Posted by Dave on August 3, 2010
McMansion under construction by merfam
Remember when people where trending on such topics as “downsizing” and “simple living?” It seems like just yesterday. With untold McMansions listing in their weed-infested suburbs across the U.S. it would seem that the time was indeed ripe for reason to reenter our housing market and smaller footprints and more practical usage of square footage to be valued and rewarded. The only problem is that downsizing is easy to talk about and hard to do.
American’s love things big. As my wife and I have listed our 4 bed 3 bath, 1990 sq. ft. home in SLC for sale we have discovered that it is too small to demand top dollar (in our current crappy homes market). I thought such a home would be ideal for all the people who have been talking about downsizing from their 3,000 sq. ft. 3 bed and 3 bath houses. But, apparently there aren’t any such people. What there are, are people who are looking for their first home and finding that 2,000 sq. ft. just isn’t big enough. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on April 29, 2010
Sweatshop in Chicago
Sweatshops. Sounds kind’a nice as I watch the snow fall outside my window here in SLC, in April. Oh, to feel the sweat trickle down the small of my back and then slowly spread along my waistband front and back until it looks like I have thoroughly wet myself. Oh to feel a hard dirt floor with my blistered and cracked feet and to be able to gnaw on my swollen, spongy tongue longing for a cool drink of water. Instead I just sit here at my fancy computer typing away with a hot mug of tea watching this freekin’ frozen crap cling to my grapevines and tulips.
Surely I jest. But seriously, in my quest to discover the truth about global sweatshop numbers and stats I have discovered that this is an idiotic quest. Much more important are the numbers and factors that make sweatshops not only flourish, but attractive. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on March 29, 2010
One of the big question marks in our floundering economy right now hovers over the idea of human migration trends. Where are people moving to, and why. The key demographic in most conversations about migration trends in the U.S. seem to be young couples and singles between the ages of 25 and 40. Where are these young people moving? And maybe more importantly, what do they want?
The answer, of course, is nobody knows. But I have to write about something, so… let’s say… meaningful and fulfilling lives. But first, where are they moving? States like Texas have had a positive population gain over the last couple of years mostly due to strong energy sector jobs. But let’s face it. As an former resident of Texas, I realize not everyone wants to move to the armpit of hell, Houston.
Many are decrying the fact that young people are fleeing the country like scripted drama from prime time television. But just like prime time TV, there are pockets of CSI, er, young people still finding home in the country. Others, like a recent Wall Street Journal article, talk about the opposite trend.
WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on May 5, 2009
We suckle from breasts that insure our own demise. Bummer.
To continue my theme on blemishes within the American Dream that hinder sustainability I thought I would turn to a nurturing image in celebration of Mother’s Day. I know, so sentimental. Anyway, the problem here in the USA is not that our breasts are shriveled and dry (if only they were), rather the problem is that we suck at the wrong tits (if sustainability is what we seek. And it isn’t, but it should be.). WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on May 3, 2009
There is a critical flaw deeply embedded in the American Dream, as most Americans dream it. It has to do with how each of us are trained to see others. My parents made efforts to resist, and so gave me as much of an advantage as they could, but the influence is wide and strong. This flawed outlook is also in direct opposition to sustainability. It is the main problem with all of our good intentions and positive plans when it comes to sustainability.
That deadly flaw is a trained lack of contentment. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on April 27, 2009
Now this is the stuff of my childhood dreams. When my imagination was still unbounded and unfettered by the burdens of reality and the skepticism of age I dreamed of molding and forming society like play-dough. The Venus Project, the brain child of Jacque Fresco, is doing just that. This is the luxury of genius at its best. Even at first glance I can recognize the science fiction novels I have read that have been influenced by this stuff.
But is all of this just modernist, Jean-Luc Picard type thinking that is already being supplanted by the post modern sense of relativist spirituality? WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on April 8, 2009
Calf fry anyone? Do you think Obama knows what a Rocky Mountain Oyster is? Cause I think it might be time for a little testicle festival. I hope it is o.k. that I cross politics with sustainability for this blog entry. Hey, there should be such a thing as sustainable politics, shouldn’t there? WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on March 31, 2009
What do you do when your house is worth less than nothing? Zoned improperly for farm stock and wild animals won’t bed there? Last week I made a review of a study done in the UK titled, “New Tricks with Old Bricks.” I mused then that the most interesting question that the study brought up was how we can make good use of empty homes. The census numbers on empty homes are a little misleading and not the most helpful for determining which ones have simply been abandoned. But, the percentage for the first quarter of 2009, 2.9%, is the highest quarterly percentage since 1956. For me that sufficiently says that there is a real problem out there with homes deemed worse than worthless by the market. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on March 21, 2009
Feeling pretty isolated from the current recession out here in Salt Lake City, I’ve decided to track some of the goings on in Detroit. I have a mild connection with the area after dating a girl during high school and college from Grosse Pointe. I will never forget my first day driving around the metro area. As a country kid from Texas I couldn’t even comprehend most of what I was seeing. I remember pulling up to a red light in my 1984 Volvo 244 DL with all the windows rolled down and my shirt off. (No air conditioning you know.) Of course I was wearing a red bandana wrapped around my head to keep my long hair out of my face while the wind whipped through my windows. This was the summer of 1993.
WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on March 3, 2009
The Tulou are clan houses built in the Fujian province of South East China. It is believed that these structures were built as early as the 13th century, and many of them survive today at varying ages. Some are several hundred years old. I first heard of these structures from Earth Architecture’s website and they grabbed hold of my imagination for a few different reasons.
First they are built from earthen materials, the outer walls being essentially rammed earth with wooden structures sometimes internally. I am fascinated with earthen building materials because you just can’t get more sustainable. Literally the whole world’s population could build their homes with dirt and the earth would be no worse for wear.
Secondly, they have stood the test of time. Not only in the sense that the buildings have lasted for hundreds of years, but also people in China have continued to actively live in them and construct them up until the last 100 years. Practically, they must have worked. Not only did they succeed in providing defense from other warring clans, but there must have been more.
Lastly, the tulou were built to house entire clans. Some of the ones still in use today house up to 600 people. Yet in Western culture it is rare to even find a handful of extended family members under the same roof. I myself live in an urban bungalow with my wife and child, but we have often sought ways to shake this formula up. International students have lived under our roof, friends who needed a place to go, and students who I have worked with and shared life with. But these arrangements have been temporary. Should we be so ardent about our values for individualism and personal space? Are these things the earned privilege of a wealthy and affluent culture? Or are they blights on what would otherwise be a more meaningful and sustainable life?
What other residential models like the tulou are out there but withering in the brutal heat of modernity? Can we take some lessons from the dying clan lifestyle of China? Or at least build homes that we expect our children’s children to be able to come home to some day, if only for a visit.
