November-December 2023

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 / VOL 31 / ISSUE 6

$10.00

Since

1992 FACTOIDS UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES OF BELGIUM SECURING TAX INCENTIVES AND GRANTS THE MONTHLY COST OF BUYING VS RENTING JOHN & LORENA BOBBITT MISS ELAINE E. YUSS REAL ESTATE F THE FU URE ARTCH TECTURE THE MOST FUTURE-READY U.S. CITIES TR E DAT THE

FACTOR

LED LIGHTING THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES – RUGBY THE HAPPIEST STATES IN AMERICA THE MOST WANTED DESTINATIONS

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

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from the pages of The Best Diversions

Give yourself the gift of smiles. J A handsome, artbook-style volume with the best Diversions to appear in over the last decade. A compendium you will treasure for years to come.

"This collection is laugh-out-loud funny!" funny Kirkland Review of Books

"Prescription: Read 3-4 pages a day for a month.

It’ll brighten your day! day And make it last a month."

Susan Carnegie, The Montreal Voice

From Where I Sit The Editor’s Page in is almost totally devoted to humor and wisdom and this is a collection of some of the best of them.

Vertical Lines I and II Compilations of Sarcasm, Word Play, and Witticisms from the pages of .

"This is simply genius genius. I kept on laughing the whole day when I read it."

Maria Tariq

"...absolutely hilarious! I laughed so hard that it brought tears to my eyes."

Randal Maynard

also from The CREST Publications Group My Hand Book

Leading With My Heart

"Incisive yet expansive - as if the psychology of R.D. Laing encountered the self-exploration of Hugh Prather to help readers delve into their own thought, experiences and behaviours."

"It matters not who we have been, or why, with whom, or how.

What matters is that we have met and who we are from now."

The Rockford Tribune

"Curiously intense and ironic. This is a work that will make you think and feel and you will revisit it over and over.

Marion Danziger, The Toronto Town Crier

S.H.I.T. from the Internet

Original reflections on new love, its flame, intensity, and all-consuming spirit. Short, poetic expressions of heartfelt longing, passion, and desire.

Intimate expressions of tenderness and adoration, accompanied by romantic pictures. A wonderful gift for someone you love.

“So simple. So eloquent and beautiful.

Absolutely wonderful!”

Allison Templeton

“An often off-color (but always entertaining and almost always hilarious) collection of jokes that you will read, enjoy – and probably tell – over and over.”

Joey Cousins, The Greenwich Times

A Book "A perfect companion to Vertical Lines humor in bite-sized pieces.”

Ellen Campbell, Sinclair Book Reviews

unite!

"Dyslexics of the world, untie!” this!

Punsters of the world, read shit!"

Available at your favorite online bookstores Amazon, BarnesAndNoble, Alibris and in the Apple Book Store.

L. Bartow. The Network Bookshelf

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/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

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38

Editor’s note

THE WORLD’S LARGEST CITIES BY POPULATION

12

30 JOHN AND LORENA BOBBITT? CONTRIBUTING EDITOR T.J. EDWARDS LOOKS BACK (30 YEARS) AT A BIZARRE STORY THAT CAPTURED NATIONAL ATTENTION.

ARTCH TECTURE HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN KINGA BRITSCHGI’S SURREALISTIC DIGITAL ART TELLS A STORY

FACTOIDS IKIGAI CITIES WITH PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS COLORS AND EMOTIONS AMADÁN.

32

22

TR E DAT JERKINHEAD, SOUTH POLE TIME ZONE, THE TEMPERATURE OF A BASEBALL, VAMPIRE ARITHROMANIA, KANINHOPPNING, THE WIZARD OF OZ, CAPITONYMS, MOONFLOWERS, SNIRTLE, PRAYING MANTIS, A LOUNGE OF LIZARDS, THE WAFFLE HOUSE INDEX.

48

– RUGBY

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR ROXANA TOFAN LOOKS AT THE WHO? WHAT? WHY? WHEN? WHERE? AND HOW? OF THE SPORT.

54

58

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR ROSE-MARY RUMBLEY GIVES HER UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE ON JUSTIN BOOTS.

55

THE

MISS ELAINE E. YUSS FUNNY ONE-LINERS FROM A LOT OF FUNNY PEOPLE – PART II.

PAGE

THE LINK MARKETPLACE AND DIRECTORY

28

THE LIGHTER SIDE OF MORTGAGES

61

BLOND ON A HORSE HAMSTER PRICELESS

62

THE CONFEDERATE HALF-BROTHERS AND BROTHERS-IN-LAW OF MARY TODD LINCOLN.

60

DIVERSI NS

ALIBI

62

BACKPAGE — OUR ADVERTISERS, ANSWERS TO LAST ISSUE’S CONTEST, WINNERS FROM LAST’S ISSUES CONTEST, BOLO (COMING NEXT ISSUE).

63

C NTEST — WHO AM DAT?

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THE BLUEPRINT 06 MASTHEAD 08 CONTRIBUTING WRITERS 09 INB X | ON THE COVER

16

THE OCEAN CLEAN-UP PROJECT TACKLING THE GLOBAL CHALLENGE OF MARINE PLASTIC POLLUTION

18 UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES

PART 11 OF PICTORIAL SERIES – THE DESIGNATED SITES OF BELGIUM.

21 SUSTAINABLE PORTFOLIO

SPOTLIGHT – PLYMOUTH INDUSTRIAL REIT MEGAN BAKER OF THE GREEN BUILDING INITIATIVE EXAMINES THE FUTURE OF CORE AND SHELL.

23 THE BEST SMALL CITIES IN AMERICA

A WALLETHUB REPORT.

25

LED LIGHTING IS REVOLUTIONIZING INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL SPACE DARA GREANEY OPINES ON HOW AND WHY IT’S PROBABLY GOOD FOR YOU.

26 SECURING TAX INCENTIVES AND GRANTS MAA’S JENNIFER PICQUET-REYES EXPLAINS HOW AN ARCHITECT’S KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE CAN PROVIDE CRITICAL ASSISTANCE.

11

THE

FACTOR

THE GREAT MOSQUE

28 THE MONTHLY COST OF

BUYING VS. RENTING A HOUSE IN THE U.S. A VISUAL CAPITALIST GRAPHIC DEPICTION.

42 THE MOST WANTED DESTINATIONS

POINT 2’S ANDRA HOPULELE ANALYZES WHERE U.S. HOMEBUYERS ARE LOOKING FOR A SECOND HOME.

34 IMPORTANT VOICES

46 ANJI CENTER

37 THE

50 THE REME AWARDS

PEW INSTITUTE RESEARCH: HOW HOUSING COSTS DRIVE LEVELS OF HOMELESSNESS.

FACTOR

AL TIJARIA TOWER.

38 THE WORLD’S LARGEST CITIES BY POPULATION

A VISUAL CAPITALIST GRAPHIC DEPICTION.

40

THE HAPPIEST STATES IN AMERICA A WALLETHUB REPORT.

MAD ARCHITECTS UNVEILS THE DESIGN OF A NEW CULTURAL AND ART CENTER IN SOUTHEAST CHINA.

IREM ADDS 2 NEW CATEGORIES TO ITS ANNUAL AWARDS PROGRAM.

52

REAL ESTATE AGENTS’ SAFETY TIPS SCOTT BONVUSUTTO OF CONSOLE VAULT OFFERS TIMELY ADVICE.

53 THE MOST FUTURE-READY CITIES IN THE U.S.

POINT 2’S ALEXANDRA CIUNTU EXAMINED THE 100 LARGEST CITIES IN THE U.S. TO GIVE US THE ANSWER.

53 BOOK REVIEW: INVESTING IN RETAIL PROPERTIES

56 THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

THE SECOND INSTALLMENT IN A NEW PICTORIAL SERIES.

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A publication of CREST Publications Group 2537 Lubbock Avenue, Fort Worth, TX 76109 Tel: 214-755-2277 Fax: 817-924-7116 www.thenetworkmagazine.org NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 / VOL 31 / ISSUE 6

ABOUT US

Now in our 31st year, reaches over 500,000+ architects, engineers, developers, brokers, construction managers, property and facility managers, bankers, lawyers, appraisers, investors, service providers, and many more throughout the U.S. via subscription and social media! We proudly serve and service any and all real estate associations bimonthly. If your group would like to be included, please let us know.

Email: editor@thenetworkmagazine.org or call the number above.

EXECUTIVE STAFF

ANDREW A. FELDER: Publisher/Managing Editor. aafelder@thenetworkmagazine.org XENIA MONTERO: Associate Editor and Art Director. hello@agosto.studio ANNETTE LAWLESS: Social Media Manager. annettelawless@hotmail.com MARK ANGLE: Director of Business Development. mark@thenetworkmagazine.com MARIA TARIQ: Technical Director, Book Division. mariatariq070213@hotmail.com MUKUL TRIPATHI (SAM): Website Manager. sam@cypher-squad.com Andrew A. Felder

Xenia Montero

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CHECK US OUT ON SOCIAL MEDIA

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ADVISORY BOARD

LINDSEY KOREN, Director of Communications, American Society of Interior Designers.

JONATHAN KRAATZ, Executive Director, USGBC Texas.

RICK LACKEY, CEO, REAL Professionals Network.

AIMÉE LEE, National Accounts Director, Recycle Across America.

LESLIE ROBINETT, Marketing and Communications Manager, International Facility Management Association.

LAURA MACDONALD STEWART, RID, FASID, IIDA, LEED AP, Editor of Plinth & Chintz.

JESSICA WARRIOR, Director of Property Management, Granite Properties.

WHAT OUR READERS ARE saying

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

ROSE-MARY RUMBLEY: Herstory.

ANTHONY BARBIERI: Legal.

ROXANA TOFAN: 6G – Who, What, When, Where, Why and How T. J. EDWARDS : Whatever Happened To...?

Rose-Mary Rumbley

Anthony Barbieri

Roxana Tofan

T. J. Edwards Copyright ©2023 The CREST Publications Group, 2537 Lubbock Avenue Fort Worth, TX 76109. All rights reserved. All information contained herein (including, but not limited to, articles, opinions, reviews, text, photographs, images, illustrations, trademarks, service marks and the like (collectively the “Content”) is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. The Content is the property of The CREST Publications Group and/or third party licensors. You may not modify, publish, transmit, transfer, sell, reproduce, create derivative work from, distribute, republish, display, or in any way commercially exploit any of the Content or infringe upon trademarks or service marks contained in such Content. GENERAL DISCLAIMER AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: magazine contains facts, views, opinions, statements and recommendations of third party individuals and organizations. The publisher does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement or other information displayed and any reliance upon same shall be at the viewer’s sole risk. The publisher makes no guarantees or representations as to, and shall have no liability for, any content delivered by any third party, including, without limitation, the accuracy, subject matter, quality or timeliness of any Content. Change of address: Mail to address above or email editor@crestnetwork.com.

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

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Editor’s note

"Well, we have two combines, a bulldozer, and Murphy’s farm tractor." Putin sighs amused. "I must tell you, Paddy, that I have 6,000 tanks and 5,000 armored personnel carriers. Also, I have increased my army to 150,000 since we last spoke"

BY ANDREW FELDER Managing Editor & Publisher aafelder@thenetworkmagazine.org

"Saints preserve us!" says Paddy. "I'll have to get back to ya."

IRELAND ALMOST DECLARES WAR

Vladimir Putin was sitting in his office when his telephone rang…

"Hallo, Mr. Putin!" a heavily accented voice said. "This is Paddy Down at the Harp Pub in County Clare, Ireland. I am ringing to inform you that we are officially declaring war on ya!"

"Well, Paddy," Putin replied, "This is indeed important news! How big is your army?"

I finally realize why I look so bad in pictures. It's my face.

"Right now," says Paddy, after a moment's calculation, "there is meself, me Cousin Sean, me next door neighbor Seamus, and the entire darts team from the pub. That makes eight!"

Putin paused. "I must tell you, Paddy, that I have 100,000 men in my army waiting to move on my command."

"Begorra!" says Paddy. "I'll have to ring ya back."

Sure enough, the next day, Paddy called again.

"Mr. Putin, the war is still on. We have managed to get us some infantry equipment!"

"And what equipment would that be Paddy?"

Putin asked.

Sure enough, Paddy rang again the next day.

"Mr. Putin, the war is still on! We have managed to get ourselves airborne! We have modified Jackie McLaughlin's ultra-light with a couple of shotguns in the cockpit, and four boys from the Shamrock Bar have joined us as well."

Putin was silent for a minute and then cleared his throat. "I must tell you, Paddy, that I have 100 bombers and 200 fighter planes. My military bases are surrounded by laser-guided, surface-to-air missile sites. And since we last spoke, I have increased my army to 200,000!"

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!" says Paddy, "I will have to ring ya back."

Sure enough, Paddy called again the next day.

"Top o' the mornin', Mr. Putin! I am sorry to inform ya that we have had to call off the war."

"Really? I am sorry to hear that," says Putin.

"Why the sudden change of heart?"

A man went to buy a guard dog, but his wife was angry when he returned with a chihuahua.

So the guy goes to a pet shop and says to one of the employees, “I need a guard dog to protect my apartment”

The only reason I would take up walking is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.

The employee responded, “I have the perfect dog for you.” She then showed him a chihuahua.

I have to walk early in the morning, before my brain figures out what I'm doing..

The man was not impressed and said, “I need a dog that can guard our house and fend off burglars. A chihuahua can't do that.”

I joined a health club last year, spent about 400 bucks. Haven't lost a pound. Apparently, you have to go there.

Every time I hear the dirty word 'exercise,' I wash my mouth out with chocolate.

The advantage of exercising every day is so when you die, they'll say, 'Well, she looks good doesn't she?'

THE IMPORTANCE OF WALKING Walking can add minutes to your life. This enables you at 85 years old to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing home at $7000 per month.

My grandpa started walking five miles a day when he was 60. Now he's 97 years old and we don't know where he is.

I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.

CHIHUAHUA

"Well," says Paddy, "We had a long chat over a few pints of Guinness and finally decided there is no fookin' way we can feed 200,000 Russian prisoners."

If you are going to try cross-country skiing, start with a small country.

I know I got a lot of exercise the last few years... just getting over the hill.

We all get heavier as we get older, because there's a lot more information in our heads. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Every time I start thinking too much about how I look, I just find a Happy Hour and by the time I leave, I look just fine.

“But this is no regular chihuahua. It's an attack chihuahua,” the employee said, “Here, I'll show you how it works. Attack chihuahua, chair.” The employee pointed at a chair, and the guy and the employee watched as the chihuahua destroyed the chair, leaving only splinters behind.

“Wow,” the guy said, “I’m impressed…but I still think we need a real guard dog.”

“Are you sure?” she responded “Here, I'll show you again. “Attack chihuahua, table!” She pointed to a table, and again the chihuahua absolutely destroyed the table.

The man said “Okay, okay, I'll take it,” but when he brought it home, his wife was very angry.

“Why did you buy a chihuahua?!” she yelled.

“Because” he responded, “this is no ordinary chihuahua. This is an attack chihuahua!”

“Attack chihuahua, my ass!” she said. n

MEGAN BAKER (P. 21) is the Vice President of Engagement for the Green Building Initiative. She is responsible for the development and implementation of GBI’s global marketing and communications strategies.

She joined GBI in 2017 and held roles in client services, business development, and education before rising to her current role in 2023. She is a passionate advocate for increasing accessibility of sustainable, healthy, and resilient buildings through education and assessment, and towards that end, she creates strategic partnerships, identifies recognition opportunities, and opens markets to increase the visibility of GBI’s flagship offering: Green Globes certification. Her outreach efforts helped GBI reach 500 million certified square feet in 2022 and more than quadruple membership in three years. She has an MBA from Regis University with a specialty in Operations Management and a BA in Geography from the University of Mary Washington. She lives in Rhode Island with her family and two dogs.

ROXANA TOFAN (P. 36) is the owner of Clear Integrity Group in San Antonio, Texas and the company’s principal broker in Texas, Ohio and South Carolina. Her main focus is multifamily commercial brokerage in San Antonio area and property management.

She enjoys taking over nonperforming properties and turning them around. She is also a Contributing Editor of and her Profiles appear in every issue. In addition to her company, her passion is giving back to the community as she volunteers for various support organizations such as Boy Scouts of America, Special Olympics, Alzheimer’s Association and supporting the military. She loves to travel with her teenage children and supporting their extra-curricular activities.

DARA GREANEY (P. 25) is the Founder and CEO of LEDLightExpert.com, an e-commerce lighting retailer.

Previously, he was the CEO and Co-Founder at BuyAutoParts. com, an e-commerce auto parts retailer. He is a nine-time INC 5000 CEO and is an expert in growing products and brands that resonate with customers. He is also a hands-on leader with LED expertise in lighting design and lighting products as well as over 20 years of e-commerce, business strategy, and marketing experience. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in Marketing and Finance and a Master’s degree in Business Marketing and Entrepreneurship and has been featured on Union-Tribune TV, Business Insider, Parts and People, San Diego Business Journal, MarketWatch, UT San Diego, Energy Markets Today, and Sportz Biz.

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CONTRIBUTING

WRITERS

ROSE-MARY RUMBLEY (P. 48) holds a Ph.D. in communications from the University of North Texas. She is a well-known speaker in Texas and enjoys researching each and every topic. She is a Contributing Editor of and Herstory appears in every issue.

BRIGADIER GENERAL THOMAS J. EDWARDS (P. 36) recently retired from the Army after 30 years of service and moved to San Antonio, Texas in May of 2022. He is a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Military Officers’ Association of America, and the 82d Airborne Division Association. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina, and master’s degrees from Oklahoma University, the Naval War College, and the Army War College.

ADAM STAVESKI (P.34) is a Senior Associate with the Pew Charitable Trust’s with Pew’s housing policy initiative, providing analysis and research on small mortgages and alternative financial arrangements used to purchase manufactured homes and other low-cost forms of housing. Before coming to Pew, Staveski worked at the Congressional Budget Office, where he helped develop short- and long-term projections of the United States macroeconomy.

ALEX HOROWITZ (P.34) guides research for the Pew Charitable Trust’s housing policy initiative, focusing on how home financing, smalldollar loans, and consumer banking can be made safer and more transparent. He manages a series of surveys, experiments, and analyses designed to identify which features of alternative financial arrangements used to purchase manufactured housing and other smaller home mortgages—as well as small-dollar consumer loans, such as payday, auto title, and high-cost installment loans—work well, and which work poorly, and to examine the impacts of market practices and potential regulations.

Since SCOTT BONVISSUTO (P. 52) founded Console Vault ®, The Original In-Vehicle Safe in 2002, his leadership has allowed his company to grow into one of the most successful businesses in everyday automobile protection and theft prevention. For over 20 years, Console Vault’s innovative product line of In-Vehicle Safes has allowed owners of cars, motorcycles, and trucks from some of the most reputable manufacturers in the industry to add an extra layer of protection to their vehicles.

CHASE HATCHETT (P. 34) is a Senior Associate with the Pew Charitable Trust’s housing policy initiative, providing analysis and research on ways to increase housing availability and safe home financing to inform federal and state policymakers, providers, consumers, and other stakeholders. Before coming to Pew, Hatchett held organizing and communications positions on President Joe Biden’s, Vice President Kamala Harris’, and Senator Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaigns.

ANDRA HOPULELE (P. 42) is a Senior Real Estate Writer at Point2. With over seven years of experience in the field and a passion for all things real estate, she covers the impact of housing issues on our everyday lives. She writes about the financial implications of the new generations entering the housing market and about the challenges of homeownership. Her studies and articles have appeared in publications like REM Online, Yahoo Finance, Which Mortgage, and Le Quotidien.

ADAM MCCANN (P. 40) is a personal finance writer for WalletHub who also helps produce WalletHub's weekly 'Best and Worst' studies. At Johns Hopkins University, he took a wide variety of classes in writing, English, economics, political science, history, and language, while working part-time in the Special Collections department of JHU's Milton S. Eisenhower library.

JENNIFER PICQUET-REYES (P. 26), AIA, LEED BD+C, is a Principal & Team Leader at Merriman Anderson Architects (MAA). With more than 20 years of experience and 12 years with MAA, Jennifer has a strong expertise and passion for creating new spaces and giving life to old, underutilized buildings all over the country.

My luck is like a bald guy who just won a comb.

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ON THE COVER

I really enjoy the visualizations and charts. They are a very picturesque way of presenting information (and making it easily digestible. (Pun intended. ☺) KATHRYN BATTERTON, DENVER, CO Things always go according to plan…when you’re making it up as you go along.

The Editor’s Note (particularly ‘The Smith Brothers’ Cat’) was laughout-loud funny... and I did! The unfortunate part was when I got to the end, my mouth was full of coffee and... well, you can imagine...

PAUL GUSTAFFSON, ANN ARBOR, MI

Hip Hip, Hooray for ‘6Q-Wyoming’!

CALVIN THOMAS, JACKSON HOLE, WY

It seems that the magazine is more colorful and even more ‘lively’ than before. I don’t know if ‘lively’ is the right word to describe something two-dimensional, like the written word or a picture, but it says what I mean (and I mean what I say). Keep LINDSAY up the great work!

‘LONGING’

by Kinga Britschgi "A woman looking yearningly through a large keyhole-shaped opening at a cloudy sky with piercing sunlight as stars and the moon appear behind her—a dose of dreamy and tranquil vibes. The image was inspired by and dedicated to my son. He has always been a very curious person and vividly enthusiastic about astronomy.

I feel our constant search for the real meaning of our life keeps us always ready to discover amazing and sometimes enigmatic wonders and makes us realize how much we still do not know. Just as if we were peeking through a keyhole that opens to a whole new universe".

👍

HAMPTON, VIRGINA BEACH, VA

I am writing to express my appreciation for the recent article ‘The Future of Artificial Intelligence’ in your magazine. I found it to be wellwritten and informative, and it gave me a much better understanding of the potential benefits and risks of AI. I was particularly interested in the discussion of the ethical implications.

The article raised some important questions about how we can ensure that AI is used for good and not for harm. I believe that this is a critical issue that we need to address as AI continues to develop.

I also appreciated the article's discussion of the potential impact of AI on the workforce, highlighting the fact that it is likely to displace some jobs, but is also likely to create new jobs. I think it is important to have a balanced discussion about the impact of AI on the workforce, and this article did a good job of doing that.

CANDICE ABERNATHY, BATON ROUGE, LA

editor@thenetworkmagazine.org

RECYCLING IS TOO IMPORTANT TO BE CONFUSING. THE SOLUTION: The standardized labels on recycling bins make it easy for people to recycle right!

It’s that simple.

To choose the standardized labels that work for your recycling program visit: www.RecycleAcrossAmerica.org

The nonprofit organization, Recycle Across America created the first and only standardized labels for recycling bins. This simple solution is referred to as “one of the most important environmental fixes taking root today” by the New York Times.

GABBY REECE Author, athlete, and volunteer advocate for Recycle Across America

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LET’S RECYCLE RIGHT!

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THE

FACTOR

MASJID AL-HARAM

THE GREAT MOSQUE

PHOTO: SAUDIPICS.COM, CC BY-SA 4.0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS ILLUSTRATION: NORDNORDWEST, CC BY-SA 3.0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS ADLI WAHID, CC BY-SA 4.0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

If you want to change the world, do it while you’re single. Once you’re married you can’t even change the TV channel.

Masjid al-Haram (a/k/a the Sacred Mosque, the Grand Mosque or the Great Mosque) is a mosque in Mecca, in Saudi Arabia. It is the site of pilgrimage in the Hajj, which every Muslim must do at least once in their lives if able, and is also the main phase for the 'Umrah, the lesser pilgrimage that can be undertaken any time of the year. The Great Mosque encloses the Kaaba (the Cube)—a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and holiest site. The holist building in Islam includes other significant sites, as well.

é Pilgrims circumambulating the Kaaba during Hajj in the city of Mecca.

1910

It is the largest mosque in the world and has undergone major renovations and expansions through the years, having passed through the control of various caliphs, sultans and kings, and now under the control of the King of Saudi Arabia.

The Great Mosque contends with the Mosque of the Companions in the Eritrean city of Massawa and Quba Mosque in Medina as the oldest mosque. According to Islamic tradition, Islam as a religion precedes Muhammad, representing previous prophets such as Abraham.

Abraham is credited by Muslims with having built the Kaaba, and consequently its sanctuary, which according to the Muslim view is seen as the first mosque that ever existed. According to other scholars, Islam started during the lifetime of Muhammad in the 7th century CE, and so did architectural components such as the mosque. n

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IKIGAI

AMADÁN

Ikigai is a Japanese concept referring to something that gives a person a sense of purpose. It means ‘a reason for living.’ More generally it may refer to something that brings pleasure or fulfilment.

Amadán derives from Irish folklore.

It means a fool, an idiot, a simpleton.

It can be taken either with a pinch of salt, as a term of endearment, or as a fully-fledged insult, depending on the circumstance and the personality of the person issuing the insult. Amadán Mór, the Great Fool, is the Perceval-like hero of several Irish folk narratives and a sometime leader of the fairy host in narrative and poetry. Amadán na bruidhne, the fool of the fairy mounds or palaces, is greatly feared because he may administer the fairy stroke, causing paralysis, crippling, or death; he is most active in June.

The term compounds two Japanese words: iki meaning 'life or alive') and kai meaning 'an effect, a result, a worth, a use or a benefit. Together, they are reason for living [or being alive], a meaning for/to life, or something that makes life worth living. It is akin to the French phrase: 'raison d'être'.

Feeling ikigai usually means the feeling of accomplishment and fulfillment that follows when people pursue their passions. Activities that generate the feeling of ikigai are not forced on an individual; they are perceived as being spontaneous and undertaken willingly, and thus are personal and depend on a person's inner self.

It only takes one slow-walking person in the grocery store to destroy the illusion that I'm a nice person.

FACTOIDS

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WHAT COLORS ARE USUALLY ASSOCIATED WITH WHAT EMOTIONS AND WHY?

Sorry that I'm late. I got here as soon as I wanted to!

The association of colors with emotions is a complex and subjective topic. However, there are some general associations that are widely accepted. The associations between colors and emotions are also influenced by culture. For example, in some cultures, red is associated with good luck, while in other cultures, it is associated with bad luck or danger.

•R ED: is often associated with passion, love, anger, and danger. It is a warm color that can evoke strong emotions.

• ORANGE: is associated with happiness, creativity, and energy. It is a cheerful color that can make people feel optimistic.

• YELLOW: is associated with happiness, sunshine, creativity, and optimism. It is a bright color that can make people feel cheerful.

• GREEN: is associated with nature, freshness, peace, and growth. It is a calming color that can help people feel relaxed.

• BLUE: is associated with calmness, peace, and sadness. It is a cool color that can help people feel relaxed and at peace.

• PURPLE: is associated with royalty, luxury, and mystery. It is a mysterious color that can evoke feelings of awe and wonder.

• PINK: is associated with love, tenderness, and femininity. It is a soft color that can make people feel warm and fuzzy.

• BROWN: is associated with stability, reliability, and comfort. It is a warm color that can make people feel grounded and secure.

• BLACK: is associated with power, mystery, and elegance. It is a dark color that can evoke feelings of strength and sophistication.

• WHITE: WHITE is associated with purity, innocence, and cleanliness. It is a light color that can make people feel fresh and new.

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CITIES WITH PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS STOCKHOLM SYNDROME:

Everybody knows Stockholm Syndrome, when hostages develop an attachment to their captors. The symptoms can include feelings of sympathy and even love for the hostage-taker. But who knows its two opposites? Lima Syndrome is when the hostage takers start sympathizing with the hostages.

And London Syndrome is when hostages become argumentative toward their captors—often with deadly results.

Supposedly, about one in four of those abused, kidnapped, or taken hostage develop an emotional attachment or a sense of loyalty toward their captors or abusers. Some even start to actively cooperate, crossing the line from victim to perpetrator.

This syndrome was first named following a bank robbery turned hostage situation in Stockholm in the summer of 1973.

The robbers held four bank employees hostage for six days; they were strapped to dynamite and locked up in a vault.

After the negotiated surrender of the robbers, the hostages said they felt more afraid of the police, raised money for the defense of the captors, and refused to testify against them. One of the hostages even became engaged to one of her captors. In 1974, the term was used in relation to Patty Hearst. Abducted and abused by the Symbionese Liberation Army, the teenage heiress nevertheless “switched sides,” and eventually helped them rob a bank.

JERUSALEM SYNDROME:

First reported in the 1930s, Jerusalem Syndrome affects about 100 visitors every year (and, of those, about 40 need to be hospitalized). Uniquely religious in focus, this syndrome manifests as the delusion that the subject is an important Biblical figure or being chosen by God. (Examples: people who believed they were Mary, Moses, John the Baptist, and even Jesus himself.) Sufferers end up sermonizing and shouting on the street, warning passers-by of the approach of the end times and the need for redemption. Often obsessed with physical purity, some will shave off all bodily hair, repetitively bathe, or compulsively cut the nails on their fingers and toes. It affects mainly Christians, but also Jews, with some obvious differences. For instance: Christians mostly imagine themselves to be characters from the New Testament, while Jews tend to impersonate Old Testament figures. Symptoms usually recede a few weeks after the visit.

PARIS SYNDROME:

First reported in 2004, this mainly affects first-time visitors from Japan.

On average, 12 cases are reported each year, mostly people in their 30s. Sufferers exhibit symptoms including anxiety, delusions (including the belief that their hotel room has been bugged or that they

are Louis XIV, and hallucinations. The problem is important enough for the Japanese Embassy in Paris to maintain a 24-hour hotline, helping affected compatriots find appropriate care. Most patients improve after a few days of resting. Some are so affected that the only known treatment is an immediate return to Japan.

FLORENCE SYNDROME:

First reported in the 1980s and since then observed more than 100 times, this hits mostly Western European tourists between the ages of 20 and 40.

(American visitors seem less affected.) It is an acute reaction caused by the anticipation and then the experience of the city’s cultural riches. Sufferers are often transported to the hospital straight from Florence’s museums. Mild symptoms include palpitations, dizziness, fainting, and hallucinations. However, about twothirds of the affected develop paranoid psychosis. Most sufferers can return home after a few days of bed rest. This affliction is also known as “Stendhal Syndrome,” after the French author who described the phenomenon during his visit to Florence in 1817. When visiting the Basilica of the Sacred Cross, where Machiavelli, Michelangelo, and Galileo are buried, he “was in a sort of ecstasy… I reached the point where one encounters celestial sensations… I walked with the fear of falling.”

VENICE SYNDROME:

This describes the behavior of people travelling to Venice with the express intention of killing themselves in the city. Just between 1988 and 1995, 51 foreign visitors were thus diagnosed. The subjects were both male and female, but the largest group came from Germany.

Possibly, this is due to the cultural impact of Death in Venice, the novel by German writer Thomas Mann, which was subsequently turned into a film. However, others within the cohort came from the U.S., Britain, and France, as well as other countries. In all, 16 succeeded in their suicide mission.

LIMA SYNDROME:

This is the exact opposite of Stockholm Syndrome. That is, the captors develop positive attachments to their hostages.

The name refers to a crisis in the Peruvian

It turns out that when asked who your favorite child is, you're supposed to pick out one of your own. I know that now.

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/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

It's fine to eat a test grape in the produce section, but you take one bite of rotisserie chicken and it's all, "Sir, you need to leave!"

capital in December 1996, when members of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement took 600 guests at the Japanese Embassy hostage. The captors became so empathetic toward the guests that they let most of them go within days, including high-value individuals such as the mother of the then-president of Peru.

After four months of protracted negotiations, all but one of the hostages were freed. The crisis was resolved following a raid by special forces, in which two hostage takers and one commando died.

LONDON SYNDROME:

This is described as the opposite of both Stockholm and Lima Syndromes, in that it involves the development of negative feelings of hostage takers towards their hostages. It most accurately describes a situation whereby hostages provoke their own death at the hand of their captors by annoying, debating, or challenging them, or by trying to escape. The name comes from the 1981 siege of the Iranian Embassy in London, during which one of the 26 hostages repeatedly argued with his captors, despite the pleading of the others. When the hostage takers decided to kill one of their hostages to further their demands, they shot the argumentative one, throwing his body out into the street. The execution prompted an armed intervention by police forces, during which more hostages were killed.

AMSTERDAM SYNDROME:

This refers to the behavior of men who share pictures of their naked spouses,

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to specific cultural circumstances, the male persona naturally gravitates toward being overly argumentative or personally combative.

DETROIT SYNDROME:

or of themselves having sex with their spouses, without their consent. The term is believed to reference Amsterdam’s Red-Light District, where sex workers are on display behind windows. The name was coined by a sexologist at the University of La Sapienza in Italy and first publicized at a 2008 conference of the European Federation of Sexology in Rome. At the time of writing the paper, the syndrome had not been properly examined. It was primarily used to describe Italian men, who posted said images on the internet.

BROOKLYN SYNDROME:

This term was coined during World War II by Navy psychiatrists, who noticed certain behavioral characteristics and patterns in a segment of the men recruited into military service. At first, these traits were believed to be a psychopathology. Eventually, because they occurred with such frequency, they were recognized as related to the places of origin of the men involved: cities where, due

This is a form of age discrimination in which workers of a certain age are replaced by those who are younger, faster, and stronger, not to mention endowed with new skills better suited for the modern workplace. The syndrome, reported in 2011, gets its name from Detroit, and more specifically from its reputation as a manufacturing hub for automobiles, in which newer models would replace the older ones on a regular basis.

A BONUS: HONEYMOONERS' SYNDROME:

This is a disorder characterized by a sudden onset of depression and anxiety in people who are on their honeymoon.

Symptoms can be caused by the stress of planning a wedding, the financial burden of a honeymoon, or unrealistic expectations about marriage.

These disorders are not officially recognized by the American Psychiatric Association, but they are real psychological phenomena that can have a significant impact on people's lives. If you are experiencing any of the symptoms of these disorders while reading this magazine, we disclaim any and all responsibility. Put it down immediately and go to (get) help! n

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/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

Feature

TACKLING THE GLOBAL CHALLENGE OF MARINE PLASTIC POLLUTION

Marine plastic pollution has become a daunting environmental challenge, impacting the health of our oceans and the life they support. With millions of tons of plastic waste entering the ocean each year, the need for effective and innovative solutions has never been more urgent. One such solution gaining significant attention and momentum is The Ocean Cleanup Project.

This initiative, founded by Boyan Slat in 2013, strives to harness technology to rid the world's oceans of plastic pollution.

THE OCEAN PLASTIC POLLUTION CRISIS

Plastic waste, from single-use products to abandoned fishing gear, accumulates in the ocean, harming marine life, ecosystems, and human health. Plastic debris affects marine animals through entanglement, ingestion, and habitat disruption. Furthermore, plastic waste breaks down into smaller particles known as microplastics, which can permeate the entire marine food chain. Efforts to mitigate plastic pollution often focus on reducing plastic consumption, improving waste management, and promoting recycling. However, these measures alone are insufficient to address the scale and rate at which plastic waste enters and accumulates in the ocean. Innovative solutions that directly remove existing plastic waste from the ocean are essential.

•9 0% of all trash in the ocean is plastic.

• The billions of pounds of plastic in the oceans make up 40% of the ocean’s surface.

• 50% of the plastic we use is only used once, then thrown away.

• It takes plastic 500 to 1,000 years to degrade.

In Los Angeles, CA alone every day 22,046.2 pounds ends up in the Pacific Ocean.

ocean is free of plastic pollution. Their mission is to develop and deploy innovative technologies to clean up and prevent the further accumulation of plastic in the ocean.

PARTS OF THE PLAN

é Boyan Slat (born in 1994) is a Dutch inventor and entrepreneur who is passionate about creating megaprojects to address planetary problems. He is the founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup; a non-profit organization developing and scaling technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. The organization aims to put itself out of business, with the goal of removing 90% of floating ocean plastic by 2040.)

The primary goal is to actively remove plastic waste from the ocean, with a particular focus on large debris and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a massive accumulation of plastic debris in the Pacific Ocean. In addition, The Ocean Cleanup Project aims to prevent future pollution by identifying sources of plastic waste and implementing strategies to minimize their impact on the oceans and to raise awareness about ocean plastic pollution and engage the global community in taking action to reduce plastic consumption and waste.

THE OCEAN CLEANUP PROJECT

At 16 years of age, Boyan Slat saw more plastic bags than fish when scuba diving in Greece. He learned about plastic accumulating in five large oceanic gyres, the largest one being the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

In 2012, he held a TEDx talk about how to rid the world’s oceans of plastic using technology. The video went viral, and the momentum that followed allowed him to drop out of school and found The Ocean Cleanup Project with a mission to develop advanced technologies to rid the world's oceans of plastic. The Ocean Cleanup Project envisions a world where the

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (a/k/a the Pacific Trash Vortex) is a garbage patch, a gyre (a large system of circulating ocean surface currents), of marine debris particles, in the central North Pacific Ocean. The collection of plastic and floating trash originates from the Pacific Rim.

One thing no one ever talks about, when it comes to being an older adult, is how much time we devote to keeping a cardboard box because it is, you know, a really good box.

THE OCEAN CLEANUP PROJECT

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PREVENTING FUTURE POLLUTION, RAISING AWARENESS AND PROMOTING BEHAVIORAL CHANGE INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY: THE OCEAN CLEANUP ARRAY

STAGES OF DEPLOYMENT AND LEARNING

The Ocean Cleanup Project has undergone several stages of development and deployment to test and optimize the effectiveness of its technology. It began with extensive research, computer modeling, and smallscale testing to validate the concept of the Ocean Cleanup Array. Then, pilot projects deployed larger-scale versions of the system in real ocean conditions. These helped gather valuable data, identify challenges, and improve the technology. In a remarkably short time, given the size and scope of the efforts, the Project progressed to deploy-

ing full-scale systems, focusing on areas with high concentrations of plastic waste, such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The data and experience gained from these deployments have been crucial in refining the technology and further optimizing its efficiency.

Today, while The Ocean Cleanup Project presents a promising approach to combating ocean plastic pollution, it is not without challenges and criticisms. Critics argue for a thorough assessment of the potential environmental impact of the technology.

There are concerns about unintended consequences on marine life, habitats, and ecosystems.

Also, the Project faces significant financial and logistical challenges to scale up operations globally. The costs associated with research, development, deployment, maintenance, and monitoring are substantial.

Funding and resources need to be secured to achieve meaningful, widespread impact.

And ensuring that the technology works effectively under various oceanic conditions, including storms and turbulent seas, is critical. The system must also be adaptable to different types and sizes of plastic waste and be continuously improved based on real-world data and experiences.

POTENTIAL IMPACT AND FUTURE PROSPECTS

Despite the challenges, The Ocean Cleanup Project has the potential to make a significant impact on reducing plastic pollution in the oceans.

As the technology improves and scales up, the Project can potentially remove substantial amounts of plastic waste from the ocean, contributing to cleaner and healthier marine environments, and its extensive data collection and analysis efforts provide valuable insights into the distribution and characteristics of ocean plastic. This information can inform future policies, strategies, and technologies to combat plastic pollution more effectively.

Addressing ocean plastic pollution requires a collective effort involving governments, organizations, industries, and individuals worldwide, and the Project plays a crucial role in raising public awareness. By engag-ing the global community, it encourages individuals, industries, and governments to adopt more sustainable practices and reduce plastic waste.

Watch a recent video of the major trash interceptor in Guatemala <HERE>. The Ocean Cleanup Project represents a pioneering initiative that seeks to harness innovative technology to combat the escalating crisis of marine plastic pollution. While challenges and criticisms persist, the potential positive impact on the world's oceans and the environment is significant. Continued research, collaboration, and public engagement are vital to ensure the success and sustainability of the Project and similar endeavors aimed at preserving our oceans for future generations.

Learn more about what is being done and what you can do at theoceancleanup.com. n

é Interceptor 007 at Los Angeles, California removed 77 tons of trash in the 2023 storm season.

MOTAYKAY, CC BY-SA 4.0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

I can't believe I forgot to go to the gym today. That's seven years in a row, now.

At the heart of The Ocean Cleanup Project's approach is the development of the Ocean Cleanup Array, an innovative system designed to passively collect and concentrate plastic debris for efficient removal. The concept involves using the natural oceanic forces (e.g., currents) to guide and concentrate plastic debris into collection systems.

The Array consists of a long, floating barrier with a skirt beneath it. The barrier helps capture and channel plastic waste, while the skirt prevents plastic from escaping underneath. Once the plastic is collected, it can be efficiently extracted for proper disposal or recycling.

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{

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/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION

02

WORLD HERITAGE LIST

01 é The Groot Begijnhof in Leuven, Belgium.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designates World Heritage Sites of outstanding universal value to cultural or natural heritage which have been nominated by countries that are signatories to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972. Cultural heritage consists of monuments (such as architectural works, monumental sculptures, or inscriptions), groups of buildings, and sites (including archaeological sites). Natural heritage is defined as natural features (consisting of physical and biological formations), geological and physiographical formations (including habitats of threatened species of animals and plants), and natural sites which are important from the point of view of science, conservation, or natural beauty.

03

é Bruges' city center..

é The Cloth Hall, Ypres, Belgium.

Belgium has 15 sites inscribed on the list and an additional 16 on the tentative list.

—small, informal, and often in poor communities — emerged across Europe in the 13th century.

01/ Belfries of Belgium and France: This site comprises a total of 56 belfries, (bell towers of civic buildings instead of churches) that were built between the 11th and 17th centuries in different architectural styles: Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque. They symbolized the wealth and the influence of the towns.

03/ Historic Centre of Bruges: Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the northwest of Belgium. Along with a few other canalbased northern cities, such as Amsterdam, it is sometimes referred to as "The Venice of the North".

PHOTO CREDIT: PHILLIP CAPPER FROM WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND, CC BY 2.0 VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

02/ Flemish Béguinages: A beguinage (from the French term béguinage) is an architectural complex which was created to house beguines (lay religious women who lived in community without taking vows or retiring from the world). The houses

PHOTO CREDIT: ELKE WETZIG (ELYA), CC BY-SA 3.0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

04/ La Grand-Place, Brussels: The Grand-Place is the central square of Brussels. It is surrounded by guildhalls, the city's Town Hall, and the Breadhouse, and is the most important tourist destination and most memorable landmark in Brussels. It measures 223 by 361 ft.

PHOTO CREDIT: WOUTER HAGENS, CC BY-SA 3.0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

05/ Major Mining Sites of Wallonia: Four sites (Grand-Hornu, the Bois-du-Luc, the Bois du Cazier and Blegny-Mine) in Wallonia in southern Belgium associated with the Belgian coal mining industry of the 19th and 20th centuries. The four sites form a strip that is 106 miles long by 2-9 miles wide, crossing Belgium from east to west in the French-speaking Hainaut Province and Liège Province.

PHOTO CREDIT: I, LUC VIATOUR, CC BY-SA 3.0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

06/ Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta: Four town houses in Brussels designed and built by the Belgian architect Victor Horta (1861–1947), who pioneered the Art Nouveau style during the mid-1890s.

07/ Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes: Among the largest and earliest Neolithic flint mines which survive in northwestern Europe, these mines were active during the mid and late Neolithic between 4,300 and 2,200 BC.

PHOTO CREDIT: JEAN-POL GRANDMONT, CC BY-SA 3.0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

If you drop something when you were younger, you just picked it up. When you're older and you drop something, you stare at it for just a bit contemplating if you actually need it anymore.

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05

é View over the Bois du Cazier mine.

07

Never put off until tomorrow what you can put off indefinitely. Everyone else is taken.

é The Grand-Place, decorated with a floral carpet.

06 é Inside the Spiennes mine.

08

é The Cathedral of Tournai.

09

é The library of the Plantin-Moretus House Museum.

é Internal staircase of the Tassel House.

08/ Notre-Dame Cathedral in Tournai: A Roman Catholic church, see of the Diocese of Tournai. Begun in the 12th century, the building combines the work of three design periods with striking effect: the heavy and severe character of the Romanesque nave contrasting remarkably with the Transitional work of the transept and the fully developed Gothic of the choir.

PHOTO CREDIT: PMRMAEYAERT, CC BY-SA 3.0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

09/ Plantin-Moretus House-Workshops-Museum Complex: The Plantin-Moretus Museum is a museum in Antwerp about early-modern printing in general and the famous printers Christophe Plantin and Jan Moretus in particular. It is located in their former residence and printing establishment.

10/ Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe: The Sonian Forest is the only Belgian component to the multinational inscription 'Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe.'

The list includes 63 beech forests in Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Ukraine.

PHOTO CREDIT: DONAR REISKOFFER, CC BY-SA 3.0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

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11

é Zonienwoud.

11/ Stoclet House: A private mansion built by architect Josef Hoffmann between 1905 and 1911 in Brussels for banker and art lover Adolphe Stoclet. It was one of the most refined and luxurious private houses of the 20th century and was lavishly decorated inside.

There may be no ‘I’ in team but there is a ‘ME.’

12

PHOTO CREDIT: JOSEF HOFFMANN , CC BY 2.5, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

12/ The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement: The building was listed among 16 other buildings of Le Corbusier in Argentina, France, Germany, India, Japan and Switzerland.

Maison Guiette was designed by SwissFrench architect Le Corbusier in 1926 and it was finished in 1927.

PHOTO CREDIT: AD MESKENS, CC BY-SA 4.0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

13/ The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and their Environs, La Louvière and Le Roeulx: The lifts on the old Canal du Centre are a series of four hydraulic boat lifts near the town of La Louvière in the Sillon industriel of Wallonia.

é The Maison Guiette.

13

PHOTO CREDIT: DAVIDH820, CC BY-SA 3.0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

14/ The Great Spa Towns of Europe: The Great Spa Towns of Europe are comprised of 11 spa towns in seven European countries where mineral waters were used for healing and therapeutic purposes before the development of industrial medication in the 19th century. The town of Spa is listed in Belgium.

14

é Spa.

PHOTO CREDIT: JEAN-POL GRANDMONT, CC BY 2.0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

15/ Colonies of Benevolence: In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, large sections of the population of the Low Countries were left impoverished. To address the social issues, the Society of Benevolence was founded in 1818 and, under the supervision of Johannes van den Bosch, constructed

15 é View of Lift No. 3.

seven agricultural colonies for families, orphans, beggars, and retired military personnel. Four colonies were listed, three in the Netherlands and Wortel in Belgium.

PHOTO CREDIT: FUNKYXIAN, CC BY-SA 4.0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS n

é The Grote Hoeve at Merksplas (Wortel).

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SUSTAINABLE PORTFOLIO SPOTLIGHT PLYMOUTH INDUSTRIAL REIT AND THE FUTURE OF CORE AND SHELL How Plymouth Industrial REIT prioritizes sustainability with GBI’s Green Globes Core & Shell certification

Sustainable building practices have come a long way since the ‘90s—the decade in which the American Institute of Architects, EPA and U.S. Department of Energy first released resources to help builders reduce the environmental impacts of a project.

The light at the end of the tunnel is sometimes an oncoming train.

Today, many organizations consider reducing environmental impacts and improving building health and wellness for occupants to be standard practice. This is the case for Plymouth Industrial REIT, a real estate investment trust focused on the acquisition, ownership, and management of distribution centers and warehouses. “If you’re building right, you’re building sustainably,” said Jim Connolly, Executive VP of Asset Management at Plymouth. “Sustainable development is really the future of the industry.”

In 2021, Plymouth partnered with the Green Building Initiative (GBI) to improve the sustainability of its warehouse spaces and validate those achievements to tenants. “With every investment, we’re working toward our ESG goals and developing our sustainability program,” said Connolly.

“It’s exciting to see the whole industry following suit. Whether we’re building a new property or retrofitting an existing building, we implement features that drive efficient operations. We genuinely care, and earning Green Globes certification helps us demonstrate that commitment.”

A PARTNERSHIP FOR SUSTAINABILITY GBI is an international nonprofit organization and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Accredited Standards Developer dedicated to reducing climate impacts by improving the built environment. GBI is the global provider of the Green Globes certification, a three-in-one certification system evaluating the environmental sustainability, health & wellness, and resilience of all types of commercial real estate. The third-party rating system is transparent, collaborative, and flexible, encouraging all building types to participate in green building regardless of property type, location, or budget. Having certified over 25 million square feet of industrial warehouse space, GBI provides expertise in this industry, guiding core and shell projects toward improvement and rewarding sustainability measures within their scope.

Plymouth Industrial REIT chose to partner with GBI because of the streamlined process, transparency, and applicability for industrial projects:

• Green Globes Core & Shell protocol is the only environmental rating system that provides early feedback on the certification process, providing real insights before it’s time to make critical decisions.

• Green Globes identifies criteria that may not apply to core and shell projects, which allows the project teams to focus on sustainable initiatives that do apply.

“After a thorough comparison, we felt the path to green building certification through Green Globes was well suited for the core and shell projects Plymouth develops,” continued Connolly. “Achieving Two Green Globes has become our standard for every project. We appreciate having a knowledgeable team on our side and the ability to start an assessment at any project phase, whether we’re building a new facility or completing renovations on an existing building.”

Plymouth recently achieved Three Green Globes for both a 236,600-square-foot facility and a 180,000-square-foot facility in Rome, GA. To achieve Plymouth’s sustainability goals, this facility included landscaping with native droughttolerant plants to nearly eliminate irrigation and intelligent design that maximized heating and cooling efficiency in a large, open warehouse.

THE FUTURE OF CORE & SHELL The demand for warehouse space is on the rise, driven in part by the trend toward just-in-time manufacturing and fast shipping, Advances in technology have reduced the cost of sustainable core and shell construction—and changing social values additional support the business case for sustainable development.

The leaders at Plymouth saw this changing landscape as an opportunity to commit to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives, positioning the company for growth and minimizing its carbon footprint. “Modern building codes prioritize sustainability, and sustainable materials are no longer exorbitantly expensive,” explained Joe Carman, VP of Development and Construction at Plymouth. “Choosing low-VOC paint or LED lights and installing lighting controls is in line with standard construction costs.

The choice is easy.”

Plymouth also embraces a sustainable operational mindset, maximizing roof space through community solar arrays that feed back into the energy grid to reduce environmental impacts, generate income and support the local community. “We are always looking for ways to create

BY MEGAN BAKER

Plymouth’s new building in Fairfield, OH, recently earned Three Green Globes.

a more sustainable future for our properties and tenants,” said Haylie Holliday, VP of Environmental Strategy at Plymouth.

Carman also cited the value-add of a certified green building in the marketplace. Sustainable buildings have a longer usable life, making it easier to attract long-term tenants. Lower operating costs also mean that tenants have both ethical and financial incentives to occupy energy-efficient buildings. “Some tenants will only occupy buildings with green certifications, " Carman said. “It’s really where the industry is headed.”

Plymouth’s new Green Globes-certified warehouse in Rome, GA.

A GREENER AND MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE GBI’s Green Globes Core & Shell certification process enables owners to evaluate, quantify, and improve the sustainability of both new construction and existing warehouses, distribution centers, retail spaces and others.

For Plymouth, Green Globes Core & Shell helps transform warehouses into climate solution drivers and validate that achievement to potential tenants—positioning the company as a forward-thinking leader in the sustainable warehouse space. Holliday adds, “Partnering with our tenants to improve sustainability will foster a meaningful working relationship that will be mutually beneficial to both parties for years to come”.

For more information about Green Globes certification, contact info@thegbi.org. We’re here to collaborate with project teams to achieve sustainability goals. n Megan Baker is the Vice President of Engagement for the Green Building Initiative. megan@thegbi.org

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'Jerkinhead' isn't an insult, it's an architectural nod to medieval fashion. It is a common architectural roof detail (a combination of a hipped roof and a gable roof) — interesting and complicated.

The effect is a roof line that leans back into the ridge providing good weather-resistance. The origin of the design dates to medieval times.

While ‘head’ refers to the top, ‘jerkin’ is a reference to a 16th-century medieval vest worn by men.

(The cut-off sleeve concept was a description of the gables being ‘cut off’, resulting in the term ‘jerkinhead.’)

The Ceremonial South Pole as of February 2008.

There is no specific time zone at the South Pole.

This is because all the longitude lines on the planet come together there. The stations on the South Pole use the time zone of the country that owns them, meaning two stations near each other could be using two different time zones.

To snirtle means to laugh with snorts

The Muppet vampire

COUNT VON COUNT

( from Sesame Street) is based on actual vampire myth. One way to supposedly deter a vampire is to throw seeds outside a door.

Vampires have

ARITHMOMANIA

, a compulsion to count, delaying them until morning.

THE WIZARD OF OZ'S FULL NAME IS

OSCAR ZOROASTER PHADRIG ISAAC NORMAN HENKEL EMMANNUEL AMBROISE DIGGS.

The “Waffle House Index” is informally used by FEMA to gauge storm severity.

This is because of the restaurant’s reputation for staying open in extreme weather.

IN THE BOOK, HE EXPLAINS THAT HE CALLED "MYSELF O.Z., BECAUSE THE OTHER INITIALS WERE P-I-N-H-E-A-D."

Sweden has a rabbit show jumping competition called Kaninhoppning.

The world record for the highest rabbit jump is 42 inches.

The temperature of a baseball3 determines how far it will fly.

A microwaved baseball will fly much further than a frozen baseball. Warmer balls weigh less and therefore can move faster with less air resistance.

The average MLB baseball lasts for 5 to 7 pitches. At the beginning of every game, at least 90 balls are required on hand. On average, about 60-70 baseballs are used per game.

Capitonyms are words which change their meaning if the first letter is capitalized.

For example: Turkey (the country) and turkey (the bird).

(More examples: pentagon, orient, may, conservative, hamlet.)

Moonflowers unfurl in the evening and stay open until the sun rises.

Several varieties of moonflower also give off a lemon fragrance when their flowers are open.

The

praying mantis

is the only insect that can turn its head.

A group of LIZARDS LIZARDS

LIZARDS

LIZARDS

LIZARDS

LIZARDS LIZARDS LIZARDS LIZARDS LIZARDS LIZARDS

LIZARDS

LIZARDS

LIZARDS

LIZARDS

LIZARDS

LIZARDS

is called a

LOUNGE

LIZARDS

LIZARDS

If it looks like shit, smells like shit, and feels like shit, you don’t have to taste it.

TR E DAT

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TRENDI G

The Best Small Cities in America (2023) With almost one third of the population saying that they’d prefer to live in a suburban area, WalletHub conducted a study to help Americans put down roots in places offering good quality of life and affordability. They compared more than 1,300 U.S. cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 across 45 key indicators of livability, ranging from housing costs and school-system quality to restaurants per capita and the crime rate. Here are the top twenty: Cremation is my last hope for a smoking hot body.

See summaries, methodology, expert commentary, and a breakdown and weighting of each of the categories (as well as see where your city ranks) click <HERE>.

You can also see a short YouTube video <HERE>. n

Rank City

Total Score

Affordability

Economic Health

Education & Health

Quality of Life

Safety

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

71,16 70,61 69,58 69,39 69,35 69,34 69,29 69,21 69,11 69,04 69,02 68,78 68,63 68,62 68,49 68,28 68,25 68,17 68,12 68,08

31 371 42 20 21 143 119 360 756 117 1041 28 546 224 16 4 189 1066 271 635

200 156 142 225 181 241 462 65 119 289 10 5 3 243 101 44 444 423 82 396

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183 144 364 937 628 883 585 824 48 339 36 674 141 531 1080 870 61 13 125 223

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Carmel, IN Lexington, MA Brentwood, TN Westfield, IN Fishers, IN Fair Lawn, NJ Milton, MA Melrose, MA Saratoga Springs, NY Brookfield, WI Bozeman, MT Apex, NC Redmond, WA Needham, MA Kaysville, UT Zionsville, IN Appleton, WI Portland, ME Franklin, TN Arlington, MA

Product Video

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/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

ARSENAL BUSINESS COLLECTIONS

A NON-TRADITIONAL APPROACH TO BUSINESS COLLECTIONS

It’s easy as ABC

Accounts Receivable Tracking them is good. Collecting them is better!

Business-to-business debts require special, focused expertise and finesse... and the selection of your commercial collection service is an important decision.

It revolves around Service, Trust and Recovery.

Rates are important, and recovery is the objective (the bottom line)... but there is more to it.

At Arsenal Business Collections (ABC), you’re never out-of-pocket for our services. We collect (at prearranged terms) and when – and only when – we succeed (i.e., once we collect money owed to you), do we get paid. There is no fee UNLESS and UNTIL we collect!

The company you choose will be handling your money, talking to your customers, and representing you in the marketplace. You want your money as soon as possible – but you don’t want to lose clients.

Our payment is contingent upon your recovery – so our success is integrally tied to yours.

As a privately-owned company, we make decisions based on what is best for clients, not shareholders or outside investors. Our focus is exclusively on improving your bottom line, and we have the knowledge and experience to deliver exceptional results.

Arsenal Business Collections 2537 Lubbock Avenue Fort Worth, TX 76109 Tel: 214-755-2277 Fax: 817.924.7116 www.thearsenalcompanies.com

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

BY DARA GREANEY

I like to make lists. I also like to leave them laying on the kitchen counter, and then guess what's on the list when I am at the store.

LED LIGHTING

IS REVOLUTIONIZING

INDUSTRIAL

AND COMMERCIAL

SPACE

Since its creation over 60 years ago, LED lighting has been associated with sustainability. By providing more light with less energy, LED lights reduce environmental impacts and conserve natural resources.

In fact, LEDs have been shown to provide as much light as traditional incandescent bulbs while requiring 90% less energy.

The sustainability LEDs deliver have made them an obvious choice for businesses looking to go green, but sustainability is just one of the benefits LED lighting delivers. When used in industrial and commercial spaces, LEDs also bring enhanced efficiency that translates to cost savings and higher levels of productivity.

CUTTING COSTS

According to the US Department of Energy, lighting accounts for between 15-20% of total electricity usage in commercial spaces. With those numbers, it’s easy to see how bringing LED technology and its reduced energy costs into workspaces can provide considerable financial savings. In addition to providing cheaper light, LEDs provide cooler light than both incandescent bulbs and fluorescent bulbs, meaning they contribute less heat to industrial and commercial spaces, which reduces cooling costs. The cool light that LEDs provide also reduces the risk of fires and burns.

REDUCING MAINTENANCE

LED bulbs last considerably longer than traditional incandescent bulbs, which

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translates to considerable savings in replacement costs. Studies show LEDs provide between 25,000 and 35,000 hours of light, which can be as much as 4 times the lifespan of a fluorescent bulb and 35 times the lifespan of an incandescent bulb.

The longevity of LED bulbs also reduces the amount of maintenance required for lighting. In a setting where lights are used 10 hours a day, LED bulbs can last for nearly 10 years. Fluorescents used 10 hours a day will typically need to be replaced after two to three years of use, while incandescent bulbs used 10 hours a day last only three to four months on average. In an office or other commercial setting, bulbs that last longer reduce the workload on maintenance teams and business interruptions that can be caused by maintenance. In industrial settings where lighting can be difficult to access, longer bulb life can also mean greater safety for maintenance teams.

IMPROVING PERFORMANCE

The quality of lighting in the workplace is a central component of productivity that can be easily overlooked. Employees who are provided with well-lit workspaces benefit from better concentration, better moods, and elevated levels of alertness— all of which drive productivity.

LED bulbs offer several improvements over traditional bulbs in lighting quality.

Color temperature is often adjustable with LED bulbs, allowing the same

bulb to provide optimal light quality regardless of the need. Blue light can be dialed in to boost alertness in work areas, while warmer colors can be used to encourage relaxation in rest areas.

LEDs are also dimmable, which addresses over-lighting. LEDs support high color rendering, which results in a more accurate representation of colors. High color rendering reduces eye strain in the workplace as well as assisting in tasks that require color matching or colordependent design. Lighting glare, which can lead to headaches and eye fatigue, is also addressed by the way in which LEDs diffuse light.

BOOSTING SUSTAINABILITY

A reduction in energy needs (which leads to less greenhouse gas emissions) is a top sustainability feature for LED lighting. This contributes to a smaller carbon footprint — a critical component of combating climate change.

Switching from fluorescent bulbs to LED bulbs also reduces the risk of introducing mercury into the environment. Mercury, a known neurotoxin, is contained in fluorescent bulbs, so if fluorescent bulbs are broken or improperly disposed of, mercury can spill.

LED lighting is a breakthrough technology that brings many benefits to the business world. With minimal investment, it drives innovative lighting solutions that enhance functionality and sustainability. For both commercial and industrial spaces, LED lighting is an effective way to increase productivity, lower lighting and maintenance costs, support safe practices, and enhance environmentalism. n

Dara Greaney is the Founder & CEO of LEDLightExpert.com

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

BY JENNIFER PICQUET-REYES, AIA, LEED BD+C

The current state of the economy has proven to be challenging to developers either trying to finance new projects or to find creative ways to meet construction budgets that have gone up only slightly while the cost of construction has risen at a very rapid rate in the last four years.

Numerous projects have either been mothballed or completely abandoned due to the challenging economic times.

Although not all projects are eligible, a surprising number of them do qualify for tax incentives of one kind or another that can make endangered projects pencil out.

While some developers may not be familiar with these programs, many developers avoid the hurdles of tax incentive applications assuming the process is confusing and arduous. With the help of a knowledgeable consultant, an architectural firm in our case, real estate developers can identify programs that will maximize their project budgets. By involving an informed and experienced architectural firm in the early stages of researching tax incentive programs, developers gain options in maximizing their investment while creating an exceptional project.

The task of identifying and securing tax credits requires equal parts research, creativity, tenacity and capitalizing on relationships. While tax incentives and grants can provide significant financial benefits, they also come with responsibilities and obligations. On occasion, those constraints outweigh the benefits, but it is always worth doing the appropriate research at the beginning of a project to determine if any incentive programs make sense.

SECURING TAX INCENTIVES AND GRANTS VIA ARCHITECTS’ KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE While there are many tax incentive programs, which will be touched on below, our firm has excelled in tax credits for historic renovation projects. I have personally been involved in more than twenty historic renovation projects in downtown Dallas and adaptive reuse projects across the country, resulting in the rebirth of abandoned, dormant, or under-utilized buildings.

The benefits of adaptive reuse are many, particularly the reduction of the environmental impact of urban development.

The use of existing structures and materials saves energy, resources and emissions required for demolition and new construction. Thankfully, there are some worthwhile and generous tax incentives and grant programs available to assist in the salvation of old-but-still-useful buildings. These programs often exist on the local level; however, most of the incentives come from state historic preservation offices and federally through the National Park Service. These efforts often begin with seeking historic designation for that specific building. Getting a building listed on the National Register often takes months. However, through good communication channels, it is possible to receive preliminary rulings that allow you to move forward more rapidly rather than waiting on an official ruling. These incentives and protocols can change regularly, therefore, it is imperative to stay updated and informed about new opportunities and guidelines.

Once a building is listed on the National Register, it is necessary to go through a process that involves both paperwork and drawings to gain approval for the proposed improvements. Even after the drawings have been approved at both the state and federal level, the last step in obtaining the tax incentives is having the building inspected post-construction for compliance with the approved documents. It is important to assure that the project is built according to the plans and that you identify any hidden conditions that are uncovered during construction and addressing those with historic preservation offices. While the process is often challenging and requires a great deal of negotiation and compromise, there is a measure of satisfaction unlike any other when you facilitate the process of breathing new life into a discarded historical building.

Beyond historic tax credits, there are other tax abatement programs for both new construction and adaptive reuse projects. Some examples of incentive programs currently available include: HUD – U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Federal aid to local housing agencies managing low-income residents at reduced rates.

LEED – Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. LEED certification denotes proficiency in sustainable design, construction and operations standards within the building industry.

This certification can be stacked with other incentives on a case-by-case basis.

LIHTC – Low Income Housing Tax Credit. This is an affordable housing resource providing tax incentives to construct or rehabilitate affordable rental housing.

NTCOG – North Texas Council of Governments. This voluntary association was established to assist in regional planning. NTCOG is a grant program associated with infrastructure.

PACE – Property Assessed Clean Energy

A giraffe's coffee would be cold by the time it reached the bottom of its throat. Ever think about that? No, you only think about yourself.

Feature

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2. Gather Documentation · Conceptual plans, sketches, inspiration deck. · Cost estimates and budgets. · Project summary outlining the benefits and goals of the project. · Evidence of compliance with required criteria (for historic preservation grants, we document key historical features and details.)

3. Engage with Community · Some incentives require community support or involvement. Attend community meetings, provide project updates, request feedback. é Dallas High School.

I got gas today for $1.39. Unfortunately, it was at Taco Bell.

Financing. This program is a financial tool for energy efficient upgrades to existing buildings associated with water conservation, renewable energy resiliency and envelope/mechanical upgrade.

A wise approach is for the architect of record to utilize a Project Collaboration Template from the earliest stages of discussion with a prospect/client regarding Historical and Adaptive Reuse of a commercial property, LEED certification, or affordable housing components of a development. At our firm, we use four general phases related to the project.

Phase 1 encompasses preliminary research and assessment. The parties involved at this juncture might include the developer, architect, engineer and possibly a financial institution. When establishing project objectives, gather any ideas, aspirations, vision, and concerns the group vocalizes, to develop a strategy. The architect should conduct site analysis, historical research and identify key architectural elements for preservation. Simultaneously, the developer will be conducting market analysis for the intended commercial use. Then they reconvene and establish a solid project direction and begin researching potential tax incentives and grants.

Phase 2 is the Feasibility Study. The architect creates preliminary design concepts that incorporate elements for preservation, or to meet certain sustainability or affordable housing require-

ments depending on the project and the developer’s goals. The developer should run financial models including potential ROI. Once a preliminary package is complete, the process of interim and long-term financing begins along with applications to tax incentive programs.

Many clients do not realize that incentives can be “stacked” by fulfilling the requirements of different programs.

Phase 3 commences once investor, institutional, and grant/incentive funding is secured. Project design and planning proceeds in more detail as the design/ build process ramps up.

Phase 4 is Implementation where the architect oversees construction and ensure adherence to the guidelines.

The following steps are our firm’s guide through the process: 1. Research and Identify Opportunities · Check with local, state, and federal agencies for available tax incentives and grant opportunities. · Consider specific criteria required for each incentive. Note imperatives such as job creation, neighborhood revitalization, historic preservation, and sustainability.

4. Submit Application · Complete the necessary forms and addendums, provide all documentation. · Adhere to deadlines.

5. Follow Up · After submittal, remain proactive. · Check on the status of your application. · Reply promptly to requests for additional information or clarification.

6. Maintain Compliance · Once you receive a grant or qualify for a tax incentive, keep abreast of ongoing requirements for eligibility.

7. Document Everything · Meticulous record keeping is essential. This includes expenses, communications, meetings, drawings.

8. Leverage Partnerships · Work with local organizations, non-profits, professional contacts, or other entities that may be interested in your project.

As a developer entering this process, it is critical to align yourself with an architectural partner with experience and expertise. It needs to be collaborative to be brought to fruition. At MMA, we are committed to the prospect of breathing life into other old and underutilized buildings both locally and around the country. n

Picquet-Reyes is a Principal at Merriman Anderson Architects (MAA) jenniferp@merriman-maa.com

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/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

The Monthly Cost of

Buying vs. Renting a House in America With home prices and mortgage rates both rising, the U.S. is now witnessing the biggest numerical gap in the monthly cost between owning a home and renting in over 50 years. This chart uses data from Reventure Consulting to highlight the cost of buying vs. renting a singlefamily residence in the U.S. since 1970, adjusted for inflation.

Mortgage Rates Jump to New High

In August 2023, mortgage rates rose to the highest level in 23 years, with the national average 30-year fixed mortgage hitting 7.48%. As a result, the median rent in America is approximately $1,850 per month, about 30% cheaper than the median cost to buy, standing at $2,700 per month. This gap represents the largest difference between renting and buying in U.S. history. While the difference was less than $200 in 2022, in 2023 the gap surpassed $800. Many buyers, particularly those seeking their initial home purchase, have now been priced out of the market with concerns that they cannot afford home ownership. As a result, mortgage applications for home purchases have hit their lowest point in 20 years:

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Rental costs have also seen an uptick, but not at the same pace, as the market adjusted following a steep rent spike witnessed during the pandemic. Watch a video on why rents are what they are <HERE>.

DIVERSI NS – THE LIGHTER SIDE OF MORTGAGES Q. Why did the mortgage lender go out of business? A. Lack of interest. It doesn’t seem right to me that only one company makes the game Monopoly. The darkest time in my life was when I couldn’t pay my electricity bill. My landlord said she wanted to talk to me about what she calls my “ridiculously high” power bill. I told her I’d be home all summer and my door is always open. I won $5 million in the lottery.

I decided to take a quarter of it and apply it to my mortgage. Now I only have $4,999,999.75 left.

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

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/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

BY T. J. EDWARDS

In the early 1990s, the names John and Lorena Bobbitt became synonymous with one of the most sensational and bizarre episodes in American legal history. Their tumultuous relationship and the infamous act that followed captured the nation's attention and triggered a media frenzy. But as the years passed, the public's curiosity about this once-tabloid-famous couple faded. So, what ever happened to John and Lorena Bobbitt?

THE INFAMOUS INCIDENT: A BRIEF RECAP

The story of John and Lorena Bobbitt began in 1988 when they married in a whirlwind romance. However, their marriage quickly descended into a cycle of violence and abuse.

On the night of June 23, 1993, Lorena took a drastic step. She cut off her husband's penis with a kitchen knife while he slept. Lorena then fled their home with the dismembered organ. She eventually threw John’s dismembered manhood out of her car window, where police would later find it and put it on ice in a 7-Eleven Big Bite hot dog box.

This incident became one of the most sensationalized news stories of its time, captivating the attention of people worldwide.

Lorena was arrested and charged with malicious wounding, while John underwent 9 hours of emergency surgery to reattach his severed organ. The trial that followed was a spectacle, with the world watching closely to see how justice would be served.

THE TRIALS AND AFTERMATH

In January 1994, Lorena Bobbitt's trial commenced. Her defense argued that she had been subjected to years of physical and emotional abuse, pushing her to a breaking point. The jury found her not guilty by reason of insanity, and she was committed to a state mental hospital for 45 days. Subsequently, she received outpatient psychiatric care and counseling.

John Bobbitt's trial, which took place in November 1993, saw him acquitted of any charges related to the alleged abuse. He went on to gain notoriety in the adult film

...JOHN AND LORENA BOBBITT? A TALE OF INFAMY AND REDEMPTION

industry, starring in a series of explicit films.

This phase of his life further fueled the media's fascination with the Bobbitts.

LIFE AFTER THE MEDIA CIRCUS

As the media circus subsided, the Bobbitts both faced the daunting task of rebuilding their lives, albeit in very different ways.

Lorena Bobbitt took on a lower profile, focusing on her own healing and personal growth. She became an advocate for domestic violence survivors, using her story as a platform to raise awareness about the issue.

She changed her last name, remarried, and became Lorena Gallo. Today, she lives in Manassas, Virginia and continues to be involved in advocacy work, supporting organizations that assist survivors of domestic violence and helping to break the silence surrounding such abuse.

John Bobbitt, on the other hand, experienced a short-lived moment of fame in the adult film industry (acting in films such as Frankenpenis, and John Wayne Bobbitt Uncut). Bobbitt however continued to struggle with personal issues. He faced legal troubles, including allegations of domestic violence in a subsequent relationship. His life took a turn for the worse, marked by arrests and a series of failed relationships.

Over the years, John Bobbitt has attempted to distance himself from his notorious past.

He currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada and has sought to live a quieter life out of the public eye. His troubled personal life and run-ins with the law have left many wondering if he has truly found redemption.

power of domestic violence. It is a story of two individuals whose lives spiraled out of control within the confines of a deeply troubled marriage. While Lorena's act of violence shocked the world, it also shed light on the pervasive issue of abuse within relationships, particularly the plight of women who suffer in silence.

The media frenzy that surrounded the Bobbitts' story served as a double-edged sword. It raised awareness about domestic violence and prompted important conversations about the need for support and intervention. However, it also turned the Bobbitts into objects of public curiosity, which made it challenging for them to move on from their pasts.

In the end, Lorena Bobbitt's transformation into an advocate for domestic violence survivors stands as a testament to her resilience and determination to turn her life around.

Her journey from victim to advocate underscores the importance of breaking the cycle of abuse and seeking help when needed.

John Bobbitt's story, on the other hand, serves as a cautionary tale about the difficulties of finding redemption after a public fall from grace. It highlights the challenges individuals face when trying to overcome their past mistakes and personal demons.

The story of John and Lorena Bobbitt is a complex narrative that encompasses sensationalism, tragedy, and redemption. While their lives have taken different paths since that fateful night in 1993, their story continues to serve as a reminder of the enduring impact of domestic violence and the possibilities of healing and advocacy. The Bobbitts' journey reminds us that, even in the face of infamy and scandal, it is possible to find a path to redemption and purpose.

Article Sources: 1. IMDB, 2. NYTIMES. n

REFLECTIONS ON THE BOBBITTS' STORY

The case of John and Lorena Bobbitt remains a stark reminder of the destructive

T. J. Edwards recently retired from the U.S. Army after 30 years of service. tjedwardsjr23@gmail.com

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

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ARTCH TECTURE

KINGA BRITSCHGI STORIED PICTURES

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02

My kids say they want a cat for Christmas. Normally I serve turkey, but, hey, if it will make them happy.

Browse, purchase and commission her work at: kingabrit.wix.com/kinga instagram.com/kingabritschgi facebook.com/kinga.britschgi

Kinga Britschgi is an award winning Hungarian graphic designer, illustrator, and digital artist. She. has lived with her American husband and son in the United States in the Pacific Northwest since August 1995. In addition to her family, she has two big passions in life: art and linguistics (and teaching both). Although she has a degree in fine art, she began her career as a language teacher and went on to gain a Masters in Bilingual Education.

She has been involved with digital art for many years, working with Photoshop and

other Adobe products since 2002. She creates commercial graphics for many clients, which she enjoys immensely.

Her works are regularly published in industry standard and other magazines such as Advanced Photoshop, Photoshop Creative, Practical Photoshop and Digital Studio. One of her images, ‘Midsummer Night – Titania’, was chosen as part of Adobe’s official marketing campaign for their Creative Cloud project, appearing on Adobe’s website, posters and in magazine ads. She has also had her works published in digital art books.

She loves surrealism, magical realism, and dark whimsy, creating ‘story pictures’: figurative pictures with seemingly realistic elements that often result in surrealistic, mysterious images with lots of layers of meanings. She has a very specific and unique way of seeing the world and her designs, —always very professional and effective— stand out from the mainstream designs helping her clients achieve their business goal.

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 03

05

04

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IN THE ARTIST’S OWN WORDS 01/ WHAT LIES ABOVE

This is one of my favorite images that I have ever created. The title is a play on words that hints at several interpretations of this picture. Is it showing us what really exists (‘lies’) above us, in the clouds? Or is it about those self-deceptions (‘lies’) that we all have/need sometimes?

02/ THE VICOMTE IS TAKING A STROLL

I had to include this image here as I am a huge fan of cats (we have three ‘vicomtes’) and I also have feather phobia. (I am physically terrified by birds, all kinds that have feathers.) This is a very playful and ironic depiction of both (cats and phobia). I also like to take a somewhat vintage, somewhat historical approach to my subject matters, and this image is a good example for that.

03/ WINTER TALE (BROOKLYN ATHENA)

This picture is part of a series called “The Co-In-Habitants”. I am creating different images around the ever-so intriguing and mysterious human brain and what might be living in there. “Brooklyn Athena” examines a very close and encouraging father-daughter relationship, maybe in Brooklyn, New York in the last decade of the 19th century.

04/WINTER IS COMING

We are all familiar with this sentence, but this time, although the image can be described as fantasy, it is not referring to anything Game of Thrones related. It was born out of my love-hate relationship to this season. While it seems cozy and full of festivities, the environment around us, flora and fauna, are seemingly dead (or in a nicer term, hibernating). I hope though,

Ask your doctor if a drug with 32 pages of side-effects is bad for you.

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/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

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er, more collage-like than my previous works. I also use more grungy approach to these subjects. I feel this image does not need too much of explanation; it has many, many levels to be interpreted from a woman’s existence through human vulnerability to self-discovery. The scale is quite wide.

09/ THE GREAT PLAYER

I relabeled all of the jars in my wife's spice rack. I'm not in trouble yet, but the thyme is cumin.

10

09

The image tries to depict what and how I think about ‘existence.’ Sometimes I feel we are just helpless puppets of a higher power; sometimes I feel I can be relaxed as I can peek behind the curtains and learn things; sometimes I feel our lives are merely a never-ending carnival vortex.

Sometimes it feels that although it is night at the moment, but we have a moon that shines onto us, and leads to the break of the day.

10/ BUT A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM

This is the companion image of “The Great Player”. However, I am approaching the ‘existence’ question with a much more human perspective this time, which gives us a more comforting, more peaceful, more reassuring and more consoling aftertaste.

Life is a dream. Or not. n

WHY ARTCH TECTURE ?

you can find the small figure in it who is carrying light and warmth around in spite of the cruel outside…

05/ WHAT DREAMS MAY COME

Shakespeare has been playing an enormous part in my everyday life; I read him almost every day. Thus came this title (like so many titles in my oeuvre). However, this image depicts a very dark period of my life not a long time ago, when my husband was waiting for brain surgery. We were in a terrifying limbo not knowing what the future holds for us. I went through this period as if I were constantly sleeping and having nightmares while my husband was facing the complete unknown. (The operation was very successful in the end.)

06/ UNSPEAKABLY PERFECT MIRACLE

I have always been intrigued by the dualities of our life: our outlook and our inner self; the blinding sunlight and the caressing

moonlight; and, of course, the final duality: life and death. This image is exploring these dualities on a more general, more philosophical level. Neither part of a duality can exist without the other; it is in fact a real cohabiting relationship.

07/ THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF RELUCTANCE

Of course, I am paraphrasing the famous Kundera novel (“The Unbearable Lightness of Existence”) here, not coincidentally. Although the actual image has very few (if any) connections with Milan Kundera’s text, it is exploring a lot of relationships in our life, among them our attitudes and feelings towards our one and only planet.

08/ THE NEW PROJECT 3.

This weird title refers to the fact that although I have strong feelings about this image, I still haven’t come across the right title. I have started a new series not long ago (hence the word ‘new’), which is dreami-

Great art is among the most sublime, meaningful, and redeeming creations of all civilization. Few endeavors can equal the power of great artwork to capture aesthetic beauty, to move and inspire, to change perceptions, and to communicate the nature of human experience. Great art is also complex, mysterious, and challenging. Filled with symbolism, cultural and historical references, and often visionary imagery, great artworks oblige us to reckon with their many meanings.

Architects and designers (many of our readers) have a lot of influence on the way we perceive the world. A structure often plays a significant part in how we experience a place. (Think of a restaurant, a museum, an arena, a stadium... even an office building - virtually anywhere!) The interior design impacts our sensory perception, our comfort, and our physical connection and there is also artistry in the exterior design. (That’s why we call it artchitecture.)

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/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

BY ALEX HOROWITZ

BY CHASE HATCHETT

BY ADAM STAVESKI

HOW HOUSING COSTS DRIVE LEVELS OF HOMELESSNESS A new analysis of rent prices and homelessness in American cities demonstrates the strong connection between the two: homelessness is high in urban areas where rents are high, and homelessness rises when rents rise.

To identify and illustrate the housing market dynamics driving these trends, The Pew Charitable Trusts compared homelessness and rent data in 2017 and 2022. In recent years, many metro areas in the U.S. have seen stark increases in levels of homelessness along with fast-rising rents. At the same time, some other locales that saw slow rent growth experienced declines in homelessness.

Media reports have highlighted increases in homelessness and the emergence of encampments in numerous cities, including Austin, Texas; Fresno, California; Phoenix, Arizona; Raleigh, North Carolina; Sacramento, California; and Tucson, Arizona.

But other urban areas where homelessness declined over the same period—such as in Chicago, Houston, Minneapolis, and Philadelphia—recorded slower growth in rents than in the U.S. overall.

A large body of academic research has consistently found that homelessness in an area is driven by housing costs, whether expressed in terms of rents, rent-to-income ratios, priceto-income ratios, or home prices. Further, changes in rents precipitate changes in rates of homelessness: homelessness increases when rents rise by amounts that low-income households cannot afford. Similarly, interventions to address housing

costs by providing housing directly or through subsidies have been effective in reducing homelessness. That makes sense if housing costs are the main driver of homelessness, but not if other reasons are to blame. Studies show that other factors have a much smaller impact on homelessness.

Much of the research looks at the variation in homelessness among geographies and finds that housing costs explain far more of the difference in rates of homelessness than variables such as substance use disorder, mental health, weather, the strength of the social safety net, poverty, or economic conditions. Some vulnerabilities strongly influence which people are susceptible to homelessness, but research has repeatedly concluded that these factors play only a minor role in driving rates of homelessness compared with the role of housing costs.

For its analysis, Pew reviewed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s homelessness data from 2017 and 2022 and Apartment List rent data covering the same period.

In the six metro areas highlighted where homelessness rose sharply, rents increased faster than the national average. (See Figure 1). Over the same period, the four urban areas featured that experienced declines in homelessness saw low rent growth.

In some areas, the relationship between housing costs and rates of homelessness is less clear, perhaps because of data volatility or the role played by other factors that influence homelessness.

I just read a book about marriage that says to treat your wife like you treated her on your first date. So tonight, after dinner, I'm dropping her off at her parent's house.

IMPORTANT VOICES

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But the strength and consistency of researchers’ findings over time indicate that these places are the exception, and that the weak relationship may be temporary.

The best way to get back on your feet is to miss two car payments.

Recent Pew research indicates that cities that added to their housing supply in recent years, typically by reforming their local zoning codes to allow more apartments to be built, succeeded in keeping rent growth low. On the other hand, several areas in which homelessness spiked had added little to their local housing supply. For example, the Fresno and Tucson areas added just 2.7% and 3.2%, respectively, to their housing stock between 2017 and 2021, despite high demand for homes. The Austin area, meanwhile, added 15.8% to its housing stock despite its restrictive zoning code, but that still fell short of its 22.7% growth in households over that time. With so many households seeking too few homes, rents climbed.

Throughout the United States, rents have reached alltime highs. Half of renters nationwide now spend at least 30% of their income on rent, and a quarter spend at least 50%. As recently as the 1970s, when rents as a share of income were far lower, homelessness was rare in the United States and housing was often available in buildings where individuals would rent private rooms but share kitchens, bathrooms, or common spaces. These low-cost units helped stave off homelessness because someone earning low wages or receiving disability benefits could usually afford to rent a private room. In the decades since, zoning or

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There are still places in the U.S. where levels of homelessness are low, either because those places have low-cost housing readily available— such as Mississippi, where homelessness is 10 times lower than California—or because they have rapidly added housing and made a concerted effort to reduce the ranks of residents without homes. In Houston, the rate of homelessness is 19 times lower than it is in San Francisco, even though Houston’s population has grown more than San Francisco’s in the past decade. (See Figure 2.)

Looking at these markets helps to show how population growth generally does not explain growth in homelessness, except in instances where there is not a sufficient increase in the housing supply.

Examples of that include Vermont and Maine, both of which until recently have had very restrictive zoning that limited building more homes.

Each saw an influx of residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, and homelessness increased 151% and 110% in those states, respectively, from 2020 to 2022.

The metro areas shown in Figure 1 illustrate how research has found that increases in rents cause increases in homelessness.

Those shown in Figure 2 exemplify the related, but

I love bacon. Sometimes I eat it twice a day. It takes my mind off the terrible chest pains I keep getting.

building code restrictions in most cities prevented more of these units from being developed, and city governments encouraged their conversion into other uses.

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

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As I watch this generation try to rewrite history, one thing I am sure of is that it will be misspelled and have no punctuation.

distinct, finding from academic research that areas with high rents have high rates of homelessness.

reviewed the analysis in this article and have championed this approach.

The academic research has consistently found that allowing more homes to be built keeps housing costs down. In tandem with the work showing that housing costs are the primary driver of homelessness, the findings suggest that allowing more housing to be built, whether subsidized or not, can reduce homelessness. What distinguishes places in the U.S. with low levels of homelessness is that housing is more abundant relative to the demand and, therefore, costs less. Recognition of the critical need to make sufficient housing available to those going through or at risk of homelessness—rather than requiring participation in programs focused on vulnerabilities such as substance use or mental health issues—has been bipartisan. Philip Mangano and Barbara Poppe, the leaders of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, respectively, both

Homelessness and housing affordability have become high priorities for Americans, according to surveys. The evidence shows that allowing more lower-cost housing, such as apartments or individual rooms with shared facilities, can help solve both problems. As stakeholders work to address these difficult issues, welcoming more housing—especially low-cost housing— will be crucial.

THE

This article originally appeared on the Pew Charitable Trusts website. It is reprinted here with permission. n Alex Horowitz is a director and Chase Hatchett and Adam Staveski are senior associates with The Pew Charitable Trusts’ housing policy initiative. ahorowitz@pewtrusts.org

FACTOR

AL TIJARIA TOWER Also known as the Kuwait Trade Center (and located in Kuwait City), the 715 ft 41-story [46,216 sq ft] tower was completed in 2009. Inspired by a spiral or helix, the body of the tower “twists” by 80 degrees as it climbs from the ground level to the top-most occupied floor. The tower plate is organized with a circular-shaped core located in the center of the floor. A concentric ring of structural columns allows for variation in slab edge location while keeping columns vertically aligned from floor to floor. This slab edge adjustment creates a twisted exterior massing for the tower. The tower

features internal, vertically stacked, six-story-high atrium gardens rising through the height of the tower. The stacked atrium gardens spin around the center of the plate, creating a dynamic twisted space rising through the tower.

The Tower is composed of a five-story podium shopping mall, with an open-to-sky garden terrace on the podium roof, and an office tower rising above. The floor plates rotate 2.0 degrees clockwise as they rise. Horizontal stability was provided using strong core walls together with a 69-foot diameter core wall in the tower area. The twelve equally spaced tower columns are reinforced concrete, or composite with steel built up sections. n

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/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

World’s Largest Cities By

Population

The world has experienced rapid urbanization over the last century.

Today, more than 4.3 billion people live in urban settings—55% of the world’s population. But what is the world’s largest city? Answers to that question will vary greatly depending on which lines are being used to demarcate city boundaries and measure their populations. The graphic on the opposite page uses data taken from the latest official censuses and projections to rank the top cities based on the three most common metrics.

MORIO, CC BY-SA 3.0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The

The Largest Cities

by City Proper

Our first metric is based on the city proper, meaning the administrative boundaries. According to the United Nations, a city proper is “the single political jurisdiction which contains the historical city center.” The Chinese city of Chongqing leads the ranks by this metric and has an administrative boundary the size of Austria, with an urban population of 32.1 million. The city’s monorail system holds records for being the world’s longest and busiest, boasting 70 stations. Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, is among the world’s top 50 busiest airports. Additionally, the city ranks among the globe’s top 50 hubs for scientific research.

The first non-Chinese city, Delhi, has been experiencing one of the fastest urban expansions in the world. The United Nations projects India will add over 400 million urban dwellers by 2050, compared to 250 million people in China and 190 million in Nigeria.

é Tokyo, Japan

The Largest Cities

by Urban Area

This measurement largely ignores territorial boundaries and considers a city a contiguous, connected built-up area.

Demographia describes urban areas as functioning as an integrated economic unit, linked by commuting flows, social, and economic interactions. The city of Tokyo proper houses about 10% of Japan’s population. If the greater Tokyo metro area is considered, (including cities like Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba), then Tokyo’s total population surpasses 37 million—about 30% of the country total. Consequently, even with one of the world’s largest railway systems, trains in Tokyo are incredibly crowded, with a boarding rate of 200% during peak time in the most overcrowded areas. The city is also famous for its Shibuya Crossing, the busiest intersection on the planet.

The Largest Cities

by Metropolitan Area

Tokyo also leads by our final metric, metropolitan area. This measurement is similar to urban area, but is generally defined by official organizations, either for statistical purposes or governance.

In the United States, this takes the form of metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), such as Chicago-Naperville-Elgin or Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler.

As the global urban population continues to rise, new cities, especially in Africa and Asia, are expected to vie for the “largest” tag soon. The UN projects that by 2050, 68% of the world will live in urban areas. n

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

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/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

TRENDI G

With 50% of Americans saying they are “very satisfied” with the way their personal life is going, the personalfinance website WalletHub released a report on 2023’s Happiest States in America.

They compared the 50 states across 30 key indicators of happiness. with data set ranges from the depression rate and the share of adults feeling productive to income growth and the unemployment rate.

Happiness comes from a combination of internal and external factors. We can influence it somewhat by approaching situations positively or choosing to spend time with people we love, doing activities we enjoy. It’s harder to be happy in some

Happiest States in America (2023) years than in others, though.

For example, in 2023, high inflation remains a threat to Americans’ mental health. In fact, more than 75% of Americans who have experienced price increases where they live report feeling “very” or “moderately” stressed. In addition, only 50% of Americans feel “very satisfied” with the way their personal life is going.

Even though people across the U.S. are facing difficult times, the state in which you live may have an impact on how happy you are. In this study, WalletHub drew upon the findings of “happiness” research to determine which environmental factors are linked to a person’s overall well-being and satisfaction

Driver: "What am I supposed to do with this speeding ticket?" Officer, "Keep it. When you collect four of them, you get a bicycle.

BY ADAM MCCANN

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 I asked a supermarket employee where they kept the canned peaches. He said, "I'll see," & walked away. I asked another & he also said, "I'll see," & walked away. In the end, I gave up & found them myself, in Aisle C.

Rank

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

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State

Total Score

Emotional & Physical Well-Being

Work Environment

Community & Environment

Utah Hawaii Maryland Minnesota New Jersey Connecticut California Florida Idaho Nebraska Delaware Massachusetts North Dakota Virginia New Hampshire New York Illinois South Dakota Wisconsin South Carolina Iowa Washington Kansas Georgia Pennsylvania North Carolina Arizona Vermont Rhode Island Maine Colorado Nevada Michigan Montana Missouri Wyoming Ohio Oregon Texas Indiana Oklahoma New Mexico Alaska Mississippi Alabama Kentucky Arkansas Tennessee Louisiana West Virginia

69,79 66,42 64,62 62,82 61,98 60,68 60,53 59,31 59,31 58,92 58,68 58,43 58,02 57,69 57,29 56,71 56,23 55,93 55,74 55,27 55,03 54,87 54,46 54,1 53,96 53,55 53,48 52,78 52,4 51,99 51,51 50,71 50,2 49,11 48,64 48,06 47,77 47,67 47,66 46,48 44,09 43,49 42,2 41,42 40,82 40,58 39,72 38,3 35,86 35,08

16 1 8 10 3 6 5 2 30 12 11 4 14 13 20 7 9 27 19 28 18 26 29 24 17 15 21 37 22 31 23 33 32 41 39 38 35 34 25 40 46 43 36 42 44 47 49 45 48 50

1 25 4 3 14 32 34 21 6 7 29 16 5 8 19 39 37 9 13 20 18 23 15 30 35 28 33 10 12 11 22 46 24 2 17 26 31 36 40 27 43 45 48 47 44 41 42 38 49 50

1 30 5 13 29 8 10 44 2 25 6 48 21 35 9 39 40 16 32 11 37 12 14 15 27 38 23 7 46 24 45 3 28 36 22 19 34 31 50 20 4 17 47 41 42 26 18 49 43 33

Note: *No. 1 = Happiest With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.

with life. Previous studies have found that good economic, emotional, physical, and social health are all key to a well-balanced and fulfilled life.

To determine where Americans exhibit the best combination of these factors, they examined the 50 states across 30 key metrics, ranging from the depression rate and the share of adults feeling pro-

ductive to income growth and the unemployment rate. And, to expand the discussion, they asked a panel of experts to share their advice and insight on achieving overall happiness and career contentment.

Click <HERE> to learn about the methodology, the scoring, and to see how a panel of experts responded to some key questions. n Adam McCann is a personal finance writer for WalletHub.

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/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

BY ANDRA HOPULELE

last 12 months, while the remaining 14 all saw increases in the number of searches. Canada (+54%), Ecuador (+42%) and Argentina (+40%) lead in this respect.

TOP 30 HOMEBUYING DESTINATIONS FOR AMERICANS Average Monthly Searches on Google

Source: I told my physical therapist that I broke my arm in two (2) places. He told me to stop going to those places.

If 2021 and especially 2022 were the years when work-fromanywhere started capturing homebuyers’ imagination, then the last 12 months prove the trend could be subsiding.

The Most Wanted Destinations For U.S. Homebuyers Looking For A Home In The Americas

Whether they’re looking for vacation homes or investment opportunities, Americans are still gravitating toward “homes for sale in Mexico,” “Canada real estate” and “beachfront homes for sale in Costa Rica.”

However, searches for homes in many exotic locations saw more modest increases compared to last year.

So, to discover the most desirable homebuying destinations and see how buyers’ interests have changed compared to last year’s report, Point2 analyzed what home seekers are searching for, looking at more than 2,000 real estate-related keywords in islands, countries and cities in the Americas. Here are the main findings: • Mexico remains undefeated: With more than 130k monthly visits, this land of endless, dazzling beaches and rich culture continues to attract buyers, despite a more subdued increase in interest in the last 12 months.

• With an enormous 54% increase in number of searches, Canada also retains its spot in Americans’ hearts. America’s northern neighbor is the runner-up vacation destination for the 6th consecutive year.

• Just like last year, Costa Rica rounds out the podium, followed closely by Puerto Rico.

• Among the top 20 most desirable locations, 6 of them recorded drops in interest during the

# 1 MEXICO KEEPS ITS CROWN DESPITE MODEST GROWTH IN INTEREST

Compared to the same period last year, searches for real estate-related keywords in connection to Mexico and its most desirable locations have only increased 3%. This is a far cry from last year’s numbers, when searches for homes in this country exploded by 60%.

This could prove that the pioneers leading the work-from-everywhere movement are all done searching and buying, leaving the laggards behind. Or, it could be that this year, American buyers have zoomed in on other destinations: With a 54% Y-o-Y growth in real estate-related searches, it would appear that Canada’s calmer and more peaceful lifestyle is becoming more appealing to American home seekers than Mexico’s dreamy beaches and lively, vibrant culture.

Despite the drop, Puerto Vallarta, San Miguel de Allende and Cabo San Lucas, along with Tulum and Merida remain the most sought after locations, just like in previous years.

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

# 2 CANADA REMAINS RUNNER-UP, DESPITE SIGNIFICANT 54% JUMP IN SEARCHES

After the 13% drop that Canada recorded in 2021 and 2022, interest in homes for sale here came back with a bang. In the past 12 months, searches for real estate north of the border skyrocketed by 54%.

I put our scale in the bathroom corner and that's where the little liar will stay until it apologizes.

Jokingly or not, American buyers have a history of blowing up the internet looking for homes in Canada for various reasons. Beginning with polarizing election results and ending with more financially sound reasons, like investment opportunities or moving for work, it would appear that searching for real estate in Canada provides solace, a few moments of escapism or possibly an actual real home at the end of the search process.

But, it could also be that the factors that prevent foreign buyers from buying homes in the U.S. are also the factors pushing American homebuyers to look for homes elsewhere. As NAR’s Annual Foreign Investment report emphasizes: “Sharply lower housing inventory in the U.S. and higher borrowing costs across the world have dented international buyers for two straight years,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.” And what are Americans’ favorite destinations in Canada?

It was Vancouver, BC; Toronto, ON; Montreal, QC; Calgary, AB and Ottawa, ON that took the top spots, as searches for homes for sale in these cities represented more than 60% of the total searches. # 3 COSTA RICA ROUNDS OUT THE PODIUM, CEMENTING ITS TROPICAL PARADISE STATUS

Although the top three is virtually unchanged, it’s the changes

in interest and number of searches that truly point to yearly nuances and differences in trends. Like Mexico, Costa Rica recorded a more subdued increase than Canada’s 54%, but it’s been enough to keep it ranking high.

Searches for real estate in Costa Rica increased 7% in the last 12 months. Similar to previous years, it’s locations and cities like Santa Ana; Tamarindo; Jaco; San Rafael and Nosara that capture the imagination of American homebuyers.

With its exquisite beaches, lush green rainforests, amazing national parks and adventure tourism opportunities, Costa Rica has the perfect something for everyone. And if that wasn’t enough, this South American slice of paradise is extremely welcoming and has high real estate investment yields, according to a recent report:

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ranks with Costa Rica and in 2023, searches for real estate in the country dropped 13%, although this was not enough to rob it of its 4th spot in the final ranking.

NUMBER OF SEARCHES FOR VACATION HOMES INCREASED IN 17 COUNTRIES IN THE AMERICAS IN 2023

Although we’re not talking huge numbers (as real estate-related searches went from 1,140 to 1,990 per month) Turks and Caicos claimed the most significant spike in interest from American homebuyers: The 75% increase made Turks and Caicos jump 11 positions, climbing all the way to number 29. Aside from Canada, one more country saw an increase in searches of more than 50%: Thanks to its 52% growth, Curaçao entered this year’s top 30 most wanted locations.

WHO IS THE AMERICAN HOMEBUYER LOOKING FOR PROPERTY IN MEXICO?

User behavior and demographic data on our portal reveal that the American homebuyer looking for property in Mexico is an older Millennial man interested in houses for sale. Almost 6 in 10 home seekers are men and most searches (23.7%) are performed by buyers in the 35 to 44 age group.

“Costa Rica is known for being one of the most proactive countries in the world when it comes to protecting nature, and it has a relatively low crime rate.

It’s also very open to foreign investors looking to buy real estate, which is why it’s become popular with retirees and other expats from Europe and North America. Some 120,000 U.S. citizens live in Costa Rica. It has property yields that are nearly double that of Canada.”

Despite the financial instability and mortgage hikes that plagued the nation, or maybe because of it, interest in real estate increased in 17 countries and stayed level in one other, proving that U.S. home seekers are still captivated by the possibility of owning property abroad.

In 12 other countries, however, interest declined. The location that stands out is Puerto Rico: After being on the podium in 2018, Puerto Rico exchanged

The surprising part is that people in the youngest age bracket (18 to 24 years old) are driving traffic to Mexico’s real estate pages more than retirees: People aged 65 and over, who might be interested in warmer climate areas to buy a home and retire to are outnumbered by their much younger peers.

What also stands out is the share of people looking to buy land: Whether these are families looking to build their perfect home or investors, searches related to vacant land for sale in Mexico represent more than 10% of all the real estate-related searches. n Andra Hopulele is a Senior Real Estate Writer at Point2, a division of Yardi Systems Inc. andra.hopulele@yardi.com

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/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

REAL ESTATE

F THE FU URE

NEW LANDSCAPES FOR LEARNING BIG’S FIRST U.S. PUBLIC SCHOOL ENCOURAGES INDOOR-OUTDOOR LEARNING IN ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

Designed by Big-Bjarke Ingels Group and Executive Architect LEO A DALY, The Heights building opened (in 2019) as a cascade of green terraces fanning from a central axis, addressing the academic needs of Arlington’s two county-wide school programs while forming a vertical community within its dense urban context.

Located along Arlington’s RosslynBallston corridor, The Heights merges two existing secondary schools (the H-B Woodlawn Program and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Program) into a new 180,000sf building to accommodate an enrollment of around 770 students. BIG and LEO A DALY were commissioned in 2015 and worked closely with Arlington Public Schools (APS), WRAP (West Rosslyn Area Plan) and the Arlington community to design state-of-the-art educational facilities that support both H-B Woodlawn’s visual and performing arts-focused curricula and Shriver’s extensive resources for students with specialized educational needs. The Heights achieved LEED Gold.

Situated within a compact urban site bounded by roads on three sides and a portion of Rosslyn Highlands Park, The Heights is conceived as a stack of five rect"The density of the urban Arlington neighborhood became the inspiration for the school – we fanned the classrooms to allow each and every floor to be connected to the roof garden on top of the classrooms below. The resultant cascading terraces are connected by a curving stair that weaves through all levels – inside as well as outside – making all students, from both programs and all ages, visually and physically connected to each other.

Each terrace is landscaped to lend itself not just to the social life of the students but also as informal outdoor spaces for learning."

Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Creative Director, BIG. angular floorplates that rotate around a fixed pivot point, maintaining the community feeling and spatial efficiencies of

a one-story school. Green terraces above each floor become an extension of the classroom, creating an indoor-outdoor learning landscape for both students and teachers — an educational oasis rather than a traditional school setting.

A rotating central staircase cuts through the interior of the building to connect the four-tiered terraces, allowing students to circulate outside and forge a stronger bond between the neighborhood and the school. While the upper terraces are more suitable for intimate classes and quiet study areas, the spacious first terrace and 18,700sf recreation field also serve as public event venues for schoolwide and neighborhood activities.

From Wilson Boulevard, students, teachers and staff are greeted by a tripleheight lobby with stepped seating that double as an indoor gathering space for both student assemblies and public gatherings. Many of the school’s common spaces, including the 400-seat auditorium, main gymnasium, library, reception and cafeteria, are centrally located and directly adjacent to the lobby.

When I was a kid, I used to watch the ‘Wizard of Oz’ and wonder how someone could talk if they didn't have a brain. Then I got Facebook. (or Instagram or X)

THE HEIGHTS CREATES

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

Do you ever get up in the morning, look in the mirror and think, "That can't be accurate!"

Easy accessibility to the communityoriented programs hosted in the school encourages public interaction throughout the building, creating a welcoming environment while heightening the visual connectivity between the shared spaces. Other specialized student spaces include an art studio, science and robotic labs, music rehearsal rooms and two performing arts theaters.

The classroom bars serve as the primary organizing elements, surrounding a central vertical core that contains the elevators, stairs and bathrooms. As students enter from the central staircase, they are greeted by an expanded gradient of the color spectrum: each classroom bar is defined by its own color, combining intuitive wayfinding with a vibrant social atmosphere from the ground to the sky.

The Shriver Program providing special education for students aged 11 to 22 occupy two floors of the building accessible from the ground floor, and have specialized spaces dedicated to support APS’ Functional Life Skills program as well as privacy and ease of accessibility: the gymnasium, courtyard, occupational physical therapy suite and sensory cottage are designed to aid in sensory processing.

The Heights’ exterior is materialized in a graceful white glazed brick to unify the five volumes and highlight the oblique angles of the fanning classroom bars, allowing the sculptural form, the energy

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and the activity of the inside to take center stage. In keeping the surrounding neighborhood and former Wilson School in mind, the building’s material palette pays homage to the historical architecture of Old Town Alexandria.

In addition to The Heights’ building, BIG’s other education projects include the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Glasir Tórshavn College on the Faroe Islands and the upcoming Claremont McKenna College Robert Day Sciences Center in California. n

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/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

MAD Architects, led by Ma Yansong has unveiled the design of Anji Culture and Art Center. Located in the Zhejiang Province in southeast China, near Shanghai. Anji is the only county to win the "United Nations Habitat Award" and has been praised as the “bamboo” and “white tea” town of China. The project is designed as a transitional connecting space between the natural and built environments of the region; on the east side lies the city, while the river and the mountains in the distance on its west side.

Anji Culture and Art Center covers an area of about 1.6 million square feet. Six venues—including Grand Theater, Conference Center, Leisure Center, Sports Center, Youth Activity Center, and Art Education Center—are spread out beneath the ‘bamboo leaves’ roof surrounding the green tea fields unique to Anji.

I want to be 14 again and ruin my life differently. I have new ideas.

Feature

ANJI CULTURE AND ART CENTER

"We pursue the unique aura of this region and integrate it into everyday life." – Ma Yansong

The project is a porous meeting space that will be accessible to the public from all directions and at all times of day. It is arranged along the axis of the visual corridor on both sides to allow the central corridor to become an open outdoor platform where visitors can take in framed views of the mountains and the sky above.

The volume of the building is evenly distributed beneath the white tiled roof, whose undulating silhouette echoes the shape of the surrounding hill planted with Anji white tea. Multiple courtyards across the site function as programmatic gaps that dissolve the boundaries between indoor and outdoor space. On the west side of the project, a large stage can be used as an outdoor venue for performances, concerts, and exhibitions.

The high point of Anji Culture and Art Center is a series of overlapping metal roofs resembling scattered bamboo leaves with ridges that add visual complexity to the breathtaking landscape.

The gaps between them allow natural light to enter the interior, while the main facade is highly transparent to additionally invite natural light through its side elevations. The main façade is up to about 56 feet, which will be the highest

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

Apparently RSVP'ing to a wedding invitation with "Maybe next time" isn't the correct response.

self-supporting glass wall in China when it is completed.

The main interior space of the Grand Theater and the Conference Center is a two-to-three-story layout, while the other four venues are a first floor plus a partial second-floor layout. The auditorium of the Grand Theater can hold up tp 1,300 seats; and the main hall of the Conference Center can accommodate 2,000 people for events and meetings. To optimize energy use, the project adopts roof greening, permeable pavement, recessed green space and rainwater resource utilization.

The Anji Culture and Art Center has begun construction and is expected to be completed and in use in 2025. n

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/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

– WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, HOW, AND WHY?

BY ROXANA TOFAN

{{

– RUGBY

Chances are you’ve never attended a rugby game in person. After watching my son play football for six years, he decided to play rugby after his last senior football game.

I thought it was probably a nice way for him to stay in shape his last semester. I had no idea how much I didn’t know about rugby, its camaraderie, and traditions.

Rugby, a sport characterized by camaraderie, athleticism, and raw physicality, has a rich history that spans over a century. To truly appreciate the essence of this game, one must dive into its origins, evolution, and global impact.

WHO? Rugby owes its existence to William Webb Ellis, a young student at Rugby School in England. According to legend, in 1823, during a game of soccer, Webb Ellis picked up the ball and ran with it, effectively creating the early form of rugby. This act of rebellion marked the birth of a sport that would evolve into the modern-day game we know.

{{ WHAT? Rugby is a team sport played with an oval-shaped ball and divided into two main variants: Rugby Union and Rugby League. The primary objective in both forms is to carry, pass, or kick the ball over the opponent's try line to score points. Rugby Union is the more widely recognized and played version, featuring 15 players per team, while Rugby League has 13 players and slightly different rules. The game is known for its physicality, with tackles, scrums, and lineouts forming integral parts of its gameplay. It's a game of strategy, skill, and teamwork, demanding a combination of strength, speed, and finesse from its players.

WHY? The origins of rugby can be traced back to the need for a sport that combined physical fitness, camaraderie, and competition. As Rugby School’s popularity grew, so did the sport’s appeal. Rugby offered a platform for young gentlemen to develop character, physical prowess, and teamwork, making it an ideal choice for schools and universities. Over time, rugby’s popularity extended beyond educational institutions, becoming a means of fostering community spirit and a source of entertainment for spectators.

{{

A guy walks into a lumberyard & asks for some 2x4s. The clerk asks, "How long do you need them?" The guy answers, "A long time. We're gonna build a house."

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HOW?

WHEN?

I just burned 1,200 calories. I forgot the pizza in the oven.

While rugby's roots can be traced back to the early 19th century when William Webb Ellis famously picked up the ball at Rugby School in 1823, the formalization of the sport and the creation of its first set of rules occurred in 1871 with the establishment of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in England. The first international match, between England and Scotland, took place in 1871.

Rugby Union would go on to become an integral part of the British Empire's cultural export, spreading to countries like New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and beyond. The sport's global footprint continued to expand through the 20th century, culminating in the Rugby World Cup's inauguration in 1987.

WHERE?

Rugby's evolution from a schoolyard pastime to a global spectacle can be attributed to a combination of factors. The establishment of standardized rules by the RFU in 1871 provided a framework for the sport's development. The gradual shift towards professionalism in the late 20th century allowed talented players to commit fully, elevating the sport's skill and competitiveness.

The rise of international competitions like the Six Nations, Rugby Championship, and Rugby World Cup brought together the best teams, fostering fierce rivalries, and driving the sport's growth. Television broadcasts and the internet made rugby accessible to a global audience, further fueling its popularity.

Rugby's history is a tale of innovation, dedication, and passion. From its humble beginnings on the playing fields of Rugby School to its status as a global phenomenon, rugby has captured the hearts of millions worldwide. Its enduring appeal lies in the unique blend of skill, teamwork, and camaraderie that it offers. As we continue to witness the growth of rugby, both on and off the field, its future looks brighter than ever. Rugby's legacy continues to inspire generations, fostering a love for the game that transcends borders and unites people from all walks of life.

We surely had a blast watching the high school playoffs and watching our team, Boks Rugby Club win the Texas State High School Rugby Championship this past May. The rugby club provided athletes with a sense of belonging, achievement, and shared purpose. The dedication and passion of these young men and their coaches coming together was impressive.

After six years of football and one season of rugby, our son is hooked, playing hooker or scrum-half on the University of Oklahoma Men’s Rugby Team and continuing to enjoy rugby’s rich tradition of sportsmanship and respect for opponents that remains at its core, even in the face of increased intensity and professionalism. n

Rugby's journey from its birthplace in England led it to every corner of the globe. While it remained strong in its home country, it found fertile ground in the Southern Hemisphere, particularly in New Zealand, where rugby became a national obsession. In Australia and South Africa, the sport similarly gained prominence, with each country developing its unique rugby culture.

Rugby's reach extended even further, with nations like France, Wales, Ireland, Scotland Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga. The global appeal of rugby reached its highest with the Rugby World Cup, an event that showcases the sport's diverse and passionate following. Hosted in countries as varied as New Zealand, South Africa, France, and Japan, the tournament brings together nations from every corner of the world, making it a true celebration of rugby's international reach.

Roxana Tofan is a commercial real estate and business broker and the founder and owner of Clear Integrity Group in San Antonio. She is also a Contributing Editor of

roxana@clearintegritygroup.com

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

Inspiring success: IREM REME Award winners shine in 2023 Every year, IREM® recognizes outstanding achievements in this field through the REME Awards. These exceptional individuals and companies have not only demonstrated exceptional leadership, but have also made significant contributions to the real estate management profession.

AMO® OF THE YEAR

Curry Real Estate Services, Kansas City, MO

As Curry Real Estate Services prepares to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2024, the company reflects on how instrumental IREM values have been in shaping its history and success. As a proud AMO® (Accredited Management Organization), they take pride in the company’s long tenure as a familyowned business, but more importantly, in how the business acts with integrity when interacting with tenants, employees, professional colleagues, and the community. After 100 years, the company is known for steadiness, consistency, and professionalism; its horizontal management structure, where everyone jumps in to help wherever needed, fosters, and enables an environment dedicated to quality service, for customers and colleagues in the industry. “There are so many big, complicated challenges in the world today, but I truly believe each one of us gets the chance to make a difference every day without even knowing it.”– Ellen Todd, President.

IREM INNOVATOR AWARD

Cortland, Atlanta, GA

In a world where great employees are hard to find, Cortland manages to attract top-tier talent. Sometimes, however, that talent leaves for another organization in multifamily or in real estate. To support industry careers, the company’s research revealed that identifying key traits of top-talent and building an industry-leading learning platform could create career pathways for its employees. This pathway, or journey, was designed to help create exceptional experiences for associates at all stages of their employee lifecycle to feel just as much at home as our residents do when living in the community.

Their focused approach, collaboration, and focus on employee development offers opportunities to support, educate, and retain top talent by offering solutions that innovate the space of multifamily.

IREM EXCELLENCE AWARD – CORPORATE

Olive Tree Holdings, New York, NY

Olive Tree Holdings goes above and beyond through an approach rooted in core values: People First, Relentless Pursuit of Excellence, Integrity, Team

Player, and Radical Candor. These values drive the firm’s communications and treatment of key stakeholders within the business – ranging from team members to critical partners. By emphasizing this approach, the workplace retains a family-like dynamic, encouraging transparency and promoting team member growth – both professionally and personally.

clients, and team members as they contribute to the enrichment of their communities through purposeful and thoughtful diversity initiatives.

The company emphasizes giving back to their local community and supporting charities. Ian Bel, CEO and Managing Principal, has committed to taking an active role in giving back by establishing a committee dedicated to philanthropy. In support of another core value, People First, the company offers various programs that promote professional development among team members; and it encourages team members to strive for continuous learning, by supporting them financially to attend industry events, receive a certification, or be part of an external industry organization -- with the corporate office provided as a meeting space if needed after hours.

It also offers a tuition reimbursement program and supports various certifications to help further the professional development. They actively create value for residents through a diverse range of community programming initiatives. By organizing events such as financial literacy workshops, tutoring programs, holiday celebrations, food drives, and standing resident events, they foster a sense of community and promotes resident interaction.

Jasmyn is a real estate management professional who has demonstrated a commitment to DEI in the industry, made extraordinary achievements in the DEI scope, and has had a positive impact on the communities she serves. Her accomplishments include community service and volunteer efforts, educational, leadership, and professional development initiatives. She continues to make an impact on real estate management through her commitment to IREM and its mission and been named a Diversity Scholar, an IREM 30 under 30, and has held numerous roles on IREM committees, including the Diversity Advisory Board. This year Jasmyn was named a GlobeSt Woman of Influence in the mentorship category, an honor that speaks to her strengths, and her work to ensure no one gets left behind in real estate management.

IREM has introduced two new awards this year – the DEI Excellence Award, in both the corporate and individual categories. Developed by the 2022 IREM Diversity Advisory Board, these awards recognize firms and individuals for DEI initiatives that impact their company, employees, properties, residents, or tenants. Promoting DEI within companies and communities across the real estate management profession inspires leadership and social justice advocacy – measures that serve the betterment of society.

IREM DEI EXCELLENCE AWARD – CORPORATE

Peabody Companies, AMO®, Braintree, MA

Diversity is deeply ingrained in Peabody’s core values, extending far beyond traditional categories like race and gender. They actively welcome individuals from all walks of life, valuing diversity in race, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, creed, national origin, mental health and disability.

They take pride in the efforts of their residents,

IREM DEI EXCELLENCE AWARD – INDIVIDUAL

Jasmyn Sylvester, CPM®, ACoM®, VP, Property Management, Pine Tree, LLC, Atlanta, GA

IREM EXCELLENCE AWARD – INDIVIDUAL

Muhammad JawadUrRehman, CPM®. Manager – Property & Community Development, IMKAN Properties, Abu Dhabi, UAE

As an IREM member, Muhammad has contributed to the organization by contributing property management content for IREM and local publications.

He’s shared his knowledge and insights with other industry professionals to foster a sense of community within the real estate management world, and he has volunteered at local non-profit organizations, offering his expertise in property management to support their operations and growth. Recently, he facilitated a strategic partnership between IREM and ADRES/Think Prop, strengthening the collaboration between these organizations in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, UAE. As the first CPM in the UAE, he’s brought awareness about IREM to the region, and his efforts to share information about the Institute have played a role in increasing the number of IREM members. His commitment to education, leadership, and professional development has also helped elevate the standards of the industry and fosters a strong sense of community among property management professionals.

Who knew that the hardest thing of being an adult is figuring out what to fix for dinner and doing it every single night for the rest of your life until you die?

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IREM CSP (Certified Sustainable Property) certification. Being certified as a sustainable condominium association validates that Keola La’i is making a positive impact on the environment and our society by preserving our ʻāina (“land” in Hawaiian).

é IREM President Renee Savage and Jasmyn Sylvester

ACOM® OF THE YEAR

I hate it when people act all intellectual and talk about Mozart, when they've never even seen one of his paintings.

Jasmyn Sylvester, CPM®, ACoM®, VP, Property Management, Pine Tree, LLC, Atlanta, GA

When asked how she became a real estate manager, Jasmyn would say, "I just fell into it." She hasn’t looked back. Since joining IREM, she has garnered a deep desire to share the golden nuggets of knowledge and experience she’s picked up along the way. Mentorship has become her purpose and her passion. This year she was named a GlobeSt Real Estate Forum Woman of Influence in the mentorship category. She was also named an ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers) Mary Lou Fiala Fellow for 2023, an honor designed for women who wish to take the next big step in their career with the support of other inspiring female mentors. She celebrates others while giving everything she can to support and inspire those around her. In the words of Michelle Obama, “When you’ve worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you.

You reach back and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.”

é IREM President Renee Savage and Fernando Bastos

ARM® OF THE YEAR

Fernando Bastos, ARM®, BOC®, M.B.A., General Manager, Keola La’i AOAO, Honolulu, HI

Sustainability is a top priority for property managers today. Building managers seek to ensure our communities continue to grow, while minimizing and potentially even eliminating harm to the environment. Fernando believes HOAs (Homeowners Associations) should fully embrace this responsibility, to maintain a sustainable posture establishing conscious and practical actions, minimizing the impact of buildings on the environment. His core belief is that sustainability is a continuous creation of value, both financially and ethically. Keola La’I, the HOA he manages, is proud to be the first condo association in the State of Hawaii to be awarded the

The HOA has: 1) Provided recycling bins on all residential floors, educating residents on how to best utilize these bins and the importance of recycling; 2) Educated and provided training to residents on how to properly dispose of cooking oil; 3) Added occupancy sensors and high-efficiency lighting in common areas; 4) Optimized the domestic water supply system to save energy; 5) Optimized the cooling tower by adding sensors that monitor the system and sends alerts for variances; and 6) Used recycled water from the rain gutters and sprinkler timers to water landscaping and preserve this precious resource. As a result of these measures, the HOA had no maintenance fee increases for three years in a row, despite inflation, supply chain disruption, added costs, and increased labor costs an exceptional success!

YOUR COMMERCIAL FLOORING SPECIALIST CARPET, TILE, CONCRETE, WOOD

é IREM President Renee Savage and Adam Benoit

CPM® OF THE YEAR

Adam Benoit, CPM®, RPA, LEED AP, BOMI-HP, WELL AP, Director, Property Management, Stream Realty Partners, Austin, TX

Adam strives to make an impact every day by coaching, teaching, and encouraging empowerment to his colleagues and family, and has been privileged to serve, coach, mentor, and lead most of his life.

He just enjoys helping others...It fills his bucket!

His IREM volunteer journey began as the Income/ Expense IQ committee chair for IREM Austin. After chairing local committees for membership and IE/ IQ, serving the Austin Board and while serving as an IREM Austin officer (Secretary, Treasurer, Vice-President, then President), he became involved at the international level by serving on the Membership Credentialing Committee, and chairing the IE Advisory Board. He currently serves as Region 7’s 2022-23 RVP. He always tries to live by the Golden Rule and abide by the Platinum Rule - to treat others how they want to be treated, not how we individually want to be treated.

REME AWARD WINNERS ARE INSPIRATIONAL!

The IREM REME Award winners showcased here exemplify the highest standards of excellence and innovation in the real estate management industry.

They remind us that mentorship, sustainability, professionalism, community engagement, and a commitment to continuous learning are the cornerstones of success in this dynamic field. n

FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT!

You deserve to work in an eco-friendly, clean, sanitized environment.

Your carpet is your largest filter of allergens, dirt, bacteria, and viruses.

When it is truly clean, your flooring promotes your health and that of your staff and clients.

www.NextLevelKlean.com Jason@NextLevelKlean.com

Jason Cox 214-991-2988

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

BY SCOTT BONVUSUTTO

REAL ESTATE AGENT

SAFETY TIPS

According to the National Association of Realtors, 73% of real estate professionals employ safety protocols with every new client, and 40% acquire self-defense training. Additionally, 43% of male and 54% of female real estate agents carry some type of weapon. In case these statistics didn’t highlight the underlying subtext, working in this profession involves no insignificant amount of risk. For any real estate agent, personal safety is paramount.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SAFETY AWARENESS FOR REAL ESTATE AGENTS

Agents must take action to minimize safety risks long before their showings, open houses, or client meetings. First and foremost, you should schedule showings during daylight hours, and meet first-time clients at your office or in public places.

Before heading off to appointments, share your agenda with someone you trust, such as a colleague or an assistant. Someone should always know the number of clients you're meeting, where you plan to go, and when you will return. Also, speak with your office to see if it can institute an employee checkout board to help track agents’ destinations, client info, and arrival and return times. As an extra layer of protection, minimize the personal information you share with clients.

For instance, try to avoid using your personal photo, home phone, and home address in advertising materials.

SAFEGUARD BELONGINGS WHILE ON THE GO

As a real estate agent, you spend much of your day in transit, meaning your car becomes a makeshift office toting your laptop and important documents everywhere you go. With vehicle theft ranking as the third most common US property crime and statistics reporting that these crimes are on the rise, you would be wise to take extra precautions.

For example, always take measures to safeguard valuables before ever leaving your car.

Smash-and-grab thieves are opportunists looking for an easy target. Before leaving

your car unattended, check your seats, dashboard, and floor to make sure all valuables are hidden out of sight, and ensure you secure your vehicle by closing windows and locking doors. If you don’t have to carry a purse or wallet with you, lock it in your trunk. For ultimate peace of mind, an invehicle safe made of heavy-gauge steel with drill-resistant locks enables you to safely stash your belongings wherever you go.

(Console Vault designs fully installable, after-market Center Console safes for hundreds of vehicles. For greater portability, the company's Transporter™ in-vehicle safe allows you to transfer documents and valuables between your car, office, client meetings, and home.)

THE BENEFITS OF SELF-DEFENSE AND PERSONAL SAFETY TRAINING

Even as a real estate professional, you must be prepared to defend yourself in the event of a worst-case scenario. In many communities, martial arts studios, gyms, and colleges offer low-cost self-defense classes where you can learn how the best self-defense often involves a few seconds of preparation and forethought.

A good resource is Weapon Brand Training, which provides agent-specific safety training, and even offers continuing education (CE) credits for agents. Owner, Brian Anderson Needham does a great job of explaining their training process on the recent Safe Travels Expert Interview Podcast interview with yours truly.

When you arrive at a showing, evaluate your parking spot to make sure it is wellilluminated and unable to be blocked in by another car or truck. As you walk to your destination, note whether the neighborhood feels welcoming or threatening, and whether or not people are loitering in the area. And when you enter the home, glance around to see if anything looks out of place and whether anyone else is on the premises who shouldn’t be there. On each property you visit, mentally map out at least two escape routes and leave deadbolts unlocked.

Remember that, if possible, the best selfdefensive move in a dangerous situation is to leave quickly and make sure you have help on the way to your location.

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS TO ENHANCE SAFETY WHILE ON THE JOB

Technology such as GPS tracking devices, virtual property tours, and automated appointment confirmations are recent tech advances that help keep agents safer, but even your cell phone can enhance your safety. Installing caller ID enables you to reject blocked numbers and get information concerning each call.

To speed up response time in an emergency, put your office, friends, and family on speed dial. It’s also important to double-check that your cell phone has been charged and has a strong signal before walking into a showing or open house, especially if your appointment is in a remote location with spotty cell service. For driving safety, invest in a device allowing for hands-free phone use.

If you need to take notes during a phone conversation, take time to pull into a safe place first.

Real estate is a profession where safety must be your top priority. If you’re able to turn these personal safety protocols into daily habits, you can encourage colleagues to do the same. n Scott Bonvusutto is the President & Co-Founder of Console Vault scott@consolevault.com

Never trust an electrician with no eyebrows.

Feature

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BOOK REVIEW

NEW BOOK SKILLFULLY GUIDES READERS INTRIGUED ABOUT INVESTING IN RETAIL PROPERTIES

So my neighbor knocked on my front door at 3 am. 3AM!!! Luckily I was already up playing the bagpipes.

Commercial real estate may offer investors a multitude of opportunities for making money, but it comes with plenty of pitfalls as well. The trick is separating the two. Fortunately for those new to the game, Gary D. Rappaport serves as an able guide in the recently released third edition of his book Investing in Retail Properties: A Guide to Structuring Partnerships for Sharing Capital Appreciation and Cash Flow.

Rappaport walks entrepreneurs and potential property owners through such topics as how to acquire undervalued commercial real estate, how to prepare an investor package and make a presentation that will impress and captivate other investors, and how to benefit from the tax advantages that come with owning commercial real estate.

His isn’t just a theoretical approach. Rappaport, CEO of McLean, VA based RAPPAPORT, a retail real estate company, has decades of experience to share with the book’s readers. He also doesn’t just gloss over the specifics. While business people often talk about focusing on the big picture – that cliched 30,000-foot view – Rappaport is happy to zoom in on the nitty-gritty details, which he insists are what really matter.

He writes: “As one looks for the right opportunity, whether it is to find the right property, the right location, the right accessibility to the project, the right layout of the property, the right anchor tenant, the right tenant mix, or the right demographic profile of the surrounding customer base, it is the details that make it all happen.”

Want to know how to set up a management and leasing company? Need a tutorial in how to maintain partner relationships? Need a better grasp of the cyclical nature of commercial real estate? Rappaport has the answers and willingly shares them.

Rappaport doesn’t leave you stranded on a sea of overwhelming or vague information. He accompanies you step-by-step with easy-tofollow advice and real-world examples.

Along the way you’ll also learn plenty about his personal favorite type of commercial real estate – grocery-anchored shopping centers. Investing in Retail Properties includes a plethora of photographs, along with helpful charts and graphs, that complement Rappaport’s anecdotes and lessons, giving readers an even better understanding of the instruction he provides.

Even as he sings the praises of commercial real estate investing, Rappaport makes it clear that the retail real estate market is no easy path to riches. “Developing retail takes courage, skills, knowledge, and hard work,” he writes. “It is not easy money, but the rewards are significant both in terms of financial payback as well as career satisfaction. ” n A copy of this book is available as a prize in this issue’s contest. (See the inside back cover.)

TRENDI G

Most Future-Ready Cities in the U.S.

With headlines rotating tech advancements and sustainability dilemmas, tomorrow is more than just another day—it's an ongoing challenge. As urban areas become increasingly dynamic, there's a growing necessity to ensure they are primed for the future. The analysts at Point2 crunched the numbers on the 100 largest cities in the U.S. to see which are the most future-ready, considering 30 key metrics across five categories: Business & Technology; Internet Connectivity; Environment & Sustainability; Transit & Mobility; and Economy & Demographics. Here's a snapshot of what they found: Seattle, WA steals the spotlight as the country's most future-ready large city. It scores high in all five innovation categories, excelling in metrics like the number of startups (795), the annual median income ($110,781), and even bike-ability.

BY ALEXANDRA CIUNTU

San Jose, CA and Denver, CO follow closely behind, with San Jose boasting the highest number of invention patents (34,712) and Denver seeing more than 33 million enplanements in 2022.

At the other end of the innovation spectrum, Laredo, TX has a notably low gigabit broadband coverage of under 10%, while North Las Vegas, NV boasts a share of tech job openings of less than 2%, on top of the city having no startups.

See the whole report and methodology <HERE>. n

This study was done by Alexandra Ciuntu, a creative writer for Point2 with a background in covering real estate market trends, renter demographic shifts and industry news.

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I give speeches at civic clubs, country clubs, churches, schools—to anyone who will listen. Each year I create a Christmas program. This is difficult, because I must come up with new thoughts on Christmas, an age-old celebration. One year, I decided upon a TEXAS CHRISTMAS! Great idea! I'll get me some red boots to wear!

So, I went to the "boot" place and tried on boots, something I had never done before! The salesman, said with a smile, "You'll love these. They’re Justins!" So what? A boot is a boot!

My foot went in, and comfort set in! I walked around, and I felt as though I was floating! What a shoe\boot! I fell in love with Justin Boots at that moment.

I bought another pair. I bought several pairs—all in different colors.

There was one common element to this scene–I had to always have on Western clothes! So what? I'm a true Texas–born and bred. Thus, I began to be known for my Justin ropers and the Texas look! One evening, I was speaking at the Fort Worth Woman's club, and of course, I bragged on my Justins. "You know—I have every color but pink," I said. A gentleman in the audience stood up and

THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR…

COMFORT

said, "Honey, you have pink ones now!" It was Mr. Justin!

The story of the Justin Boot Company is unique. It starts in 1878 with a Texas cattle drive originating south of San Antonio and going on to Abilene, Kansas, through Ft. Worth. The trail is known as the Chisholm Trail. Jesse Chisholm drove his fine Texas cattle up to the markets in Kansas, which is why the trail was named for him. Today, it's US Highway 80.

The young man on that trail driving those Texas Long Horns was Joe Justin. The drivers stopped at Nocona, Texas, where Joe Justin decided to stay a couple of

days and make himself a pair of boots. His fellow cowboys commented on his talent.

"Why do you drive cattle, Joe, when you can make these great boots?" Joe thought, ‘they're right. I'll stay here and make boots!’ And so he did!

Justin Boots, an American western and equestrian footwear brand, is a division of Justin Brands, Inc., itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.

Joe built himself a little workshop and made and sold boots, and there he became quite well known for his great product. He married and had four boys and one girl. One boy, John, remembers at age six, he was already working in the family business—putting laces in the boots. All the kids worked in the boot factory,

and all became great boot makers, especially the girl— Miss Enid! However, she later caused trouble for the boys, or at least they thought she did!

She was known to embroider in her boots, "For a good time--see Enid!" Cowboys always hung around the shop and store.

Later, the boys moved to Fort Worth and established Justin Boots. Miss Enid stayed in Nocona with her father and made Nocona boots. Business was good in both places. The discovery of oil near Nocona didn't harm the boot business either, and another shop and store opened in El Paso.

Daddy Joe Justin died in 1918, but he will always be remembered for his advice– It's not what you know: it's what you do with what you know!

And I know that Justin Ropers are comfortable. ☺ n

Rose-Mary Rumbley has written three books about her native city – Dallas. She has also written “WHAT! NO CHILI!” and a book about the 300th anniversary of the invention of the piano. She has appeared on the stage at the Dallas Summer Musicals and at Casa Mañana and was head of the drama department at Dallas Baptist University for 12 years. Today she is on the speaking circuit and teaches drama classes at Providence Christian School. Her loving views of Texas history appear in every issue of . rosetalksdallas@aol.com

Instead of cleaning my house, I just watch an episode of "The Hoarders," and think, "Wow! My house looks great."

BY ROSE-MARY RUMBLEY

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

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Robert Smith Todd (1791 1849)—Mary Todd Lincoln’s father—was a slave owner. Her mother (Elizabeth Ann Parker Todd) died in 1825. Robert remarried and had children with married Elizabeth L Humphreys Todd (1800 - 1874).

Mary Todd Lincoln’s halfbrothers served with the Confederacy, as did her brothersin-law.

David Humphreys Todd ran away from home at age 14 and fought in the Mexican War. He enlisted in the Confederate Army, fought at Shiloh, and was seriously wounded at Vicksburg.

He became Commandant of Libby Prison in Richmond, VA, but was removed by Jefferson Davis for his extreme cruelty to Union prisoners.

Nathaniel Henry Rhodes Dawson was married to Elodie Breck Todd. During the last two years of the war he commanded a battalion of Cavalry. Dawson was elected to the Alabama legislature during the Civil War and sat in the sessions of 186364. (After the legislature adjourned, he returned to his military command.) Following the war, he was politically active and ran for governor of Alabama in 1882.

é Samuel Brown Todd

Samuel Brown Todd was Mary’s half-brother. He enlisted in the Confederate Army shortly after the war began, served in the “Crescent Regiment” (24th Louisiana Infantry) and was killed in action at the Battle of Shiloh in 1862.

é George Rogers Clark Todd

é Emilie Todd Helm

Emilie Todd Helm, Benjamin's grieving widow (and Mary Todd Lincoln’ sister) came to the White House at the end of 1863 accompanied by her daughter Katherine. President Lincoln defiantly defended her presence against political attacks stating, “Mrs. Lincoln and I will allow anyone we choose to visit the White House”. The President would refer to her as “little sister”.

é Nathaniel Henry Rhodes Dawson

Obviously, Lincoln’ relationship with his in-laws was a strained one, and undoubtedly it wasn’t helped by the Civil War. The Todd family were Kentucky slave-owners and were committed to the Confederacy— something the press (in the North) and politicians opposed to Lincoln’s war effort, never let the country forget.

é David Humphreys Todd

President Abraham Lincoln once said about his wife’s family, “God Almighty is perfectly content having one “d” at the end of his name. The Todds insist on having two.”

Benjamin Hardin Helm was Mrs. Lincoln’s best-known Confederate relative and brotherin-law. He was a 30-year-old lawyer when he became colonel of the Confederate 1st Kentucky Cavalry in 1861 (after turning down President Lincoln’s offer of a commission in the Union Army). He was promoted to Brigadier-General, commanding the famed Kentucky Orphan Brigade in 1862; and he died in 1863 at Chickamauga, GA.

é Alexander Humphreys Todd

When one door opens and another closes, you're probably in prison.

é Mary Todd Lincoln

é Benjamin Hardin Helm

THE CONFEDERATE HALF-BROTHERS AND BROTHERS-IN-LAW OF MARY TODD LINCOLN

George Rogers Clark Todd was a surgeon in the Confederate Army, was known for his cruelty to Union prisoners, and even cruelty directed towards wounded Confederates.

William Wallace Herr (the husband of Catherine Bodley Todd enlisted as a private and rose to the rank of SergeantMajor. In 1862, he was commissioned into Confederate Army as a Captain and Aide-De-Camp to General Benjamin Hardin Helm. He survived the war and lived until 1912.

Alexander Humphreys Todd, the youngest of Mary’s halfbrothers, enlisted in the spring of 1861, and became a Aide-De-Camp to the husband of his sister, Emilie (Brigadier-General Benjamin Hardin Helm). He also fought at Shiloh. He was killed in a “friendly-fire” incident in Baton Rouge, LA in 1862. n

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NATIONAL REGISTER OF

HISTORIC PLACES The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the official list of the nation's historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the Register is administered by the National Park Service and is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America's historic and archeological resources.

é (Building) Established in 1737, Old West Church has a long history in Boston. From its time as a church, to its stint as a library from 1896-1961, it has also served as a crucial gathering space for the community and welcomed advocates of social justice.

é (Historic district) The Fleur-de-lys Studios is a contributing property to Providence's College Hill Historic District

Age 60 might be the new 40, but 9:00 PM is the new midnight.

Clearly there are far-too-many properties for us to list here, but in each issue, we will bring you pictures of several interesting properties from the Register with links to learn more about them.

FILETIME, CC BY-SA 4.0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Since its inception in 1966, more than 95,000 properties have been listed in the National Register. Together (as of 2020) these records hold information on more than 1.5 million individual resources–buildings, sites, districts, structures, and objects–and therefore provide

The Historic Preservation Act also created corresponding State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPO). Initially, the National Register consisted of the National Historic Landmarks designated before the Register's creation, as well as any other historic sites in the National Park system. Approval of the act, which was amended in 1980 and 1992, represented the first time the United States had a broad-based historic preservation policy.

PUBLIC DOMAIN, PETER H. DREYER SLIDE COLLECTION #9800.007, CITY OF BOSTON ARCHIVES, BOSTON

The National Park Service is a department within the Department of the Interior. It reviews nominations that Americans believe are worthy of preservation submitted by states, tribes, and other federal agencies and list eligible properties in the National Register, and, through the National Register Bulletin series and other publications, if offers guidance on evaluating, documenting, and listing different types of historic places.

a link to the country's heritage at the national, state, and local levels. Almost every county in the United States has at least one place listed in the National Register.

é (Building) Santa Barbara Mission in California

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é (Structure) Cape Creek Bridge along the Oregon coast.

BONNIE MORELAND, CC0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

DANIEL SCHWEN, CC BY 3.0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

é (Historical Site) Grey Towers, outside Milford, PA, and a/k/a Gifford Pinchot House or The Pinchot Institute, is ancestral summer home of Gifford Pinchot, first chief of the United States Forest Service and twice elected governor of Pennsylvania.

é (Building) Louisiana Superdome (Now Caesars Superdome) here on 26 July 2021 known for its timeless exterior design first opening in 1975.

Listed properties are generally in one of five broad categories, although there are special considerations for other types of properties. The five general categories for National Register properties are: building, structure, site, district and object.

Buildings, as defined by the National Register, are distinguished in the traditional sense. Examples include a house, barn, hotel, church, or similar construction. They are created primarily to shelter human activity. The term building, as in outbuilding, can be used to refer to historically and functionally related units, such as a courthouse and a jail or a barn and a house. Structures differ from buildings in that they are functional constructions meant to be used for purposes other than sheltering human activity. Examples include an aircraft, a grain elevator, a gazebo and a bridge.

Objects are usually artistic in nature, or small in scale compared to structures and buildings. Although objects may be movable, they are generally associated with a specific setting or environment. Examples of objects include monuments, sculptures, and fountains. Sites are the locations of significant events, which can be prehistoric or historic in nature and represent activities or buildings (standing, ruined, or vanished). When sites are listed, it is the locations themselves that are of historical interest. They possess cultural or archaeological value regardless of the value of any structures that currently exist at the locations. Examples of types of sites include shipwrecks, battlefields, campsites, natural features and rock shelters. Historic districts possess a concentration, association, or continuity of the other four types of properties. Objects, structures, buildings, and sites in a historic district are united historically or aesthetically, either by choice or by the nature of their development.

Over the course of the next several issues, we will bring you a scattering of some of the most interesting of the Register’s listings. If you can’t wait, go <HERE>. n

INFROGMATION OF NEW ORLEANS, CC BY-SA 4.0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

AGNOSTICPREACHERSKID, CC BY-SA 3.0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

é (Historical District) The Miller House (a/k/a Argyle Terrace)in the Sheridan-Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The mansion now serves as a condominium and is a contributing property to the Massachusetts Avenue Historic District.

DANIEL CASE, CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-SHARE ALIKE 3.0

I don't mean to interrupt people. I just randomly remember things and get really excited.

é (Structure) The Gateway Arch is a 630-foot-tall monument in St. Louis, MO. It is the world's tallest arch and Missouri's tallest accessible building.

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MISS ELAINE E. YUSS “If you’re going to do something tonight that you’ll be sorry for tomorrow morning, sleep late.”

– Henny Youngman “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”

– Bernard Baruch

You know it’s a bad day when you jump out of bed and miss the floor! That’s an image that doesn’t come easily. Sometimes people say things that make you smile, or make you think, or maybe both. Sometimes they’re funny enough, or wise enough to make you remember them and use them as if they were your own.

Here’s a small collection of some very funny (or wise) quotes— with full accreditation.

“A WOMAN IS LIKE A TEA BAG – YOU CAN’T TELL HOW STRONG SHE IS UNTIL YOU PUT HER IN HOT WATER.” – ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

“I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade… And try to find somebody whose life has given them vodka and have a party.”

– Ron White

“Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.”

– Daniel J. Boorstin

“The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.”

– Dorothy Parker

“I am an early bird and a night owl… so I am wise and I have worms.”

— Michael Scott, (The Office)

“It’s true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?”

– Ronald Reagan

“He who laughs last didn’t get the joke.”

– Charles de Gaulle

“A failure is like fertilizer; it stinks to be sure, but it makes things grow faster in the future.”

– Denis Waitley

“The question isn’t who is going to let me, it’s who is going to stop me.”

– Ayn Rand

“To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.”

– Steven Wright

“Women are wiser than men because they know less and understand more.”

– James Thurber

“We never really grow up. We only learn how to act in public.”

– Bryan White

😀

“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.”

– Thomas Sowell

“Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do.”

– Voltaire “Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition.”

– Marilyn Monroe

“I know that there are people who do not love their fellow man, and I hate people like that!”

– Tom Lehrer “If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask?

Do they get smart just in time to ask questions?”

– Scott Adams “Trying is the first step toward failure.”

– Homer Simpson

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

“The problem with doing nothing is that you never know when you’re finished.”

– Groucho Marx “EVEN IF YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK, YOU WILL GET RUN OVER IF YOU JUST SIT THERE.” — WILL ROGERS

“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”

– Albert Einstein “Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out.”

— John Wooden

“You can’t have everything.

Where would you put it?”

– Steven Wright

“Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy.”

– Charlie McCarthy “Today’s opportunities erase yesterday’s failures.”

– Gene Brown “A man who correctly guesses a woman’s age may be smart, but he’s not very bright.”

– Lucille Ball “There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want.”

– Bill Watterson

“Whoever said, ‘It’s not whether you win or lose that counts’ probably lost.”

– Martina Navratilova

“A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.”

– Steve Martin

“I knew I was going to take the wrong train, so I left early.”

– Yogi Berra “I generally avoid temptation unless I can’t resist it.”

– Mae West “The trouble with the rat-race is that, even if you win, you’re still a rat.”

– Lily Tomlin “Never follow anyone else’s path, unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost.”

– Ellen DeGeneres

“When I was born, I was so surprised I didn’t talk for a year and a half.”

– Gracie Allen

“I know worrying works, because none of the stuff I worried about ever happened.”

– Will Rogers

“If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in the dark with a mosquito.”

– Betty Reese

“Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, closeknit family in another city.”

– George Burns

“I have a simple philosophy: Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. Scratch where it itches.”

– Alice Roosevelt Longworth

“There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.”

– Roger Staubach

“It does not matter whether you win or lose, what matters is whether I win or lose!”

– Steven Weinberg

- 59 -

“Life isn’t finding shelter in the storm. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

– Sherrilyn Kenyon “When everyone thinks alike, no one thinks very much.”

– Walter Lippmann “What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”

– Anais Nin

“Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain – and most fools do.”

– Benjamin Franklin “KNOW THE RULES WELL, SO YOU CAN BREAK THEM EFFECTIVELY.” – DALAI LAMA

“The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him.”

– Stanislaw Jerzy Lec

“If you don’t have wrinkles, you haven’t laughed enough.”

– Phyllis Diller

- 60 -

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

LINK : MARKETPLACE AND DIRECTORY ASSET | PROPERTY MANAGEMENT & COMMERCIAL BROKERAGE

LEGAL

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PAVING

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Stairmaster ® Type 511 PROUDLY MADE

Flexmaster ® Type 311 IN THE USA sales@wooster-products.com www.woosterproducts.com 800-321-4936

JANITORIAL SERVICES

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

- 61 -

PAVING

REACH YOUR

WEB DEVELOPMENT

FOR LESS

Links listings require a 4-issue (non-cancellable) commitment 1” Full Color ad .............. $300 per issue 2” Full Color ad .............. $375 per issue 3” Full Color ad .............. $445 per issue

Your Ad Here!

(Call 214-755-2277) HAMSTER

DIVERSI NS BLOND ON A HORSE A blond decides to try horseback riding, even though she has had no lessons or prior experience.

She mounts the horse unassisted, and it immediately springs into motion. It gallops along at a steady and rhythmic pace, but the blond begins to slip from the saddle. In terror, she grabs for the horse’s mane, but cannot seem to get a firm grip. She tries to throw her arms around the horse’s neck, but she slides down the side of the horse anyway. The horse gallops along, seemingly ignorant of its slipping rider.

Finally, giving up her frail grip, she attempts to leap away from the horse and throw herself to safety.

Unfortunately, her foot becomes entangled in the stirrup, and she is at the mercy of the horse’s pounding hooves as her head is struck against the ground over and over. She starts to lose consciousness, but to her good fortune, Bobby, the Wal-Mart greeter, sees her and unplugs the horse.

PRICELESS

- 62 -

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

THE BACK PAGE

INDEX TO OUR ADVERTISERS

ANSWERS FROM THE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER CONTEST: YOU CAN’T FORGET THE LYRICS

AGF Manufacturing........................... 23, 60 www.agfmfg.com

A Jimmy Clanton -Venus in Blue Jeans -1962 / B Young Rascals- I Ain’t Gonna Eat Out My Hear Any More -1966 / C The Righteous Brothers Unchained Melody -1965 / D Nancy Sinatra -These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ -1966 / E Bobbie Gentry -Ode to Billie Joe -1967 / F Neil Diamond -Sweet Caroline -1969 / G Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons -Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You -1967 / H Marvin Gaye -I heard It Through The Grapevine’ -1967 / I The Byrds -Turn!

Turn! Turn! -1965 / J Frank Sinatra -My Way -1969 / K Marth and the Vandellas -Dancing in the Street -1964 / L Smokey Robinson & The Miracles -You Really Got A Hold on Me -1962 / M Bob Dylan -Like a Rolling Stone -1965 / N The Rolling Stones -You Can't Always Get What You Want -1965 / O David Bowie -Space Oddity -1969 / P Simon & Garfunkel -The Sound of Silence -1964 / Q Aretha Franklin -Respect -1967 / R The Beatles -A Day in the Life -1967 / S Buffalo Springfield -For What It’s Worth / T Otis Redding -Sittin’ On The Dock of the Bay -1964 / U The Kinks -You Really Got Me / V The Supremes -Stop! In The Name of Love -1965 / W The Temptations -My Girl -1964 / X The Doors -Light My Fire -1967 / Y The Animals -House of the Rising Sun -1964 / Z Johnny Cash -Ring of Fire -1963 / AA Sly & The Family Stone -Everyday People -1968 / BB The Beatles -I Want to Hold Your Hand –1963 / CC The Mamas & the Papas -California Dreamin’ -1965 / DD Sonny and Cher -I Got You Babe –1965

Anderson Paving ................................ 13, 60 www.andersonpaving.com

Arsenal Companies, The ...Back Cover www.thearsenalcompanies.com Crest Publications Group ............. 3, 8, 9 www.crestpublicationsgroup.com Clear Integrity Group ................................. 61 www.clearintegritygroup.com Cypher Squad ................................................... 61 www.cypher-squad.com Image Building Maintenance ...... 9, 60 www.imagebuildingmaintenance.com Kessler Collins ................................................ 60 www.kesslercollins.com

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF OUR CONTEST WINNERS!

Master Construction & Engineering ....................................................... 61 www.masterconstruction.com

Daniel Pattisson of Pittsburg, PA, Bree Salazar of Bethesda, MD, Aliana Lopez of Santa Fe, NM, Kayleigh Hanson of Hauppauge, NY, Victoria Vandergriff of Lansing, MI and Darius Shelton of Sacramento, CA Each will receive a copy of Vertical Lines II from the pages of (See Page 3 for how to get your own copy.)

Arsenal Business Collections............ 24 www.thearsenalcompanies.com

Next Level Klean ........................................... 51 www.nextlevelklean.com Recycle Across America ....................... 10 www.recycleacrossamerica.org .

BOLO (BE ON THE LOOK OUT) FOR WHAT'S COMING NEXT Our cover and Artchitecture pages will be graced by the creations of JeanFrançois RAUZIER, the French inventor of Hyperphotography (a precursor to digital assembly). He brings together thousands of photos taken with a telephoto lens to compose different surrealist universes from existing places, thereby taking us on a journey with his disproportionate works.

In this issue, we’ll cross back to this side of the Atlantic and bring you pictures of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Brazil and continue our series about the National Register of Historic Places. And Contributing Editor Roxana Tofan will examine Transcendental Meditation in 6Q – Who, What, Why, When, Where, and How - In Herstory, Contributing Editor Rose-Mary Rumbley tells the (his)story of mail delivery, and we will have two more hilarious pages of quotations assembled by Miss Elaine E. Yuss.

In Whatever Happened To...? Contributing Editor T.J. Edwards looks at baseball sluggers Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. We’ll graphically show you how much money you need to earn to own a home in various American cities, and a separate dive into how scary the 200 largest U.S. housing markets really are (from skyrocketing home prices to vanishing listings and fierce competition).

Want more? Of course, there will be other specially contributed articles from various segments of the real estate industry as well as our affiliates, Factoids, Wow Factors, Real Estate of the Future, Visual Capitalist Graphic Charts, Diversions, Tru Dat, Vertical Lines, Trending, and much MUCH more. We get a lot into 64 pages!

Reliable Paving ......................................... 2, 60 www.reliablepaving.com Wooster Products .............................. 15, 60 www.woosterproducts.com

DIVERSI NS: ALIBI

A man’s wife didn’t come home one night.

The next morning, his wife explained that she’d slept over at a friend’s house. The husband contacted all his wife’s friends inquiring about it, but none of them said that she had stayed the night. A few nights later, the husband didn’t come home. Just like his wife, the next morning he tells her that he had slept over at a friend’s place.

His wife then contacted all the husband’s friends to ask about it, and apparently the husband was at 8 houses, 2 of which said he was still there.

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

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C NTEST: WHO AM DAT? Below are the pictures of 25 (randomly selected) famous people. Their names are all names you’ll know, though none of them are still alive. You may even recognize some of the historical figures from newsreels you’ve seen or history books you’ve read. And some

01

02

of the pictures have contextual clues in them if you look closely. Can you match these individuals –each important in his or her own right– with the name below?

(Cheating is allowed. Having fun is required.)

03

Scan or copy this page and send your entry to editor@thenetworkmagazine.org or fax it to 817.924.7116 on or before December 3rd for a chance to win a valuable prize.

04

Jesse Owens: Ty Cobb: Benito Mussolini: Clara Barton: 05

06

07

08

Tsar Nicolas II: Lou Gehrig: Jonas Salk:

09

10

11

Florence Nightingale: William Jennings Bryan:

12

Dred Scott: 13

Otto Von Bismarck: Charles Lindbergh: Frederick Douglass:

14

15

Carrie Nation:

16 17

James Naismith: Mata Hari: Queen Victoria: Amelia Earhart:

18

19

20

21

John Brown: Archduke Ferdinand: Florence Nightingale: Leon Trotsky: Annie Oakley:

22

23

24

25

Harriet Beecher Stowe: Louis Brandeis:

- 64 -

/ THE NETWORK / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

ARSENAL BUSINESS COLLECTIONS

...BECAUSE SOMETIMES IT'S WHAT YOU KNOW

We Speak Real Estate The Arsenal Companies are a diversified consulting, educational and publishing group, dedicated to service in the real estate industry. With national reach, regional strength and local sensibilities, we serve and service large and small companies as well as governmental entities in acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, licensing, contracting, procurement, insurance certificate tracking, educational program development, mediation services and collections.

Our Contracts and Procurement Services Division provides solutions and services that help real estate owners and companies effectively manage their contractual needs and commitments. We provide industry knowledge and we practice deal facilitation rather than obstruction. Whether you are a property, facility or asset manager, your functions are integrally related to real estate contracts. Quality management is all about contracts.

Leases are highly specialized documents.

A few words can make a world of difference.

Highly focused.

Highly specialized.

Highly respected.

Procurement Supply Chain Management Vendor/Supplier Resourcing Procurement Administration Vendor Reduction Programs Supplier Recognition Programs Customized Purchase Orders RFI, RFP, RFQ Administration Are the contracts for services and supplies which your organization uses prepared for your organization – or are they the vendor’s or contractor’s agreement forms? Wouldn’t you be better off if those agreements and purchase orders were revisited from your perspective? Isn’t it time you fortified your real estate related contracts?

Contract Negotiation and Drafting Services

Anyone with experience.

Acquisitions, dispositions, renewals, surrenders, amendments, abstracting, administration, interpretation – our professionals are experienced in residential, commercial, industrial, professional and retail leasing issues of all kinds.

Do you have contract issues that call out for review, interpretation and the advice of a specialist? Do you have a service contract which is about to expire and will need to be renewed or replaced? Do you have oversight of a real estate or facilities function which has been given savings targets? Have you considered ‘outsourcing’ this part of your real estate function but fear a loss of control?

Don’t assume that problems won’t occur. Plan what you can do to avoid them. A small reduction in costs can be the equivalent of a substantial increase in value. We suggest ‘refinements’ to improve language and reduce direct and indirect costs. Our attorneys have successfully resolved leasing issues for both small and Fortune 100 corporations – effectuating $millions in savings.

We analyze the details of your proposed service contracts before they begin - while you still have leverage. Or, we can review your existing service contracts, help reveal cost efficiencies and/ or savings opportunities. We look for pragmatic solutions that are sensitive to your business interests, anticipating issues that may arise, and we assist in minimizing those risks that cannot be avoided.

Leasing

The Arsenal Companies 2537 Lubbock Avenue Fort Worth, TX 76109 Tel: 214-755-2277 Fax: 817.924.7116 www.thearsenalcompanies.com