1. I thought Warren Buffets op-ed piece did a nice of job of pointing out what seems obvious: buy assets and equity during a market downturn.
2. Seems like a number of restuarants will be closing or changing hands in the next few months. Rumor has it that after 4 months of operation, Prost and Onyx have been sold or are in the process of being sold. The kitchen is closed.
3. Chris Busby at The Bollard asked good questions for City Council candidates--but I especially like the question re: Riverside Municipal Golf Course. I've been trying to get traction on the subject so it least someone is putting it out there.
4. Seems like a great fall foliage season.
5. I suspect Maine will avoid the worst lows of the current/future "recession"; but it would be nice if real estate values dropped a little more!
6. John, the bartender at the Grill Room is running for city council.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
It's a buyers market
While many, many people are nervous, fearful or just cautious in these uncertain times, the reality is that economic downturns are opportunities for smart buyers. While we understand the simple formula "buy low, sell high" my experience has been that most people would rather "buy high and try to sell higher".
Assets are selling at discounts: real estate, vehicles, businesses etc. Although the credit market is tight, cash is king for getting great deals.
Assets are selling at discounts: real estate, vehicles, businesses etc. Although the credit market is tight, cash is king for getting great deals.
Apple iPhone
My new iPhone is perhaps one of the best pieces of technology I have encountered. I just read that Bath, Maine has made a walking tour of it's historic district available for download on iTunes. Does Portland do that? The visitor bureau should be uploading content at all possible speeed onto Yelp, Urban Spoon, Google, iWant, Earthscape etc. Content is king and a "information czar" to oversee input would give Portland a competitive edge:
outdoor activity venues
bars/restaurants/
cultural activities
recycling points
city government info formatted for phone devices
outdoor activity venues
bars/restaurants/
cultural activities
recycling points
city government info formatted for phone devices
Maine State Pier III
I've almost given up on the pier project. Now that Olympia is asking for further zone changes, the economy and credit markets are in the toilet, and they are not planning on starting work until 2011 anyway it seems like a gigantic waste of time.
While I'm not a fan of the rent/tax structure and spoke out during city council at least OP would have started work immediately, employing hundreds of workers at union payscales. And OP would have committed the capital and been self-financed.
Chalk it up with the Libra's and Boulos' civic center projects and you have another large scale endeavor doomed to the dustbin. We seem to be stuck with Olympia no matter what they do, what they change or what they can't perform. That's just odd.
As I mentioned before, there should have been performance circuit breakers throughout the process to allow the city to withdraw from the negotiations and agreements with Olympia. That would have been common sense protection for the stakeholders: city of portland taxpayers.
While I'm not a fan of the rent/tax structure and spoke out during city council at least OP would have started work immediately, employing hundreds of workers at union payscales. And OP would have committed the capital and been self-financed.
Chalk it up with the Libra's and Boulos' civic center projects and you have another large scale endeavor doomed to the dustbin. We seem to be stuck with Olympia no matter what they do, what they change or what they can't perform. That's just odd.
As I mentioned before, there should have been performance circuit breakers throughout the process to allow the city to withdraw from the negotiations and agreements with Olympia. That would have been common sense protection for the stakeholders: city of portland taxpayers.
Forest Ave "Improvements"
The new "improvements" on outer Forest Ave are curious. After adding a bicycle lane to promote alt transportation they have now installed concrete islands on either end from the intersection at Warren and down at the industrial parkway. While I could be misinformed or off base I see several problems and/or issues:
1. The cost. It doesn't seem like a necessary improvement and it must have cost $5-$20k?
2. Will a raised island create a plowing hazard during the winter?
3. With cars already merging westbound after the warren ave intersection, the island creates a further bottleneck with traffic speeding up after a light, going downhill and coming around a blind corner. Cars turning right or the bus either block the road completely or block or drift into the bicycle lane. We already had one accident on the first night after the island was finished.
Is this a beautification project? Is it traffic control? Forest/302 is a major commuter thoroughfare and bloodline into the city(along with Congress and Washington). Perhaps a better idea would have been the addition of a center turn lane?
1. The cost. It doesn't seem like a necessary improvement and it must have cost $5-$20k?
2. Will a raised island create a plowing hazard during the winter?
3. With cars already merging westbound after the warren ave intersection, the island creates a further bottleneck with traffic speeding up after a light, going downhill and coming around a blind corner. Cars turning right or the bus either block the road completely or block or drift into the bicycle lane. We already had one accident on the first night after the island was finished.
Is this a beautification project? Is it traffic control? Forest/302 is a major commuter thoroughfare and bloodline into the city(along with Congress and Washington). Perhaps a better idea would have been the addition of a center turn lane?
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