Real Estate & Property Law

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

Posted on October 16, 2009
Despite the nagging news, talk has turned to how to get out of this economic mess rather than harping on the doomsday state of things. In my humble opinion, it's time we all shake off the doldrums and get back to reviewing a bit of good solid land use activity out there...

It's All About Tolerance

Posted on April 07, 2009
I know, I know. How can you expect to generate a following in the blogosphere when you post dangerously infrequently? Well, that certainly is a valid question. But it also got me on the subject of tolerance, and how much people are willing to take...

Shepherds

Posted on December 22, 2008
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So, How've You Been?

Posted on October 17, 2008
Okay, so things are scary out there these days, with no real end in sight. As with everyone, I'm touched by the craziness happening in the kooky place we call "the market." My wife is an AIG employee, and it seems my clients are just as distressed by the economic woes even if they aren't asking for a multi-billion dollar bailout/rescue/golden parachute/handout...

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Buzz in the Air

Posted on September 12, 2008
While on vacation in the Canadian Rockies, and having a little time to actually catch up on things aside from lipstick and pigs and illegitimate Republicans, I came out of the cocoon of my summer and realized there is a lot going on around the world when it comes to land use...

A Modest Proposal

Posted on August 12, 2008
The dog days of summer are upon us, and in this month when many boards decide to forego meeting, or at the very least, scale back their hearings, it seems like a fitting time to step back from the day-to-day routine, and take a long view of the state of affairs...

I'm In Control Here

Posted on July 03, 2008
Back in 1981, when President Reagan was getting patched up after John Hinckley's assassination attempt, Secretary of State Alexander Haig stepped to the presidential podium, and declared to the world, "I'm in control here," despite the fact there were a few other people in front of him for the head honcho seat...

Shrinkage

Posted on June 02, 2008
In these times where those infernal oil companies are siphoning off our incomes, and the creeping dread of the "r" word, it seems everything has a theme of contraction wherever one turns. Whatever it is I think I see, becomes a Tootsie Roll pop that gets smaller and smaller by each lick of the wise old owl...

Are They Nuts?

Posted on May 08, 2008
As a former West Coaster, I like to look in that direction every so often to catch up on the happenings in my former stomping grounds. Aside from the dismal results from this network television season that is coming to a close, there is some other signs of change that have the potential to rock the Los Angeles Basin to its core with greater force than an 8...

I Need To See It

Posted on April 23, 2008
First off, yes, it's been quiet from this end of the blogosphere lately, but honestly, I've been looking around and seeing things come to fruition that we've already covered. Lately I've been thinking a bit about the act of seeing, and how it's such a big part of what land use is all about...

It's The End of the World . . . Again

Posted on March 28, 2008
With word that plans have been scrapped to construct a new Madison Square Garden, threatening the grand vision to bring the old Penn Station back to life in midtown Manhattan, it seems glum times continue to abound across New York City. All of the flashy projects meant to put a new glossy finish on the metropolis have run into road blocks on their long paths to fruition...

Under the Radar

Posted on March 14, 2008
With all this talk of Kristen and Client #9, it's tough for much else to creep into the public consciousness. But beneath it all, the mammoth machinery of land use continues to chug on, under the radar. Even an act of "terrorism" fell to the side in the face of the alliterative Spitzer sex scandal...

Are You Really Surprised?

Posted on February 26, 2008
I have to admit, in my jaded state, not much shocks me these days. No, I'm not made of stone, but I think I'm built so that if jarring news does come my way, it's almost as if I have calculated the possibility of such events occurring, and stowed it away for the potential eventuality that they may come to pass...

Decision Time

Posted on January 31, 2008
As we move ever closer to some type of resolution to the electoral process that already seems like it has gone on far too long, the constant bombardment of news and propaganda can be a bit daunting. Here in New York we're gearing up for the Super Duper Stupendous Extravaganza which will be, for most of us, another drab Tuesday...

Darlings

Posted on January 18, 2008
Out of an unfortunate moment where we were a little too giddy with one another, my wife and I exchanged pleasantries in which both of us referred to the other as "darling." Unfortunately, this moment was also witnessed by my in-laws, who have ever since deemed us as "the darlings...

Are We Back Yet?

Posted on January 03, 2008
Yes, I'm slowly emerging from the coma induced from the whirlwind that is the holidays. After taking a deep breath, and shaking out the cobwebs, I've returned to the world of land use finding that the issues that were out there before do not disappear just because you put them out of your mind for a week or two...

Building From Scratch

Posted on December 21, 2007
In a week where one of the last remaining original copies of the Magna Carta was purchased at auction, it seems fitting to return to the beginning of things, to a time when the built-up environment left a scant mark on the landscape, or even when places still had that stamp of newness that seems so long ago...

An Embarrassment of Riches

Posted on December 14, 2007
In a nation where everything has to be bigger and better, especially around this time of year, it's novel to see the things going on around the nation to attempt to curtail our voracious appetites, especially when it comes to devouring the land. One recent story that struck my fancy came out of Los Angeles, where the land of sprawl is coming to terms with its increasing density...

The Big Picture

Posted on December 06, 2007
Last time we looked at ways that municipalities are using simple tweaks to their local processes to end up with good results for their inhabitants. Even the seemingly most minor choices can have a significant impact. What about choices that can have metropolitan-wide effects on the perception of a community? Oftentimes, this is more important for a community than the reality...

Zoning Makes the World Go 'Round

Posted on November 29, 2007
As Thanksgiving is now in the rearview mirror (and hopefully the remnants not now attached to our backsides), we forge ahead towards the next round of holidays to greet us in December. By the end of my last post, I realized I left things a little darker than intended, so now I would like to shift back in happy mode for this edition...

For Better or Worse

Posted on November 21, 2007
As we move into the holiday portion of the year, it's alternatively fun and depressing to look back at the prior calendar and see how fast it all went. In the same vein, it is also a popular exercise to look back at the year, and take an accounting on how things are going out there, and revisit our friends to find out how the heck they're doing...

Back to Basics

Posted on November 13, 2007
Sometimes, or if you believe Occam's Razor, it is always the case that the simplest solution is the best solution. Keep it simple, and everything will work out just fine. When it comes to land use, it seems like the opposite maxim is the rule rather than the exception...

Roots

Posted on October 31, 2007
Working full-time can be a real drag on the reading queue. I have several shiny books that I have yet to crack, all on account of this pesky occupation I've chosen. Right now (and for the past six months) I'm in the middle of a volume that isn't all that glossy, as my wife picked it up for me at a used book store...

Hot Spots

Posted on October 24, 2007
As with the rest of America, I've been keeping a passing eye on what's happening in Southern California these days with the fires ravaging swaths of land across the region. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes to escape the flames...

This is Serious!

Posted on October 16, 2007
Yesterday marked the first anniversary of me throwing out my thoughts on land use to all of you out there. I've enjoyed having the opportunity to do so, and hope to keep it up as we move along. You never can tell how these things go, but I still believe that the world of land use, and the questions it raises, continues to remain highly relevant as we move further and further away from the initial impact of Kelo...

Downtown!

Posted on October 05, 2007
In my head I hear Petula Clark's old hit, "Downtown" racing through my head. Why is that? Well, it could be things are happening around this fabulous land of ours that involves the ever evolving term and place identified by Petula in her ditty. For instance, in Baltimore, Maryland, the push towards attracting more affluent types back to its downtown neighborhoods to populate the newly gentrified housing stock has hit a snag recently...

The Father of Kelo

Posted on September 27, 2007
You never can tell what you're going to be. My five-year-old nephew just started kindergarten this month, and has the whole world in front of him. I still hopefully have some time left, and who knows how I'll end up spending it. Sometimes, even at age fifty-five, people have no idea what you'll become, either...

How the Rest Live

Posted on September 20, 2007
Last year, all you heard about was how the United States was going to rethink its immigration policy, and start clarifying what had become a looney, and sometimes dangerous path many people risked taking to join us here on the other side of the Border...

High Rent District

Posted on September 13, 2007
I have to admit that, in the blogosphere, my humble entry is a small blip in the crowded world of people voicing their opinions in this vast marketplace of ideas. Recently, I was alerted to blogs that I had never viewed before, and frankly, it only served to depress me...

Summer Memories

Posted on September 05, 2007
With the passing of Labor Day, it's time to accept the fact that it's only going to get colder and darker. Fall is a great time of year, but it only foretells the inevitable descent into the doldrums of winter. In the meantime, it's nice to look back and think about all the things you did and didn't have a chance to do over the course of the summer...

There Goes the Neighborhood

Posted on August 29, 2007
Neighborhoods and places never stay the same. A new restaurant opens up every day, it seems, in my neck of the woods. But as with any good story, scribes tend to look for the conflict in such changes and trends. The other day I heard my neighborhood being called "transitional," which is not only off the mark (the transition has already happened), it suggests within that loaded word a level of resentment at the "newcomers...

Legacy Building

Posted on August 23, 2007
In honor of the death of Leona Helmsley, the "Queen of Mean" as she was called during the heyday of hate towards her in the early 1990's, I started thinking about the bad rap that generally feeds towards "developers" in general. A few times ago we discussed the instances where developers may go a little too far, all in the name of earning a buck...

Lifelines

Posted on August 11, 2007
Last week, the New York area was hit with a mid-summer storm that brought a deluge of rain, not to mention the first tornado to Brooklyn in over a century. In the aftermath of the event, where New Yorkers were making new friends while waiting for the next subway train, or cursing to themselves while they sat in traffic on the region's parkways (which is where I found myself), a significant backlash hit against those who are in control of these lifelines of commerce and connections...

You Want to See an Eyesore?

Posted on August 08, 2007
Driving down to my parents' place over the weekend, my wife and I drove past the enormous complex of heavy industrial facilities that line the New Jersey Turnpike located at the foot of the Goethals Bridge. Belching noise, smoke and smells unlike just about anywhere else on earth, the epicenter of why New Jersey got the reputation of being New Jersey got me to pondering the way in which land use choices can produce an uncomfortable and unsightly place to be...

A Little Desecration Every Now And Then . . .

Posted on August 01, 2007
Land developers have always been painted as willing to do just about anything to make a buck -- think Craig T. Nelson realizing in Poltergeist that he built a new subdivision on top of an old Native American burial ground. But what about good old George and Mary Bailey, who apparently built Bailey Park on top of an old cemetery in It's a Wonderful Life? No one seems to make a big deal about that...

Don't You Remember . . .

Posted on July 25, 2007
Over the weekend, after prolonging the inevitable, I got my hair cut. The woman who shaved away the months of shagginess from my head was a chatty type, and listening to an oldies radio station, she fell on the subject of music, and how it marks the time...

The Outsiders

Posted on July 18, 2007
There's a lot of news in the world out there lately. Here in New York, Mayor Bloomberg's plan to bring "congestion pricing" to lower Manhattan fell on deaf ears in the state legislature. In addition, there was a big hubbub about a parking space that costs $225,000, and has a waiting list, in Manhattan's Chelsea's neighborhood...

Warm and Fuzzy

Posted on July 11, 2007
When it gets to this point of the year, and you don't have air conditioning (which is the cruel fate we have been dealt for this summer), the very phrase "warm and fuzzy" is apt to give you the willies. The sensation against your sticky skin just screams uncomfortable and itchy...

Ah, Nature . . .

Posted on July 04, 2007
The other day I found myself on a site visit which required me to literally hike through some of the remaining woods of Long Island. Rather than curse my fate, I took a moment to look around at my surroundings. In this most delightful time of year, with the trees in full bloom blanketing the landscape, it seems fitting to think a little about the natural environment around us...

Changes

Posted on June 27, 2007
So here I am, returned from a glorious honeymoon in Portugal. Aside from getting robbed of our remaining cash on our last day while we were away from our hotel room, Lisbon and Madeira offered a perfect spot to start a marriage. But of course, even on vacation, I found myself thinking about our exotic surroundings and trying to dissect how a settlement with hundreds of years on anywhere in America has evolved and adjusted to the realities of modern land use needs...