If you've been following the housing market (in most cities) over the last year, this chart likely won't surprise you. It is from a recent City Observatory article by Joe Cortright talking about the "k-shaped housing market" that we have seen emerge over the last year. The above is for the US, but I would imagine that the chart would look similar for Canada, as well as for other countries. Here's an excerpt from the article:
There’s an obvious explanation for the different trajectories of house prices and rents: Low income workers rent; high income workers own and buy homes. High income households have been barely grazed by the Covid-19 recession. In fact, the combination of low interest rates and enforced savings (because many kinds of consumption spending, including dining, entertainment, travel and even much retail have been constrained by lockdowns), mean higher income households may find housing a much more attractive spending item. If you can’t go out to dinner, or take a vacation, you have more money to spend on a new home. Low wage workers are in the opposite situation. Low wage workers have borne the brunt of the recession; they are also much more likely to be renters than higher income households.
It is perhaps worth reiterating that our fixation on homeownership is not universal. If you live in Switzerland -- a very wealthy country -- you're more likely to rent than own. And if you live in Germany, you're more likely to live in an apartment than in a low-rise house. Still, that doesn't change the fact that the impacts of COVID-19, and our lockdowns, have been felt unequally. This chart is an example of that.
A colleague in the office recently introduced me to a Swiss invention called the Wickelfisch (or baby fish). Below is a video showing you how they work. They're so neat. So Swiss. And I obviously just ordered one. They're available via this US company for $12-20, depending on the size.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0QagvuIFSo
The video is of people swimming in the Rhein. Because swimming downstream in rivers -- and ending up in a different location -- is so popular in Switzerland, the Whickelfisch was invented as a way to keep your clothes and belongings dry. It also acts as a flotation device.
I'm not planning on floating down the Don River anytime soon, but a Wickelfisch looks like the perfect bag to bring to the beach. Especially if you don't want to leave your stuff unattended to while you go for a swim.
Of course, the other neat thing about this video is that it shows you how awesome it is to have clean and swimmable water running through the middle of a city. Most people I know are afraid to swim in Lake Ontario out of fear they might grow a 6th toe.
That's too bad.
If you've been following the housing market (in most cities) over the last year, this chart likely won't surprise you. It is from a recent City Observatory article by Joe Cortright talking about the "k-shaped housing market" that we have seen emerge over the last year. The above is for the US, but I would imagine that the chart would look similar for Canada, as well as for other countries. Here's an excerpt from the article:
There’s an obvious explanation for the different trajectories of house prices and rents: Low income workers rent; high income workers own and buy homes. High income households have been barely grazed by the Covid-19 recession. In fact, the combination of low interest rates and enforced savings (because many kinds of consumption spending, including dining, entertainment, travel and even much retail have been constrained by lockdowns), mean higher income households may find housing a much more attractive spending item. If you can’t go out to dinner, or take a vacation, you have more money to spend on a new home. Low wage workers are in the opposite situation. Low wage workers have borne the brunt of the recession; they are also much more likely to be renters than higher income households.
It is perhaps worth reiterating that our fixation on homeownership is not universal. If you live in Switzerland -- a very wealthy country -- you're more likely to rent than own. And if you live in Germany, you're more likely to live in an apartment than in a low-rise house. Still, that doesn't change the fact that the impacts of COVID-19, and our lockdowns, have been felt unequally. This chart is an example of that.
A colleague in the office recently introduced me to a Swiss invention called the Wickelfisch (or baby fish). Below is a video showing you how they work. They're so neat. So Swiss. And I obviously just ordered one. They're available via this US company for $12-20, depending on the size.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0QagvuIFSo
The video is of people swimming in the Rhein. Because swimming downstream in rivers -- and ending up in a different location -- is so popular in Switzerland, the Whickelfisch was invented as a way to keep your clothes and belongings dry. It also acts as a flotation device.
I'm not planning on floating down the Don River anytime soon, but a Wickelfisch looks like the perfect bag to bring to the beach. Especially if you don't want to leave your stuff unattended to while you go for a swim.
Of course, the other neat thing about this video is that it shows you how awesome it is to have clean and swimmable water running through the middle of a city. Most people I know are afraid to swim in Lake Ontario out of fear they might grow a 6th toe.
That's too bad.
Swiss supermarket chain, Migros, has just launched what is being called the first store in Switzerland to not have any employees. The concept, called the Voi Cube, is a small container-like outparcel space that is open 24/7 and offers about 500 or so everyday items. You enter using their app, you grab what you need, and then you check yourself out. (Presumably the doors don't open back up until you've paid.)
The concept is being positioned as a convenience add-on to its existing grocery store business. Swiss federal labor laws still prohibit retail staff from working on Sundays, and so this is a clever way for people to shop for essentials during that time. They just got rid of the labor component. It also begins to show just how flexible and adaptable grocery stores can be as the retail landscape continues to evolve.
Swiss supermarket chain, Migros, has just launched what is being called the first store in Switzerland to not have any employees. The concept, called the Voi Cube, is a small container-like outparcel space that is open 24/7 and offers about 500 or so everyday items. You enter using their app, you grab what you need, and then you check yourself out. (Presumably the doors don't open back up until you've paid.)
The concept is being positioned as a convenience add-on to its existing grocery store business. Swiss federal labor laws still prohibit retail staff from working on Sundays, and so this is a clever way for people to shop for essentials during that time. They just got rid of the labor component. It also begins to show just how flexible and adaptable grocery stores can be as the retail landscape continues to evolve.
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