The Daily Valet. - 7/18/23, Tuesday
✔️ We're Building More Than We Ever Have, But ...
Tuesday, July 18th Edition
By Cory Ohlendorf, Valet. Editor
Someone buy me a Powerball ticket, will ya?
Today’s Big Story
Apartments on the Rise
The U.S. Is Building More Apartments Than Ever, But Not For those who need them most
It's something of an unfortunate paradox. Apartment construction has just reached a 50-year high, but the amount of units affordable to the lowest-income groups has actually decreased nationwide, according to a report from Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies.There are many reasons for this, the report's authors explain, but the main one is that new units being produced are on the higher end and not affordable to people with the lowest incomes. Coupled with rent increases and deteriorating buildings, it means the benefits of America's housing boom have been uneven, to say the least. Per the report, “while multifamily rental construction is at a decades-long peak, the high asking rents of new units make them unaffordable for many households.”This building boom comes at an unusual time in the housing market. The rental market, like the for-sale housing market, slowed from its earlier pandemic frenzy over the past year or so. But CoStar Group, a commercial real estate services and analytics firm, says it expects 520,000 new multifamily units to hit the market this year, with at least 457,000 coming in 2024. That's the most units to come online since the mid-1980s, reports Barron’s, who says growth is far outstripping demand.While rent growth is slowing down—even on the lower end of the spectrum—the cheapest units are still disappearing faster than they can be replaced, and building high-end housing isn't remedying that. Wage growth has also not caught up to rent growth, so the overall slower growth in rents may not mean much to people on the lowest end of the income spectrum.Meanwhile, efforts to build more lower-cost housing after a surge in rents across the country have been met with growing opposition from homeowners in a handful of markets. According to NBC News, they're now fighting back with lawsuits, referendums, appeals to state representatives and recall elections in a battle to stave off multifamily housing in their largely suburban neighborhoods. But if only high-end apartments get built, you run the risk of prolonged vacancy when no one wants to pay the expensive asking price. New York City, for instance, has long had a glut of empty luxury apartments. What a waste, I'd happily camp out in that freestanding bathtub until someone richer comes along.
FYI:
CNBC has compiled a top 10 list of the worst places in the United States for renters. Is your city on here?
Bird Flu Is a Seroius Threat
But we don't need to worry about it becoming another global pandemic
In the last two years, more than half a billion birds have died globally. All due to avian influenza, otherwise known as bird flu. The majority of these birds were farmed chickens and turkeys, but wild birds like endangered California condors have also been hit and sea birds are washing up on shores from Ireland to Canada as well.You likely heard about bird flu when it started spreading among poultry farms, forcing American farmers to cull nearly 30 million egg-laying hens. That threatened the livelihood of farmers and sent egg prices soaring in late 2022 and early this year. But while avian flu is still spreading among wild animals globally, health officials and farmers have largely managed to reduce infection among poultry in recent months, at least in the U.S. And that's caused egg prices to drop recently.But according to health experts who spoke to Vox, even though humans are able to contract avian flu, it's unlikely to become a wide-reaching pandemic like COVID due to its inability to transmit from one person to another easily. But viruses evolve quickly, and unpredictably. Which is why scientists have been working to identify a gene in human lungs that prevents most people from contracting the virus. They say this means targeted solutions can be directed to avian flu viruses sooner to prevent any future spillover into humans.
FYI:
A recent study found that the bird flu infecting seals in New England had genetic changes that make them more efficient at replicating within the cells of mammals.
The Cybertruck Is Finally Here ...
Well, sort of. It's coming though, Right?
What a long road it's been, huh? I can remember the early days of this newsletter, back in 2019, when Elon Musk introduced the world to the Cybertruck with a now infamous gaffe where the indestructible window was shattered with a sledgehammer. But that's all water under the proverbial bridge.After years of delays, Tesla has announced the production of its first Cybertruck in its Austin, Texas gigafactory. Musk shared a photo of the first angular all-electric truck surrounded by the factory workers. And while production may have begun, there's still a lot we don't know about the finished EV. Tesla has walked back some of the bolder claims made about the vehicle, including that a single-motor variant would start at $39,000. Whether intentional or not, much of the truck was obscured in the factory photo. This means there's no clear view of the bed, the wing mirrors, or that angular front end to see what kind of pedestrian safety measures the finished truck might have. As Robb Report points out two of its more striking design elements—the headlight strip and the absence of side-view mirrors—aren't even technically street-legal at the moment. Oh, and don't expect to see it on the road anytime soon. Mass production won't begin until 2024.
Meanwhile:
Hyundai's boxy new redesign of the Santa Fe promises greater cargo capacity and a more luxurious interior. Some are calling it the “working man’s Defender.”
Are Songs Getting Faster?
You might've heard them on TikTok, but is the platform responsible for speeding up songs?
The quickest way to make a song go viral in 2023? Just speed it up. Super fast, high-pitched vocals are the backing tracks to almost everything on TikTok. The trend has taken off so much that The Ringer reports that many artists—from SZA and Sabrina Carpenter to Steve Lacy and Miguel—have now released sped-up versions of their songs alongside the original single, with the hope of achieving virality on TikTok.But according to the BBC, this need for speed might have predated TikTok's obsession with sped-up songs. Back in 2020, just as many artists began to understand the power of TikTok when it came to promoting their music, the average tempo of the top 20 best-selling songs of the year was already at 122 beats per minute—the highest it had been since the early aughts.Of course, there are a few reasons why sped-up songs might be so popular on TikTok right now. One, they appeal to our ever-shortening attention spans. But as the largest-growing social media platform, TikTok tends to reflect what people are interested in more widely, as well as creating trends that are specific to the app. Co-founder of OK COOL, Liz Stone, tells InsideHook that she thinks “this trend was born from an organic, audience-driven enjoyment that the industry observed and then capitalized on.” In any case, those chipmunk-pitched songs are here to stay.
FYI:
A 2018 study of Billboard Hot 100 hits found that the duration of hit songs had been falling for most of the 2010s.
In Other News
She’s now tied with Drake, but behind Jay-Z and the Beatles.
Have you heard about ...
The Long Read
Chatting With PinkyDoll, the NPC Streamer Baffling the Internet
It’s the latest evolution of virtual tipping on the internet, and sits at the intersection of gaming culture and sex work.”
- By Gene Park
Read It:
//
Shopping
What We’re Buying
A leather box
This leather box ($175) is just damn cool. That's it. But really, Billykirk took their premium full-grain, vegetable-tanned leather and then cut and stitched it into this handsome box, available in four different shades. Hand-stitched, burnished and edged, the boxes are an ideal spot for mementos and keepsakes, tucked into a bookcase or let this be where you round up your work essentials on your desk. Of course, it would also look amazing on a coffee table or entryway. And bonus, you can have them embossed with a monogram (for yourself or a gift).
Want more?
The five stylish items you should be buying this week.
Morning Motto
Start now. Why not?
▾
Follow:
Share today’s motto:
