A realtor who invited clients to tour the neighbourhood for bargain properties and enjoy “artisanal treats” felt the backlash within hours.

“I can’t help but hope that your 60-minute bike ride is a total disaster and that everyone who eats your artisanal treats pukes immediately,” said one message. “Stay outta my fucking hood,” said another.

Fearing violence, the realtor cancelled the event.

[...]

Welcome to Boyle Heights – or not, depending on how locals view you. — the Guardian

What happens in domestic interiors appears to be very relevant for our societies.

Bernd Upmeyer, Editor-in-Chief, April 2016 — http://www.monu-magazine.com/news.htm

The Californian district attorney investigating a balcony collapse that killed six students – five Irish and one Irish American – and seriously injured seven others in June last year has said she will not be bringing manslaughter charges because a successful prosecution seems unlikely. — globalconstructionreview.com

In the old days of policymaking by aphorism—give a man a fish, feed him for a day!—simply handing money to the poor was considered an obviously bad idea. How naïve—you can’t just give people money. They’ll stop trying! They’ll just get drunk! The underlying assumption was that the poor weren’t good at making decisions for themselves: Experts had to make the decisions for them.

As it turns out, that assumption was wrong. — Slate

the city's council voted unanimously to create a program to "develop autonomous vehicles as public transportation."

The council's vision is for self-driving vehicles to provide "on-demand, point-to-point transportation," with citizens "requesting a ride using their smartphone." The shuttles wouldn't replace public transportation, but augment it [...]

Phase one of the city council's program includes reaching out to companies like Tesla and Google to explore "potential partnerships." — theverge.com

Many current architecture students are excited about the removal of styrene mainly because of the various health hazards...[However,] others are worried that it will negatively impact their work and productivity. Sophomore Sam Landay explained that it’s not uncommon for architecture students to put their projects before their health.

Even outspoken opponents of styrene admit the necessity of utilizing the material. — Student Life, Washington University in St. Louis

The death toll rose to 350 on Monday from a devastating earthquake that hit Ecuador at the weekend, as rescuers hunted for survivors, victims clamored for aid and looting broke out in the Andean nation's shattered coastal region.

More than 2,000 people were injured in Saturday night's 7.8 magnitude quake, which ripped apart buildings and roads and knocked out power along the Pacific coastline. — Reuters

Infrastructure was once at the heart of American public policy. Works such as the Los Angeles Aqueduct, Hoover Dam, and the Interstate Highway System transformed the economy. Today, we spend significantly less, as a share of G.D.P., on infrastructure than we did fifty years ago [...] polls show that infrastructure spending is popular with a majority of voters across the income spectrum. Historically, it enjoyed bipartisan support from politicians, too. If it’s so popular, why doesn’t it happen? — newyorker.com

postmodernism can be summed up in a single word: Memphis.

Although architectural incarnations such as Graves’s Portland Building in Oregon and Philip Johnson’s Chippendale-topped AT&T Building (now the Sony Tower) in New York generated heated discussion, it was the spectacle of Memphis objects that catapulted postmodern design into the public eye. [...]

postmodern designs, most often from Memphis affiliated names, are gaining market momentum — blouinartinfo.com

America faces a two-part problem. It’s no secret that the country has fallen behind on infrastructure spending. But it’s not just a matter of how much is spent on catching up, but how and where it is spent. Advanced economies in Western Europe and Asia are reorienting themselves around robust urban clusters of advanced industry. Unfortunately, American policy making remains wedded to an antiquated political structure of 50 distinct states. — Parag Khanna | the NY Times

Legally, sidewalk repair is the responsibility of homeowners, but historically, enforcement of upkeep has been thin. [...]

“[sidewalks] should be part of the money we spend on transportation ... because people who walk are transporting themselves on their feet.” [...]

The liability is actually two-tiered: The property owner is responsible if someone sues after an injury due to poorly maintained sidewalks, but the city has secondary responsibility because sidewalks are public infrastructure. — nextcity.org

“A lot of people want to go back to something,” [said Ruth Gates]. “They think, If we just stop doing things, maybe the reef will come back to what it was. [...] Our project is acknowledging that a future is coming where nature is no longer fully natural.” [...]

The power of selective breeding is all around us. Dogs, cats, cows, chickens, pigs [...] But the super-coral project pushes into new territory. Already there’s a term for this sort of effort: assisted evolution. — the New Yorker

Does Mayor Rahm Emanuel want to tear down the McCormick Place East building to make way for the controversial Lucas Museum of Narrative Art?

If reports to that effect are true, the move, which would demolish most of the massive structure, could be an olive branch to parks advocates dedicated to keeping the shoreline clear of buildings. — Blair Kamin | the Chicago Tribune