August 25, 2021
Teeter Totters of Days Gone By
Who remembers these old wooden teeter totters? The ones at Sunset Hill Elementary had handles to grasp for safety. However, they were on asphalt so the landing was a bit rugged. Now that I think of it, our kickball field was on asphalt with the bases painted on the tar. We didn't slide into base often. Last week I shared the experience of being sent to the principal's office for standing on the teeter totter in 1st grade. It brought to mind the ups-and-downs of re-development projects. Actually, I am not sure what came to mind first; the current experiences or the childhood one. Now, when I say "ups-and-downs" I am not speaking of a changing attitude or being all moody. No, the ups-and-downs of changes, surprises and unknowns. Our goal is to go with the flow of the changes and enjoy the experience! Now, and as a kid, the ups-and-downs of teeter tottering were enjoyable. And, sometimes I stood on them.
Does it Quench Your Thirst?
I want to make myself clear. As clear as the glass that may or may not be half full. Since we are talking about clichés; we weren't but we are now, I wanted to address this one with the glass. You know, where they say your glass is half full or half empty? Optimistic or pessimistic? You know what I think? I don't care as long as it quenches my thirst. FYI: There is no glass. Well, besides the glass buried behind the drywall. There is that.
Back to making myself clear. To me, a little friction isn't so bad. In fact, by definition, without friction there is no traction. So, as we uncover these changes we are creating friction. We do not want too much friction though. Too much friction creates no movement and we cannot have that! Unless there is pressure. Read on!
One thing I read recently resonated with me as we are plodding through this project. Most people shy away from pressure and want nothing to do with it. Some people create it and then leave the room. What a dastardly thing to do! Others thrive in it and create something magnificent out of it. This process happens within nature. It's called a "diamond". A diamond is a gem created out of carbon under immense pressure over time. Some of us are diamonds. We hear of people looking for a "diamond in the rough." This is backwards. We look for the "rough in the diamond." In other words, we look for the worst properties with the highest potential in any given neighborhood. And, we create diamonds out of them.
Thunder Mountain Impacting the Neighborhood
With impact investing there typically is the see-saw of activity. You know what a see-saw is. If not, read the opening paragraph for reference. What then is impact investing? How does this all fit into our project? Impact investing is making positive social change while also creating profitable financial gains. What societal change are we are we looking to impact, or change? First is to supply units to the marketplace for the workforce at affordable rates. In today's market this is now called "attainable housing". Previously it was "affordable housing", which has now become synonymous with subsidized rents; which is not our focus. The market we serve is the workforce market which is the most underserved segment of our population in the current economic cycle.
Thunder Mountain Apartments in Sierra Vista
Second is the community. In many cities across the country the city governments are scrambling to find ways to bring lower cost rental units to a city. The challenge is how they are going about it. They are not entrepreneurial. They do not consider unique ways to bring units to the market. This is where we come in. And for cities, being proactive is not their gift. It is ours. Being we were able to work out a favorable price with the seller, we can deliver additional units to the marketplace at far below new build cost. The community wins as the demand of rental units is better met.
Thunder Mountain Apartments in Arizona
People have asked me, "What difference does it make?" Or, "Isn't there easier ways to make a living?" Or even, "Can you really make a difference". Now, we are not using the vision statement the late Steve Jobs used where he stated he wanted to "Dent the universe." No. This is not our vision. Our "dent" is at the local level. Very local.
Thunder Mountain Apartments in North America
As I zoom out... And by "zoom" I do not mean the new way of meeting people. I mean the older fashioned way of zooming out by clicking the "-" button on google earth. As I zoom out I began to ponder what difference can we really make? This is a small building in a small city in a state within the United States which is on the North American continent.
Thunder Mountain in the Globe
When we look at the small dot on the globe in North America within the United States in the southwestern state of Arizona nestled in the small city of Sierra Vista down by the Mexican border one may ask, "Can such a small thing make an impact?" I will send off you this thought: Go to sleep with a mosquito and get back to me.
Minnesota State Bird
And that is our project from my corner of the globe ~Bruce
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