rockin’ and rollin’

The largest earthquake since the 1989 Loma Prieta quake occurred 9 miles north of downtown San Jose last night. I was in class at the time. We felt a rumbling that felt like a thunderclap coupled with some shaking of the building for about 10 seconds and then it all subsided. Afterward, everyone left class to rush out and check the internet on their laptops for news!

Anyways, no one was hurt and there seems to be no property damage also. Luckily the epicenter was in an unpopulated area. The greatest danger now seems to be how it might have effected other nearby volatile faults. Like my dad said last night, you are taking your chances whether you live with hurricanes in Mississippi, fires in Southern California, tornadoes in Kansas, or blizzards in the north. All you can do is prepare for the worst and be thankful, that for now, all is well.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/31/MNCAT3RA1.DTL

suntech

One of the largest solar cell manufacturers in the world is relocating their headquarters to San Francisco. While I was interning this summer they were one of the companies I dealt with, so it was exciting for me to read this news. In economic development you get many inquiries but most don’t pan out. It’s great to hear that such a cutting-edge “clean tech” company is moving to SF.

Why does this matter? It matters because this company could have just as easily located in Dallas, San Jose, or Denver. High growth companies like this often “incubate” (get their start) in big cities and then move out to the ‘burbs where costs are lower. This was especially true in the 1990’s tech boom in which many companies started in San Francisco and then as they grew often moved south down the peninsula or across the bay to Oakland. Companies that locate in San Francisco, or New York, or Chicago, or Boston make a conscious decision to put themselves in an environment (albeit a more expensive one) with a highly educated workforce and a political climate that supports the type of business they do.

It is a positive trend, in my opinion, to see young companies like Google, Wikipedia, Suntech, etc. doing the opposite of many older companies and moving some of their operations to San Francisco after they have become well known in their respective industries. This growth in old-line city employment might not seem at all odd to us now, but in light of the trends of the past 60 years, in which major corporations fled from major cities, this could be the beginning of a shift towards once again relocating corporations in certain older cities.

San Francisco, a city which once boasted over 50 Fortune 500 companies now has a paltry 9 remaining. However, as our cultural attitudes about global warming, transportation and housing choice, and economic growth have begun to shift in favor of some older 19th century cities, rather than the sprawling metroplexes of the post-war era, we might begin to see more and more influential companies locating in cities.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/23/BUGOSUAF0.DTL&hw=suntech&sn=001&sc=1000

history walking

I recently discovered a series of free San Francisco walking tours and went on one, a few weeks ago, along with Stasie and Jordan. The tour explored the history of Pacific Heights. It was very interesting, there are many foreign consulates located there that date back to the 19th century.

Often there is more history around us, than we imagine, and going on a simple walking tour can take us back and help us to remember how much things can change in a short 100 years.

The parentals are in town this weekend, and I’m going to take them on this tour, should be fun…

http://www.sfcityguides.org/desc.html?tour=20

weak dollar

“A dollar ain’t worth what it used to be”.

Since 2004 that old saying has become a reality. Not only is the British pound worth twice as much as the dollar and the euro 1.4, but currencies like the Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand dollar have all appreciated in relative value to the US dollar dramatically over the past 3 years.

So what does this all mean to you and I? It means that it is now more expensive for us to buy products from foreign countries, and it increases the amount of US goods sold abroad. Basically, a weak dollar encourages us to save more and for the rest of the world buy more, from us. The downside? Don’t plan on going on a budget vacation to another first world country anytime soon. Asia (exempting Japan and Hong Kong), South America, and Africa are your best bets.

How did this come to be? Since World War II, up until the advent of the euro, the strong dollar was been the world currency by which all others were measured. The official policy then (and supposedly still now) is to maintain a highly valued dollar. That worked when the US was the only industrial superpower left standing in 1945, but it doesn’t work now. A weaker dollar allows us to better compete economically with other developed countries in selling to them, as well as in the competition to sell goods and services to emerging markets (China, Brazil, India, Russia, etc).

Moral of the story? Don’t believe the hype; we as Americans need to save more and spend less and a weaker dollar encourages us to do exactly that.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/rise-exports-shrinks-us-trade/story.aspx?guid=%7BF3488D35-4CC7-4214-A1A6-B590C2A24191%7D

a son of bakersfield indeed

Enrico Banducci was a San Francisco restauranteur who died yesterday after a well lived 85 years. At age 13 Enrico left Bakersfield, for the cool breezes of the Golden Gate, and never looked back. He had quite a colorful life as well (see below). If you’ve never been to Enrico’s, I’ll take you the next time you’re in town…

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/10/10/MNH4SNBLJ.DTL