TresSugar

Mall Rats: 10 Uses For Dead and Dying Malls

CitizenSugar — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:00:19 -0700

Empty swimming pools have always fascinated and disturbed me; they're cold, creepy holes for the better part of the year. Mall season has been coming to its end since the '90s, and more and more empty malls and shopping centers are sitting sad and stark, like inverted pools, off highways across the country.

How'd it happen? For years, developers assumed they'd make money if they built malls bigger than the last. And that assumption was correct, for a while. But they never foresaw what would happen to their big box when a bigger one was built. Now cities that house once-crowning, albeit fake, jewels struggle with lost tax revenue, vandalism and crime, and decreasing property values.

But malls don't have to go to hell. If they haven't been allowed to decay and were structurally sound to begin with (that may be a big if), then they can be retrofitted, greened, and reinhabited. Check out 10 new uses for old malls below - maybe you have something better to add!

Community college classrooms
Libraries
Parks, especially malls built on wetlands that are now environmentally protected
Senior housing
Town centers, incorporated into mixed-use streets with housing, offices, and shopping

To see the rest, read more.

Public and private offices
Community centers
Car dealerships
Nonprofit arts groups
Immigrant mom-and-pop shops

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City vs. Country: Who's Polluting the Earth More?

CitizenSugar — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:30:20 -0700

I always thought cities won the CO2-reduction argument with their tiny apartments and efficient undergrounds. Turns out, I was right! Sort of.

In many countries, cities have much lower per person emission rates, compared to the national average.

The real culprit? Not the driving culture of rural areas, but the high-consumption lives wealthy countries lead. Wealth that (until last year?) started in low-CO2-emitting cities like New York, which only emits 7.1 tons of CO2 per person while the US average is 23.92.

But when you look to poorer countries, urban areas are the pollution centers. To see why, read more.

Cities like Beijing and Shanghai, which house the emission-emitting factory jobs wealthier countries shipped off, have higher CO2 emissions per capita than China's national average.

When you factor in poorer countries' lenient environmental regulations, cities seem to be the greater evil. While only half the world's population lives in cities, they consume 75 percent of global energy. UN-Habitat said cities emit 50-60 percent of greenhouse gases, but 80 percent when you factor indirect emissions from city dwellers.

Sounds like the problem is born in wealthy countries and bred in poor ones, no? Good thing China won't be "poor" much longer!

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Lovin' It? Thai Students Happily Work at McDonald's in US

LibertySugar — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 07:30:22 -0800

Every Summer thousands of Thai college students come to the US and change into McDonald's uniforms. They not only do it with a smile, they pay money for it.

The reward? Slapping foreign work experience - American work experience - on their resumes. Thai employers value foreign work experience, seeing it as initiative, in the country's ultracompetitive postcollege job market.

Agents (seems like the polite term) set up work visas, secure job placements, and, maybe, include plane tickets for $3,000 plus - a large sum when converted into Thai bahts. Students typically earn about half the money back; however, most consider the work experience and language skills worth it.

One student, who wound up in Mobile, AL, because she heard it was cheap, found the small town to be far from her image of America. Yet, she doesn't regret it. "Honestly," she said, “If I had money, I’d go back.”

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Healthy and Unwealthy: 20-Somethings DIY Health Care

CitizenSugar — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:01:29 -0800

Trading prescriptions. Self-diagnosing on the Internet (guilty!). Skipping doses to make prescriptions last (I've done that with insurance?). Setting broken bones (ack! not guilty). These are just some of the Band-Aids, the 13.2 million young people, ages 19-29, without insurance have applied.

Maybe we need more doctors like this? Dr. Jay Parkinson (MD!) treats uninsured Internet lovers (but not old ones, he only sees people under 40) via IM, email, and in person through house (or coffee house) calls for a $200 fee per visit. Not exactly cheap, but certainly better than the emergency room.

Most insurance companies cut dependents off at 19 or after college graduation, but more than two dozen states have increased the cutoff age to well into the 20s. Where are these magical lands? Get the list here.

The health care industry calls uninsured 20-somethings the "young invincibles," which makes the industry sound like an old irascible. While some certainly see themselves as young, healthy - invincible? - others live uninsured in fear while focusing on their careers, using the little money they earn interning and working odd jobs for rent and food. Though, in fairness, I've been there and threw a credit card set on automatic payment at the problem.

But I never did use that insurance that I still pay for, so I can't blame those who live without it. Are you sympathetic, or should the young invincibles swallow an adult-sized pill and deal with it?

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Trading Spaces: 4 Changes For US Economic Landscape

CitizenSugar — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:30:54 -0800

If there's one thing we can agree on (or not!) is that innovation is needed to lead America out of its economic mess. Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class, tackles how the greatest recession will reshape America in March's Atlantic.

If Florida's right, city living may be the future. He argues that the US needs to move away from its postindustrial setup (suburban sprawl) to denser megaregions (systems of multiple cities and their surrounding suburbs). While the Internet may have brought us together (aww), the world's 40 largest megaregions produce two-thirds of the global economic output and nearly 9 in 10 new patented inventions. Proximity, he says, will allow ideas to move freely in areas where college graduates and entrepreneurial spirits congregate.

So what has to change? To find out, read more.

Knock home ownership off its pedestal: What could possibly be its cons? Areas with high home ownership have higher unemployment rates; people tend to stay put when better opportunities could be elsewhere. The tax breaks for low-interest loans could be invested in technology or alternative energy, important sectors for economic growth.
Stimulate growth in regions poised for it: Ensure America's top megaregions, and the smaller cities inside them, succeed. Make housing affordable to all classes and address congestion issues.
Let dying cities go: Bailouts are only Band-Aids for areas built on dying industries. Demand for today's products should let a new order reign.
Reinvent urban and suburban space: Find ways for people to live more densely while improving quality of life. Cities should increase residential development, and mixed-use development should be utilized in both the suburbs and cities. Since cities will never be for everyone, suburbs should be better connected to each other. (Maybe Obama is on the right track?)

Ready to put on your walkin' shoes, or are you running for the hills?

Image courtesy of Friends of the High Line

Losing Our Religion: Religious Influence Declines in US, Again

CitizenSugar — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:30:26 -0800

Two-thirds of Americans believe "religion as a whole" is losing influence on American life. But the drop is nothing new. Public perception of religion has always fluctuated, usually in response to major political events.

Religious influence is now at its second lowest point since the question was first posed in 1953. The nadir was at the height of Vietnam in 1971 and its highest point was in December 2001, when 71 percent of Americans said religious influence was on the rise.

What else are Americans saying? To see, read more.

People who regularly attend church were more likely to say influence was declining than those who attend seldom or never.
Fewer people believe religion has the ability to solve the world's problems, continuing a steady decline from 82 percent in 1953 to 53 percent today.
More people see religion as old-fashioned, growing from seven percent in 1953 to 28 percent today.

Is religion in its end times, or will it just keep on fluctuating?

Out With the Old? Russian Professor Predicts US Collapse

CitizenSugar — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 08:00:29 -0800

A Russian professor who's been predicting the end of the US for years is starting to get attention. His argument? Immigration, the economy, moral degradation (whaa?) will trigger a civil war and the eventual breakup of the US. Oh, and he says there's a 45-55 percent chance this will happen by next year.

Maybe his timing is dubious, but the argument that's been disregarded for years in Russia is starting to be taken seriously. At least if you consider the state-run Russian media, where it's been getting considerable coverage, serious.

So if the US is breaking up, where will we live? To find out, read more.

California Republic: Formed by the Western states, this area would be controlled by China or be under Chinese influence
Texas Republic: A cluster of states in the Southwest would go to Mexico.
Atlantic America: Eastern states, from South Carolina to Maine, will join the European Union.
Central North American Republic: Northern Midwest and Great Plain states will go to Canada.
Hawaii: The state will become a territory of China or Japan.
Alaska: Putin will rear his head into Alaskan air space, making Russia the proud new owner of the great state of Alaska.

It's easy to laugh this off, until we're reminded that the French political scientist was met with laughter when he predicted the Soviet Union's collapse 15 years before it. Happy New Year!

I Like You! America's New Self-Image

CitizenSugar — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:30:46 -0800

If you've meandered through Europe with a Canadian flag on your backpack, it's time to switch it up. With the US's improving image, it's suddenly cool to be American again - both at home and abroad.

First off, the US is making new friends. "Yes we can, be friends," proclaimed a German newspaper across its front page, "We have fallen in love with the new, the different, the good America."

US citizens abroad are receiving more friendly gestures and kind words for being nothing other than their American selves. This newfound goodwill isn't just improving America's international image, but also its sense of self at home. For more on unlikely patriots coming out in the bluest of places, read more.

Nowhere is this more evident - OK, hopefully somewhere - than at a spontaneous election-night celebration on the streets of a hipster safe haven in Brooklyn, where American flags waved without a hint of irony. If these ~~kids~~ 30-year-olds are willing to get handcuffed for their country, then I would say change truly has arrived.

Does it anger you to see people be proud on a part-time basis? Or is it good to see excitement where there was once apathy?

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Does Your Personality Match Your State of Residence & Mind?

CitizenSugar — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 06:00:00 -0700

Think you can judge a person by the state they live in? It might not be such a crazy notion according to new research on the geography of personality. Controlling for factors like race, income, and education, the study profiled 600,000 Americans with a 44-question personality test that evaluates five traits: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness.

Using those results and cross-checking them with stats on crime and health seem to seal the deal on one's state of mind lining up with one's state of residence. High amiability means lower crime, high anxiety points to poor health and lowered life expectancy.

Of course the results spark questions like whether certain states encourage specific personalities by culture, climate, or common history - or whether we just choose to live where we feel most at home. Those questions aside, the results and the interactive maps? Fun times! Very nicely done, Wall Street Journal.

To see some of the most unusual findings, read more.

North Dakota was pegged the most outgoing state in the union.
Despite Puritanical stereotypes, New England ranked at the bottom of the "conscientious" scale.
Scoring well on the "openness" scale strongly correlates to liberal social values and Democratic voting habits - however three of the top ten "open" states (Nevada, Colorado and Virginia) tend to swing Red.
Most conscientious? Florida. (Maybe there's a tie between living in a coastal paradise and pitying others who don't?)
Anxiety isn't just tied to high-powered jobs and a fast lifestyle. States stressed by poverty, like West Virginia and Mississippi also proved highly neurotic.

Where does your state stack up? Is it possible to make generalizations about the personality of an entire state's population? Do you match yours?

Is It Important for the US to Win the Most Olympic Medals?

LibertySugar — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:30:38 -0700

Fifty-three percent of American adults think it's important for the US to bring home the most medals from the Beijing Olympics, with 19 percent saying that it is very important.

While it's one thing to root for the home team, it's another thing to say medal supremacy is "important." Where does the importance lie? Does the winner get to set the agenda for the UN General Assembly? Or could a seemingly public relations victory increase (or save) America's international standing and influence? If America does not hold onto victory on China's home court, has it somehow symbolically passed the torch of preeminent global influence to China?

Since World War II the US has topped the gold medal count in more than half the Olympic Games. In the last three Summer games, the US won the gold medal count, and the overall count. But this year the US Olympic Committee is dimming expectations, saying that China will most likely win the most medals. Do you think it matters? Be honest!

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