Here’s a positive use of vacant land - a developer has created two community gardens on his downtown Vancouver property that is not yet, but will later be, under construction. That’s much better, of course, than just leaving desiccated land to sit for years, but I do wonder how upset the gardeners will be when the time comes to destroy their plots… Read more »
Filed under: I'On Group, Mixson, Urban Sustainability on January 6th, 2009 | No Comments »
It’s the axolotl salamander - not a fish at all, really, but it’s nicknamed the Mexican walking fish. It lives in only one place in the world, Lake Xochimilco in central Mexico; it used to live in another central Mexican lake, Lake Chalco, but Chalco has been drained to prevent flooding. As you can imagine, the axolotl is now near extinction due to loss of habitat, competition for food with nonnative species, and the abysmal water pollution that Mexico City pumps out like a champ.
Filed under: I'On Group on January 6th, 2009 | No Comments »
I’On star homesite for January is…
344 N. Shelmore Blvd.~ $96,500 until January 31, 2009
This beautiful lot is located just a few steps from I’On Square, the Scramble playground, and the East Cooper Montessori Charter School. At this price, there’s never been a better time to make a solid investment in Mt. Pleasant’s most celebrated neighborhood (voted “Best Neighborhood” in the Charleston City Paper’s “Best Of” issue 4 years running). Living in I’On not only means you get all of I’On’s amenities - the Rookery, sidewalks everywhere, two lakes, an amphitheater, and streets safe enough to let your kids play in - but you’ll also be only ten minutes from historic downtown Charleston, fifteen minutes from the beaches, and within walking or biking distance of shops and the Mathis Ferry greenbelt (part of the in-progress East Coast Greenway).
Plus, purchase this lot by Jan. 16 and receive NO build time and NO improvement commission on the eventual home built.
Give us a call at 843-884-3080 or e-mail one of our agents at info@iongroup.com for more information!
Filed under: I'On Group, I'On Real Estate on January 6th, 2009 | No Comments »
You can actually SEE it happen on this amazing map put together by the people at FlowingData. It’s definitely worth a look. And in case you’re curious, after watching that video, how many stores are in our area (that is, between Mt. Pleasant and Goose Creek/Moncks Corner), it’s 11.
I came across this while looking for interesting Wal-Mart images:
Filed under: I'On Group, Urban Sustainability on January 6th, 2009 | No Comments »
The NY Times published yet another insightful and clear-voiced editorial promoting mass transit in the next administration: A Pitch for Mass Transit. Also take a look at This Old House, an opinion piece by David Brooks about the potential for Obama’s infrastructure plan to encourage urbanist and sustainable growth, instead of just going along with the status quo. Let’s hope Obama and his administration are listening, as promised during the campaign!
Filed under: I'On Group, Urban Sustainability on January 6th, 2009 | No Comments »
That certainly seems counter-intuitive, right? After all, don’t most artists struggle in the best of economic times? Who’s going to buy art when they can barely afford a mortgage payment? All true, all true.
However, in the genuine spirit of the arts - which, let’s face it, is not and cannot be concerned with monetary gain, since pushing people outside their comfort zones and becoming rich have historically been far from complementary pursuits - a down economy is absolutely beneficial to the world of arts and letters. Read more »
Filed under: I'On Group, Morris Square on January 5th, 2009 | No Comments »
While there are, of course, far more than 5 TNDs (traditional neighborhood developments) in the Southeastern U.S. that are innovative and interesting enough to keep a close eye on, these are the five that have most attracted my notice:
1. Davidson, NC. Ok, this isn’t actually a TND - it’s a whole entire town, which is even better. I spent four years there, at Davidson College, so I can vouch for them: the city takes its planning quite seriously, and has maintained an authentic small-town demeanor despite the rampant development that was going on when I left in 2006. They have a great affordable housing initiative, lovely old neighborhoods, a really cute downtown, and a bicycling master plan in the works. Sidewalks are plentiful, and hundreds of kids walk to Davidson Elementary and Davidson Middle School every day.
Filed under: I'On Group, Urban Sustainability, Videos & Photos on December 30th, 2008 | No Comments »
Interested in improving your city? Get involved with Keep North Charleston Beautiful, a group that does clean-up and beautification projects across the city. Their first meeting of the year is at 11:00am on Jan. 6, at the Park Circle Community Building; they’ll have Helen Floyd, of Legare Nurseries, as a speaker.
From Carmen Hanlon, the director of KNCB:
Keep North Charleston Beautiful would like to invite the community to our January 6, 2009 meeting to learn about the latest native plants and the reason to use them. Our featured speaker will be Helen Floyd of Legare Nurseries. The discussion will be from 11am -11:20am at the Park Circle Community Building in North Charleston. Keep North Charleston Beautiful will hold their monthly Program and Events Committee meeting immediately after the speaker. Please call 843-745-1073 to reserve your space. Seats are limited.
Keep North Charleston Beautiful will have a different speaker at the opening of each of our monthly meetings. Please feel free to come to any meetings you like and enjoy the speaker. You can stay after for the KNCB meeting or you may leave. We hope to share our passion for beautifying North Charleston with the community.
Filed under: I'On Group on December 30th, 2008 | No Comments »
There’s a list of 50 on the website, but here are a few of my favorites:
Hang Nga Guesthouse, Vietnam. Fun because it’s like a scary wizard’s house who has a giant giraffe for a pet.
The Stone House in Portugal. Fun because it looks like a hobbit-house…only way bigger.
The Mushroom House in Cincinnati. Fun because it looks like it has eyes.
The Kettle House in Texas. Fun because it makes me think of Mother Goose rhymes - but only when I ignore the rust stains.
The Cob House in Vancouver. Fun because it could belong to an elf or another type of small person.
House Attack in Vienna. Fun because that house appears to be, structurally, entirely superfluous.
The Kansas City Public Library. Fun because books are my favorite thing in the world and how cool to walk into one.
And now for my LEAST favorite in the whole list of 50:
The Manchester Civil Justice Center, home to the courtrooms of Manchester, UK. It is eminently NOT fun because it looks like something out of 1984. Like the Ministry of Peace or the Ministry of Love…futuristic, cold, and designed to impress upon the looker/entrant absolute authority. That’s what I get, at least - the project description by the architectural firm that designed it says the opposite, though: “From the exterior, it signals and literally displays the accessibility of the courts.” Just shows that you never know what people will think, no matter how hard you try to convey something.
The Village of Joy website, where these building pictures came from, has all kinds of cool things on it, like 20 Unusual Churches, and Amazing Graffiti Art by Bansky, and more - take a look!
Filed under: I'On Group, Videos & Photos on December 30th, 2008 | No Comments »
Drew Grossklaus finds an amazing book at Goodwill…read his special report below!
While shopping at a local Goodwill I came across an interesting book, “Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom” by David Lereah. The book was one of three prominently displayed to draw the shoppers’ eye to the book section. On initial glance, my thought process immediately went to the year the book was published. I quickly looked and found the publishing date of March, 2005. I quickly flipped through the first pages of the book to get a sense of the premise on the timing of the real estate boom, curious to see thoughts on how long the “boom” would last and thoughts on a possible downturn or adjustment. The preface gave me a first glance into the author’s perspective of the future. Read more »
Filed under: I'On Group, I'On Real Estate, Morris Square on December 30th, 2008 | No Comments »
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