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Kevin Site Admin Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 1346 Location: Eugene, Oregon	Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 9:43 am    Post subject: ArchWeek Residential 2009.0319 Dear Designers, Builders, and Dwellers, ArchWeek Residential brings you housing news and analysis weekly from the editors of ArchitectureWeek. In the 1990s I had the priviledge of traveling extensively in Japan on business, working with key leaders in the housing industry among others. I learned to love the country's amazing blends of old and new and the profound (if not unlimited) dedication to quality. Perhaps that makes this BBC economic story especially poignant for me. I hope you'll be intrigued enough by this excerpt to read the whole story, which winds up to a powerful ending built around some evocative housing-related images... Quote: Living in America one gets used to the exuberant despair of the economic crisis. Entire neighbourhoods ravaged by the cancer of foreclosure, the feverish ructions of the stock market, the high-pitched protests of politicians channelling popular anger, the low pitched moans of Wall Street titans who claim to be more sinned against than sinning. Japan, by contrast, suffers quietly, stoically. The land of the rising sun has, after all, been in it for the long haul... Small companies employing less than 300 employees form the backbone of the Japanese economy. They employ 70% of the workforce and they have been going to the wall by the hundreds every week. We spent a day in the Ota ward in Tokyo. This warren of tiny factories, "mom and pop" workshops and miniature residential houses is typical of Japan. The narrow streets are meticulously clean. Beautifully manicured trees stand next to ubiquitous vending machines. The tofu seller pulls his cart through the ward every Wednesday blowing his trumpet. Despite flat-screen TVs, broadband wi-fi connectivity and cutting edge technology, the place feels like an ancient village steeped in conservative ritual. Flowerboxes with geraniums adorn workshop fronts humming to the sound of electronic chainsaws and hydro-hammers... Washington diary: Japan's recession http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/7951800.stm Residential Design and Building News ------------------------------------ Owners Skulking Away from "Underwater" U.S. Homes - Reuters, 2009.0318 http://www.reuters.com/article/gc03/idUSTRE52H00Z20090318 U.S. Mortgage Applications Spike on Refinance Demand - Reuters, 2009.0318 http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE52H2O220090318 Uptick Doesn't Mean Economy Has Reached Bottom - Chicago Tribune, 2009.0318 http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-wed-housing-starts-commerce-mar18,0,2385002.story Habitat Adds Demolition to Its Mission - New York Times, 2009.0318 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/us/19saginaw.html AIG's Minority Racket - Op-Ed News, 2009.0317 http://www.opednews.com/articles/AIG-s-Minority-Racket-by-earl-ofari-hutchin-090317-154.html Stocks Rise on Homebuilding Data, Oil Climbs - Bloomberg, 2009.0317 http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=atjt1jiU8GCk&refer=home Single-Family Permits Rise 11 Percent - Wall Street Journal, 2009.0317 http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2009/03/17/the-biggest-surprise-in-the-housing-data-single-family-permits/ A Promising Miami Revitalization Project Is Stalled - New York Times, 2009.0317 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/realestate/commercial/18miami.html Chinese Banks Mark Down Home Mortgage Rates - Trading Markets, 2009.0317 http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock News/2225874/ March Home Builder Index Unchanged - Boston Globe, 2009.0317 http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/03/17/march_home_builder_index_unchanged/ Housing Starts Increase in February, but ... - Sun-Sentinel, 2009.0317 http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/business/realestate/housekeys/blog/2009/03/housing_starts_increase_in_feb.html What You Get for... $130,000 - New York Times, 2009.0317 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/greathomesanddestinations/18gh-what-1.html House Builders Must Prepare for HIPs, Says National House Building Council - Property Week, 2009.0317 http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=297&storycode=3136323&c=1 In Cambridge, an American Novelist Is House Proud - New York Times, 2009.0317 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/greathomesanddestinations/18gh-cambridge.html Georgia Ranked Fourth in Nation for Mortgage Fraud - Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2009.0317 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2009/03/17/fraud0317.html Weyerhaeuser Closes Two More Lumber Mills on Demand Woes - CNN, 2009.0317 http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200903170959DOWJONESDJONLINE000360_FORTUNE5.htm U.S. Housing Offers Hope for Economy - Reuters, 2009.0317 http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1742106520090317 Apartment-Building Surges 22% in February - Market Watch, 2009.0317 http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/housing-starts-surge-22-apartment/story.aspx?guid={80F733A0-B553-4D73-80C4-BA67E07CFBAF}&dist=msr_35 Getting Something Started in U.S. Housing - Forbes, 2009.0317 http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/17/housing-building-ppi-markets-economy-inflation-auto.html Canada's February Home Sales Rise as Prices Decline - Bloomberg, 2009.0316 http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=akZuVLjf7cOs&refer=canada Mortgage Deduction Loss Stirs Debate - San Jose Mercury News, 2009.0316 http://www.mercurynews.com/realestatenews/ci_11926282 S.F. Cottage's Demise Spurs Calls for New Rules - San Francisco Chronicle, 2009.0316 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/16/MN9F16F2IJ.DTL Home Builders Remain Gloomy - Market Watch, 2009.0316 http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/home-builders-remain-gloomy-march/story.aspx?guid={7C7A7C3B-6050-4803-874E-A81D33AFF326}&dist=msr_2 New-Home Construction Logs Unexpected Gain - Associated Press, 2009.0316 http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hR39t6No8iR1-y3sNcYe3effD78wD96VR0LG0 Sustainable Mortgage Modifications - Center for American Progress, 2009.0316 http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/03/mortgage_modifications.html House on a Boat Now a New Yorker - Philadelphia Inquirer, 2009.0314 http://www.philly.com/inquirer/front_page/20090314_House_on_a_boat_now_a_New_Yorker.html Burlingame 'McMansion' Baffles Neighbors - San Jose Mercury News, 2009.0313 http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_11903803 Radiant Cities: Living in Your Car - Grist, 2009.0312 http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2009/3/10/14135/3664 Late Frank Lloyd Wright House Up for Sale - ArtInfo, 2009.0312 http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/30798/late-frank-lloyd-wright-house-up-for-sale/ Palladio Awards 2009 - ArchitectureWeek, 2009.0311 http://www.archweek.com/2009/0311/index.html Victoria Commons at Sherwood Place is a small multifamily development just north of the Greenwich Avenue Historic District in Greenwich, Connecticut. Gardiner Larson Homes designed the five-unit townhouse project in Victorian and post-Victorian styles to fit into a neighborhood of modest single-family homes built in the late 19th and early 20th century. Saving the Barns, before They Vanish - New York Times, 2009.0308 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/nyregion/connecticut/08barnsct.html People and Places by Nancy Novitski http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/2009/0311/news_2-1.html Kyu Sung Woo Architects in Gwangju, South Korea - USGBC in Washington, D.C., USA - TVA Architects and GBD Architects in Los Angeles, California - CUH2A in Atlanta, Georgia - Sverre Fehn in Oslo, Norway... -- * -- Please help us build ArchitectureWeek with your support... 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Start here: http://www.archweek.com/ad.cgi?090311_adbuilding ==================================================================== Tools and Downloads -------------------------------------------------------------------- Sponsor this ArchWeek special section and build your brand: http://www.archweek.com/ad.cgi?090311_notes_tools_sponsor Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended includes all the functions of Acrobat 9 Pro, plus additional features for business and technical professionals. Create interactive presentations, unify a wide range of content, convert 2D and 3D designs to PDF, convert and share video in PDF, and create PDF maps. Free 30-day trial for Windows: http://www.archweek.com/ad.cgi?090311a_downloads.html Standarizing Project Management Primavera, a project management software company, is offering a free white paper download, "Winning the Battle for Performance: Standardizing Best Practices with Technology." 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Joining this weekly email list is always free. And please write to us directly anytime, at "editor@architectureweek.com". Best wishes, Kevin Matthews Editor in Chief ArchitectureWeek Reach 11,000 readers of this housing design and building newsletter: http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/media_kit.html Update your entry in the Archiplanet wiki with over 20,000 firms: http://www.archiplanet.org/wiki/Help:Getting_Started Suggest a web site to be linked from our free Web Directory: http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/links/ Subscribe and contribute to help support ArchitectureWeek on the Web: https://archweek.securesites.com/cgi-bin/support_archweek.cgi Speak to 100,000 in the ArcheWeek Notes weekly newsletter: http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/media_kit.html Free Newsletters by ArchitectureWeek - subscribe today! ArchWeek Notes - the latest of ArchitectureWeek, every week http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/subscribe.html ArchWeek Green - sustainable design and building news http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/subscribe.html ArchWeek Residential - housing news and analysis http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/subscribe.html To UNSUBSCRIBE, and also for self-service change of email address: http://www.architectureweek.com/mailman/listinfo/tuesday ** ArchitectureWeek is a green publication. By publishing this professional design and building magazine online only, we save about 48 tons of paper monthly, equivalent to about 50 large trees every week, or some 2500 trees saved per year, compared to reaching a similar readership on paper - not counting 125,000 weekly newsletters! Our offices are powered by 100% wind energy through our local electric utilities. 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