The End of Food

From Grist:

Food production is rapidly emerging as a key geopolitical issue. As food prices rise along with oil futures and climate change looks set to disrupt global agriculture patterns, we can expect more of the same. Indeed, hardheaded investors -- the kind who made a killing earlier this decade snapping up oil futures -- are increasingly playing the food-as-geopolitics angle. "Big private investors are starting to make bolder and longer-term bets that the world's need for food will greatly increase -- by buying farmland, fertilizer, grain elevators and shipping equipment," The New York Times recently reported.

If food is the new oil, then we're lucky that the ace geopolitical reporter Paul Roberts has turned his attention to the dinner table. His 2004 book The End of Oil crystallized the perils surrounding humanity's reliance on fossil energy.

Now he's attempted a similar feat with our globe-spanning industrial food system. His new book The End of Food is the kind of work you wish policy makers and presidential candidates were grappling with, but you're pretty sure they're not. It also deserves to be read by food-justice activists, locavores, and other critics of industrial food.

Arabs Investing in Foreclosured U.S. Homes

From The NY Post:

Poor Little Rich Town

It's getting tough for any town council to balance the budget these days. The usual culprit is a lack of strong ratables or loss of state aid. But who can East Hampton blame?
With perhaps more taxpaying billionaires than any medium sized town, having to plead poverty as hard to explain as The Montauk Monster. The Huffington Post has the details and an extended forum of shadenfroid on their predicament.

Pole Stars

We never cold resist an interesting chart. This one, by astrologer Phillip Sedgwick, predicts the future for 2 newsworthy presidential candidates based solely on the stars. For the record, both share my August birth month. Two of us are Leos -- the other a Virgo.

National Night Out

Photos from Mountain Ave. and Garner Ave. in Bloomfield.

This Time Bloomfield Means Business...maybe

For over a decade now, a long line of Bloomfield's town fathers -- and their sons -- have been finalizing plans to rehabilitate and rejuvenate a fading downtown.

Several months after brainstorming sessions with residents and urban planners, Tuesday's special Planning Board meeting [7pm in the Town Council Room] will give the public an extended look at the Newwork's radically revised plan for the town -- including some environmental innovations:

As momentum around ‘green building’ grows both locally and nationally, Bloomfield has the unique ability to be a leader in this movement. With environmental challenges
facing the entire country the ones that are particulerly acute in Bloomfield are Congestion, Air Quality, Flooding and Water Quality and Energy Costs.
The approach for Bloomfield will be to follow New Jersey’s Smart Growth strategies as the basis of the redevelopment plan...to take full advantage of the existing sustainable features of the redevelopment area including solar panels.

This time around, Eminent Domain will not be an issue. The public can download the complete "Vision Plan" and find updates on the planning process here.

Four Day Week Planned for Cash Strapped Schools

From Reuters:

Facing a crippling increase in fuel costs, some rural U.S. schools are mulling a solution born of the '70s oil crisis: a four-day week.

Cutting out one day of school has been the key to preserving educational programs and staff in parts of Kentucky, New Mexico and Minnesota, outweighing some parents' concerns about finding day-care for the day off....

About 100 predominately rural schools in as many as 16 states have already moved to a four-day school week, many to save money on transportation, heating and cooling.

Webster County School District in Kentucky switched to a four-day week four years ago under economic duress -- a state budget crisis left the school in limbo, leaving the district with the option of dropping school days or cutting staff and programs.

The district ended up saving tens of thousands of dollars in fuel and energy costs, helping to cut total costs by 3.5 to 4 percent, said James Kemp, the superintendent of the Webster County School District. The shortened week at Webster also brought unexpected benefits such as improved attendance and a boost in student performance.

"If we were to go back to a five-day week, the school board and I would be run out of town," Kemp said.

Something for Nearly Everyone in Housing Bill

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed H.R. 3221, the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008. The bill includes a temporary, $7,500 first-time home buyer tax credit which many believe will jump start the housing market and bring buyers off the sidelines. The Senate is expected to approve the bill with minor changes and President Bush has agreed to sign it.

Besides saving troubled homeowners from foreclosure and stabilizing property values, there are long and short term benefits for most homeowners.

Today's NY Times has a simplified breakdown of the bill's benefits -- and limitations. The tax break applies for homeowners who purchase between April 9, 2008 and July 1, 2009.

.... there is no shame in taking advantage of what is offered. In fact, you would be foolish not to...[NYT].

Rates on the Rise

30 year rates are up to 6.42%

Time to Go?

With taxes in many NJ towns reaching a tipping point, many voices can be heard on local forums declaring that the time has come to set sail and move on...but where to? If you live in Montclair, it might be Bloomfield.
But Bloomfielders just got their 11%(estimated) hike and are ready to move further from NY. Folks in Maplewood have been engaged in a marathon web discussion on the viablity of mobility in this economy. Ten days later, the thread has evolved into a discussion of what could be cut to keep residents in place.

How Fannie Slip Can Impact Home Buyers and ReFi

From Today's NY Times:

Over the longer term, a dysfunctional Freddie and Fannie could send mortgage rates higher than they would have been otherwise, relative to key market rates like Treasury securities.

For now, if you’re considering buying a house or refinancing a mortgage, and that rate rise is enough to make a difference, then maybe the deal is not affordable. “If someone is so tight that a quarter point kills a deal, they probably ought to be rethinking what they’re doing,” says Bert Ely, a banking consultant in Alexandria, Va.

For mortgage shoppers comfortable with loans at today’s prices, now is the time to lock in, or guarantee, an interest rate with the lender, which can effectively set the rate over the life of a fixed-rate loan. Given the current uncertainty, there’s always the possibility that lenders will be less willing to offer rate locks in the coming weeks.

Bloomfield's Paint by Numbers Home Price Map

As we promised last month, we're working our way west with the Star Ledger's handy "by the numbers" home sale maps of towns in our area. Although the closing sales prices may have changed since it was updated last year, the neighborhood relationships are basically the same. (Click on image to enlarge)

Slow Burn in the Golden State

There is still no light at the end of the tunnel for fire-besieged Northern California. According to reports, there are still over 1,000 wildfires burning in the region with little hope for improvement in the near future. This NASA photo was taken June 24th. Over 1,400 square kilometers of land have already been burnt, and there are more than 19,000 firefighters on hand, many from around the country.
(Click on photo to enlarge)

Parading in Montclair on The Fourth

Over 65? How to Freeze Your Property Taxes!

This is the month that most of us get hit with our annual property tax bump. One of NJ's best kept secrets is designed to keep long time homeowners from being forced to move by rising taxes. If you qualify, you simply need to fill out a form available here. The main prerequisite is to have lived in your home for at least 10 years, but there are also income requirements.

Turning Trash Into Gold

From NorthJersey.com:

Garbage is good for business. That's Tom Szaky's mantra. He took his start-up company from $70,000 in sales to more than $8 million in four years, all because of garbage.

Garbage, says Szaky, chief executive officer of TerraCycle Inc. in Trenton, is the perfect raw material for the 21st century. "Garbage has really cool economics," says the 26-year-old Princeton-dropout-turned-entrepreneur, "because you can get paid to collect it, or get it very cheap. You're eliminating a big problem, and then you can make a consumer product out of it on the other end."

TerraCycle sells organic fertilizer and plant food made from worm excrement produced by composting food garbage; office supplies made from recycled cardboard and plastics; and pencil cases, purses and tote bags made from used drink pouches and energy bar wrappers.

New Jersey has long been a stronghold for scavenger businesses, with a high number of companies that take scrap metal, construction debris, and even cooking grease and turn them into products that can be resold.

The state has roughly 27,000 people employed in recycling, said Guy Watson, chief of the bureau of recycling and planning for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Most of those workers "are in the private sector," Watson said, "involved in either collection, or processing, or end-use manufacturing of products."

A "recycling eco-park" with a facility that will recycle food waste into fertilizer, and an asphalt and recycling plant, are set to open in Woodbridge.
Demand for raw materials, mostly driven by China, Watson said, has resulted in "historic high prices for most paper grades, for plastics, for aluminum."

Glenn Prickett, executive director of Conservation International's Center for Environmental Leadership in Business, based in Arlington, Va., said TerraCycle seems to be doing something unique in the recycling industry by turning previously non-recyclable items, such as aluminum drink pouches, into consumer products. "In terms of the consumer product market, it sounds pretty innovative," he said.

In 2006, Inc. magazine named TerraCycle "The Coolest Little Start-up in America" and featured Szaky in a cover story.
The company's best-selling product so far is the one that launched TerraCycle - a liquid plant fertilizer "brewed" from worm poop - castings produced by worms as they munch on compost.

Szaky, who was born in Hungary and grew up in Toronto, introduced TerraCycle in 2001 with a fellow Princeton student after visiting Canadian friends in Montreal.

He was impressed by the size of the marijuana plants they were growing. He learned that the secret was a fertilizer made by soaking worm castings, or excrement, from the compost pile in warm water. Back at Princeton, he convinced the university to give him space for composting and food scraps from the dining halls and he began experimenting with fertilizer formulas.

Rethinking the Market for New Condos

Interesting Baristanet Thread discussing proposed townhouse development on Montclair's Georgian Inn site.The final comment by James Matarazzo Jr. sums up the current market:

Town officials can't rely on these builders' reports that things are unsound. They should be crossed checked. Secondly, most builder's realize the townhouse market is stone cold, why even go that route? The big developers have cut back on the townhouse developments, some have even tried to sell their proposed townhouse developments to other builders. Traditionally Townhouses developments were marketed for people who downsized to a less expensive property as well as a lower tax bill, or someone who didn't want to handle the maintenance. In today's present real estate market it's not practical from a financial sense for a buyer to purchase these types of units as taxes are just as high as local housing, if not more in some local towns. It does not make sense from a practical point other than the builder maximizing their profit and the town acquiring more ratables.

Tree Vigil on Broughton

Howard Falk is the co-founder and president of Bloomfield and Montclair's newest and largest environmentally conscious Brookdale Park Conservancy. Although Falk lives literally a twig's throw from the park, he can hardly be characterized as a NYMBY type since he also founded the 5 1/2 year old anti-war Bloomfield Peace Vigil. When his Broughton St. neighbor, Jane Calif, sounded the alert regarding the imminent destruction of one of the neighborhood's oldest trees for the expansion of a driveway, Falk was one of the first on the scene joining 8 other neighbors in a vigil that has temporarily led the tree whackers to postpone the deed.

Eco Nightclub Has Boogie-Power

According to Environmental Graffiti:
A nightclub opening early next month in England is going to save the future — but only if you boogie as hard as you can on their energy-absorbing dance floor. The floor is made from a flexible material that bends as people pound it with their dancing feet. As you can see in this image, the dancing squashes special blocks under the floor that convert motion into into energy that powers the club's lighting and sound system. So maybe Emma Goldman was right about how revolutions should always include dancing?

You can get in for free if you can prove you walked or bicycled to the club. Otherwise it's 20 bucks.

"Sinkholes Can Be Human Induced"

Can the Ghosts of Scientific Glass be blamed?
From the USGS website:

Sinkholes are common where the rock below the land surface is limestone, carbonate rock, salt beds, or rocks that can naturally be dissolved by ground water circulating through them. As the rock dissolves, spaces and caverns develop underground. Sinkholes are dramatic because the land usually stays intact for a while until the underground spaces just get too big. If there is not enough support for the land above the spaces then a sudden collapse of the land surface can occur. These collapses can be small, as this picture shows, or they can be huge and can occur where a house or road is on top.

Sinkholes can be human-induced

New sinkholes have been correlated to land-use practices, especially from ground-water pumping and from construction and development practices. Sinkholes can also form when natural water-drainage patterns are changed and new water-diversion systems are developed. Some sinkholes form when the land surface is changed, such as when industrial and runoff-storage ponds are created. The substantial weight of the new material can trigger an underground collapse of supporting material, thus causing a sinkhole.

The overburden sediments that cover buried cavities in the aquifer systems are delicately balanced by ground-water fluid pressure. The water below ground is actually helping to keep the surface soil in place. [click on graphic to enlarge]

Is Sinkhole Snagging Liongate Development?

When we last heard Arthur Fefferman describe his plans for a November 2007 groundbreaking of “Fairways at Brookdale”, the first block of the 104 townhouse development was expected to be well under construction by now. At prices in the 800k range Mayor Raymond McCarthy spoke glowingly of new tax revenues for the township. Sometime last fall, a resident of the adjacent Greenbrook Townhouses happened to be watching a ditchdigger clearing a section of the property when it began to disappear an a pile of soggy muck. The digger and it’s operator were quickly pulled out and the site was roped off with red tape.
That was 8 months ago and there has been no noticable activity on the site since -- except for the slow silent expansion of Bloomfield’s newest lake. It appears to be about 30 feet wide by 80 feet long and about 10 feet deep—big enough to swallow one of the larger two families on neighboring Lakewood Terrace. Even closer are the townhouses of the Greenbrook complex -- about 50 feet from the edge of the hole.[click on picture to enlarge]

Atlas of Changing Environment

Brought to you by the magic of Google Earth/Maps and the UN: the United Nations Environmental Program's (UNEP) stunning world atlas of the changing environment. The interactive atlas allows you to toggle through a dizzying array of satellite images and ground photos showing the impacts of anthropogenic activities and climate change on the global environment over the last 3 decades.

The Google Maps interface is very intuitive and lets you zero in on specific cities, countries, natural monuments and geological formations (among others).

The Perfect Storm?

Tonight's big storm seemed like a metaphor for the recent turning of a corner in the real estate market. From the Star Ledger:

Could the tide finally be turning?
Two new snapshots of the New Jersey housing market seem to suggest the worst of the decline may be over.

A report by East Brunswick-based research firm Otteau Valuation Group shows April home sales increased from the March level -- the first time that has happened since 2005 -- in what may be a sign market has bottomed out.

At the same time, a report released by the Mortgage Bankers Association yesterday showed although home foreclosures and late payments continued to set records across the country during the first three months of the year, fewer New Jerseyans were falling behind on their mortgages and losing their homes. "There are a growing number of indicators which suggest the housing market is no longer worsening," said Jeffrey Otteau, president of the Otteau Valuation Group.

In April, New Jersey sales contract activity grew for the fourth consecutive month, and recorded a 9.3 percent jump above the March level, Otteau said. By comparison, sales activity declined from March to April in both 2006 and 2007, he said.

Another positive development: The pile of unsold homes for sale is not rising as fast as it once was.

Green TV Is Here!

Last night marked the screen debut of Planet Green TV, the first and only 24-hour eco-lifestyle television network. Now you can enjoy the freshest, ecoist shows on TV. From gear to gourmet, renovation to innovation, find out what's cool, what's hot and what's next. For more ways to make your world more beautiful, watch Planet Green. It can be found locally on Comcast(113), Fios(144), and satellite. For those like me still using rabbit ear antennas, video clips can be streamed here.

NJ Home Snap Stats

From Trulia.com:

Average Listing Price:
(week ending May 21) $356,256 -0.1% (prior month)
Median Sales Price:
(quarter ending Oct '06) $342,000 -2.8% (prior quarter)
Average Price/Sqft:
(quarter ending Nov '06) $ 169 -8.2% (prior quarter)

How to Move In To Your Dream House for $200

Owners Sharon and Ray Sinclair, tried selling their upscale home in Yachats, Oregon for over ahttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif year and a half with no success. They tried the conventional methods of listing with realtors, listing on the Internet, FSBO (For Sale By Owner) and holding open house 5 days a week. Nothing worked as the real estate market slump of 2007 spread to Oregon.

After showing the house to hundreds of people who loved it but could not afford the 600K price, Ray sought a more creative method to put some of these potential owners in this house. The result was an essay contest with the theme, “I/We want to win this house because…” in 100 words or less -- accompanied by a $200.00 entry fee. The contest started on January 2, 2008 and will close on June 30. The rules and forms for entry are available on their web site. Only 3000 entries will be accepted.
In addition to the first prize of the house; second prize is $5,000, third $3,500 and fourth is $1,500. More details are on the web site, “www.win-this-home.com”.

Sinclair states that should the contest fail to draw the required number of entries all entry fees will be refunded. Nearly 2200 entries have been received to date.

An Earth Burp From Methane Gases?

An abrupt release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, from ice sheets that extended to Earth's low latitudes some 635 million years ago caused a dramatic shift in climate, scientists funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) report in this week's issue of the journal Nature.

The shift triggered events that resulted in global warming and an ending of the last "snowball" ice age.

To Buy or Rent -- That is the Question

Today's NY Times includes an interactive calculator to help decision makers resolve one of life's biggest quandaries. If you're currently renting, the rate of rent increase is easier to estimate than the homeowners potential appreciation.

Vote Early and Vote Often!

You don't have to wait for our local primary on June 2 to vote here! We're late comers in the running for best Real Estate blog in the U.S.
Early birds are more than welcome in this poll. Just click on the blue & white thumb on the right. The voting ends on June 1.

Memorial Day -- Bloomfield

Super Charged

With gas prices going through the roof, you can't deny the allure of a zero emission vehicle. We’re always excited to see more sustainable transportation options for consumers, especially when they go from concept to completely available. The TRIAC is the latest in a fleet of rechargables designed by Green Vehicles, is a three wheeled highway capable plug-in electric vehicle that is ready to achieve up to 80mph on the open road. This fun, fast, eco-friendly ride is set to go on sale in time for summer road trips!

Home Prices Jump in Montclair

Montclair seems to be defying both state and national drops in home prices.
According to first quarter stats from city-data.com. The Bloomfield chart is more typical of the NJ market. The lower number of sales for each suggest incomplete numbers. It would only take a few Mega-mansions in Montclair to skew the stats.(Click on graphic to enlarge)

NJ Home Sales Up 4 Percent

Sales volume of existing single-family homes, condominiums and co-ops in the first quarter of 2008 increased 4 percent from the same period last year, indicating New Jersey continues to defy national real estate trends. According to statistics released by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR) on May 13, New Jersey's seasonally adjusted annual rate of home sales equaled 169,600.

If you're looking for a great home in the Bloomfield/Nutley area, drop in to my Open House Sunday August 17, from 1 pm to 4 pm, at 186 Sadler Rd(Off E. Passaic near the Nutley line). For more info call me at 917-370-6400.

From Toilet to Tap: LA Plans to Recycling Sewerage

From The LA Times:
With vital and often-distant water sources shrinking, Los Angeles officials will revive a controversial proposal to recycle wastewater as part of a plan to curb usage and move the city toward greater water independence.

Vote Wherever

Tomorrow is election day in many NNJ towns, but this E. Passaic Ave sign caught our eye because:

1) It photo layout blends in with nearby Realtor's "for sale" yard signs?

2) It wasn't surrounded by dozens of other candidate signs?

3) It brought nostalgic memories for Bloomfield's ex-town manager who was nudged out of his job for spending too much time at his Nutley post.

4) He's become a magnet for controversy for pressuring town employees to help out on the NJO forums.

5) The signs are in Bloomfield. He's running in Nutley.



Answer: 5

NJ Real Estate at a Glance

The first step in buying a home is determining how much home you can afford.
Then you can look in towns and neighborhoods that have the most appealing homes in your price range.
The NJ Star Ledger "By the Numbers" web site can facilitate the search. with neighborhood breakdowns like this one from Clifton.(Click on picture to enlarge)
In the next few weeks we'll link to more local economic maps.

First $2-Billion Home Going Up

Forbes reports that the world’s largest and most expensive home will be completed in January.The 27-story skyscraper in downtown Mumbai, India, will be the residence of Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita. Ambani, head of Mumbai-based petrochemical company Reliance Industries, is the fifth richest man in the world.

The couple who have three children, are custom designing their $2 billion property with help from architecture firms Perkins + Will and Hirsch Bedner Assoc., based in Dallas and Los Angeles respectively.

The home will have 400,000 square feet of interior space, nine elevators, a ballroom and a section for security guards and assistants to relax.
There will also be an ice room where residents and guests can escape the Mumbai heat and be dusted by man-made snow flurries. The Ambani home as already been declared to be one of the five towers that define the 21st Century.

Stumbling Through the Forest With Tiki

For a couple of years now,our all-time favorite web-surfing tool has been stumbleupon.com. Whatever your interests on the web, stumblers can help expand your Favorites list.
Every day millions of StumbleUpon users discover great web sites and give them a "Thumbs-up". Starting this Earth Day, they want to harness the power of their community and the "Thumbs-up" to plant trees for the National Forest Foundation.
Just as we recently found with freerice.com, these sites make it easy to have fun for a good cause.

Simply use the StumbleUpon toolbar to thumbs-up this page and, from now through May 2, with every thumbs-up StumbleUpon will plant a tree with help from the National Forest Foundation. Your thumbs-up means more trees for America's National Forests and more visibility for this cause. Give a "Thumbs-Up for Trees" and spread the word!
Want to do more? Spend a weekend with Tiki Barber.

30-Year Rates Jump to 6.0

Freddie Mac reports a bump in the 30-year fixed mortgage rate to 6.03 percent during the week ended April 24, up from 5.88 percent from last week. This is the first time in six weeks that mortgage rates have gone above 6 percent. The 15-year fixed mortgage rate also moved up during the same period to 5.62 percent from 5.40 percent.
Economists attribute the gains to heightened inflationary concerns