Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech: Beyond Megalopolis: Exploring America’s New “Megapolitan” Geography

The Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech identifies ten US “Megapolitan
Areas”— clustered networks of metropolitan areas that exceed 10 million
total residents (or will pass that mark by 2040).

This Census Report represents the first pass at establishing a new Megapolitan geography. The RPA and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy (this study’s funder) are working with several other academic institutions, including the University of Pennsylvania and Georgia Tech, to support similar research. Together with these partners, the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech will produce future refinements of this new geography. One hope is that a standard megapolitan definition can emerge from this collaborative effort that ultimately facilitates an official census designation.

http://www.mi.vt.edu/uploads/MegaCensusReport.pdf

RealEstateJournal | Baton Rouge Real Estate Becomes Hot Property

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Overnight, this city of 400,000 has grown faster than any other in America.

Exactly how many have come to the metropolitan area isn't known, but the tens of thousands of residents and business owners from across the hurricane-ravaged parishes of southern Louisiana seeking to rebuild businesses and lives illustrate a far larger picture of the mass migration that promises to reshape life in Gulf Coast and deep South communities such as Houston; Jackson, Miss.; Mobile, Ala.; and Memphis, Tenn.

RealEstateJournal | Baton Rouge Real Estate Becomes Hot Property

RealEstateJournal | Housing Starts Fell in August On Drop in Multifamily Units

Residential construction fell for a second straight month in August as construction of condominiums and apartments tumbled, suggesting that rising concerns about overbuilding in the condo market may have prompted developers to pull back.

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that construction starts of new homes declined 1.3% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.009 million units. In July, starts were down 1.5% to 2.035 million. The government said the effect from Hurricane Katrina was minimal in August because it disrupted construction activity for only the last few days of the month.

The drop was attributed exclusively to declines in multifamily housing. Construction starts of single-family homes edged up 0.1% to 1.709 million. Starts of housing with two or more units dropped 8.5% to 300,000 units while construction of homes with five or more units fell 12% to 256,000 units.

RealEstateJournal | Housing Starts Fell in August On Drop in Multifamily Units

RealEstateJournal | Norfolk Must Choose Between Development and Air Base

John Mamoudis grew up in the Norfolk, Va., area, so he was accustomed to planes buzzing overhead from the nearby air base. He also didn't think much about how close the 72 luxury condominiums he was planning were to the flight path for the Oceana Naval Air Station.

Then the federal government started making noise about limiting development around the air base. In the hopes of avoiding a showdown, the city council of Virginia Beach, where the project was located, voted to buy Mr. Mamoudis's land for $15 million.


Fort Monroe, on the Chesapeake Bay, has been recommended for closure.

That didn't stop the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission from issuing an ultimatum that stunned the region, which runs along Virginia's coast from colonial Williamsburg down to Chesapeake, near the North Carolina border. The choice was clear: either roll back development around the Oceana Air Station by condemning...

RealEstateJournal | Norfolk Must Choose Between Development and Air Base

RealEstateJournal | Rental-Apartment Market Picks Up the Pace

The nation's rental-apartment market improved for the third consecutive quarter, leading some experts to declare that a recovery is taking hold.


RealEstateJournal | Rental-Apartment Market Picks Up the Pace

Dave Lindahl 'Apartment King"

Dave offers courses and bootcamps on apartment investing.

http://www.REMentor.com