While planning an undergraduate course for the first time in several years, I was perplexed by the question of how much reading and writing to assign. I turned to Google and, after a few blind alleys, found a helpful article at a blog maintained by the Center for Teaching Excellence at Rice University. The blog post is "How Much Should We Assign? Estimating Out of Class Workload" and the author is Elizabeth (Betsy) Barre. The nifty thing about this article is that it includes a calculator for estimating the time required to complete reading and writing assignments. The following screenshots give you an idea of how it works.
David Fahrenthold and news as collaborative intelligence /
Here is the story by David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) of the Washington Post about how he spent a year reporting on Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump). It began with asking questions about charitable contributions. Mr. Farenthold uses the Internet and social media to increase his productivity as described by Tom Rosenstiel in a Brookings article: News as collaborative intelligence: Correcting the myths about news in the digital age.
Defining statistical significance /
A podcast by Joe Janes an Associate Professor at the Information School at the University of Washington offers a clear articulation of the concept of statistical significance, with a focus on Sir Ronald Fisher, who defined the concept in a 1925 book -- Statistical Methods for Research Workers. There is also a blog post that introduces the podcast.
YIMBY /
YIMBY = Yes In My Backyard: Scott Beyer's article about pro-housing advocacy in metropolitan areas of the USA.
The Penquin in Santa Monica /
The Penquin Restaurant building at the northwest corner of Olympic Boulevard and Lincoln Boulevard--as designed in 1959 and in 2016.
After housing a coffee shop until the early 1990s, the structure housed a dental office. Now it looks like it will become a restaurant once again. See this Santa Monica Lookout posting for details.
Too little leverage for equitable TOD in Seattle area /
The participation of a variety of organizations and government agencies in creating a fund to stimulate affordable transit-oriented development for lower-income households is laudable. But this $21 million loan fund is miniscule in comparison to the $54 billion dollar transit investment program approved by Seattle area voters in November 2016. It is simply not enough, at least at inception, to make a significant difference.
Optimistically, a loan program like this one might achieve a 10:1 leverage ratio--that is for every dollar from the fund, perhaps as much as $10 of other funding (loans or equity investment) could be mobilized. This would result in approximately $210 million of housing investment.
In the Seattle region, acquiring land and constructing new housing costs at least $300 per square foot, or about $300 thousand for 1,000 square foot apartment or condominium. If all of $210 million of funding goes toward new housing development, it would create no more than 700 units of new housing. At an average household size of three persons, this new housing would accommodate 2,100 people--in a region that is currently growing by over 75,000 persons per year.
New housing development does not occur overnight, especially when a multiplicity of programs have to be mobilized to reduce costs for buyers or renters. At best, it would take at least five years to put these 700 units in place. Based on this timing and current growth rates, the program would generate new housing for less than one percent of the population added to the region between 2017 and 2022.
Snout house in Seattle /
A few "snout houses" are still being built in Seattle. This brand new 1,900 sq. ft. house is 8 miles south of downtown and priced at $420,000.
The inside looks a lot better than the outside.
Mall of the future /
Informative slide presentation on the "Mall of the Future" by the folks at Callison/RTKL
Susan Christopherson (1947-2016) /
Cornell University economic geographer and regional development scholar Susan Christopherson died on December 14, 2016. At the time of her death, she was chair of the Department of City and Regional Planning (CRP) in the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP.) She joined the CRP faculty in 1987 and became first female full professor and chair of the department. I had the opportunity to know and work with this remarkable woman while I was at Cornell from 2009 to 2013. An obituary is posted on the AAP website.
The man who brought Scandinavian design to the USA /
The man who brought Scandinavian design to the USA, Jens Risom, died on Friday, December 9, 2016. For background on Mr. Risom's life and accomplishments read "Midcentury Designer Jens Risom Dies at Age 100" by Sara Johnson.
Interesting seating chart /
Interesting seating chart from President-elect Trump meeting with technology leaders on December 14, 2016.
YIMBYs take on NIMBYs in San Diego /
Mike McPhate writes in a New York Times article that YIMBYs are taking on NIMBYs in San Diego via a local group called Housing You Matters that describes itself as, " . . . a broad coalition working together to find solutions for making homes at all price points more economically feasible to develop."
Did the FBI or Russia swing the presidential election? /
Did Russian and/or FBI intervention swing the election? Consider that HRC lost the electoral vote from three states (MI, WI, PA) by less than1%.
Healthy places /
Public health professionals are concluding that our metropolitan environment influences our physical and mental health. A blog posting of December 8, 2016, went so far as to state that, " . . . One number stands above all others as the best indicator of good health. It's not your blood pressure, cholesterol level, average daily calories, or even the age at which your grandparents die. It's your zip code." And the website of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has a feature where you can type in your zip code to see data on average life expectancy. Picking up on this idea, the folks at Project for Public Spaces have prepared a report on "The Case for Healthy Placemaking: Improving Health Outcomes through Placemaking."
The amazing Sara Seager /
Worth reading: Chris Jones tells us about amazing Sara Seager in "The Woman Who Might Find Us Another Earth." Dr. Seager is an astrophysicist and MacArthur Fellow who is on the faculty at MIT and searches for earth-like exoplanets.
Suburbs Outstrip Cities in Population Growth /
According to a recent Urban Land Institute Study referenced in a brief article in the Wall Street Journal on December 3, 2016, areas that surround downtowns account for more growth in the largest metropolitan areas of the United States. The statistics revealed by the recent Urban Land Institute report summarized in this stand to reason. Only a minority of households can afford housing that costs more in the cities. And what the median cost differences cited in this short piece do not reveal is that in the cities you pay much more to get much less.
Unhappiness in the USA /
"Unhappiness in America: Desperation in white towns, resilience and diversity in the cities". A read of this Brookings Institution article that was posted on the Internet on September 29, 2016, may help folks understand the results of the presidential election that took place on November 8, 2016.
Illustrations by R. Kikuo Johnson /
This week I came across a bizarre story accompanied by wonderful illustrations by R. Kikuo Johnson. The story was "How to Hide $400 Million", by Nicholas Confessore. It appeared in the New York Times Magazine with a dateline of November 30, 2016.
The illustration that grabbed my attention appeared right below the headline and byline
This image captured the essence of the article--a couple that had irreconcilable differences. And the husband was willing to take extreme measures to prevent his wife from securing a reasonable settlement.
Via a quick Google search, I learned that Ms. Johnson also was the illustrator for the cover of the New Yorker Magazine of October 10, 2016. The "Cover Story" piece for that edition offers a brief perspective on this obviously talented artist. And here is an image of that cover.
Misread of CEQA in San Francisco stops lower-income housing /
Misread of CEQA in San Francisco stops significant lower-income housing due to alleged gentrification impacts
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-supervisors-reject-development-lacking-10619140.php
Case-Shiller home price indices continue increases /
Case-Shiller home price indices continue to increase and national index tops the peak of 2006 http://fw.to/YwUSucO