Two recent articles from Twin Cities-based news site MinnPost have focused on the future of the urban landscape — on the suburban one, too. The first viewpoint comes from Richard Florida, author of the book “The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity.” In a nutshell, he believes that when [...]

A blog entry on BUILDER Online posed a provocative question: Can big homes be green? The answer, as with most things, is “it depends.” As everyone knows, there’s been a shift away from McMansions. Not only can they cost more to build, but they’ll also be more expensive to heat and cool — not to [...]

This week’s Builder Blog post examines what the next ten years will bring for building trends, practices and products. New ideas and technologies will be shaped by consumer needs and wants for the home, builder preferences and societal trends. The environment will have a say, as well; as our growing population requires more resources and [...]

A recent Newsweek article by Cathleen McGuigan discusses the phenomenon of iconic architecture and experimental design that was fostered by the economic boom of the late 90s. Now, as we climb out of the recession, architects seem to have learned the lesson along with the rest of the population: bigger, more extravagant building isn’t always [...]

Although recent reports still categorize the housing market in its entirety as sluggish, primarily due to high unemployment and foreclosures, the second-home market is beginning to show increased signs of life. From Palm Beach, Fla. to Big Sky, Mont., on a lake, on the beach or in a secluded golf community, people are making purchases. [...]

Teenagers: all they care about is…living green? According to Qualified Remodeler, more and more teenagers are taking a leading role in making their homes greener. As an example, they offer a story of an adult who didn’t get rid of her working dishwasher that didn’t match her other kitchen appliances, despite clearly wanting to. Her [...]

Our last post examined a trend among architects and builders focusing on building better homes rather than homes that are simply bigger. Inspired by architects like Sarah Susanka, there’s been a push for quality — in the way the space is used — rather than quantity — of rooms and square footage. A recent in-depth [...]

In the past year or so, we’ve seen remodeling rise up to take a greater prominence in the building world. With the economic challenges and the building industry reeling, more and more homeowners are remodeling. Why? A combination of factors: With houses not selling, people are staying put and upgrading what they have. But this [...]

It was recently Earth Day (did you do anything to mark the occasion?) and Treehugger recently spotlighted Michelle Kaufman, an architect, who gave her view on where green building is going. Please read the whole article–it’s fascinating–but here are some of Kaufman’s main points. No more McMansions–they’re expensive and not Earth friendly. Moving from trading [...]

by Lou Manfredini This post originally appeared on the Contractor’s Tool Box blog on HousingZone.com Some trends are timeless – or at least, as timeless as anything can be in a rapidly changing world. I’ve been looking at a lot of research on the housing market, from both before and after the downturn, picking out [...]