When Don Mathias, a self-employed machinist and welder in Christchurch, New Zealand, saw a four-ton lathe leaping across the floor of his workshop, he knew this was no ordinary earthquake. “Everything jumped up in the air,” said the 53-year-old. “It was like being charged by a bull. When I saw that lathe moving I thought, ‘Nowhere’s safe in this building. I’ve got to get out.’” With more debris raining down from the mezzanine floor above, he staggered through the door and ran down an alleyway … and straight into a flight of stairs that weren’t there two minutes ... Read More
Leaky Homes Show Green Intentions Gone Wrong
December 26, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
Twenty years ago, changes to New Zealand’s construction and building inspection codes, the introduction of new materials, a shift in the style and design of homes, and, ironically, pressure from environmentalists, all combined to sow the seeds of a massive “leaky homes” problem. Two decades after that perfect storm, the debris is now washing up on the shores of a recession-hit housing market, leaving thousands of people trapped in homes that are rotting around them, but which they cannot afford to repair and have no hope of selling. Russell Cooney, past president of the New Zealand ... Read More
New Zealand Imports Foreign Workers: Dung Beetles
October 21, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
New Zealand farmers Dean and Marjorie Blythen are poised for an unlikely spot in the history books — early next year their property, about 30 miles north of Auckland, will become home to the country's first officially imported dung beetles. In what will be the start of a nationwide rollout of the industrious little insects, Blythen expects his 200 Hereford cattle and between 500 and 600 sheep to be joined by perhaps 1,000 to 2,000 beetles at an initial release site on the farm. Those beetles, among 11 species being imported from South Africa, Australia, France, and Spain, are currently ... Read More
R-E-S-P-E-C-T Is What Work Means to Me
February 16, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
Despite the trail blazed by Google and other high-profile Silicon Valley companies, it turns out that pingpong tables, free food, bean bags and massage on demand do not necessarily make somewhere a great place to work. Ricardo Lange, CEO and president of San Francisco’s Great Place to Work Institute, says while being perk-friendly doesn’t hurt, what people really appreciate are old-fashioned values like respect, fairness and credibility. Lange says the definition of a great workplace hinges on an employee's relationship with management: employees enjoy working in a culture where ... Read More
Immigrant Flow Shifts to Smaller Cities
December 1, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
The Pew Hispanic Center has predicted that the U.S. population will grow by more than 100 million over the next 40 years solely as a result of immigration — legal and illegal — and the children born to immigrants already here. Those numbers are in line with several other forecasts based on Census Bureau data, and certainly sound right to associate professor Gary Painter, director of research at the University of Southern California Lusk Center for Real Estate. Where will all those people live? Painter, a specialist in urban economics, homeownership and housing markets, has a pretty ... Read More