water pipes transformed into liveable housing, with doors that can be unlocked via mobile devices. While not specifically designed for the homeless, studio founder James Law thinks the design would appeal to younger residents who can’t afford private housing.

Whether it’s tiny homes, parasite pods or a solution that hasn’t yet emerged, experts seem to agree that an important part of any solution remains: give homes to the homeless.

Editors’ Recommendations

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leftysmambosal · 7 years ago

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Collateral, Broadchurch, Happy Valley — limited series with female cops in charge make for evolved stories

There are a lot of women cops running the show on TV these days. Collateral, a new limited series that Netflix introduced without much ado this week, brings you Carrie Mulligan as Kip Glaspie, a pregnant, calm and in control police officer, in charge of solving a murder that magnifies present day British politics and its impact. True to the BBC’s focus on highbrow entertainment, this four-part series appeals because it is set in present day post-Brexit Britain, where immigrants are a serious ‘issue’.

David Hare, the Oscar-nominated writer of The Hours and The Reader, writes this consciously un-dramatic police drama. From being integral to the development of Britain, immigrants from war torn regions like Syria and Iraq, are viewed with suspicion and disdain by the British establishment. Entangled with this murder are the effective side stories of a woman priest, an idealistic and suffering British politician and the present day conflicted British army professional. Together, Collateral comes to life when Glaspie (played by Mulligan with calm, composed conviction) ties up all threads to solve a murder that is closely impacted by politics. The subtlety and sincerity of this pregnant woman cop, not once drawing attention to her physical state, makes Collateral a compelling view. True to form, Hare has stated that there are no plans to make a second season, just for the sake of repeating the first time’s success.

Netflix and other streaming platforms have made it simple to access quality police procedurals where women lead from the front and play a range of characters as cops. In the last three years, women police officers have become ideal protagonists for gripping crime thrillers and dramas. Refreshingly, none fall in the cliché of a deliberately flawed character (say a smart cop with a drinking problem or sex addiction) but are represented as efficient, confident cops, humane in their imperfections but great at their jobs.

These series highlight an important change in storytelling. These shows underline the empowered female protagonist; more convincing because she is not different from a male cop just because she is a woman. It is this aspect-making, that the cop in the woman stands out before her female identity, which makes these shows so engaging.

Quite a few of these female cop-led shows originate in the United Kingdom. In Broadchurch (streamed on Netflix), yet another British cult classic, Olivia Coleman is the morally upright, wronged woman whose investigation of a shocking local murder leads her to the stunning realization of her twisted husband. Coleman stands shoulder to shoulder with David Tennant in solving crimes that shake a close-knit local community, all this while trying to stay optimistic and be a good mother. Coleman’s character is easy to relate to as a tense mother and exhausted police officer in charge of a crime on a ticking clock.

Then there’s Happy Valley, where Sarah Lancashire has delivered a pitch perfect performance as Catherine Cawood, a police officer in a picturesque middle England valley town marred by hatred and crimes against women. Having lost her daughter to rape, Catherine takes care of her recovering addict sister and her grand son, a product of the rape, while chasing down misogynistic killers. Two seasons on, audiences are hooked and the third season hangs in the air. Lanchashire has carved a standard as the honest, tough and grieving female police officer with Happy Valley. As audience, you are affected by the underlying tension that marks Catherine at all levels — including her body language and taut behavior.

Then there is Marcella, where Anna Friel returns to policing a series of murders after a career break to start her family. As her husband announces that he will leave her soon, Marcella must cope with her family breaking up, and keeping a clear separation between her professional life and personal mess. Friel’s angsty performance makes one sympathise with Marcella even as her abilities as a cop come to the fore.

Although Gillian Anderson’s British accent drew its share of giggles in The Fall, the cold, super efficient and subtly bossy female police officer Stella Gibson is a memorable character. Gibson is passionate but quite capable of freezing anyone out. Her sole focus is on solving a complex crime. Having brought Jamie Dornan to the limelight, The Fall plays on her uncompromising commitment to her job, breaking clichés and strongly underlining the abilities of a woman leader in a job typically filled by men.

Similarly, the character that Vicky McClure plays in Line of Duty (Kate Fleming) stands on equal footing as a police officer investigating police corruption with her male colleague. Her home life slowly turns to shambles but that bit is a side bar. In her proficiency at her job, Fleming’s character is shown as a brilliant policewoman, capable and committed despite an unstable personal life.

Vicky McClure in a still from Line of Duty. YouTube

A brilliant British series that still is not available in India is Unforgotten, where Nicola Walker, along with her partner Sanjeev Bhaskar, solves cold cases from decades ago with steely determination. Unforgotten focuses with such keenness on its cases that the strength of its lead character, played by Walker, is almost not noticed; until you realize that she is its human element.

American television has had female police officers in key roles for decades. A few recent ones stand out for their contemporary connect. Netflix’s co-production, The Killing, featuring Mireille Enos as Sarah Linden, is all about a sincere, dedicated female detective. Enos brings quiet power and utter conviction to her part, systematically sifting through scattered details to build a shocking case. This rain-soaked thriller based in Seattle, adapted from the Danish series Forbrydelsen, is fascinating in its simplicity and stark deployment of a brilliant plot.

Then there is Fargo, the TV series. Having drawn from the original film with its Oscar winning pregnant police officer Marge, played by Frances McDormand, this black comedy meets crime drama retelling has presented inherently American stories interpreted through the prism of black humor. In seasons one and three, Alison Tolman and Carrie Coon play honest, committed small town law enforcement officers having to deal with crimes above their pay grade. They battle prejudice, and political and financial muscle to bring justice. Fargo’s women cops are about women power, without any fuss or drama. They just ARE.

Around the time that Wonder Woman had raised hopes of female super heroes, it is interesting that the female super cop has manifested on the longer format, indulgent small screen. Bringing career best chances to perform for talented actors, these parts have inspired solid performances and characters that one loves to remember. As seasons get renewed and new shows come up, the woman cop, in her various shades and personas, holds potential for more fine viewing and evolved storytelling in future.

Published Date: Mar 17, 2018 12:23 PM | Updated Date: Mar 17, 2018 12:26 PM

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leftysmambosal · 7 years ago

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Rain or shine, Pioneer Valley in Western Mass. is great for a quick getaway

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WHEN SPRING ARRIVES in New England, some of us kind of lose our minds. Can you blame us? After being stuck inside all winter, we welcome those first feeble rays of March sunshine like a long-lost friend, greeting 50-degree weather with T-shirts and smiles. Behold, the prodigal sun!

But spring around here is fickle, and often very wet. As much as we long to get outside, sometimes nature just doesn’t cooperate.

That’s why the four-season playground of the Pioneer Valley makes for a great spring getaway. Amid the collage of college towns and rolling farmland, there’s every opportunity to hike, bike, or play outside when the sun is out — but also plenty of ways to get your outdoor fix indoors when Mother Nature douses your best-laid plans. And that’s not to mention a hyperactive year-round cultural calendar that, buoyed by the nearby colleges and universities, defies the bucolic landscape.

On my latest visit with my wife and young daughter, we stay at the historic Hotel Northampton (413-584-3100, hotelnorthampton.com). We always seem to end up there, just because it’s smack downtown in Northampton, the artsy epicenter of this “Happy Valley.” Northampton’s stroll-inducing Main Street and offshoots are jammed with art galleries, restaurants, bars, music venues, and unique shops worth a visit in any season.

With sidewalk musicians, cheap eats from all over the world, and a student-bohemian energy, downtown Northampton, only about 100 miles from Boston, feels a lot like Harvard Square; there are even familiar facades, like the original Raven Used Books (413-584-9868, ravenusedbooks.com). But one big difference is that driving for 10 minutes finds you not “almost to Watertown,” but rather enveloped by gorgeous countryside and pastoral landscapes immortalized by artists of the Hudson River School.

The Pioneer Valley is the Commonwealth’s bread basket; this is where farm meets table. I’m not just talking about the trendy restaurants that serve locally sourced ingredients (there are plenty); I mean that some working farms also serve food on the premises. In the past, we’ve stopped for lunch and a sweet treat at Barstow’s Dairy Store and Bakery (413-586-2142, barstowslongviewfarm.com), which offers ice cream, cheeses, and more. The burgers, when available, come from cattle that are raised on the pretty, family-owned Barstow’s Longview Farm in Hadley. But in the spring, perhaps no other foodstuff is better enjoyed on site than maple syrup.

On weekends during sugaring season, a number of Massachusetts maple farms serve syrup-soaked pancake and waffle breakfasts. So we stuff our faces full of blueberry pancakes, thick-cut bacon, and virtually unlimited pure maple syrup at the North Hadley Sugar Shack(413-585-8820, www.northhadleysugarshack.com), where breakfast is available daily through April 15 this year, and you can watch syrup making up close on weekends.

I’m of French Canadian descent, so I take maple syrup pretty seriously (though not as seriously as my mom, who used to carry a small bottle to breakfast in case a restaurant tried to pawn off some grotesque, gooey forgery). And I have to say: I’m in maple syrup heaven. I could do this every morning if I lived nearby, so perhaps it’s best that these breakfasts are as fleeting as spring itself. (The sugaring season typically runs from late February into April, but it depends on the weather; sap runs best when it’s below freezing at night and warmer during the day.)

We try to burn off some of those gloriously empty, syrupy calories by hiking to the historic Summit House, a former hotel teetering atop Mount Holyoke in Hadley’s J.A. Skinner State Park. The interior of the 19th-century landmark has been off-limits due to ongoing restoration work, but the wraparound (and around, and around) porch still offers breathtaking 360-degree views of the Connecticut River Valley and beyond.

The roughly 3.5-mile round-trip hike is on a paved, winding road, so we’re able to manage it in street shoes and with our 5-year-old. There are a variety of trails through the woods as well, but bring your duck boots — it’s mud season. And if you’re short of time or breath, you can drive halfway up — or even all the way to the summit — later in spring when the park gates are open, and soak up the scenery without breaking a sweat.

If the dramatic bend in the river below looks familiar, you might recognize it from Thomas Cole’s famous 1836 painting, known as The Oxbow. Around that time, Mount Holyoke was the second most popular tourist attraction in the United States, behind only Niagara Falls. That surprised me, too, at first — but after a long look and a deep breath at the summit, it makes a lot more sense.

Other great beginner or moderate hikes in the area include a flat, 3.7-mile loop around Ashley Reservoir in Holyoke; trails in Mass Audubon’s 724-acre Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary (413-584-3009, massaudubon.org) in Easthampton; and Mount Sugarloaf State Reservation in South Deerfield, where a variety of trails are open year-round, with the summit road opening in mid-May. But our legs are wobbly enough for one day, and spring is starting to do that thing where it openly mocks your optimistic wardrobe decisions.

With rain clouds approaching, we seek shelter and find serenity in nearby Montague at the Montague Bookmill (413-367-9206, montaguebookmill.com), whose delightfully beckoning slogan, “Books you don’t need in a place you can’t find,” reads like a dare. We accept the challenge and find both the bookshop itself — a rambling collection of cozy rooms and creaky floors in a former mill on the Sawmill River — and an armful of used books begging to come home with us.

Attached to the Bookmill is the Lady Killigrew cafe and pub (413-367-9666, theladykilligrew.com), an equally enchanting space with industrial remnants and giant windows overlooking a mesmerizing waterfall. We pass up the tasty-sounding sandwiches grilled on local sourdough for the peanut-ginger udon noodle bowl and warm brown rice salad, paired with picks from the small but excellent draft beer list.

From Montague we meander west and then south on Route 5, where we make a brief detour into the Old Deerfield Village Historic District. Even if you don’t stop to visit the Historic Deerfield museum (413-774-5581, historic-deerfield.org) — a collection of a dozen or so impeccably maintained 17th- and 18th-century houses and furnishings — a slow drive down Old Main Street feels like a time warp.

When we reach South Deerfield, it’s pouring. But we enter a waterproof natural wonder: Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory and Gardens (413-665-2805, magicwings.com). This 8,000-square-foot indoor tropical paradise hosts nearly 4,000 different exotic butterflies, who flit all around us as they dart through the lush greenery. Other inhabitants include colorful Gouldian finches, waddling button quail, and terrariums filled with frogs, lizards, and other critters. One of them, teeming with cockroaches, leaves me squirming but our daughter squealing with gross-out glee.

We were in the neighborhood, so I figured we ought to see what draws half a million visitors each year to Yankee Candle Village (877-636-7707, yankeecandle.com), the candlemaker’s 90,000-square-foot flagship store in South Deerfield. I was fully prepared to poke fun at this global capital of kitsch and candles . . . but, I’ll admit, it was pretty amazing as giant stores go.

Like some kind of New England-themed Disneyland ride, there’s an old-fashioned general store, a fudge and candy shop, and a Colonial candle-making museum. On top of the family-themed events and performances, kids can create their own colorful candles from scratch or make wax statues of their hands (after repeatedly plunging their fists into ice-cold water, then melted wax). There’s a 20-foot indoor waterfall, antique toy trains chugging along elevated tracks above you, and even, in the Christmas-themed Bavarian Village, indoor snow every four minutes.

A cure for the ensuing overstimulation can be found at Paul and Elizabeth’s restaurant (413-584-4832, paulandelizabeths.com) in Northampton. Its lofty ceilings, tall windows, and dozens of potted plants give off a refreshing, spring-like simplicity. And the menu, with a focus on seasonal specials, fresh fish, and locally sourced vegetables, was at once creative and comforting — and surprisingly affordable. The sesame-seed-encrusted catfish is perfection — light but incredibly flavorful — and my wife doesn’t leave so much as a trace of her organic pasta dish.

Just downstairs is the flagship location of Herrell’s Ice Cream (413-586-9700, herrells.com), which might ring a bell if you lived in Allston or Cambridge in the 2000s. I’m not ashamed to admit that we get dessert here two nights in a row. If your sweet tooth doesn’t do dairy, even the almond milk ice cream we sample is delicious — but you can also get fresh-made doughnuts, including vegan and gluten-free options, at Glazed (413-270-1885, glazeddoughnutshop.com), around the corner.

Walking around Northampton is its own urban hike, and we pop into store after quirky store. From the decidedly nonessential delights of Essentials (413-584-2327, helloessentials.com), which now shares space with Strada shoes, to the curated and crafty shops in Thornes Marketplace (413-584-5582, thornesmarketplace.com), it’s easy to find one-of-a-kind gifts and unique household items here. If your parents are bird lovers like my dad, talk to the helpful staff at Backyard Birds (413-586-3155) for a Mother’s Day or Father’s Day gift. We always struggle to get much farther down Main Street than the wonderful Broadside Bookshop (413-586-4235, broadsidebooks.com), which invariably sucks us in and spits us out over an hour later and a few books richer.

When you need replenishment, excellent coffee and sandwich-type fare is easy to come by: Haymarket Cafe (413-586-9969, haymarketcafe.com), Tart Baking Co. (413-584-0717, thetartness.com), and Woodstar Cafe (413-585-9777, woodstarcafe.com) are all the type of coffee shop you wish would open up in your neighborhood.

After ice cream and a stroll around town, it’s time for us to turn in. But if you’re without a little one in tow, make sure to see who’s playing at the Iron Horse Music Hall (413-586-8686, iheg.com). This legendary but intimate venue has hosted some of the biggest names in folk and roots music on their way to the top, from Tracy Chapman to Beck to Wynton Marsalis. The same ownership books bigger shows at the Calvin Theatre and club acts at Pearl Street; you can check a combined calendar of listings on the website, or call the Northampton Box Office at 413-586-8686.

When it’s not sugaring season (or when your travel companions don’t share your compulsion to guzzle maple syrup two days in a row . . . harumph), morning in Northampton means French toast and omelets at cheerful Sylvester’s (413-586-5343, sylvestersrestaurant.com) or eggs and the house hash at the cozier Jake’s (413-584-9613, jakesnorthampton.com).

Both get crowded on weekend mornings, so if you can’t stomach the wait, grab some bakery treats and coffee to go and have a picnic breakfast in Look Park (413-584-5457, lookpark.org) in Northampton’s Florence village. The 150-acre expanse is run by a private nonprofit that charges a fee to park, but it’s a beautiful place to spend a few hours outdoors. A small, free zoo includes pygmy goats, peacocks, owls, deer, and other animals kids can feed by hand, and a seasonal steamer train makes a 1-mile loop around the park for $2 and change.

Speaking of trains, the Northampton area is blessed with miles and miles of paved bike paths along former railroad lines. These flat, car-free routes make for the ideal bike ride (rentals start at $25 a day at Northampton Bicycle; 413-586-3810, nohobike.com), and they’re also nice for walking when hiking trails are muddy with spring snowmelt. The popular Norwottuck Rail Trail connects Northampton with Amherst, but if you take the Manhan Rail Trail about 4 miles south, you’ll come to a new gem in Easthampton: Mill 180 Park (413-203-1687, mill180park.com). Of course, you can also drive there, which we do.

Mill 180 is an indoor public park inside a huge brick industrial building on Lower Mill Pond. Designed to emulate a lively city park, but indoors, it has a landscape of artificial turf, various lawn games, and hundreds of hydroponic plants that eventually make their way into the cafe’s delicious salads. Local beers and wine are on tap, too; I enjoy a Nightshade Stout from Abandoned Building Brewery (413-282-7062, abandonedbuildingbrewery.com), whose taproom is a couple of buildings down.

We meet up with friends and let our kids explore the park’s features together; they include a giant chess board, foam building blocks, and a whimsical mushroom-shaped cabin. Weekends often bring some type of family entertainment, and our daughter gets her face expertly painted for the price of a small tip. It’s tough to get the kids out of there, but by early evening, the family crowd begins to dissipate and the grownups take over, with periodic concerts and other events.

Despite the soggy weather, we return home with our spirits brightened. And thanks in no small part to the area colleges, the valley is saturated with other rainy-day entertainment as well. There’s art everywhere, from the heavy-hitting collection of the Smith College Museum of Art (413-585-2760, smith.edu/artmuseum) in Northampton to more whimsical works at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (413-559-6300, carlemuseum.org) in Amherst. Get your fossil fix at the free Beneski Museum of Natural History (413-542-2165, amherst.edu/museums/naturalhistory) or visit the homestead of a cherished American poet at the Emily Dickinson Museum (413-542-8161, emilydickinsonmuseum.org), both in Amherst. And drizzly days make a fine excuse to visit some of the area’s excellent craft beer taprooms, like Berkshire Brewing (413-665-6600, berkshire-brewing.com) in South Deerfield and Lefty’s Brewing Company (413-475-3449, leftysbrew.com) in Greenfield.

But if it’s the outdoors you’re after, you can always find it in the Pioneer Valley — rain or shine.

Jon Gorey is a writer in Quincy. Send comments to [email protected] us on Twitter @BostonGlobeMag.

BEST BETS FOR SUNNY OR SOGGY WEATHER

Get your fill of nature no matter what the fickle spring skies throw at you. Here are your best bets no matter the weather in Pioneer Valley.

OUTDOOR PARK

Northampton’s Look Park (413-584-5457, lookpark.org) is a treasure in good weather, with acres of grassy fields and a petting zoo, plus a seasonal steam train ride, mini-golf, and pedal-boat rentals.

INDOOR PARK

Mill 180 Park (413-203-1687, mill180park.com) in Easthampton is an indoor public green space designed to make the best parts of a great city park — such as greenery, community, and programming — available in all weather.

OUTDOOR FLOWERS

The Bridge of Flowers is an old trolley bridge spanning the Deerfield River in Shelburne Falls that’s lined with hundreds of flowering plants. It makes for a colorful and sweet-smelling stroll between April and October. See what’s in bloom at bridgeofflowersmass.org.

INDOOR FLOWERS

Get your bloom on at the Lyman Plant House at the Botanic Garden of Smith College (413-585-2740, smith.edu/garden), which holds thousands of plants from around the world encased in glass greenhouses.

OUTDOOR CLIMB

The Pioneer Valley has plenty of scenic day hikes, such as Mount Holyoke, Mount Sugarloaf, Mount Tom, and Chesterfield Gorge.

INDOOR CLIMB

At Central Rock Gym (413-584-7625, centralrockgym.com) in Hadley — the second of more than a dozen locations in this fast-growing Massachusetts-based chain — we and some friends hired a staff member to belay for us as we took turns scaling the 40-foot walls. It was surprisingly cheap when split four ways.

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Community calendar

FRIDAY, MARCH 16

Sheridan Happy Seniors meeting, 1 p.m., Sheridan Town Hall, 2773 US Route 20.

St. Dominic’s rummage and bake sale, 2 to 6:30 p.m., 15 Union St., Westfield. All proceeds benefit the church.

Girl Scout Troop 20158 cookie sales, 5:30 to 9 p.m., The Clarion Hotel, 30 Lake Shore Drive E., Dunkirk

Westfield Quilters’ Guild meeting, 6:30 p.m., 58 S. Portage St., Westfield. Silent auction of baked goods as well as sewing items. Guests welcome.

Gowanda Middle School musical: “Rock of Ages Middle School Edition,” 7 p.m. Gowanda Central School Auditorium stage, 10674 Prospect St., Gowanda. Tickets: $5. Purchase at the door.

North Collins Central School musical: “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” 7 p.m., 2045 School St. Reserved seating. Tickets: $8. Email [email protected].

Narcotics Anonymous weekly meeting, “A Message of Hope” group, 7 p.m., St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, 327 Washington Ave., Dunkirk. Open meeting for anyone who wants to not use drugs.

Clean, Sober Saved addiction education and support group, 7 p.m., Master’s Plan Cafe, 9586 Railroad Ave., Dayton. Snacks provided. Bible-based, taught in videotape sessions by Tracy Strawberry.

Clean, Sober, Saved family and friends support group, 7 p.m., Master’s Plan Cafe, 9586 Railroad Ave., Dayton. Snacks provided. Hope for a powerful life free from co-dependency.

Fredonia High School Musical, “The Little Mermaid,” 7:30 p.m., 425 E. Main St. Tickets: $8.

Cassadaga Valley Central School Musical, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” 7:30 p.m., 5935 Route 60, Sinclairville. Adults: $8, students: $6. To purchase tickets, go to www.cvcougars.org or call 962-8581 ext. 601 during school hours before 2 p.m. or buy at the door.

Lucille Ball Little Theatre presents: “39 Steps,” 7:30 p.m., 18 E. Second St., Jamestown. Prices: Adults: $22, students: $12.

Health and wellness

Stretch and tone with exercise, 9 to 10 a.m., Dunkirk Senior Center, 45 Cliffstar Court. Donation: $1 per session.

Grape Belt Seniors Aerobics and Weights with Catherine, 9 a.m., Masonic Lodge, East Main Street, Fredonia. Coffee and conversation follows at 10 a.m. New members welcome.

Overeaters Anonymous weekly meeting, 3:30 p.m., Steger Hi-Rise Apartments library, 15 N. Main St., Dunkirk. This is a 12-step fellowship of men and women recovering from eating disorders. No dues, fees or weigh-ins.

Games and hobbies

Dunkirk Senior Center Pinochle, 1 p.m., 45 Cliffstar Court. Everyone welcome.

Pinochle: Birdie’s Flock, 1 p.m., Fredonia Beaver Club. All pinochle players welcome. With any questions, call Birdie at 679-1409.

Dunkirk Elks bingo, 7 p.m., 428 Central Ave. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Call 366-1110.

Libraries

Sinclairville Free Library presents: ‘Write Circle’ Writers’ Group meeting, 9 to 10 a.m., 15 Main St. Writers of all genres and styles welcome. For more information, contact Beth Hadley at the library at 962-5885 or [email protected]

Collins Public Library presents:Toddler Time. 10:30 a.m., 2341 Main St. Call 532-5129 or stop by to register.

Anderson-Lee Library presents: Classic Film Series, 12:30 p.m., 43 Main St., Silver Creek. Bring a bag lunch and watch a movie. Free and open to the public. No registration required.

Gowanda Free Library presents: Painting Class, 5:30 p.m., 56 W. Main St. Registration required by March 15 and a $25 fee due at time of class.

SATURDAY, MARCH 17

Maple Weekend all you can eat pancake breakfast, 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., Cherry Creek Fire Hall, 6763 Main St. $5. Pancakes, sausage, orange juice/coffee/milk. Syrup donated by the Ern Joy farm in Cherry Creek.

Gowanda Volunteer Fire Company Inc. ALL YOU CAN EAT pancake breakfast, 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 230 Aldrich St. Adults: $9, children: $5. Bacon, eggs, sausage, famous fire department pancakes.

Car Seat Safety free fitting station event, 9 a.m. to noon, Westfield Fire Department, 20 Clinton St., Westfield. Sponsored by the Westfield Police Department. Held the third Saturday of each month. For details or to make an appointment, contact Officer Corbin Meleen at the Westfield Police Department, 326-3375. Bring child, car seat, vehicle and if possible, both the vehicle and car seat owner’s manuals.

Girl Scout Troop 20158 cookie sales, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wal-Mart, 10401 Bennett Road, Fredonia.

Silver Creek Kiwanis Easter egg hunt, 10 a.m., Silver Creek High School Cafeteria, 1 Dickerson St. Easter Bunny will be present for pictures. Free event. All kids will receive a chocolate Easter bunny.

Concord Spellbinders Toastmasters Club open house, Basement conference room, Jewett Hall, SUNY Fredonia campus. 9:30 a.m. registration. Open house 10 to 11:30 a.m. Members of in-house Toastmaster clubs will outline the benefits they obtain by sponsoring company Toastmaster clubs. Theme: “Best for Business Leadership and Speaking Skills.” Speakers: Steve Keefe, former mayor of Fredonia (“The Importance of Public Speaking in Public Life”) Phil Colarusso, of Luminated Landscapes (“Public Speaking and Entrepreneurship”) and Tim Fink and Nichole Bailey of GEICO (“Public Speaking and Corporate Culture”). For details, contact Jim Rawcliffe at 672-2662 or email [email protected].

Maple Weekend, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Big Tree Maple, 2040 Holly Lane, Lakewood,; Fairbanks Maple, 9265 Putnam Road, Forestville; Clear Creek Farm, 5067 Morris Road, Mayville. Free, family-oriented event to learn about the maple syrup making process. Each participating sugar house will have something different to see and do. Many places will offer free samples, some will be boiling sap, some will offer horse drawn wagon rides and some may offer woods tours or other activities. Event happens: rain, snow or shine — be prepared for the weather and possible muddy conditions.

Fredonia Farmers’ Winter Market, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Masonic Forest Lodge, Route 20, Fredonia. Features abundance of locally grown and produced vegetables, fruits and herbs, meats, baked goods, maple syrup, honey, jams and jellies, as well as artisan quality craft goods.

Fredonia Food Pantry, 10 a.m. to noon, Fredonia Presbyterian Church, 219 Central Ave. Serves the needs of residents of Fredonia, zip code 14063, Pomfret, Sheridan, and Laona. All guests receive one or more bags of non-perishable food, given out depending on family size. Donations of food may be made directly to the Rural Ministry.

St. Susan Basket Fair, 11 a.m., Jamestown Community College Physical Education Building, Curtis St., Jamestown. For $10, get 12 basket tickets and two door prize tickets, or for $20, super sheet of tickets that includes 30 basket tickets and four door prize tickets. Tickets available until 1:45 p.m. Winning ticket draw starts at 2 p.m. 115 baskets and gift certificates to choose from. Grand prize tickets $10 each. Also food items for sale in the “Comfort Cafe,” Kids’ Corner, music by Prime Time DJ service. Learn about how the soup kitchen helps the community. For details, call 664-2253.

Northern Chautauqua Canine Rescue open house, noon to 3 p.m., 7540 N,. Gale St., Westfield. Can also call 326-7297 or visit the website www.caninerescue.org. Donations welcome.

St. Patty’s Day Corned Beef and Cabbage (or ham) dinner, noon until sold out, South Dayton Legion Post 1593, 4 Mill St. $12. Includes all the trimmings and dessert. Music with RJ the DJ (Rick Harrington) from 2 to 6 p.m. Open to the public.

Lakeshore Humane Society “St. Catty’s Day” Pet Adoption Day/Open House, 12 to 4 p.m., Lakeshore Humane Society Adoption Center, 431 E. Chestnut St., Dunkirk. Come and see some of the cats and dogs in need of loving homes. (One must be 21 years of age or older to adopt a pet.) Call 672-1991 or go to www.lakeshorehumanesociety.org for more information.

St. Dominic’s rummage and bake sale, 1 to 5 p.m., 15 Union St., Westfield. All proceeds benefit the church.

Shamrock Shuttle, 1 to 8 p.m., get on and go operation with choices of 13 possible stops, including Dunkirk Moose Club, Bart’s Cove, The Fillmore, Rookie’s on the Lake, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Dom Polski Club, Moniuszko Club, Dunkirk World War II Veterans, Kettle & Keg, First Ward Falcon Club, Fourth Ward Falcon Club, Kosciuszko Club and Columbus Club. Two buses available.

Girl Scout Troop 20158 cookie sales, 1 to 6 p.m. or sold out. Big Lots, D & F Plaza, Dunkirk.

St. Joseph’s Church of Gowanda community meal, 4 to 6 p.m., 26 Erie Ave. Menu: three different kinds of pasta, salad, bread, coffee, tea and milk.

Fredonia High School Musical, 7:30 p.m., “The Little Mermaid,” 425 E. Main St. Tickets: $8.

St. Patrick’s Day dinner to benefit Dunkirk-Fredonia Meals on Wheels, 3 to 5 p.m., take-out only. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School, 328 Washington Ave., Dunkirk (Fourth Street entrance). Pre-sale only, $10 each. Choice of corned beef and cabbage or shepherd’s pie. Call 366-8822 to reserve. Delivery available to businesses ordering five or more meals. Catered by la casa d’mangia.

North Collins Central School musical: “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” 4 p.m., 2045 School St. Reserved seating. Tickets: $8. Email [email protected].

St. John’s United Church of Christ meat loaf dinner, Serving 4:30 to 6 p.m., 733 Central Ave., Dunkirk. Parking off Eagle Street. Call 366-0710 for reservations. Pre-sale tickets, $9.50, tickets at the door, $10.

Cinema Series: “The Greatest Showman,” 7:30 p.m., 1891 Fredonia Opera House, Tickets: $7 adults, $6.50 seniors and Opera House members, $5 students and children. Call 679-1891 or visit Fredopera.org.

Health and wellness

Northern Chautauqua indoor pickleball, 9 a.m. to noon, Boys and Girls Club of Northern Chautauqua, 296 Lake Shore Drive E., Dunkirk. With questions, call Ed at 432-6114.

DHS Family Open Swim, 1 to 2 p.m. DHS pool. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult age 18 or older. $1 per person per session.

Northern Chautauqua pickleball in Brocton, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., Brocton Elementary Gym, 138 W. Main St. Call Mike at 480-3729.

Libraries

Cherry Creek Library presents: Dr. Seuss birthday party and movie, 10 a.m., 6778 Main St.

Sinclairville Free Library presents: Young Authors Group, 11 a.m. to noon, 15 Main St. New project: young authors will write, illustrate, and craft a digital narrative. Opportunity to explore media story telling at its various stages. Ages 9 to 16. Director: SUNY Fredonia student Sara Kibbler. To register and for details, call 962-5885.

SUNDAY, MARCH 18

Gowanda Volunteer Fire Company Inc. ALL YOU CAN EAT pancake breakfast, 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 230 Aldrich St. Adults: $9, children: $5. Bacon, eggs, sausage, famous fire department pancakes.

Cassadaga Legion Son’s breakfast, 9 a.m., 228 Maple Ave. Followed by meeting at 10.

Maple Weekend, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Big Tree Maple, 2040 Holly Lane, Lakewood; Fairbanks Maple, 9265 Putnam Road, Forestville; Clear Creek Farm, 5067 Morris Road, Mayville. Free, family-oriented event to learn about the maple syrup making process. Each participating sugar house will have something different to see and do. Many places will offer free samples, some will be boiling sap, some will offer horse drawn wagon rides and some may offer woods tours or other activities. Event happens: rain, snow or shine — be prepared for the weather and for possible muddy conditions,

St. Dominic’s rummage and bake sale, 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., 15 Union St., Westfield. All proceeds benefit the church.

St. Dominic’s St. Joseph’s Day luncheon, 11:30 a.m. after Mass, 15 Union St., Westfield. Free of charge, open to the public, but bring a dish to pass.

Holy Trinity’s St. Joseph’s Table, noon, 1032 Central Ave., Dunkirk. Tickets: $12. Purchase at Holy Trinity’s Parish Office during the week or purchase tickets after all weekend Masses. Call 366-2306 for details.

St. Patrick’s Day spaghetti dinner, noon to 3 p.m., Lily Dale Volunteer Fire Hall. Traditional tomato sauce, alfredo or pesto on spaghetti, spinach noodles or gluten-free pasta, meat balls, salad, bread, homemade desserts, beverages for $7 adults; children 5 and under: $3. Mini psychic readings with mediums for $10. 50/50 raffle, theme baskets, prize raffles. Hosted by Lily Dale Volunteer Fire Company’s Auxiliary to benefit the LDVFC.

Audubon Nature Play Day, 1 to 4 p.m., Audubon Community Nature Center, 1600 Riverside Road, Jamestown. $6 per child, ages two to eight; no charge for adults. Pay on arrival or online through the Programs page at auduboncnc.org. Dress in layers of warm clothing. Guests may want to bring an extra change of clothes or a towel for the car ride home. In case of severe weather, program will be cancelled; call 569-2345 to confirm.

First Ward Falcon Club Easter Egg Hunt, 1 to 4 p.m., 341 Lake Shore Drive E., Dunkirk. Members sign up children and grandchildren ages 10 and under at the club rooms. Deadline was Sunday, March 11. For details, call 366-8937.

Brocton Preceptor Beta Epsilon Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi Towel Bingo, Brocton American Legion Post 434, Main St., 1 to 4 p.m. This bingo is played with a large card containing 5 playing cards and as each card is called from a large deck, players cover that specific card and when the designated cards are covered players win a prize from the large variety of colorful bath and beach towels. Admission card is $4. Also an auction and drawings, variety of treats, punch and coffee served during intermission. Money assists families, individuals and organization in need of financial help or going through difficult times.

Lucille Ball Little Theatre presents: “39 Steps,” 2 p.m., 18 E. Second St., Jamestown. Prices: Adults: $22, students: $12.

Taize ecumenical prayer service: Song, scripture and time for silent meditation, 6:30 p.m., St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, 328 Washington Ave., Dunkirk. For details, call 366-0449.

Community Calendar

Community calendar

SATURDAY, MARCH 17 Maple Weekend all you can eat pancake breakfast, 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., Cherry Creek Fire Hall, …

Community calendar

TODAY DFT Telephone Company Retirees meeting, 9 a.m., Demetri’s on the Lake, 6 Lake Shore Drive W., Dunkirk. …

Community Calendar

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14 East Dunkirk Ladies Auxiliary Chiavetta’s chicken barbecue, 4 to 6 p.m. or sold out, East …

Community Calendar

TUESDAY, MARCH 13 Cassadaga Legion Auxiliary Unit 1280 meeting, 6:30 p.m., 228 Maple Ave. First United …

Community Calendar

MONDAY, MARCH 12 Kids’ Clothes Closet, 10 a.m. to noon. Fredonia First United Methodist Church, 25 Church St. …

Community calendar — March 10

SUNDAY, MARCH 11 Chapter 459 Vietnam Veterans of America, 11 a.m., John T. Murray VFW Post 1017, 113 Deer St., …

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leftysmambosal · 7 years ago

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Apartment building developed by actor to open in April

FILE – In this March 31, 2016 file photo, Wendell Pierce, a cast member in “Confirmation,” poses at the premiere of the HBO film in Los Angeles. Pierce has announced that the grand opening of an apartment complex will be next month. The Baltimore Sun reports Pierce said in a tweet, “Grand Opening of The Nelson Kohl Apartments 20 E. Lanvale. April 6th 11:30am. Come and join me as we cut the ribbon!!!” (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File) (Associated Press)

BALTIMORE — Actor Wendell Pierce has announced that the grand opening of an apartment complex will be next month.

The Baltimore Sun reports Pierce said in a tweet, “Grand Opening of The Nelson Kohl Apartments 20 E. Lanvale. April 6th 11:30am. Come and join me as we cut the ribbon!!!”

In another tweet Thursday, Pierce noted it was the 10th anniversary of “The Wire.” He is known for his role as Detective William “Bunk” Moreland on that show and for the role of Antoine Batiste on “Treme.”

He’s a partner with Ernst Valery’s SAA ‘ EVI Development in the $20 million, 103-unit complex and has said he hopes it’s the first of many Baltimore projects for him.

Pierce said he hoped to keep the prices affordable for a mix of renters.

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leftysmambosal · 7 years ago

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San Francisco housing is so expensive that middle-class workers are moving into dorms with shared bathrooms

San Francisco residents are continually finding new ways to deal with an affordable housing shortage.Starcity is a coliving startup that offers housing to middle-class earners who make less than $90,000 a year.Members pay between $1,400 and $2,400 a month for a fully-furnished bedroom and a shared bathroom.

Rent and home prices are so high in San Francisco that even non-tech, middle-class workers are moving into dorms.

In a recent New York Times story, reporter Nellie Bowles says "the middle-class backbone of San Francisco — maitre d’s, teachers, bookstore managers, lounge musicians, copywriters, and merchandise planners" are growing more and more comfortable with the idea of community housing, a housing solution largely pioneered by the Bay Area tech crowd.

Starcity, a development company that buys up defunct hotels, retail buildings, and parking garages, is leading the charge. The startup was founded in 2016 and caters to a specific demographic— middle-class earners who don’t qualify for government subsidies but still can’t afford San Francisco’s sky-high prices. That group ends up being mostly non-tech workers.

The trade-off of having a private room, but sharing a bathroom with at least one other person and a kitchen with many, is primarily financial — at least at first.

Starcity members pay between $1,400 and $2,400 a month — up to $1,900 less than the average renter in San Francisco — for a fully-furnished 130 square-foot to 220 square-foot bedroom, with utilities and Wi-Fi included, reports Bowles.

Building managers ensure everything runs smoothly for members, restocking bathroom and kitchen supplies and planning community events. They even offer extra services, like laundry for $40 a month and bedroom cleaning for $130 a week.

To be considered middle class in the US, you need to earn at least $39,000 a year.

The high cost of living in San Francisco has shocked some residents who earn $400,000 into thinking they’re middle class, according to Business Insider’s Melia Robinson, but the threshold is actually much lower.

Thanks to San Francisco’s exorbitant housing costs, residents there need to earn at least $64,451 — and up to $193,354 — to technically be considered middle class. Starcity is aiming to house people at the lower end of that range, targeting people with an annual salary between $40,000 and $90,000.

"Most of the residents, who range in age from their early 20s to early 50s, have no political philosophy around communes nor any previous experience in them," Bowles writes. "Moving in was a practical decision they each made. But after they arrive, what they are most surprised by is how much the building changes them."

Starcity operates three buildings in San Francisco, with nine additional locations under development. The company says it currently has a wait list of more than 8,000 people.

Coliving isn’t new, but it’s becoming increasingly common in expensive cities across the US. Robinson has previously reported on the popularity of coliving in the Bay Area, like the "hacker house," a group-living building geared toward early-stage entrepreneurs. There are also WeLive apartments, owned by the coworking company WeWork, in New York City and Washington DC.

For the typical worker in San Francisco, buying a home is out of the question. The salary needed to qualify for a mortgage with 20% down is now $173,783, while the median income is just $96,677. Some companies won’t even hire employees in San Francisco because it’s too expensive to pay them a living wage.

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leftysmambosal · 7 years ago

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A Week Inside WeLive, the Utopian Apartment Complex That Wants to Disrupt City Living

Katelyn Perry

WeWork is branching out into housing, but can it actually change the way we live?

Do you ever get the feeling that you’re just slightly more alone than everyone else? Like when you’re scrolling through Instagram, and you get that sinking sensation that you’re missing out on some kind of deep human fulfillment? It’s not a specific pang of FOMO; it’s a broader suspicion that your social life would be somehow richer, more populated with actual humans, with fewer nights eating takeout and watching Netflix—if only something changed.

Well, that’s the feeling the “co-living” start-up WeLive believes it has devised the cure for. Or at least that was my takeaway the first time I found myself watching GIFs of happy millennials hugging one another and laughing on its website. WeLive is functionally an apartment building, but with all the amenities listed on the standard Silicon Valley rider. It runs on a very modern set of principles in the urban housing market: The units come fully furnished; there’s a laundry room and a yoga studio. But more, there are the things you might ordinarily need to leave your apartment for—an espresso bar and trendy eateries and happy hours. Most critically, WeLive comes stocked with neighbors who intend to become your real-life human friends. This one building, your home, has everything you could ever need, is the idea, including a built-in community.

From afar, WeLive seemed to be one part social experiment, one part endless summer. It was a market-savvy effort to solve the digital-age loneliness that registers as a low-level yet omnipresent white noise in the lives of young urbanites.

The company has positioned itself as a “physical social network”—an IRL antidote to the dislocation caused by doing so much socializing online instead of in person. WeLive wanted to tackle what sociologist Marc Dunkelman, author of The Vanishing Neighbor, calls the “crisis of urban anonymity.” Dunkelman thinks that people living in cities have lost their sense of community. That people shouldn’t accept as a fact of life that they share a roof with total strangers and never, over the course of months or years, learn more than a name and some basic information—if that even.

WeLive’s pitch dovetailed effectively with this theoretical problem among millennials. That’s why its core idea—What if you really knew your neighbors?—held so much appeal to me. WeLive’s co-founder, Miguel McKelvey, thinks WeLive could provide the physical context for community building that we’ve been lacking. “Religion is no longer a connection point for most people,” he told me. “Our communities were built on coming together in physical locations once a week or twice a week. These institutions have dissipated.” WeLive, consequently, was seeking to fill that void.

Last spring, I couldn’t stop thinking about WeLive. I recognized the appeal in my own life, knowing as I did that the further I climbed into adulthood, the fewer of my friends I saw in person. Half-hearted social-media use had become the default way to keep up with people as professional demands and significant others crowded out the abundant and untethered time of our early 20s. I wasn’t wallowing in aching solitude, but I couldn’t help feeling more alienated the deeper we dug into our phones, watching one another live our best lives on highly edited Instagram feeds.

Something about that idea and the solution that WeLive provided—the social engineering of its bold experiment—seemed radical and appealing, or at least cynically (and smartly, from a business standpoint) tapped into the insecurities of so many people my age. Sure, the incessant networking—while doing laundry or riding the elevator—and the dominance of a social scene fueled by free alcohol might instill some ennui of its own after a while. But I was willing to accept neighbors like these as the cost of living in a true millennial utopia.

So last spring I did what anyone as intrigued and terrified by the idea of “co-living” might do: I packed a bag, rented a room, and moved in.

You can show up to your apartment, as the WeLive people like to emphasize, "with just a suitcase." It comes pre-stocked with books and tchotchkes.

WeWork/Lauren Kallen

Amenity-wise, the place was pretty sweet. The Studio+ at the 110 Wall Street location that I booked for ten days—which usually costs $3,520 a month, a rate higher than StreetEasy’s median rent for studios in the financial district (insane as that is)—was set up with everything I could think of. It had Wi-Fi, pots and pans, bedsheets, towels, toiletries, and even books on the shelves (Joe Gould’s Teeth—a book about a homeless man—struck me as a weird choice). The Studio+ was a bit of a narrow corridor, yes, but personal space in the building was sacrificed in favor of shared luxury spaces: high-quality kitchens where guests are encouraged to cook, a cozy wood-paneled bar, a terrace with two hot tubs, a workout studio, a laundry room with an arcade and Ping-Pong table, a cocktail bar in the basement, and a lobby with distressed couches and a barista making complimentary cortados. Monthly cleanings were included. Cable packages were taken care of. Downstairs was an Honesty Market stocked with essentials if you ran out of TP in the middle of the night or got a hankering for Ben & Jerry’s. I thought it was remarkable how much trust they gave “members,” until I noticed a security camera above the payment iPad, watching closely.

Then there were the people. Early on, I couldn’t quite tell if they were being genuinely friendly or if they felt compelled to enthusiastically playact the role of “neighbor from the future.” On my first night, I wandered down to the laundry room—the de facto equivalent of the common room at Hogwarts—and played Big Buck Hunter on a vintage arcade terminal. There I met and chatted with an attractive young Parsons School of Design student and a chiseled banker from the UK who were both actually doing laundry. I poured myself a beer from the keg while they went on about how great WeLive was and how much I would like it. If there was a strain of earnestness to the whole exchange—a sense that I’d agreed to sleep in a tower where everyone was drinking the citrus-infused Kool-Aid and wearing matching T-shirts with the “Live Better Together” slogan tagged on the front—it didn’t bother me. At least not at first.

The vibe was carefully curated. WeLive is, after all, an offshoot of co-working behemoth WeWork, reportedly the third-biggest start-up in the U.S., with a $20 billion valuation. In just eight years it opened more than 200 locations in 20 countries. WeWork is known for building a “culture” of its own, in part by plying employees who stay late with free drinks and frequent parties. “They want it to be your life,” one former WeWork employee told me. “Everyone there is under 30, hot, and down to party.”

WeLive is perfect for a German consultant on a three-month project–but it’s expensive. WeWork Corp.

It’s clear WeLive has imported some of that vibe to reach a similar target demographic. “People obviously compare it to a college dorm,” a member and WeWork employee named Jordan Niemeyer said. I’d been living at WeLive for a few days at this point—drinking as many free cortados and beers as I could—when I met Jordan at a party on the terrace. “But show me a college dorm like this,” he said. “I wanna go there.”

As if on cue, someone handed Jordan an open bottle of champagne. He was a thirty-something former hedge-funder who’d lived at WeLive’s Wall Street location since it opened for beta testing in 2016, and he quickly became, in my eyes, the WeLive spirit animal. Before I’d even taken a free yoga class I could tell that the place was a haven for people who, as they get into their late 20s and early 30s, didn’t want to give up the kinetic, optimism-fueled party culture of being young in a city. Alongside that crowd, though, were some young families, some students still in college, even a few retirees eager to be closer to the action. The breakdown skewed male and white, but not in a super discouraging way. Lots of skin tones and nationalities were represented.

But the funny part about living inside a techno-utopia is that most of the time you’re actually just doing regular stuff. Sleeping. Scrambling to get out the door in the morning. Maybe throwing together a meal at night (but more often ordering takeout) and, yes, watching Netflix. The one thing that makes it completely different from every other apartment building I’ve seen: WeLive has its own internal app on which members can post announcements or complaints on something called the Buzz page. (“Anyone have a screwdriver and hammer that my roommates can borrow?”) It’s part roommate text thread, part coffee-shop corkboard, but the effect is that even when you leave the building, you have a digital connection tethering you to it. The app, like the meme posters adorning the walls (“Home Is Where the WiFi Is”) and all the WeLive messaging in general, enforced the tone of the place—a superficial sense of humor dressed up in playful graphic art that belied a deeper earnestness and the technocratic kernel at the heart of the business. I’d seen this kind of start-up-y subterfuge parodied on HBO’s Silicon Valley, but I’d never lived inside of it.

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Inside Kumail Nanjiani’s Very Real Mansion

After I’d settled into a routine at my new apartment, I decided it was time to actually leave the building and head uptown to the headquarters to meet one of the founders. Miguel McKelvey looks like a bear that got really into CrossFit, tall and bearded, with a warm, disarming disposition underneath all the tech jargon. I went in still under the impression that WeLive was a trial balloon, sent up to check the weather on this new housing trend called co-living. It had competition in that field. A mess of other start-ups are jostling to corner that market—like Ollie’s all-inclusive tower in Manhattan, Common’s intentional living in various Brooklyn brownstones, and Nook’s human-storage facility in Oakland. But WeLive was convinced, because of existing relationships with building owners around the world, that it had the upper hand.

The typical resident, McKelvey says, is an “entrepreneur looking for a noncommittal way to try out whatever new project he or she is working on and not have to sign a lease.” WeLive, McKelvey feels, is perfect for the itinerant tech worker of this new borderless economy. But co-living was only part of the story for him. As we started discussing WeWork’s longer-term ambitions—expansion into more cities (it already has D.C.; Seattle is next) but also into other industries like education and fitness—I realized that I’d underestimated the extent of what the company was pursuing. WeLive was just one piece in a much larger play.

“When the idea of ‘We’ came in,” McKelvey told me, “it started as a ‘WeBlank: WeWork, WeLive, WeSleep, WeEat.’ That was the premise at the very start. Our aspiration is to be a holistic support system or lifestyle solution for people who are interested in being open and connected.”

A “holistic support system”—frighteningly Digital Age as that sounds—is the total infrastructure of a human life. Here’s a helpful thought experiment for conceptualizing the grand scheme: What if a single company sanded off all the hard edges in life? What if you never had to search for an apartment on Craigslist again? What if you never had to wait for the cable guy, either? Or find a health-care plan on the open exchange? What if it was all just…there? You join the global network, and anywhere you go there are hardwood floors, good coffee, fast Wi-Fi, and, most important, like-minded friendly people interested in engaging and working alongside you. The things people used to have to piece together themselves (apartment, office, insurance, gym membership) would now be packaged and delivered by one provider. A few months after McKelvey and I talked, WeWork opened a fitness and wellness space called Rise by We. Later it announced plans to open elementary schools for young entrepreneurs. It was all happening.

Soon you’ll be able to “feel like you’re staying within your community, within the network, wherever you are,” McKelvey said. “It never feels like it’s holding you back. It’s just always there. It always works.”

The WeThing, then, was a globe-spanning network of cocoons, all sharing the positive vibes of productivity, a frictionless existence where you never have to deal with practical inconveniences or shortages of friends or the feeling of loneliness. And where everyone wears the same T-shirt.

"Sometimes it just feels good to succumb to the niceties and convenience. Even if, in the back of your mind, you know you’re ceding something valuable."

The majority of start-ups these days make a business out of solving one very specific problem. WeWork belongs to the much smaller and potentially more lucrative class of businesses trying to solve literally every problem they can, the way that Amazon will sell you a new 4K television and, if you subscribe to Prime, brand-new content to watch on it.

“When we imagine a future for both WeWork and WeLive and the other things that we’re doing, it really is about unlocking people,” McKelvey told me. In tech-speak, that means it’s setting out on a conquest of Napoleonic scale for a monopoly over the entire breadth of its customers’ primary needs. In theory, I’m repulsed by the idea of being “unlocked” in any fashion, and yet I’m clearly a total sucker for it, too—as proven by the fact that I couldn’t resist moving in, that I gleefully partook of the free coffee and beer, and that when they screened a Star Wars marathon in the lobby, I thought about skipping work. The most successful businesses know what we want and how to give it to us. And sometimes it just feels good to succumb to the niceties and convenience. Even if, in the back of your mind, you know you’re ceding something valuable.

Intellectually, I like the idea of living a life with minimal possessions, moving constantly between cities, confident that I’ll have a welcoming network wherever I go (as long as I don’t stray too far). It’s refreshingly un-American—not focusing all your energy toward owning your own castle. And it plays into a new aspirational aesthetic that values materialism less and focuses instead on experiences, travel, wellness, and professional fulfillment. Of course that’s appealing. Who wants to wait for the cable guy? Or wait out a lease when you’re ready to move?

Happy hours hosted in the Whiskey Bar are a good way to get to know your neighbors. Katelyn Perry

But like the perma-freelance future we’re all racing toward, WeLive gives me this sinking feeling that what I’m giving up in security and commitment, I’m not necessarily getting back in freedom. Take it to its logical conclusion: At some point, the youthful gig-economy worker of tomorrow is going to have babies, and she’s going to need to put them in a WeDayCare while she pursues her latest consulting job. Pretty soon our offspring will be learning, living, working, and dying all inside one monolithic company: the many-tentacled WeOctopus. And that gives me the creeps.

Once I was keyed into this bigger game, I saw everything WeLive did through a different lens. It’s a social experiment on a scale we haven’t really seen before, except maybe in the Israeli kibbutz, in which WeLive’s other co-founder, Adam Neumann, was raised. The crucial distinction, though, and the reason the WeThing isn’t a real “utopia” per se, is that it asks nothing of its members by way of shared responsibility or decision-making. It’s purely transactional. You just pay in, show up, enjoy the perks, and go about your merry way. In the end, that capitalist DNA might be the thing that gives it the legs to last longer than, say, the hippie communes of the ’60s.

Then again, it’s also possible that real utopian shit might grow in the artificial setup. I was doing laundry one night and lost track of time playing Big Buck Hunter. When I turned around, a dude my age was folding my laundry for me because, he claimed, he needed to use the dryer and he didn’t want anyone to abscond with my clothing. That kind of sappy altruism was, at first blush, borderline offensive to the standoffish, self-reliant ethos I’d picked up while living in New York City. But after we started talking, I could tell it came naturally to this guy, who, despite living in New York, had clearly not yet adopted its notoriously callous ways. “People think WeLive is a bunch of entitled millennials who want someone to clean their room,” he said. “But it’s not.”

Living at WeLive was relatively conflict-free. The biggest scandal to date on the internal app’s Buzz page was about the smell of marijuana, a whiff of which I’d caught seeping through the vent in my bathroom. The community manager, who plays a tricky hybrid role of landlord, dormitory R.A., and neighbor, reminded everyone that smoking in units was grounds for eviction. Members chimed in to add their weed-related complaints. Others got defensive. One guy responded: “This is New York.” Another said simply: “Grow up or get out.”

There’s an implicit promise that all WeLive members exist on the same chill frequency. Katelyn Perry

Tiffs like that don’t really detract from the experience, members told me. They certainly don’t stop WeLive from gearing up for expansion—albeit at a slower pace than it had initially hoped. The company just announced that the third WeLive will open, in Seattle in 2020, with 36 floors of living and working space. WeWork hired an executive from Starwood to run the WeLive business, and there are rumors that it has its sights set on London next. The broader WeWork company just got a $4.4 billion investment from the nearly $100 billion Vision Fund run by Japan’s SoftBank.

As for whether WeLive can help with the increasing loneliness of my generation, it’s still too early to tell. We seem to socialize better online than in person, and we’re definitely worse, at least statistically, at the stuff young people used to do—like have sex and not live with their parents. Silicon Valley’s inclination is to try to solve those problems by reaching in and re-engineering our social lives. But even if it can get you to a kegger, WeLive can’t actually make your friends for you. The same way Tinder can only get you into the same room as a potential mate—you still have to do the talking.

Ironically, the most organic social incident I witnessed while in residence at WeLive was something that happens at every building in the city—a fire alarm. One warm night in late April, everyone had to evacuate the building. We all milled around outside the lobby, suspended between the reassuring idea that it wasn’t a real fire and the sneaking possibility that it might be. A young mother of two stood away from the fire trucks, watching her kids run around. She explained with a conspiratorial look in her eye that she hoped that the alarm was caused by someone smoking pot. That way they would finally have a culprit for the persistent smell. She was worried about her kids, and she thought this might bring about stricter enforcement.

It’s an example of one of the many basic things WeLive will need to solve as it expands around the world: families with young children and twentysomethings who wish they were still in college, attempting to live side by side, as one. Which is, of course, a problem familiar to any apartment building in any neighborhood in America, ever.

"And what, really, is the end goal of all that streamlining, anyway? What do you do with all the time you’re not “wasting” anymore? Work on your app? E-mail till you fall asleep?"

A bigger problem might be that there’s something dehumanizing at the core of what WeLive encourages—at the center of this whole society-wide movement toward maximum performance. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m not as taken with optimization as the Soylent-guzzling, fitness-tracking set. For instance, I’d like to pick out my own wall art and books. And I don’t mind running out to the store, because I enjoy going outside. And what, really, is the end goal of all that streamlining, anyway? What do you do with all the time you’re not “wasting” anymore? Work on your app? E-mail till you fall asleep?

After I moved out, WeLive kept evolving and I burrowed back into my own, non-utopian life. Six months later, I was unexpectedly back on the New York City housing market after a sudden breakup. I find it telling that it didn’t once cross my mind to return to WeLive. It’s not WeLive’s fault, necessarily. The apartments there are nice enough, if a bit pricey. The beer is good and the coffee is strong. It’s probably exactly what a lot of folks are looking for. But I’m reminded of the old Groucho Marx line, the one about never joining a club that would have you as a member. WeLive is great—as long as you don’t mind becoming the kind of person who hangs out at a WeLive.

Benjy Hansen-Bundy is a GQ assistant editor.

This story originally appeared in the March 2018 issue with the title "Can the WeLive Experiment Actually Change the Way We Live?"

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