Category: Featured

When most people hear the phrase “census data,” they automatically imagine statistics and graphs. Yet City Lab reports that Michigan artist Norwood Viviano has taken a more creative approach by translating urban population data into his glass art.

Viviano has 25 crystalline pieces currently hanging from the ceiling of the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia. Each one represents the population trajectory of an American city, tracing as far back as 400 years ago.

Beginning with 3-D computer models, each glass form was painstakingly hand-blown to ensure the correct proportions.

The length of each piece corresponds to the time since that city was founded, while the width represents the density of the population. Changes in color of the piece indicate some sort of historic shift at the time.

Viewing Viviano’s work against the stark white walls of the museum show some interesting trajectories in city populations.

For example, his New York piece almost resembles a Jellyfish because the population hasn’t stopped increasing since 1850. In contrast, cities like Flint and Detroit, Michigan who have experiences huge boosts and harsh falls in their economy in the past take on a diamond-like shape.

“Glass is this really nice material to talk about the fragility of something,” said Viviano. “The fact that these objects cannot stand on their own becomes almost a metaphor for the shifting nature of the economy, with the need to plan for the future.”

Rather than trying to convey a specific message through his art, Viviano wants viewers to put it into their own context.

According to the Fairfax County Times, overseas, another glass blowing artist is trying to raise awareness about communities with a more public showing of his glass artwork.

Martin Donlin, one of the world’s leading architectural glass artists, created a series of floor-to-ceiling glass panels at the Silver Line’s McLean Metro Station. The process was long and complex, taking Donlin since 2008 to complete it.

Donlin’s boldly colored glass panels are somewhat abstract but are meant to represent the endless variety of the train passengers.

The images also have poems etched into the surface from a number of poets from Virginia, each meant to emanate different moods that relate to the variety of the human condition.

While introducing Donlin at the McLean Project for the Arts (MPA) event to honor his work, Laurent Odde, the new Metro Arts in Transit program manager, said, “See how public art and art in general can bring community together… [and] add enjoyment to going to the station.”

While baby boomers once dominated the housing market, aging Millennials are now taking over as the leaders of first-time home buying, the Memphis Business Journal reports.

Individuals between the ages of 20 and 30 currently make up the majority of home buyers in the United States, as shown by data from the National Association of REALTORS.

“Their buying power is huge,” said Jessica Lautz, NAR’s managing director of survey research.

Specifically, Millennials account for two-thirds of the estimated 618,000 single-family housing starts or newly constructed homes being built. Most Millennials are moving from metropolitan areas to the suburbs when looking for a new home.

Yet the recent increase in multifamily development has led developers to ask the question: when will these renters will officially become buyers? This is the result of student loan debt and slow income growth being major problems for this generation to overcome before moving from renting to buying.

“You have this huge demographic bubble of Millennials, and the big question is are they going to follow traditional generation trends and buy homes after a few years of renting? So far they aren’t, so that big question mark is will it have a big impact on the industry,” said Rick Haughey of the National Multifamily Housing Council.

However, as Haughy’s organization is on the lookout for increasing rents nationwide to drive more people towards buying homes, according to The M Report, a steady rise in rent may be doing just that.

A survey of 750 buyers from Redfin from the first quarter of 2016 found that 25% of home buyers are mainly influenced by a rise in rent, while another 29% blamed personal life events as the cause. The previous quarter, the shares were 21% and 25% respectively.

Unfortunately, a simultaneous rise in home prices has made affordability a concern for 25% of those surveyed, a 1% decrease from 26% in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Another 20% are worried over the availability of new homes as well, with 16% concerned over competition. About 9% had no concerns over buying a home.

Rising mortgage rates also caused unease with 67% of buyers noting mortgage rates as an important or very important factor in their to decision to buy.

Even so, home buyer sentiment remains positive, as 33% of respondents reported they are more inclined to purchase a home this year as compared to 2015. Fully 31% stated feeling urgency to buy before prices or mortgage rates rise significantly.

A Minnesota dentist has recently had his dental license temporarily suspended following the death of one of his patients, a teenage girl, as a result of her wisdom teeth removal.

Dr. Paul Tompach of Edina Oral and Maxillofacial was performing a routine wisdom teeth removal procedure on 17-year-old Sydney Galleger on June 9, 2015, when she began convulsing during the procedure.

According to WGNTV, Tompach was cited by the Minnesota Board of Dentistry for “imminent risk of harm” and for failing to manage a medical emergency for his patient. The Board also cited Tompach for employing a dental assistant who, despite being on-site during the procedure, had never completed the state certification requirements for administering anesthesia to a patient.

Galleger, who would have been a senior graduating from Eden Prairie High School this year, reportedly went into cardiac arrest after the convulsions began. She was taken to the hospital and was pronounced dead on June 15.

It should be noted that wisdom teeth removals aren’t typically considered to be dangerous procedures. Something like a dental implant procedure, which is even more invasive in some cases, has a success rate of 98%. The most common problem that patients face after a wisdom tooth removal is “dry socket,” but it has become so common that dentists can easily diagnose and treat it.

Convulsions and subsequent cardiac arrest simply aren’t commonplace during a routine wisdom teeth removal, and as the Star Tribune reported, the effects of this event were nothing short of devastating.

Galleger was an active athlete and was generally in good health, but her family stated that she had a slight heart abnormality and had signs of a viral infection on her brain. Although these conditions weren’t expected to cause cardiac arrest on their own, it seems that the slightest mistake in an anesthesia dosage could have done the trick.

Tompach has a strong history of practicing dentistry as well as cosmetic procedures. Nevertheless, the Board will be reviewing the case in detail in the coming weeks to determine if Tompach’s license should be revoked entirely.

San Francisco continues to prove itself as one of the least affordable cities in the country for the middle class and any individuals falling below that line. In early December, the San Francisco Federal Credit Union’s newest offering went live on their site. Called the “POPPYLOAN” (Proud Ownership Purchase Program for You), this loan is not for everyone — rather, it’s only right for people who can afford a monthly mortgage payment on a $2 million house.

Naturally, this excludes a great deal of people.

“We have programs to help low-income people, but for the vast majority of young professionals, there is no hope or no help for this middle-class band in San Francisco,” said Rebecca Reynolds Lytle, San Francisco Federal Credit Union’s senior vice president and chief lending officer. Currently, the credit union has 34,000 members.

In order to qualify for the loan, the borrows must have a job in either San Francisco or San Mateo County, and must be utilized for purchasing a primary residence.

Under its stipulations, it cannot be used for refinancing. Unlike other housing loans, there is no mortgage payment required. It is a 5/5 adjustable rate offering — this means it can only be adjusted every five years, unlike most that change annually.

Over the past decade or so, real estate in San Francisco has skyrocketed. According to cnbc.com, the median home price in San Francisco was $1.1 million, an 11% increase from just one year prior. Additionally, it is around five times the median of national value.

“What we would pay here for a down payment you could take to another market and pay cash for a house,” Lytle added.

But again, these loans are not for just anyone. Larger banks in the area have a larger and more diverse customer base, and offer products catered to lower-income demographics. There are also lending options, such as FHA K loans, that offer down payments as low as 3.5%.

Yet many San Franciscans would argue with the notion that their city has become largely unaffordable. In a recent San Francisco Examiner article, Peter Cohen and Fernando Marti argue that the city is experiencing the most massive urban construction era since the urban renewal. To boot, more than half of what is being built should be “affordable housing to keep up with job growth.”

They add, “According to the San Francisco General Plan Housing Element, about 4,100 total homes should be constructed annually to fully meet The City’s growing population needs at all income levels. Of that total, 57 percent of new homes (about 2,330 units per year) should be affordable to low- and moderate-income San Franciscans (aka, below market-rate).”

So whether you’re jonesing for a $2 million mortgage for a lender’s loan, or are seeking affordable housing, it seems there’s something for everyone popping up in San Francisco.

Austrian authorities are still investigating a disturbing incident in which an elderly man murdered his wife and drowned himself using her remains.

According to DW.com, police believe a 72-year-old man had strangled and beheaded his 71-year-old wife before encasing her head in concrete and using it as a weight to drown himself.

The husband’s remains, along with the concrete block, were found outside of Gmunden, Austria in Traunsee Lake on Monday. Local residents found most of the wife’s dismembered body in a suitcase.

After citizens reported the woman’s remains to authorities, a police dive was organized to search for her missing head. The head of the woman, encased in cement, was found tethered to her husband’s arm.

A coroner said that the woman likely died between Christmas and New Year’s Day. The incident is believed to be a murder-suicide because the man’s body displayed no signs of violence or struggle.

Several Austrian media outlets have reported that the couple is from Frankfurt, Germany. However, police are still gathering more details before releasing such information to the public.

About one in five people who die from drowning are children 14 and younger, but this gruesome incident is one of several recent tragedies in the water that resulted in the death of an elderly person.

According to The Telegraph, an English man in his 70s drowned on New Year’s Day when he tried to retrieve a ball, which had floated out to sea, for the family dog.

A 50-year-old woman had waded through the crashing waves of Cornish cove to get her dog’s favorite ball when her mother’s elderly partner decided to help. The woman survived, but the man drowned after he could no longer stay afloat.

As for the couple in Austria, police have yet to establish a motive for the crime.