Unsafe Neighborhoods

Yesterday Amy noticed a story come across the wire about a new Microsoft patent. One of the main benefits, which appears in the abstract of the actual filing, is that it will allow walking directions to be provided that take into account “unsafe” neighborhoods. The story caught our attention because as real estate agents we are not allowed to talk about neighborhoods as “safe” or “unsafe.” An area’s level of safety is a personal perception

Surviving the October Storm

First, we hope you are all safe and warm. The last few days have been not fun for the majority of people in the Greater Hartford region and the un-fun will likely continue for a while longer. We live in the West End of Hartford and somehow have power. Many of our neighbors do not, as a lot of the legacy trees in our neighborhood took a beating and brought the power lines down with

Happy New Year Greater Hartford!

Our apologies for the radio silence during the past 10 days. Maybe you thought something happened to us. Not really. We went to Vermont for a few days and then returned to CT before the snow arrived. We’ve been doing quite a bit of client work during the last two weeks of the year, somewhat surprisingly, but quite happily. Look for a super monster spectacular data blog post in the upcoming week, as well as

Forbes: Hartford a Top City for Working Mothers

ForbesWoman recently released a study identifying the “Best Cities for Working Mothers” in 2010. Hartford finished 7th out of the top 50 metropolitan regions in the country. The magazine ranked each city based on six factors: Women’s Income, Living Cost, Pediatricians, Unemployment, Violent Crimes, and Spending per Pupil. Their idea was to try to capture a variety of issues that all play into mysterious phrases like “quality of life” and “work-life balance.” Some may debate

An Economist's View of the National Housing Market

Economists are divided as to the direction of the national housing market. Some believe that the environment is stabilizing and that prices will increase from here. Others see further price decreases once the government support fades away. Barry Ritholz is one economist we follow regularly, through his posts on The Big Picture blog. Right now, he has a strong negative view on the future of the US housing markets. One of yesterday’s posts broke down