About one-fourth of renters nationally, or 10 1 million households, spend more than half their pretax income on rent and utilities, and that cost burden may grow.
A report issued Tuesday by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University warned that a sharp increase in demand for rental units, and the long lead times needed to build apartment buildings, could increase rents, putting nancially strapped consumers in even more dire straits.
The study also found that affordability issues are not conned to lower-income renters Between 2007 and 2009, 1 1 million more middleincome renters faced at least moderate housing cost burdens, spending between 30 and 50 percent of incomes on housing Generally, an affordable cost burden is dened as 30 percent of income.
The ndings are particularly
troublesome given how the recession swelled the ranks of low-income households and how the housing crisis continues to turn homeowners into renters, according to the studys authors.
In the last decade, rental housing affordability problems went through the roof, said Eric Belsky, one of the studys authors And these affordability problems are marching up the income scale. In real terms, it means more people have less money to spend on household necessities such as food, health care and savings.
The supply of rental housing is expected to be further pressured by new demand from consumers who doubled up with family members and friends during the recession With an improving employment picture, household formation is expected to increase, but because of tight lending requirements, some consumers will be unable to buy homes and will become renters. ›± ¨ fi´Æºª Œ
Alta Park West
9680 W. Northern Avenue
Peoria 888 966 6836
mark-taylor com/altaparkwest
Northern Greens
8150 N 61stAvenue
Glendale 623 435 9988
mark-taylor com/northerngreens
San Prado
5959 W. Utopia Road
Glendale 877.461.5056
mark-taylor com/arizona/sanprado
West Town Court
8400 W Virginia Avenue
Phoenix 866 293 0992
mark-taylor com/arizona/ west-town-court
Acacia Pointe
8344 N 67th Avenue
Glendale 623 842 1522
Archstone Arrowhead 7701 W St. John Road
Glendale 623.486.9400
Arroyo Palms Apartments 4444 W Ocotillo Road
Glendale 623 792 7067
Brook Creek Apartments 4937 W Myrtle Avenue
Glendale 623 842 3007
Bethany Village 6565 W Bethany Home Road
Glendale 623 842 1032
Cambridge Square 6060 W. Royal Palm Road
Glendale 623 939 8615
Coldwater Springs Apartments 12115 W. Van Buren Street
Avondale 623 882 2653
Country Gables Apartments 15010 N. 59th Avenue
Glendale 602 938 2578
The Coves at Newport 7102 N 43rd Avenue
Glendale 623 247 2105
Crystal Springs Apartments 8502 N 67th Avenue
Glendale 623.937.2910
Greentree Apartments 5959 W Greenway Road
Glendale 602 938 2896
Northwest Garden Apartments 9350 N 67th Avenue
Glendale 623 878 7394
Norwood Village 6738 N 45th Avenue
Glendale 623 934 7579
Ranchwood Apartments 5740 N. 59th Avenue
Glendale 623 931 6220
Ridgepoint Apartments 5020 W. Peoria Avenue
Glendale 623 842 3526
Rio Santa Fe 13015 W Rancho Sante Fe
Boulevard Avondale, 866.540.0934
San Martin Apartments 6802 N 67th Avenue
Glendale 623 939 8442
San Remo Apartments 5755 N 59th Avenue
Glendale 623.931.7779
Shadow Rose Apartments 6231 N 67th Avenue
Glendale 623 931 5900
Sienna Park Apartments 6444 N 67th Avenue
Glendale 623 934 0636
Summerhill Place 6801 W. Ocotillo Road
Glendale 623 939 7793
Sunset Landing 8450 N 67th Avenue
Glendale 623 934 8151
Versante 11120 W Van Buren Street
Avondale 623 463 5755
Villas at Camelback Crossing 5150 N 99th Avenue
Glendale 866 456 9841
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In case you dont know what a wireless router is, it is a small box that you buy for your house or apartment It allows your laptop, iPad and other wireless devices to connect to the internet.
It turns out that if you install a wireless router, and if you leave it in its default settings, and you turn it on, you have opened yourself up to a major vulnerability
Your new wireless router creates a wide open wi- hotspot with a diameter of several hundred feet Because you have used the default settings, which means that you have set no password to prevent people from connecting, anyone nearby can now connect to your hotspot.
When they connect, you will not know it is happening And you may not ever care If they read a few web pages or check their e-mail, the tiny bit of bandwidth they use would be imperceptible But if they start watching a streaming video, you may notice that your connection has gotten really sluggish.
The bigger problem, however, is child porn If the person connected to your hotspot downloads child pornography or any other illegal material, federal agents are going to trace the illegal activity to your wireless router And then they are going to come after you. Once they nd you, the attitude will be to arrest now and ask questions later Meanwhile, the person who did the downloading is invisible. It might take days or weeks for your innocence to be conrmed And the amazing thing is that you will have had no idea it was happening. So what can you do to prevent this
scenario? There are actually three different things you can do.
The basic idea is that your wi- router has a way to manipulate its settings You need to log into the router and, at the very least, set up a password How do you log into the router? The owners manual for the router will contain instructions.
So log into your router, nd the wireless settings and create something called a WPA password for your router This is one of those things that takes 30 seconds if you know what you are doing As soon as you set that password, you have eliminated the threat of accidental arrest for child porn. Of course, you have also just disconnected all of your own devices as well So now you need to go to your laptop, your iPad, etc and type in the password there as well
If you want to be even more secure, there are two other things you can do The rst thing is to turn off something called SSID broadcasting This is a feature that makes your network visible to anyone who is nearby The other thing you can do is to turn on MAC address screening You can enter the MAC addresses of each device you want to connect to your network
Anyone with an unknown MAC address will be denied access.
While you are in there making these changes, make sure your router does not create and enable a separate guest network. If it does, disable it.
By enabling these features, you make it virtually impossible for anyone outside of your household to connect to your network.
Alta Phoenix Lofts
600 N. Fourth Street
Phoenix 866 289 5292 mark-taylor com/arizona/ alta-phoenix-lofts
Matthew Henson Apartments
840 W Tonto Street
Phoenix 602 252 1522
Taylor Place
120 E Taylor Street
Phoenix 602 496 6711 asu-taylorplace com
Arete
2506 W. Dunlap Avenue
Phoenix 602 944 7002
Brookeld Terrace 6545 N 19th Avenue
Phoenix 602.249.0114
Camelback Cove Apartments
4802 N 12th Street
Phoenix
602 279 6606
Canyon Place
4715 N. Black Canyon Highway
Phoenix
602 433 2500
Colter Park Apartments
525 W. Colter Street
Phoenix
602.262.6575
Cottages at Hayward
2021 W. Hayward Avenue
Phoenix 602 973 5322
Fountains in the Green
3019 N 14th Street
Phoenix
602 277 0282
Glen Arbor Apartments
2250 W Glendale Avenue
Phoenix
602 995 3323
Granite Bay
14230 N. 19th Avenue
Phoenix
602 866 9196
The Heritage Apartments
1100 E. Osborn Road
Phoenix 602 241 6200
Hidden Cove 2001 W. Union Hills Drive
Phoenix 602.863.9697
Maya Linda Apartments 8222 N 19th Avenue
Phoenix 602 995 3555
The Met 200 E. Fillmore Street
Phoenix 602 258 6387
Mission Shadows 8111 N. 19th Avenue
Phoenix 602 861 9904
Monarch Apartments 77 W. Coolidge Street
Phoenix
602.277.2778
Monte Vista Apartments 302 E Monte Vista Road
Phoenix
602 254 3257
Montelano Apartments 8330 N 19th Avenue
Phoenix 602 864 3400
Paradise Falls Apartments 15434 N. 32nd Street
Phoenix 602 482 9099
Partenza on Highland 1320 E. Highland Avenue
Phoenix 602 254 3200
Paseo Verde Apartments 4444 N. Seventh Avenue
Phoenix 602.277.8170
Plaza 550 Apartments 550 E Earll Drive
Phoenix 602 266 5822
Pointe del Sol Apartments 730 W Vogel Avenue
Phoenix 602 944 4004
Promontory Pointe 888 E Clinton Street
Phoenix
602.298.4300
Tesoro Apartments 8603 N 22nd Avenue
Phoenix 602 997 7992
Uptown Arcadia Apartments 325 W. Pasadena Avenue
Phoenix 602 264 2489
Villa Riviera 3040 N Second Street
Phoenix 602 253 0616
Village Square Apartments 14014 N. 32nd Street
Phoenix
602 992 1333
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Blue is back.
This spring, blue is coming on strong in home decor Its in shelter magazines Its on catalog covers. Its being hawked by HGTVs Sabrina Soto in TV ads for Target. Especially hot is a deep, near navy blue. Often used in combination with white, its crisp, classic and oh-so-American.
Dark blue has long been a staple of traditional design, but this time around its sporting some updated pizzazz. Its showing up in classic motifs that have been exaggerated to give them a fresh look, for example, as well as in ethnic patterns and contemporary shapes.
The color has the unusual property of feeling both sporty and formal at the same time, said Mark Woodman, an interior designer and consultant who is president of the Color Marketing Group, a color forecasting organization. Deep blue is associated with the Navy and orderliness, but it also conveys the relaxed attitude of a beach cottage.
Woodman is using the hue in a home hes currently decorating Hes painting it on the walls below a bedroom chair rail and using it as an accent color and a color in fabric prints Hes even considering putting it on a bathroom ceiling.
Lisa Cregan, author of a new book devoted to blue, suspects the renewed popularity of deep blue may be related to the patriotic wave the country is riding, although Cregan believes the association is subconscious.
Tough times also have us craving stress relief, and blue is known for
its calming properties, noted Cregan, who wrote Blue: 350 Inspiring Ways to Decorate with Blue for House Beautiful magazine.
Whats more, deep blue is a color that appeals to both genders It doesnt feel too sweet, and it doesnt feel too masculine, she said.
Maybe its greatest attribute is the way it plays well with other colors, Woodman said.
Dark blue works with yellow, as it also pairs well as the color that falls opposite blue on the color wheel, orange, he said. It goes with deep terra cotta, aubergine and deep red.
Blue always ranks high when people are asked their favorite colors, Woodman said, yet the color waxes and wanes in popularity in the home He said thats because people tend to use grayed-down hues instead of crisp, clean versions of blue. All of a sudden it becomes a little depressing, he said.
While dark blue is a current decorating darling, other blues are popular, too, Cregan said Bright Moroccan blue is part of the current trend toward exotic decor Turquoise is hot, especially when its paired with orange or darker blues.
Cregan thinks blue will continue to nd its way into homes.
People are much braver about putting their own personality out there, she said. Theyre much more likely than in the past to decorate their homes with what they like rather than whats in style.
And what many of them like is blue.
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The next time you go to the vending machine for a bottle of water (costing 6 cents an ounce) or, instead, sip from the drinking fountain (free), you will be taking part in another debate that touches on the fate of humankind.
Because the next time you grab a bottle from a case in the fridge (costing a penny an ounce) or ll a glass from the tap (a penny for 5 gallons) you will be choosing between dollars and cents, essential hydration and environmental waste, and personal health and public health.
Let your wallet be your rst guide, opponents of bottled water say.
The bottled-water industry has really built a market on casting doubt on the quality of tap water, said Kristin Urquiza, director of Think Outside the Bottle, a campaign devised by Corporate Accountability International, a Bostonbased group But more and more people are saying, Wait a minute, bottled water is costing thousands of times more than tap water.
Convenience has its virtues, industry supporters say.
Sometimes its a moment-bymoment choice, where you are in front of the 7-Eleven cooler and you grab a bottle of water because thats all you really want instead of a carbonated beverage, said Tom Luria, spokesman for the International Bottled Water Association That should be applauded by everyone, just because of obesity and heart disease
and other problems that come with excessive calories.
As sales of bottled water took off during the past decade, so did a backlash from environmental and consumer groups that encourage use of reusable bottles.
When sales dropped in 2008 and 2009, the industry blamed the recession, while opponents claimed progress in turning the public against bottled water. Today, sales are back on track, according to Luria But not entirely, said Urquiza, pointing to a continued lag last year in revenue for Nestle Waters North America Inc., the largest US bottler of water and the owner of several brands, including Florida-based Zephyrhills.
The general movement of the consumer is toward healthier refreshments, Hemphill said In that spectrum, we think bottled water is positioned well for growth.
Industry supporters and detractors spar regularly over the effects, good and bad, of bottling water.
Industry supporters note that bottlers have switched to containers made with a third less plastic, reducing them from 18 9 grams or the weight of about four nickels to 12 7 grams.
Industry detractors say the rate of recycling bottles, according to government gures, is a dismal 25 percent. Even Zephyrhills packaging notes fewer than 25 percent of all plastic bottles actually are recycled We need your help.
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Alta Ravenwood
647 W Baseline Road
Tempe 480 619 6135
mark-taylor com/altaravenwood
Apache Station
2323 E Apache Boulevard
Tempe 480 659 2600 apachestation com
Block 1949
1949 E University Drive
Tempe 877.466.4920 block1949 com
Chazal
1075 N Miller Road
Scottsdale 888 303 1697 mark-taylor com/arizona chazal
The Domain at Tempe
1900 E. Apache Boulevard
Tempe 480 966 3300 assetcampushousing.com/ portfolio/domain-at-tempe
Gateway Tempe 1655 E University Drive
Tempe 480 699 5333 gatewayattempe com
The Lofts at Rio Salado 1033 N Parkside Drive
Tempe 602.895.9000 srgcares com
Metropointe Apartments
7017 S Priest Drive
Tempe 480 264 0977 mark-taylorcom/arizona/metropointe
The Palms on Scottsdale 1535 N Scottsdale Road
Tempe 480 699 4200 thepalmsonscottsdale com
San Marbeya
1720 E. Broadway Road
Tempe 480 619 6443 mark-taylor com/sanmarbeya
San Palmilla
750 W Baseline Road
Tempe 480 619 6137
mark-taylor com/sanpalmilla
San Portella
2155 S 55th Street
Tempe 480 619 6464
mark-taylor com/sanportella
Villas on Apache
1111 E Apache Boulevard
Tempe 480.303.7001
villasonapache com
Gas,
Azul at Spectrum
3134 S. Market Street
Gilbert 877 464 8535
mark-taylor com/arizona/ azul-at-spectrum
Borrego at Spectrum
3004 S Market Street
Gilbert 888 626 9770
mark-taylor com/borrego
San Cierra
2400 N Arizona Avenue Chandler 888.514.5991
mark-taylor com/sancierra
Waterstone Apartments
1651 S. Dobson Road Mesa 480.831.6200
thewaterstoneapartments com
Meditation has become increasingly popular, and also increasingly available, to the average consumer.
While anyone who practices meditation on a regular basis can attest to its positive benets, going om may also lessen physical pain and provide other benets.
How and why meditation is so effective in this way has been somewhat of a mystery in the past, but now thanks to modern technology, scientists are beginning to discover the brain changes that occur during meditation and that contribute to its benet.
In fact, theres a new eld of inquiry known as contemplative neuroscience, which is the study of how the brain physically changes when people meditate This area of science has exploded in the past 10 years, especially with the development of functional MRI scans that allow scientists to literally see how brain structure and function change in response to meditation and other interventions. Researchers have found that people who meditate on a regular basis actually develop thicker brains they increase the connections between their brain cells, and they also increase the network of blood vessels in the brain, especially in those areas that help us to focus and pay attention, as well as areas of the brain involved with self-awareness and empathy. Meditation can also lead to a
reduction in the area of the brain that is associated with pain and stress. In other words, we can literally change our brain by what we focus on. And you dont have to be an expert at this in order to benet.
In The Journal of Neuroscience, researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina published a paper showing that meditation reduced pain intensity in a group of adults with no previous meditation experience.
In this study, 15 healthy adults were taught to meditate in four 20-minute classes. Prior to and at the end of the study, the participants underwent a special kind of MRI that measures activity in the part of the brain responsible for the perception of pain.
While they were getting the scans done, a device that produces painful heat was placed on each participants leg for ve minutes At the end of the study, all participants noted a reduction in their pain ratings, some by as much as 93 percent.
The MRI scans also changed at the end of the study meditation reduced activity in the part of the brain that perceives painful stimuli, and it also increased activation of areas that reduce the sensation of pain.
If you have chronic pain, anxiety, or stress in your life, cultivating a daily meditation practice is a great way to enhance your well-being, and it might also reduce your need for medication.
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Apache Station
2323 E Apache Boulevard
Tempe 480 659 2600 apachestation com
The Domain at Tempe
1900 E Apache Boulevard
Tempe 480 966 3300 assetcampushousing com/ portfolio/domain-at-tempe
The Lofts at Rio Salado 1033 N Parkside Drive
Tempe 602 895 9000 srgcares com
Matthew Henson Apartments 840 W Tonto Street
Phoenix 602 252 1522
Taylor Place
120 E. Taylor Street
Phoenix 602 496 6711 asu-taylorplace com
Villas on Apache
1111 E Apache Boulevard
Tempe 480 303 7001 villasonapache com
