1. There Goes the Neighborhood
You can think of it as a new form of segregation. Except in this case, we’re not just segregating by streets or neighborhoods. Huge swaths of the population are being priced out of the market across entire cities. The wage differential between those with college degrees and those without them is increasing. As WaPo’s Emily Badger explains: “This effectively means that college graduates in America aren’t simply gaining access to higher wages. They’re gaining access to high-cost cities like New York or San Francisco that offer so much more than good jobs: more restaurants, better schools, less crime, even cleaner air.”
+ “Last December, my partner Rebecca and I bought a rowhouse with another couple. Our wedding was this May. Next month, we’re expecting a baby — the other couple’s baby.” In The Atlantic, Ari Weisbard why he and his partner — faced with the increasing cost of city living — decided to buy a house with their friends, share their space and their lives, and all make a family together. (That sounds like the opening of a horror movie.)
+ “Property costs have dropped to the point that barriers to ownership — to a sort of mogulhood, even — are absurdly low.” Has Detroit hit rock bottom? Many investors think it has. Can this once great American city make a comeback? Welcome to the post-post-apocalyptic Detroit.
+ And welcome to the the post-post-apocalyptic Cleveland. LeBron James has clicked his high tops together three times and decided that there really is no place like home. “In Northeast Ohio, nothing is given. Everything is earned. You work for what you have. I’m ready to accept the challenge. I’m coming home.”
+ And no story on Cleveland would be complete without these two video clips: How do you feel about Cleveland, from Tootsie, and Hello Cleveland from This is Spinal Tap.
2. On the Road
“Of the 40 young people I interviewed, nine — seven boys and two girls — told me they were captured by the Zetas cartel in Mexico on their way to the United States. Rape is so common that many migrant girls get birth-control injections before they leave home.” Politico’s Susan Terrio interviews the children of America’s border disaster.
+ Drop the disease rhetoric. The Central American kids arriving in Texas are likely to be better-vaccinated than children in Texas.
+ Slate’s Josh Keating: “The Americas overtook Africa as the region with the world’s most murders this year, and Honduras now vastly leads the world.” The U.S. can’t just fence itself off from the crisis.
3. Weekend Reads
“Six years earlier, working as a functionary for a transportation company, Mr. Chen had read a story about the bridge in the paper, about bodies raining to their end. Soon after, he quietly took his post at the South Tower.” From GQ’s Michael Paterniti: The Suicide Catcher.
+ A.M. Radio. The Banksy of Second Life.
+ “We do need tools to buy and sell drugs online, to gamble online, to transfer money to Iranians and North Koreans, to enable kids to run business on the Internet to manage resources collectively.” From Wired: Inside Dark Wallet.
+ BloombergBusinessweek: America’s vanishing bowling alleys.
4. Back in the Groove
Streaming is dominating. Even downloading music feels like a nostalgic act. But the album is not dead yet. In one corner of the industry, the tables are turning: Sales of vinyl are spinning up the charts.
5. Waxing Brazilian
Here’s some good news for those who have hated every minute of the World Cup obsession: It’s almost over.
+ The final game comes down to the Man vs the Machine. And here are five things to know about the Germany vs Argentina.
+ SB Nation: Ron Vlaar’s huge missed PK for the Netherlands almost rolled back in. Wow.
+ Apparently, soccer players reach their peak at the age of 27. (Sadly, the same is probably true for newsletter writers.)
6. Swiss Chard Drive
Having a Swiss bank account isn’t as attractive as it used to be. But now Switzerland is becoming known as a place to hide something that could be even more valuable than money. Data.
7. Drone Home
Amazon has officially asked the FAA for permission to fly drones “as part of its plan to deliver packages to customers in 30 minutes or less.” And you thought/hoped they were joking.
8. Birds-Eye View
Speaking of drones, there is already a drone photography contest. Here are the winning shots.
+ And from the riding of Le Tour to the running of the bulls, InFocus has an excellent collection of the photos of the week.
9. Don’t Bogart That Brand
Venice OG. Cadillac Purple. King Kush. Chocolope. One thing we’ve learned about legal and medical marijuana is that you need a catchy name to really move some product. There are hundreds to choose from. You just have to play the medical marijuana name game.
+ WaPo: Marijuana demand in Colorado may be nearly a third higher than previously estimated. (I know it’s hard to predict the future, but seriously, who could possibly have estimated on the low end?)
+ With legal pot sales spreading like a weed, have the unions finally found their growth industry? (Relax. You don’t need a union worker. “My old man is a television repairman, he’s got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it.”)
10. The Bottom of the News
Everyone in business likes to talk about going after the lowest hanging fruit. So Pacific Standard’s decided to go in search of the world’s actual lowest hanging fruit. (This reminds me of joke my great-Uncle Mordy used to tell in the steam room.)
+ The ten most effective editing moments of all time.
+ If you were born between ’93 and ’97, you may have just received a letter from the Selective Service ordering you to register for the draft or face a fine and imprisonment. Thankfully, it was for the years between 1893 and 1897.
+ Will time-lapse iPhone photography put and end to the Selfie craze? Or will you just sit still in one place for a really long time?
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- Why It's So Hard to Quit Vaping
- Jeremy Strong on Taking a Risk With a New Film About Trump
- Our Guide to Voting in the 2024 Election
- The 10 Races That Will Determine Control of the Senate
- Column: How My Shame Became My Strength
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