Class warfare and how the Vietnam war finally ends
“He got rid of the intellectual elites,” said my guide. “Brutal—but I think it saved our country. I mean, consider what happens to a place when workers are devalued...” I was dazed by his words....
The power of 10
I was sitting in his office as he recounted the secret of life. It was 2005 and we spent the next two hours talking about everything from his theory of successful urban planning to...
Stopping the cycle of poverty begins with housing
Terwilliger is chairman emeritus of Trammel Crow Residential Company and heralds a list of accomplishments that would fill this book. A quick primer for the “yutes”: Trammel Crow ascended as the nation’s largest multifamily...
As the sun rises, so does opportunity
I believed her. In the mind of a child, life is simple. As it should be. It’s not as though anyone in that classroom, the school or even the community was on an obvious trajectory...
Choose courage
The growth that once propelled America and generated expansion, upward mobility and a pervasive prosperity is now the weakest in at least seven decades. So we’re anxious. Still, there are points of light like consumer spending,...
The laws of human nature
Andy, a ‘Bama boy, lost his mother to cancer and his father in a car wreck shortly thereafter at the age of 19. He spent the next months homeless and wandering. Certainly, early and profound...
Americans are on edge
From the continuing ebb and flow of jobs, to growing threats of terror, to something as simple as water—there is barely a moment of our daily lives that is not overshadowed with uncertainty, framed...
Tell me my lying eyes are wrong
The stock market continues to free fall, as do oil prices, even as the dollar strengthens against the whims of China. U.S. growth, as measured by GDP, sighed softly in Q4 to an estimated...
Making hay whilst there’s daylight
One might gather that there’s a pivot back to private capital as 79,000 apartment units have left the hands of publicly traded REITs for the greener portfolios of private equity firms. Just a few...
Prescience: knowledge of things before they happen
A 2014 historical study suggests that not since the Civil War have we been so polarized as a nation. Climate change, immigration, Fair Housing law. The issues are many, and both the emotions, and...
Don’t mess with the bull
That’s where numbers become important. Numbers drive our operations, set our projections and bear our cash flow, and right now the numbers are some of the best most of us have seen, and a...
Did you feel that?
After a temblor we always check for the intensity and the epicenter. It’s a ritual that comes with living on a fault line. Perhaps a lot like living in today’s economy. And just as...
America was built by thinkers
One’s ability to work through challenges has a cascading effect on every level of society. Such a skill also strengthens our stream of renters and their ability to pay rent, be responsible citizens and...
Be fearless
The value of stuff Ambiently determining the value of stuff may be our newest religion. It may or may not include free and fair market, inherent worth, or supply and demand. Generally, it’s complicated, debated and...
Trust the fabric
As my darling grandmother, a seamstress by trade would say, a good seamstress trusts the fabric. And I do. Our best days are ahead, most assuredly, and I am excited by morning’s first light. Multifamily continues...
