After spending a few hours last night organizing and planning, I slept for five hours. Planning for the last day of the trip, I felt that I should plan at least one fun activity in addition to the 7 hour drive back to Los Angeles.
A brief search on Trip Advisor led me to decide on Tom’s Thumb Trail, a 4-mile hike through Joshua Tree-like rock formations on the outskirts of Scottsdale. I arrived at the trailhead at 6:15AM and quickly hiked with the hopes of completing the entire hike before the summer heat became too uncomfortable. Fortunately, it was a cloudy day and I was able to complete the hike at around 8AM, which made the heat and sun a non-factor.
Almost the entire trail provided scenic views of the mostly unbuilt valley with the scarcely populated outskirts of the Phoenix Metro area. The absence of the sun also helped provide a raw grey/blue view of the landscape without the reflection of the sun. The hike climbed from the trailhead to several large rock formations, which are frequented by rock climbers, although I can’t imagine the discomfort from just spending the day hanging out in the scorching desert heat.
Leaving Scottsdale and heading toward LA, I passed through several high-end areas where there were newly-constructed, beautiful car dealerships as wells as under-construction high-end multifamily, and other construction. The finishes of these buildings are very high-end and I wouldn’t be surprised if total construction and land costs for the multi-family properties are over $150/SF. The aerial below shows the car dealership/condominium area which is North Scottsdale. The demographics in this area most-likely over $100,000/year of average household income. There will probably continue to be much more new construction in this area in the short-term future.
On the way back, I passed by Brawley, the Salton Sea, and the greater Los Angeles area. As I neared home the odometer reached 10,000 miles. I’m extremely satisfied with the incredible experiences of the road trip and am looking to use the experiences to motivate/energize me to be more productive, experienced, and satisfied.
As I drove through my local neighborhood, I realized how un-cultured, cookie-cutter, and boring the Westwood area “west of the 405” is. The main roads are lined with 1-2 story boring retail shops housing un-passionate/un-inspiring mom and pop stores and the same old franchise stores. The streets were filled with traffic, workers on the never-ending “hamster wheel”, and weathered concrete and asphalt as far as I could see.
This morning I left Albuquerque at around 6:30 AM and began driving toward Flagstaff, AZ. About midway to Flagstaff, I noticed a freeway sign referring to the upcoming Petrified Forest NATIONAL PARK. National parks have a reputation that has been good until now, so I thought it’d be worth stopping by. This intended brief detour eventually turned into a 2-hour long detour including a one-hour drive through the work and several brief hikes and attractions along the way.
The first major stop was newspaper rock, a lookout point where petroglyths can be seen from about 50 feet away. If it weren’t for the national park ranger I wouldn’t have even been able to locate the petroglyths which were barely visible from the lookout point. The ranger suggested that I backtrack a few miles to Rio Puerco where I can have an up-close look at petroglyths.
Dating back to a thousand years ago, the preservation of these original writings/drawings are unimaginable. These writings aren’t “ink on paper” that have been stored in air-tight boxes in museums. The drawings were etched into the red-oxidized surface of the rocks over a thousand years ago, and have since been exposed to sun, rain, wind, and all other forms of weathering.
Like nowadays, these people etched petroglyths in order to either record their observations, communicate with people who came across the location after them, or some other reason. It’s amazing to see how much humanity has progressed in the past thousand years. Actually, I’m not sure about that. Philosophers and scholars have been writing much more profound symbols, documents, and ideas for over 2,000 years. It’s interesting that in Europe people were writing the bible, for example, using a language containing 26 letters and relaying profound thoughts, while these inhabitants in Arizona were at best, just drawing stick figures of the world around them. One community was thousands of years ahead of the other in terms of sophistication, technology, and philosophy.
The Crystal Forest is the site of ancient forest, where some of the old trees were covered in sediment and preserved for thousands (or millions of years) until they turned into minerals which still retained the detailed form of a tree. According to Geology.com, “Petrified wood is a fossil. It forms when plant material is buried by sediment and protected from decay by oxygen and organisms. Then, groundwater rich in dissolved solids flows through the sediment replacing the original plant material with silica, calcite, pyrite or another inorganic material such as opal.”
After driving toward Holbrook, I noticed a petrified wood superstore. The approximately 10-acre lot size of the business was completely covered in Petrified Wood. The business, Jim Gray’s Petrified Wood Co (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g31244-d2368230-Reviews-Jim_Gray_s_Petrified_Wood_Co-Holbrook_Arizona.html), probably owns a large amount of the petrified wood in the Holbrook area and seems to be taking advantage of his monopoly.
Large pieces of petrified wood are being sold for THOUSANDS of dollars, and more complex designs such as a coffee table are asking $14,000. The prices seem unreasonably high, but I guess these rocks are rare and there is a limited supply, so all the power to them. If they can convince people about the value of petrified wood, they are excellent marketers and deserve the millions of dollars they will probably earn from the acres of petrified wood stored in the storage yard.
Next, I visited Walnut Canyon National Monument, a unique attraction I’m glad I got to see. This beautiful canyon was inhabited by cave (more accurately overhangs) dwellers who built their homes using the eroded limestone overhangs which provided protection from the heat in the summer and cold in the winter.
The 3/4 mile loop hike sharply descended into the canyon and continued to loop around the level of the canyon where most of the “overhang dwellings” were constructed. It seems like this area in Northern Arizona of a few-hundred square miles was heavily populated from as far back as a few thousand years ago by small communities of simple dwellers.
Next, I visited another National Monument in the area, Sunset Volcano National Monument. Like many other volcanic areas, the immediate area of the volcano is completely covered by dark-colored volcanic remains. I hiked several trails in the area, and then drove toward Scottsdale, AZ.
On the way to Scottsdale, I stopped by Camp Verde to visit the CVS-anchored shopping center which I was pursuing several months ago. I think this center provides an excellent value and strong upside through marketing the shopping center as several separate properties. Also, in the case that Walmart decided to open a Supercenter in Camp Verde, we would have at least a few years to unload the property to an investor. Still, I think the risk is too high, because we need to assume forever hold periods when analyzing properties. We can’t rely on dumping a property to a unsophisticated investor upon the announcement of a Walmart Supercenter. It’s unethical, unreliable, and too risky. This center will be hit very hard if a Supercenter opens. Therefore, this is too high-risk and not worth pursuing.
This morning, I left Dallas at around 5:30 AM to get an early start for the 10-hour day of driving ahead of me. Getting an early start makes the driving go by much faster because the first few hours don’t feel like its day yet. When I get an early start, there are more productive hours to the day because I feel like I got a head start and therefore feel motivated and confident to continue being productive.
A few hours into the drive, I stopped at John Sisemore’s Traveland in Amarillo, TX (http://www.sisemoretraveland.com/). Traveland is an RV sales dealership, RV service center, and RV museum. The museum is rated highly on Trip Advisor and since it’s free I decided to stop by and take a quick look.
After noticing that this was an RV dealership and repair center, I thought about the genius marketing plan of creating a museum behind a dealership in order to increase traffic. After visiting a museum with such awesome RV’s, visitors can’t help but draw positive connections with that dealership, reduce the common paranoia that comes from visiting dealerships, and possibly even stroll around the new RV’s and gain a deeper appreciation for them.
The secretary escorted me to a metal building behind the main building which houses many historical RV’s of all kinds. In the museum, there were restored RV’s from as early as the 1930s. The one common thread throughout all the RV’s is the compact, social interior layout that unquestionably leads to quality family time and paving the way for an unforgettable road trip.
Similar to Bicycle Heaven and Book Loft, the RV museum was a display of whole-hearted passion for the RV lifestyle and it’s history. In 1974, Jack Sisemore, built his small RV rental company on the original site of the car dealership, because of his love for RV’s, while not being able to afford one. Over the span of 40 years, Jack’s small leasing company became a large company fully utilizing six acres of land.
Afterwards, I drove an additional few hours to Albuquerque, NM. After realizing how uneventful Albuquerque, I decided to hike the La Luz Trail (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60933-d559827-Reviews-La_Luz_Trail-Albuquerque_New_Mexico.html) The La Luz Trail begins at 6500’ and climbs over 4,000 ft in about nine miles. The trail has many similarities to Cactus to Clouds: Desert terrain, changing elevation landscapes during the hike, beautiful view of the city for most of the hike, and the aerial tramway/restaurant located at the top (enabling a one-way hike). Initially, I was worried that 4 hours wouldn’t be enough to complete the hike before the 9pm tram deadline, however I arrived at around 8:20 PM and realized that the trams heading downward run until 10pm or 11pm. This hike showed that the quality of attractions/activities is much more important than quantity. I probably could have visited several mediocre attractions but I’m glad I eventually decided on hiking the La Luz Trail.
Today, I left Houston at around 5:30 AM and started the three-hour drive to San Antonio. Arriving in San Antonio at around 9AM, my first stop was the Alamo. The Alamo, mission built in 1744 is the location of the famous Battle of the Alamo, which occurred on March 6, 1836. During the Texas Revolution, the Texan Army was using the mission as a defense fortress against the Mexican Army, but after a few months during the Battle of the Alamo, the Mexican Army wiped out the Texan troops, which were inside the Alamo. The Alamo has come to be a memorial for the Texans who courageously fought for their freedom.
Across the street from the Alamo, steps lead down to as beautiful river-walk. The river walk (also a flood protection system) is an example for all other river walks to aspire for. Along both sides of the river, upscale hotels, restaurants, condominiums, and public parks all combine to provide a gorgeous area even at the slow hour of 9AM when I was visiting.
Afterwards, I visited The Shops at La Cantera, an impressive outdoor shopping mall or “mini city” owned by General Growth Partners. The shopping complex provides hundreds of stores with beautiful common areas, nicely complemented by public seating areas, extravagant building facades, and no-expense-spared landscaping design. When compared to the Grove, this mall isn’t too exciting but it’s still a well-designed mall and quite an accomplishment, which many visitors seem to agree with given it’s 5-star review on trip advisor. The fact that a mall can achieve a five star review on trip advisor is a confirmation of the stability of regional shopping malls because of their roles as entertainment/tourist destinations (in this case, the highest rated “attraction” in the city).
Afterwards, I drove one hour to Austin, TX where I visited Barton Springs Pool (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g30196-d116421-Reviews-Barton_Springs_Pool-Austin_Texas.html), one of the highest rated attractions in Austin, TX. Barton Springs Pool is described as “the soul of Austin” and is obviously a very special place for locals and I can definitely see why. The park is a place for family/friends to gather and just hang out for the day while cooling off from the scorching summer heat and humidity. After a 10-minute dip in the pool/river, I was refreshed and energized and I’m definitely glad I visited.
Next, I drove three additional hours to Dallas, TX, visiting Highland Park Village. Highland Park Village is an outdoor shopping area built in 1931, and was the first self-contained shopping center in America, thereby leading to it’s designation as a National Historical Landmark (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Park_Village). The center is located in the Highland Park neighborhood, one of the most affluent neighborhoods in Dallas, with custom homes ranging from $5MM to $20MM. The 200,000 SF mall on 10 acres was acquired by the current owners for $170 million in 2009, and functions as probably one of the highest-end retail areas in Texas, home to tenants such as Christian Dior, Tom Ford, Brunello Cuchinelli, etc. Rents in the shopping center are only $125/SF/Year, well below the market rents in other high-end retail areas such as Rodeo Drive and Fifth Avenue, thereby providing significant rental upside to the owners. This property is an EXCELLENT real estate investment because of it’s stability, excellent location, excellent entertainment/tourist destination traffic, and intrinsic land value, and rental upside.
Some homes available for the sale in the area are as follows:
I spend the next couple of hours riding the trolley and walking through the uptown and down districts, followed by a few hours of planning/writing in Starbucks. After reading a WSJ article about how to plan a vacation, one tip that applied to my situation was the importance of ending a trip on a high note. Over the next day or two, I plan of making the most of my time in Albuquerque by hiking the La Luz Trail and enjoying this wonderful road trip opportunity!
This morning I woke up rejuvenated after sleeping eight hours. The night before I stayed with an AirBNB host, Jonathan, whose full time “job” is running an AirBNB bed and breakfast. Jonathan, born and raised in New Orleans, seems like a nice guy, but is just wasting his life by convincing himself that he’s working full time by running a 2-room bed and breakfast out of his home. His bashes capitalism and oil companies for taking advantage of the people of Louisiana and ruining New Orleans, when he just stays home all day, wasting time. His justification is that he makes as much as he would by working a minimum wage job. I think Hosting guests on AirBNB should be something that he does on the side to complement his full time job salary.
At about 8AM I left the home and drove to the lower Ninth ward wanting to see firsthand and experience the part of the city that was hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina. Visiting the area was very depressing but wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. I was expecting a ghetto that was completely desolate and empty, with all the homes in disrepair. However, about 25% of the lots in the neighborhood still had homes on them, about half of which seemed to be well-maintained and the remaining half were still in dis-repair (and unoccupied) from the Hurricane. Throughout the neighborhood many roads are closed or permanently under construction. I don’t see how a city on such a limited budget can justify repairing the streets given the low number of residents, and the inevitably of future damage, destruction, and disappearance. In a way, this situation is similar to a junk property that will just drain money for years to come and provide no income/benefit. The best solution is to withdraw from the area and use the money for relocation assistance or levee protection for a better/higher part of the city.
After, I began driving five hours to Houston, eagerly listening to Bigger Pockets podcasts during the drive. When I arrived at Houston, I visited the Holocaust Museum which was educational/interesting but was more tailored to the crowd which has limited knowledge about what the holocaust was. I’ve been to much better holocaust museums in Israel and Los Angeles.
Next, I spent about an hour at the Honda Dealership changing my oil. After, I drove through Houston, noticing the abundance of luxury housing (single family, condos, apartments), high-end office buildings, and high-end retail projects. The retail projects were very upscale and were the most luxurious of any I’ve seen around the country. High-end finishes include stainless steel paneling, varying facades for each tenant, and more. After thirty minutes of driving around, I visited the Galleria, a mixed use hotel and shopping mall, which is owned by Simon Property Group. The success of malls stems from their roles as not only shopping places but also forms of entertainment and leisure. After visiting such high quality malls, I’m not surprised that malls are the safest property types and often are marketed at sub-4 cap rates.
This morning, I left Nashville, TN at around 6 AM and immediately started on a 7 hour day of driving. My first stop was Birmingham, AL where I planned on visiting a Civil Rights Museum. Unfortunately, the museum was closed but I was able to visit Railroad Park, a large open park nestled between a railroad, industrial area and the University of Alabama Campus, Regions Park (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regions_Field), and an under-construction museum.
The economic benefits of green space can be clearly seen across the street form Railroad Park where a new mid-rise multi-family development is under-construction (http://www.al.com/business/index.ssf/2013/08/30_million_apartment_retail_pr.html). These green spaces are great examples of green spaces spurring development. Instead of incentivizing developments with tax breaks, cities might be better off improving green spaces which will naturally motivate developers to build new projects without incentives.
Aerial View of Railroad Park
After a brief, disappointing stop in Montgomery, AL, I finally arrived in New Orleans, LA. The city’s tight budget is easily noticeable by the worn-out streets and sidewalks, but the culture and soul of the city is irrepressible. The whole town seems to be emerging into a hipster/hippie/up-and-coming neighborhood. The distinct New Orleans architecture is prevalent throughout the city, characterized by plantation-style shutters, intricate iron designs, bright/colorful exterior home colors, large balconies/patios, some of which extend over the sidewalk providing unique city areas.
Perhaps most discomforting is the looming, slow and inevitable destruction of the city. As it stands, the city is currently 40% below sea level and by the end of the century the city is expected to be 90% below sea level. As the sea level rises and weather patterns become more extreme in nature, nature will inevitably take its course and reclaim New Orleans. A thorough article by Business Insider, explains the looming destruction of New Orleans. (http://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-could-destroy-new-orleans-2015-6)
The destruction is just extra unfortunate, because the culture of New Orleans is very unique and special. I think that city needs to face reality and use money to relocate its citizens to a nearby city rather than just pretending that everything will be OK and distracting themselves from reality. However, this is easier said then done and there’s no good solution in this case. There will obviously be many stubborn people who will never leave the city, and an enormous government bailout and relocation assistance is inevitable when an even greater Hurricane than Katrina occurs.
This morning I woke up at 5:30 AM and leisurely showered and packed up. By 6:30 AM, after numerous run-ins with the hairless cats I was on the way to Cincinnati. In Cincinnati I first visited Eden Park, an urban park consisting of a lake, indoor conservatory, nicely-landscaped gardens and walking paths. I walked around the park for about 15 minutes, and then continued on to Louisville.
Eden ParkEden ParkKrohn Conservatory in Eden ParkWall Mural in Cincinnati
In Louisville, I visited the Old Louisville neighborhood. This neighborhood was built on the site of the Southern Exposition, a temporary wooden building that hosted 100-day event in the 1880s. The Southern exposition show was a 100-day industrial show which was held on 45 acres adjacent to Central Park, which is still an open park in its original location. The Southern Exposition is mostly remembered for the largest display of light bulbs, which were at the time groundbreaking technology.
After the Southern Exposition was discontinued, the 45-acre area was used to built a small neighborhood of homes, which surrounded a lengthy grass median. The centerpiece of the neighborhood was a circular fountain with extravagant sculptures.
In the 1890s, a man named Conrad commissioned an architect to build an extravagant, technologically advanced home/castle, which is now called Conrad-Caldwell House (http://conrad-caldwell.org/). The home, which is a museum today, is over 9,000 SF and in excellent, restored condition with most of the original details still in great condition. Some unique characteristics of the home are the carved wood staircases, enormous safe box in the dining room, and a huge custom-painted landscape above the staircase which was a gift from the man to his wife.
The tour was especially interesting because the guide was a descendant of the Caldwell Family. The guide (through her father’s and grandfather’s experience) was able to provide incredibly detailed information about the homes and memories which were created in the home many decades ago.
Old LouisvilleCenter Median in old LouisvilleFountain in Old LouisvillePedestrian Street in Old Louisville
While driving on the highway between Louisville and Nashville, there was a freeway sign mentioning the upcoming Mammoth Cave National Park. Given the great reputation of national parks I decided to visit the park, unsure of what I would experience. My first stop was a half-mile nature walk, known as “Sloan’s Crossing Pond Walk.” According to the sign, the pond was one of only a few in the surrounding area, because of the area’s Karst topography draining most of the water from the surface.
After some hesitation, I decided to visit the the Mammoth Cave Visitor Center and signed up for a self-guided tour through a cave. According to the National Park Service, there are approximately 400 miles of caves inside this area. Historically, the caves have been used by Native Americans and within the past couple hundred years as mines for gun powder. After the war of 1812, the prices of gun powder plummeted and the owner of the caves (a sophisticated businessman) decided that this area could be a tourist attraction. Over time, with the extra-push of some creative/misleading marketing (native american preserved bodies), the number of visitors to this park vastly increased until it became designated a National Park in 1941.
As we descended into the cave, the humid Tennessee weather quickly became dry and cold (probably reaching around 50-60 degrees.) The suddenly cold, dry air was very refreshing and energizing. As we entered the cave, we walked through the twilight zone, the entrance part of the cave where the ceilings are low and the cave slowly continues until the cave expands into large cave room. During the tour we saw the area where mining occurred, and National Park guides explained the interesting backstory to the caves.
I wasn’t too impressed by the caves, but still admired the incredible marketing job of the businessmen throughout the 1800s to mid 1900s, who were able to draw attention to a mediocre geologic formation. My lack of excitement may be due to me previously visiting the Stalactite Caves in Israel, which were much more geologically and visually unique. I think the story of the Mammoth Caves should be mandatory curriculum for business-school and marketing students.
About 90 minutes after leaving Mammoth Caves, I arrived in Nashville, TN. Upon exiting the freeway, I noticed a nice park along the road and decided to stop and visit. Bicentennial park is a beautiful, historic park which serves multiple uses including recreational use, farmer’s markets, educational use, historical use, and probably many large-event/concert uses.
One interesting attraction inside the park was a scaled map of Tennessee which was built into the ground. The map was at least 50 feet horizontally and 20 feet vertically, and is definitely an interesting way to spur creativity, geographical interest and entertain children and adults alike. However, for a tourist like me with no knowledge of Tennessee’s geography, the map was too overwhelming and I couldn’t even begin to try and locate Nashville or Memphis.
Another interesting feature of the park was the pathway in which decades were signified by towering stone pillars. There were a total of 20 pillars, each marking a decade between 1796 (the year Tennessee became a state) and 1996 (Tennessee’s bi-centennial year.) Adjacent to the large stone markers, there was a timeline stretching at least a thousand feet, educating pedestrians about important events in Tennessee’s history, United States History, and native-american history in the Tennessee area.
Lastly, Centennial park included an indoor/outdoor flea market similar to Detroit’s Eastern Market, however on a much smaller, less passionate scale.
Across the street from Bi-centennial park is Capitol HILL.(HILL!) The Capitol building is located high above the adjacent Centennial Park, with over a hundred stairs ascending from bi-centennial park to the Capitol building.
At the suggestion of a worker at the flea-market I then headed to Centennial Park and walked around, enjoyed a snow-cone for about half-an-hour.
Nashville is a great city from a real-estate investment point of view. Based on a brief drive around the city, it seems to have been embraced by millennials and college-aged residents. Some probable reasons for the success of Nashville are:
moderate weather (as compared to the northeast)
steady increase in population
abundance of green areas
vibrant entertainment/hospitality scene (music/food)
vibrant culture/intellectual capital in the area (museums/several colleges)
This morning, I left Pittsburgh at around 8AM and drove to Columbus, OH, driving straight to Easton Town Center. Easton town center is well-designed indoor/outdoor mall in the Easton neighborhood of Columbus, OH.I think a trip advisor reviewer did well describing this mall as “a city within a city.”In a way, it’s like Victoria Gardens (Mall located in Rancho Cucamonga) with many square blocks of drivable streets, extravagant facades, and public gathering places.The centerpiece of this development is an indoor 3-story mall/food court/movie theater area, which is illuminated primarily by the natural light entering through the skylights. Throughout the mall complex, self-service bike rental kiosks allow visitors to bike around the complex and neighborhood. Another creative implementation is the donation of parking meter change proceeds to charity.
The center is owned by Les Wexner, a retail magnate who through Limited Brands owns Victoria Secret, Bath & Body Works and many more retail companies. In addition to the 90 acre land area of the mall, Les owns a total of 1300 acres surrounding the mall. The mall itself was co-developed with partners, and encompasses 1.7 million SF. Although it’s officially only about a third of the size of Mall of America, it definitely has more character and is certainly just as groundbreaking and revolutionary.
Although real estate ownership is a very fragmented market, it still is possible to have a feeling of a monopoly through owning a mall such as Easton town center or Victoria gardens. When there’s one dominant mall in an area, it’s as if the whole market is controlled by that single mall owner. If that mall owner wants to charge $60/SF or even $100/SF, then the tenants have to pay that and almost all of them would be more than willing to if their sales are high, as they usually are in these dominant malls. These mall owners, own the “cities,” the streets, every single storefront, they run the city council, and control everything A-Z. What a powerful and safe investment situation to be in!
Afterwards, I visited German Village, an old part of Columbus, OH with brick roads and historic buildings. The highlight of this area was visiting “The Book Loft,” a 32-room book store/maze. The store was originally opened about 40 years ago, and the owner continuously expanded the store until it encompassed the entire building. It was really interesting and there are many unique features such as CD players in each of the rooms playing different CD’s, multiple staircases ascending and descending throughout the store, and long corridors stretching up to 30 feet.
Next, I visited Scioto Mile, a riverfront walkable area in Downtown Columbus. The area is mostly under construction, but there are some finished walkways which point to the character and design that will soon encompass the entire area. Property values and pedestrian traffic will undoubtedly increase and make this one of the most desirable residential and commercial parts of town.
Next, I checked into my AirBNB home. The host, Kristin, has two hairless cats and is a “sexual health nurse.” (what else to expect from AirBNB.) She’s much younger than I was expecting and very good looking, but I left the house to visit Starbucks. This Starbucks is incredible! It’s a former bank building with high ceilings, unique architectural features, a fireplace and a seating area inside the bank vault!
Later on, I went to a Ribs and Jazz Festival. Apparently, lots of people are passionate about eating meat off bones. I think it’s just a sort of ego thing, with people feeling tough, manly, and cool for enjoying to eat meat. I tried ribs and beef and they were OK but overrated. The atmosphere was great though and the festival was a nice experience. Also, the Arena District was a very modern, hip part of town, with high-end restaurants and newer buildings. After about half an hour, I decided to head back to the AirBNB home and just catch up on writing, thinking, and relaxing.
At the home, the hairless cats are a bit scary to me. if someone wanted to torture me, those cats would probably play a primary role because they look and move in a very stealthy way and look vicious. Kristin is a very admirable woman who seems to have a great head on her shoulders. She acquired this home early this year and I enjoyed reading the notes on her fridge below. She seems to have healthy self-confidence.
After staying up until 2:30AM last night (and speaking to Sara for an hour :-/ ) I got a pretty late start, leaving the house at 8AM. I traveled straight to the historic part of Philadelphia and visited independence hall, the liberty bell, and other historical sites.
The first stop of the day was Reading Terminal Market (http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/) Reading terminal market is located in the center of downtown and can be best described as an urban farmers market/restaurant/bakery complex.The selection throughout the complex and in each store individually are widespread.For example, there are shops that have 30 different types of Chapstick, 20 different types of cheesecake, 50 different types of scented candles, etc.It’s a good thing I’m not trying to buy anything, or else I wouldhave a stressful time making a decision and choosing just one thing.There is plenty of seating and I’m sure this place is hustling and bustling during lunch hours.
Next, I headed over to the liberty bell. The liberty bell is a symbol of the ideals of freedom and liberty on which our country was founded. Over the years, it has come to be a world-renowned symbol and visited by many world leaders.
Upon walking around the Downtown area, I came across a newer building which seemed to be striving to be the ugliest and most pointless in design. I couldn’t come up with an explanation as to why the building was so cold/distant looking, had no windows, and looks like it should enclosing a nuclear reactor.
The building is so ugly, I felt confident I could find out a lot about the building by searching “ugliest building in Philadelphia” on Google. The building was one of the first results and featured in a Curbed article under a similar name: http://philly.curbed.com/archives/2013/12/17/philadelphias-ugliest-buildings.php
Afterwards, I walked toward the complex of historic buildings including Independence Hall and the neighboring buildings. These buildings are where the constitution was written, the founding fathers philosophized, strategized, and compromised based on their visions of the ideal free country which respects its individuals rights. This is where it all began. Immediately behind the buildings is Independence Square, a beautiful park-like area with huge trees providing shade and a feeling of comfort and serenity.
Building that the supreme court met in 1790sRoom where the constitution was signedIndependence SquarePhiladelphia Waterfront
Across the street from Independence Hall and Independence Square is Washington Square. Washington Square is a peaceful, shaded one-square-block park in historic Philadelphia.Thousands of unknown soldiers are buried in the park, and one grand monument remembers their sacrifice.The monument reads “freedom is a light for which many men have died in darkness”.There is a beautiful water feature in the center of the park with pathways radiating outwards in five directions.The fifth pathway (without a matching pathway in the opposite direction is opposed by a flagpole with the United States flag.This is a very respectful and appropriate way to remember these soldiers who played a significant part in the formation of ourcountry. After, I drove five hours to Pittsburgh, continuously listening to the Bigger Pocket podcasts. The podcasts are filled with excellent content, great insights, and a no-secrets-withheld approach to sharing ideas and methods. It’s a pleasure to listen to the discussions and I hope to learn much more while listening to the remaining podcasts. I was shocked to have to pay $31 for the toll, but at least I’m grateful for living in Los Angeles, where I’m not being robbed by the government while driving. Upon arriving in Pittsburgh, I set my navigation to Bicycle Heaven (http://www.bicycleheaven.org/), a vintage bicycle shop and museum located in an industrial area in Pittsburgh. The store is laid out as a maze of several different rooms on several different levels, almost as if a 10-year old has been given free rein to design a store based off on their imagination. When I was trying to think of one word to describe the shop, the only word that seemed to describe the surroundings is “passion.” Passion for bicycle design, bicycle mechanisms, bicycle history, and bicycle culture.
Afterwards, I drove to the Duquesne Incline (http://www.duquesneincline.org/). The Duquesne Incline is a historic inclined trolley that transports passengers from the level of the river in Pittsburgh to the top of Mount Washington, overlooking the entire city of Pittsburgh. The Duquesne incline was restored and is now operated by a preservation/historical society. The view from Mt. Washington is beautiful and highlights the downtown area and numerous bridges crossing the river.
On top of Mt Washington, overlooking Pittsburgh, there’s a monument displaying a 1770 meeting between George Washington and a Native American leader. At the time, Washington and the Native American were at this location overlooking the desirable area of modern-day Pittsburgh, which is located at the intersection of three rivers, and discussing its future use.
The Strip District is another example of one of the most undesirable/industrial parts of town becoming trendy and hip. The old functional characteristics such as loading platforms on industrial buildings and wide, short buildings now serve as “cool” design features which attract hospitality entrepreneurs who use the unique environments to further their design goals and create an entertainment hub.
When I visited the AirBNB house, I was disappointed at the location. The home is located in a primarily African-American neighborhood with dilapidated homes and vacant lots. Upon feeling that the house was artificially staged to look as if someone was living there. The owner went as far as creating a tacky welcome brochure, staging keys in the kitchen, and three cats living full time in the house. I looked up the profile report on the home (5650 Rural St, Pittsburgh) and noticed that the home is owned by Larry Manno, the AirBNB host. Larry acquired the home in 2011 for $56,000 with about $1500 (approximately 3%) down. The mailing address is listed as a P.O. Box in Fort Worth, TX. My theory is that the owner lives in Texas, but has someone working for him occasionally check on this home (and probably a few other homes in this area) and make it seem as if someone is living in the home part-time. Instead of renting the home to a single tenant for approximately $1,000/month, he probably nets around $2,000 month from renting the rooms via AirBNB. From his $1,500 initial investment, he probably takes home $15,000 year and now owns a $150,000 home. Wow!! Although this model probably wouldn’t work in LA because of the high housing costs, it’s interesting to see how creative people are and the effects of the peer-to-peer economy.
Today, I had to decide whether to travel directly to Philadelphia or to first drive to Atlantic City, which would end up adding an additional hour of driving to today. I eventually decided to stop at Atlantic City, NJ because of the potential real estate education/adventures and so that I could complete an unquestionable cross-country road trip to the Atlantic Ocean.
Upon entering town, I noticed that most of the prime downtown area is a multi-block outlet area owned by Tanger outlets. The facade designs are very beautiful and in line with the overall character of Atlantic City. Additionally, gambling, shopping, and extravagant resort hotels complement each other very well. and have common themes of materialism and indulgence.
Next, I noticed that unlike Vegas, Atlantic City hotels depend on parking as a major income stream. Unlike hotels in Las Vegas that can forego parking fees because of the outrageous resort fees, Atlantic City hotels can’t really make the case for charging about $20 for resort fees, especially because of the lack of emphasis around the pool. Additionally, unlike Vegas, Atlantic City is a coastal area which has significant control over the parking supply in the surrounding area. Therefore, they don’t need to worry too much about guests opting for nearby free parking and withholding that income from the casinos.
After walking through Caesars Palace to the boardwalk, I noticed a similar style of extravagance which was restrained and limited. At first thought Atlantic City should be doing great: It’s located within a couple hours of several major east-coast cities (New York, Philadelphia), diversified guest attractions (convention center, world-class shopping, entertainment/restaurants, beaches), and world class resorts. However, in my opinion the problem seems to be changing interests/demographics of consumers. Back in the 1980s-1990s, this city would be an absolute hit. However, nowadays well-educated, affluent 20-40 year olds aren’t interested in gambling, tacky facades, unhealthy fair foods, and lined tourist shops with inappropriate t-shirts. Rather, they’re interested in sophisticated, historic downtown/urban areas, healthy restaurants with creative recipes, bars with unique atmospheres, and nature. In fact, I think casinos/gambling are a declining interest that will continue to decline as Americans become more educated and advanced.
A much simpler explanation for the decline can also the half-ass draw of Atlantic City, which pales in comparison to Las Vegas. It’s like a Las Vegas minus the international/national tourists minus the convention center draw, and only about 20% of the size (in terms of hotel rooms).
Along the boardwalk, 90% of the occupied shop spaces were either souvenir/gift shops or fast food/junk food shops. Also, there were tacky businesses such as hookah lounges, liquor stores, massage shops, and more. It’s very disappointing to see such horrible tenants in a area with such potential, but then again when you’re located next to billion-dollar casinos, there’s not much to do except try to complement the extreme materialism and illusion of pleasure that guests are seeking.
Along the boardwalk, at least 40% of the shop space is unoccupied, about 80% is utilized. Based on a brief Loopnet search, rents seem to range anywhere from $36/NNN to $88/NNN on the boardwalk. Perhaps even more disappointing is the Pier shopping mall, a shopping mall comparable to the Caesar Forum shops, which is built on a pier extending out from the Caesars Palace Casino. On the second and third floors, there are many vacant units and it’s obvious that many of the existing stores are performing poorly. It will be interesting to observe how this area evolves over the next 30 years (assuming that the people in charge will be able to actually cooperate with each other and work toward a significant repositioning of the area).
I arrive in Philadelphia around 9PM and briefly walked around the Old City. Unfortunately, not too many of the businesses were open so I ended up coming back early and taking care of some work.
Tonight, I noticed the first gray hair at the top/front of my hair. The emergence of gray hairs is a reminder of my mortality and the limited time we have to live and accomplish our goals. Today as I’m arrived in Philadelphia and was using the restroom I realized a gray hair at the front of my hair, the first place that people see when I’m interacting with them. This isespecially concerning because over the past five years I’ve been sacrificing so much for my future, in terms of social relationships, fun activities, my independence and education.In a way, it’s similar to the death of somebody I am close with. When somebody you spend time around with passes away, it’s a sharp reminder of our mortality, and forces us to examine our priorities and the way we’re spending our time.The question is how do I deal with realizing that I have gray hair and it will never be black again. At first thought, I should stop delaying important tasks such as marriage and friendship. Second, I should stop wasting time on trivial matters and wasteful activities. Lastly, I should be very cautious about sacrificing the present. Sacrificing the present is completely unnecessary and never-ending. I’ve sacrificed enough, now just live and enjoy life.
The Strip District is another example of one of the most undesirable/industrial parts of town becoming trendy and hip. The old functional characteristics such as loading platforms on industrial buildings and wide, short buildings now serve as “cool” design features which attract hospitality entrepreneurs who use the unique environments to further their design goals and create an entertainment hub.
