Positive Outlook from Obama | Post-Sandy Flood Insurance | Airbnb’s Popularity Grows

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1. Obama Scorecard: Housing Headed in Right Direction. “The latest data from the Obama Administration indicates housing is getting back on its feet. However, much like the last scorecard, these numbers are a reminder that the process is a slow one.” [Housing Wire – 05/11/13]
2. Housing Improvement May Herald Return of U.S. Workforce Mobility. “While far from their 2006 peak, home prices in major metropolitan areas have been rising since early 2012. If that persists, it should make it easier for Americans to move and for employers to match job seekers with available jobs, lowering the jobless rate and increasing overall economic productivity and growth.” [Reuters – 05/13/13]
3. Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Under High Flood Insurance. “By now, most know how much insurance money they have to work with, though plenty of people are still struggling to get more. But a new federal law that happened to coincide with the arrival of the storm will cause flood insurance premiums to skyrocket and require stricter, and thus more expensive, rebuilding standards.” [The New York Times – 05/10/13]
4. World Trade Center Site Sits Empty as Rivals Lease Up. “As of today, more than 3 million square feet of vacant office space is expected to open in 2014 at 1 WTC and the neighboring tower under construction, 4 WTC. And more than 2 million square feet are on the drawing board at 3 WTC, whose construction is stalled at seven stories for lack of commercial tenants.” [Crain’s New York Business – 05/12/13]
5. Madison Square Garden Permit Could Be Limited to 15 Years, Encouraging Owners to Moves. “The Department of City Planning recommended that its commissioners grant the Garden the limited renewal on its expired permit to operate as a large-scale arena. Its owner had wanted it to last ‘in perpetuity.’” [DNA Info – 05/10/13]
6. Airbnb: Hugely Popular, Still Illegal. “The company is instead maintaining a low profile while lobbying lawmakers for a change in a 2011 law that makes it illegal for New Yorkers to rent an entire apartment for less than 29 days. Though that stricture was intended to curb illegal hotels, it’s turned the bulk of Airbnb users-those who rent out primary and secondary residences for short-term stays-into unwitting scofflaws, according to sources describing conversations between the company and legislators.” [Crain’s New York Business – 05/12/13]
7. A Proposal to Make the Micro Apartment a Little More Livable. “419 square-foot private quarters are paired around a reconfigurable social space for dining or entertaining. Each unit still has its own private entrance, its own bathroom, its own kitchenette and small balcony. But some of the walls around the shared space can also be reconfigured to create either one seamless outdoor space, or an expanded balcony for one unit and a private living room for the other.” [City Lab – 05/13/13]
8. Another Beach Proposed for Lower East Side Riverfront at Pier 42. “The city’s Parks Department has presented two alternative designs for the redevelopment of the long-neglected Pier 42, giving options that include floating marshes, a beach and room for an ice rink.” [DNA Info – 05/10/13]
9. Lower State Income Tax Does Not Spur Economic Development. “States with higher tax burdens are also more affluent. States with high tax collections also have higher concentrations of talent and highly educated people. A third of the adults in high-collection states hold college degrees compared to a quarter in the states with low collections. Similarly, a third of the workforce in the high-collection states are knowledge, professional, and creative workers compared to 28 percent in low-collection states.” [City Lab – 05/13/13]