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Multifamily steps up to fill the housing gap
Michael J. Berens Construction & Building MaterialsWith little relief in sight, sales and starts of single-family homes tumbled in March. Would-be homebuyers faced with fewer choices, along with rising prices and interest rates, are opting to continue renting for the time being or to purchase more plentiful and often more affordable townhouses, condominiums and co-ops. That has given a boost to the multifamily sector, which rebounded strongly in the first quarter of this year.
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Urban design gone wrong: Cul‑de‑sacs
Lucy Wallwork Construction & Building MaterialsThis is the second part of a series on urban design gone wrong. In this series of articles, we will be looking at a few of the things we have been getting badly wrong when designing our cities, and that we are now scrambling to rectify. This week: cul-de-sacs.
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Drive project efficiency with templates
Deborah Ike Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementMost project managers have more than one project to manage at a time. Therefore, anything you can do to make your job easier and less complicated, the better. That's where templates come into the picture. If your company has a project management office (PMO), they probably provide you with templates. However, if you don't have a PMO or if it's relatively new, then you might need to create your own.
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Building durable decks, docks and boardwalks in Hurricane Alley
Brent Gwatney Construction & Building Materials2017 brought one of the worst hurricane seasons in recent history. The United States' southeast region and the Caribbean — nicknamed "Hurricane Alley" — saw 17 named storms, including the infamous hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, between June 1 and Nov. 30.
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New eviction database highlights affordable housing challenges
Michelle R. Matisons Construction & Building MaterialsArticle 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights includes housing as necessary to establish "an adequate standard of living." Since the tech bubble burst in 2000, housing prices in the U.S. have been anything but adequate. Renters began experiencing eviction, homelessness and chronic underemployment in a tough economy, and the problem hit homeowners when the housing market officially crashed to start the Great Recession.
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Demand for major remodels remains strong
Michael J. Berens Interior Design, Furnishings & FixturesAs more long-term homeowners make the decision to stick with the home they have, they are undertaking larger-scale remodeling projects, such as complete room renovations or additions. Due to the complexity of these changes, more homeowners are hiring professionals to assist with or do the entire project for them. While that's great for business, it is pushing out wait times as project backlogs begin to pile up.
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Who’s lined up to build Trump’s Mexico wall?
Michelle R. Matisons Construction & Building MaterialsA move like this comes on the heels of deeply partisan activity surrounding the Wall. It was originally Trump's idea to have Mexico fund the Wall, to no avail. Congress only approved $1.6 billion for the project, when Trump wanted $25 billion. Democrats wanted to exchange amnesty for 1.8 million DACA-eligible immigrants in exchange for Wall funding, but Trump rejected this offer.
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Multigenerational teams: Creating ageless collaboration
Susan Mulholland Interior Design, Furnishings & FixturesNo matter what your age or generation you identify with, if you work in a creative field like design or architecture, you are part of a team. It doesn't matter if all your team members are working under one roof or if they belong to different companies or disciplines. Design is a team sport.
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Urban design gone wrong: Setbacks
Lucy Wallwork Construction & Building MaterialsWoe the fate of the poor urban designer. Forced to wander the streets of our cities, painfully alive to all of the errors of our design history, the sort of things that most of us walk past with barely a glance.
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Conflict of interest: To seem is to be
Robert W. Foster Construction & Building MaterialsAlmost exactly two years ago, I wrote on the subject of professional ethics. My concern then was the recently published International Ethics Standards, by the International Ethics Standards Coalition (IESC), with a nod to the various codes published by our many professional bodies including NSPS and FIG.
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