Housing

Some of you may know that we are in need of housing. Urgent Need. The house that we have been renting since moving to Madison in September, was recently put back on the market. It is now under contract and we need to be out by 9am on May 31st. We have been frantically looking for housing for the last two months and with the end of May mere weeks away the best option we have is an expensive two-bedroom that starts on July 1. We might have to move into a place that can accomodate us June to August, and then move again starting Aug 15th.

We are not the only ones in this situation. The housing market seems to be going gangbusters around here. Spring sprang, and people began to list their homes again. Word on the street is that there are a ton of buyers and houses on the market aren't staying there too long before they get snatched up. Nevermind that the house we live in had to lower the asking price before getting an offer, it was under contract a few days later. Landlords we've met with said they've seen other couples who were looking for new places because their rentals were sold (out from under them?).

Some of the problems with Madison's housing market that appeared anecdotal when we were searching from Atlanta last summer are revealing themselves as systemic now that we're here and looking again. First, the majority of rentals default to the Aug to Aug cycle to stay in line with the academic calendar (overwhelmingly). If you're a person that lives in the same place year round and you should need a place to rent, you had better hope you can start your lease around Aug 15th. If not, it's gonna be slim pickings.

Next, I would say there are a limited number of places that cater to the situation our family finds itself in. I'll be the first to admit that we have a fairly lengthy list of specific needs: dogs, cat, child, one car. This often directs us to look for whole homes for rent since we don't want the dogs barking every time someone below us comes home or a party to wake up our sleeping infant. At the same time we don't want the screaming kid and barking dogs bothering neighbors either. Plus, a yard is nice. Perhaps the most limiting factor is that we don't want to live in a property managed by a slumlord on a block composed of pseudofrats. The tendency of homes to be split up to accomodate, dare-I-say, less discerning undergrads, or even graduate students, can be felt in a number of neighborhoods, especially on the East side. Even homes that haven't been split up are accustomed to turning an office into a 'bedroom', thus getting one extra tenant and raising the rent they can charge for the home. On the West side of Madison, the homes are not often split up, but most are owner-occupied. The rentals are nicer but also harder to come by. Most don't allow dogs.

Even with my own headaches around housing in Madison, I still like to open the paper on Sunday and dream about the beautiful and luxurious city dwellings being offered in the high priced advertising space (as seen above). The New York Times recently labeled the people who actually get to occupy these spaces in real life "the Stratospherians." I know it's a dream and that's what I like about it, but to see the equal opportunity housing logo in the corner is like a slap in the face. The spirit of the entire ad is absolutely contradictory to this logo and what the program is about (see below for an actual picture of what is on the HUD program's website). I know these advertisers are just doing their due diligence and CYA routine, and I agree that anybody with the means to afford this place should be able to live there - no discrimination. But it irks me to see in hiding in the corner there. The people living there are Stratospherian. This is not the type of place you get on Section 8. One great thing about a dream, is that anything goes - it's an escape, hopefully to something more desirable. Adding this equal housing logo makes it real in a way that just seems sad. It kills my dream and makes me question my whole reality, beginning with the matter of whether or not I'm at a level deserving enough - be it socially, economically, or intellectually - to be reading publication I'm holding. But then again, those ads subsidize the cost of my Sunday paper, and it still costs over $6!!!!!!!!!!!!

While this started as a lament for Madison's housing stock and my own harrowing search, it has turned into a gripe with the ultrarich and their abodes. In another example of Stratospherian luxury housing, consider this modern dollhouse for the extremely boring child, available to you at less than $1000. I hope that anyone reading this will take a long look at this 'toy' and think about the dialogue that a child would create as he played with it. If you go the drab route of the Unhappy Hipster or the actual tone of child's imaginative play, the juxtaposition is interesting, in not also funny. Please add whatever you come up with to the comments.

Dueling Design Houses

Two Production Houses for cultish climbing videos are dueling it out and producing some of the coolest and emotive sports videos I've seen. The two houses are called Big Up Productions and Louder Than 11. The videos they produce are highly stylized to be simultaneously chilled out, powerful, and bragadocious. Watch just a few videos and you'll get a sense for the type of music they tend to use - something you might expect to hear in a Amsterdam coffee shop or at a Thai island backpacker hammock farm.

One thing I notice with these videos are the overlay effects, often introducing text and such. If you've watched a news story you've seen how different broadcasts introduce people's names and titles, it's usually a bar across the bottom of the screen with text on top of it. It shows up and disappears with little fanfare, and often that's a good thing. If you watch the daily show you also see a lot of photoshopping technology mixed in with stories, but aside from the opening sequence there is not too much computerized video effects. Most of the progress we see in video effects is devoted to movies, trying to make things look real. We also see a lot of animation on FOX Sunday nights or South Park but not as much, I think, in the use of video effects to add info or feeling to good cinematography the way these climbing videos use it.

Louder Than 11 uses some of the coolest effects I've seen for bringing in text to describe settings, routes, and people. These are often highly stylized and thematically specific to each video. In the video below they introduce the names and grades of the problems using an effect that I think they should patent. I will try to describe it here. It begins with two circles, one smaller and within the other. They appear over a portion of the video, say a rock or the sky, and take on the frame of that rock or sky when they appear though the rest of the video continues to move. This helps draw your attention to the element. The circles spin in opposite directions quickly at first, then slowing text shoots out from their center. Next they begin to spin in the opposite direction and suck the text back in. The images inside in the circles end up matching the video at the point they finish spinning. I can't really explain it. I think they should start making powerpoint animations.

Big Up Productions is creating a franchise with their Reel Rock films that come out annually. One common effect they feature uses the incredible scenery the sport as the back drop for text and logos that seem to float over the landscapes. They also start on shots very far and zoom quickly in to the person who was initially unnoticeable. One clip that has me watching over and over again combines Radical Face's Welcome Home with Ueli Steck's speed record assent of the Eiger's North Face (below). I love the cinematography when the song hits its climactic chorus. The angle of the slope is clean and perfect, his silhouette struggles up the mountain toward the relief and light of the ridge and the southern face. So cool.

I'm not sure if it's a personal affinity to these videos and their aesthetic or if they are intriguing to more people, including non-climbers. People into the sport sometimes call these videos climbing porn. They're shot in beautiful settings, they feature suspenseful situations and often young, fit people. There is not really anything erotic about them but I do think they are nice to watch. In any event, these two production companies are dueling to produce a vibe as well as documentation of the sports and places they love. We all win I think. Let me know if you get stuck watching more than you intended.

Back up to Devil's Lake

The spring finally arrived so we made it outside and back up to Devil's Lake. We tried to go up there once around New Year's - we got out of the car, walked around for a few minutes, and drove back home. The snowshoes we had hoped to borrow from the Nature Center were not available on Sunday and it was freezing. This weekend was different. Benton is getting much better at hiking on his own. He also enjoys going to some of the HUGE off-leash dog parks around here and following the dogs as they run through the 'oak savannah.' Above is a photo of him in almost the same spot where we caught a shot of him during a November visit to the state park. He runs now, his hair is much longer, he tells us when he wants to get down and walk. Keep hiking.

Beer Oriented Development

Cross-posted at Dirty South Beer Club

Twin Cities' Surly Brewing recently won a plea to change a law that allow it to sell beer in its Brewery. Prior to the ruling makers of beer could give out glasses of beer for free during tours but could not sell and make beer in the same place. This prevented them from opening a restaurant or bar in the brewery. The Brewery's owner, Omar Ansari, petitioned the state to change the law. It's a law that is on the books in about half the states.

The ruling paved the way for more of Omar's business ventures, including looking for a site to open a new brewery and restaurant. This week, it was announced that Surly bought a site in St. Paul. It moves them closer to the city(s) and allows them to create a "destination brewery" - making the site of beer production one that is more connected with other businesses and communities in the St. Paul area. Surly also choose a brownfield site that is eligible for grants to assist with environmental remediation. The site's proximity to existing and planned neighborhoods and economic centers also makes it elegible for transit-oriented-development grants from the county. The national, state, and local laws that incentivize remediation of industrial locations, develop sites near transit, and encourage awesome local beer production (and drinking) came together to produce a great example of a new economic development model for cites. That model is based in beer.

The "destination brewery" that Surly hopes to create is perhaps the new 'must-have' storefront for thriving downtown revival. I love that they chose a site that is strategically placed to be transit-(and maybe bike)-friendly. Omar, says the craft beer business is booming in the Cities and hopefully they can create the type of bike and beer atmosphere that already exists in a couple of places (if it hasn't already). In some cases, like in Portland and Asheville, the beer and bike culture has spurred more economic development in the city. The combination of biking and breweries is one that has caught the attention of more than one travel writer(Portland (again) and Madison (maybe). Asheville has even branded itself Beer City USA after winning a 2010 poll of craft beer aficionados. So, generally I love this move by Surly and the city and state. The only question I have is how long is it gonna take until the brewery realizes this obvious corporate partnership?

Tiny Libraries

Regular readers who have been with me since long, long ago may remember a discussion while in Bogotà about their mobile and distributed libraries. I am happy to report that I have found something similar in Madison. Here, The Little Free Library is everywhere: at the park, the grocery store, in tons of front yards. Books rotate in and out, you take what you're interested in an leave your old books if you wanna pass them on to others.

I love this idea and I think it is a great indicator for neighborhoods. The presence of the library is itself a great sign. It signals individuals striving to create community in some small form. The books inside give you an idea of some of the interests of folks in the neighborhood. For the libraries in folks' front yards I always assume they are filled with books from the homeowners and I am getting a view into their personal paths. People also customize their libraries: some have dual French doors, others are miniature versions of the house they stand in front of with matching trim colors, others are collective efforts of the community members adding accouterment over time. I guess they could be magnets for spray paint and/or other outlets for teenage boredom. Here is a piece on them from the Wisconsin Magazine.

Yesterday I walked by one in someone's front yard a noticed the Complete Guide to Homeschooling. I let it be, but I am thinking of picking up the Gaylord Nelson Biography from the one at Wingra Park. I'll see if I can get through it before Earth Day next week.

PhD

It has been a long time since I last posted. I have been spending more time tweeting and on Instagram, but a lot has happened since then. We elected a President, Birthdays March Madness (tear.), winter, and I finished my PhD. Just before the election I attended a conference in Cincinnati - where both candidates also found themselves that same weekend - and I headed directly to Atlanta and defended my dissertation on Monday Nov. 5th. I am happy to say that I passed and had one night to celebrate with some of my friends in Atlanta.

The title of the dissertation is Planning For The New Urban Climate: Interactions Of Local Environmental Planning And Regional Extreme Heat. It can be found here for those interested.

Since the defense I have been continuing to discover my role and develop ideas at Wisconsin as part of the Nelson Environmental Institute's Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment.

NIMBY - Madsion

We heard a lot about Madison before we moved here. Everyone we talked to loved the place. We haven't met anyone who didn't enjoy their time here, but we knew that sit was a bit of an island. A haven for protest and liberal energy in a state that is not severely conservative but elected Scott Walker, saw him restrict collective bargaining rights, then recalled him, and elected him again.

Our first real encounter with the vocal Madison public was around a proposal to put lights along a bike path. The bike path is known as the Southwest Commuter Path and runs between the SW neighborhoods (and towns further outside Madison) and campus and the Isthmus where it links up with other paths. The controversy arose between the neighbors living along the path and the path users. Several neighbors came out against the lights; worried about habitat (owl) disruption, night sky light contamination, and other reasons. Some even said crime might go up if criminals, now able to see the people they intend to attack, could wait to strategically attack those they think are weak. Supporters of the lights cited equality among transportation modes as a rationale for the project. The public works department revised the design of the project and even the lights themselves several times to alleviate concerns. They worked with the LED manufacturers to produce a different warmth of light at eye level. The final design is a bike path light unlike any other out there.

Some Coverage:

The Isthmus

City of Madison

The Cap Times

Madison Commons

I went to one of the several public hearings about the issue and took some notes. Some of the best comments came from an Alder in a nearby town, Fitchburg. He pointed out that the people you see on the path now are only the people comfortable using it as it is, so the claim that plenty of people use a dark path is misleading. He also noted that the more cyclists the path attracts, the less traffic will be on the roads and so benefits of the path extend to the general populous and not only those on the bikes.

The appeal of a town the recognizes non-motorized transport and legitimizes it with infrastructure spending was something that several young professionals mentioned explicitly. They noted that it was a factor in choosing to move to Madison. They said things like: "Make cities for people" and "We must begin to shift our transportation paradigm and legitimize all modes"

I kept thinking that many of the arguments against the lights based on safety were dismissive of the subjective nature of safety. People requested data on crime stats to 'prove' that safety was an issue, and conversely others in favor of the lights told their personal stories about not wanting to ride in the dark. Is fear of the dark measurable? I would say mine is about a 39.7.

One of the oddest comments came from a woman opposing the lights: "If I wanted it to be all lit up, I would have bought a house in the suburbs". This seems paradoxical to me, isn't the bucolic character of suburban living ('away from the bright lights of the big city') part of the appeal.

One of the most compelling arguments relates to whether or not this is the type of project that the city should be spending money on right now. There are certainly other needs for this money, but this is not really the issue that the city was discussing. That decision had already been made and and the money had been set aside. The electrical infrastructure for the lights had also been installed earlier when the path was first constructed. In the end, the final light design was approved by the city council and it will proceed.

Palm Oil

On a recent trip to the supermarket we encountered a band of small girls selling what appeared to be harmless baked (?) goods - cookies - as part of a fundraiser for their organization called The Girl Scouts of America. Now, I have bought Girl Scout Cookies before and I will buy them again (Thin Mints are my drug of choice), but this time was different.

After the transaction one of the girls handed me a slip a paper with some information on it about the cookies I had just purchased. The paper, shown above, had additional information about the ingredients of the cookies and the farming practices used to grow those ingredients. It was odd to receive information from the seller of a product, speaking ill of the product, right after you purchased said product. First, I appreciate the full disclosure and due diligence on the part of the Girl Scout's but to say this didn't catch me off guard would be a lie. I'm used to finding out about the reasons I might want to steer away from some products through alternative sources; the newspaper, a blog, not the seller themselves. Second the info sheet doesn't point out all the things the GS have changed to correct the hard this fundraising activity might be causing in other parts of the world, rather it simply states what's wrong with the cookies I just bought. What's more it throws the blame right onto me - "What's YOUR connection to rainforest destruction?"

I looked into into a bit more. The campaign was started by a few Girl Scouts from a troop in Michigan. (one of them was named Madison) The leading producer of palm oil is Indonesia. MOst of the crop's expansion in the last 20 years (in Indonesia) has happened on the island of Borneo. This island is home to the orangutan and this is a primary reason that the animal has become synonymous with rain forest destruction by palm oil plantations.more here.

Big Wins

Some say marriage is all about compromise, but certainly some battles are bigger than others. When moving into a new home there are all kinds of tensions and decisions to be made. These can be made together as a team or unilaterally, preferably by the one between you who is the font of knowledge on the particular topic. Sometimes I see fit to proclaim myself resident expert on one thing or another.

When we were moving into this home in Madison, I KNEW the exact right spot for the cutting boards. It was perfect and upon seeing the location for the first time I instantly thought - "cutting boards". As if every person, for all time, when seeing the shape and placement of this small nook would arrive at the same conclusion. Even without prior knowledge of what a cutting board was, or that it existed, one would see this void and react with the invention of a board, on which to cut things, as the object that should occupy this place. The context of the room (a kitchen) and the microenvironment of what I will call the cutting board nest imposed itself on the psyche of all those who gazed upon it. Lauren protested, but I remained steadfast to my intuition and the will of the cutting board nest. To this day the boards reside in that perfect spot. Little victories be damned, you gotta go big or go home in this marriage game.

Postscript: Our marriage has what I consider to be a pretty balanced yin and yang with respect to these compromises. I may have cashed in all my karmatic credits on this cutting board thing and hope it doesn't cause me to come up short in the next family planning discussion.

From Dungeon Family to Monroe Dungeon

It's only about 3 months late but here's the official blog announcement of our move to Madison. We left the Dirty South and ended up in the spiffy clean Midwest, left East Atlanta and found ourselves in West Madison. In the nick of time just before leaving we were able to find a nice home for rent that fit our needs. It had previously been on the market for sale and, finding themselves in a bit of a time crunch of their own, the owners agreed to rent to us. The home is right on the edge, or maybe just inside, a neighborhood called Dungeon-Monroe. The house and the neighborhood are great. Getting here didn't go exactly as planned. Our things were put on a moving truck in Atlanta and unfortunately were not scheduled to arrive in Madison until mor than two weeks later, after Lauren was scheduled to begin work. We decided to leave Detroit and move into the house without our things. My folks followed us with towels and air mattresses, some chairs, and a table. Even without our things, we found Madison to be very enjoyable and accommodating. One of the first things we noticed was that things were very close. Compared to Atlanta, where you'd have to drive 20 minutes to get somethings, the small town feel of Madison is enhanced by it actually being small. Lauren was able to use the bike share to get to work before our bikes arrived. We could walk to parks, the grocery store, and the free zoo. I wanted to compare the old neighborhood to the new one on some factors

	East Altanta		Dungeon-Monroe
Population	32,654		10,012
Median HH income	$44,101		$67,454
Median HH Value	$208,257		$255,959
Median Age	34.8		36.8
Walk Score	20		74
Transit Score	33		41
Registered Sex Offenders	67		9
Avg Jan High	52		28
Avg July High	89		83
Feels like temp at time of posting	53		40
Notable Rankings	Maxim's #1 Man City		Best City for Young Adults
	Madison is #29		Don't see Atlanta

The first thing that strikes me about this list is that the numbers do a very poor job of capturing the most important differences between the places. The two neighborhoods are closer than expected for many of these metrics (July High temp?). When we moved here we immediately felt a lot better about our location and living situation. There are a lot of variables but is there really a number to capture the way you feel in a place?