Here is an interesting way to put the hard choices back in the people’s hands. Even if it is just an exercise.

I do an awful lot of talking about this particular beverage but am by no means an aficionado. I brewed another IPA the other day with my buddy Steve. I think I have only brewed IPA’s except for the first brew I ever tried, a Hefeweizen. I have always known it was the world’s oldest alcoholic drink but I was surprised to find out yet another great historical fact. My Grandma Elenore is 93 years young and never ceases to amaze me. Seriously she is witty, intelligent and can still dance a jig. She moved to Alaska on her own with three or four kids back in the 60’s and built a grocery store. Her life really should be a book, but anyway back to the beer.

She got her license to sell liquor and had it shipped in from Seattle along with all the other goods she sold. So the other night I was with her and talking about my brewing in a nonchalant cool way and she just pulls out the “do you have a capper?” and motions the capping mechanism. I was like what, you brew too!?! She brewed it and gave it to her friends, and soldiers on leave ( I am sure that is a great story too). Anyway the thing that is great is that although it has been done through the ages it has the ability to relate across generations. I love that my grandma brewed beer. You too can get in on the action by going over to the Home Brew Outlet don’t mind the guy that works there, he was born that way. That’s what he said anyway.

Do you think the United Auto Workers will act any differently now that it owns 17.5% of GM or 30% of Chrysler? Kinda a tough balancing act that I am very excited to see the results of.

Things are failing all around us constantly. GM, Chrysler, WAMU, KWOD 106, and on and on. I have myself been examining the simpler moments in my life and appreciating them more. In the crazy previous years 2005, 06, 07 I had a good time living but was too attuned to all of the balls that needed to stay in the air to keep the ship upright. Maybe it is part of letting things die that don’t have any business living that has allowed me to free up that mental space to appreciate the other things. Getting a recycled something, or fixing a broken down something else brings more satisfaction than going and buying something brand new. But similarly the BBQ’s with friends, walks around the neighborhood, days at the river, all seem more valuble in the light of what is truly important. When you wake up tomorrow, stretch and take a deep breath and enjoy the sunrise if you get a chance.

So I have been asked quite a bit lately, “So what are you going to do?” With concern and empathy people wonder, what else is LJ Urban, or Micah, going to do.  This is a difficult question.  I find myself daydreaming about what is next, but at the same time feel the weight of what is present.  This is a time of great uncertainty and craziness in the world and I have to say I don’t always know where we are going.  I am working to still put our projects on hold and downsize LJ Urban as you have seen recently with the new co-working space taking over most of our space in the building.  I am ready to start looking a little further beyond real estate and into renewable energy which I think will bring forth truly sustainable communities in the future.  I am sorry for the melancholy post but I think what is really going on right now is that I am missing the optimist who has been at my side through the last few years of hard work.  Levi and Jessie and their kids should have landed in Ethiopia as of this post and we are waiting like the rest of you to hear what they are seeing.

As an avid listener you can imagine my excitement to be invited behind the scenes at NPR to go talk with them about all the changes going on around here. You can listen to it here.

Many people have asked about the Good project and what is going to happen to it with all the changes going on around here so I thought I would do a post on the topic and see if we can’t spell it all out.

Basically we have hit a wall with pricing where the current market has gone below what it costs us to build the product we believe so strongly in. So what we are going to do is finish and sell a few more houses that we already started and put the project on hold for a bit while we wait out the storm. It’s no secret that the market has taken a huge hit in the past year and our project although still faring better than others has been hit and is now in a spot.

There is one good thing about all this….If you want a good home, we are going to be selling the few that are under construction at below the cost to build them! So you could come in and get a killer deal on what I still believe to be the best example of Eco-Urban housing anywhere in the world.

We hope to be able to resume construction soon on the remaining lots and are already seeing signs that the market has bottomed out and is leveling off. Inventory has been in steady decline for the past 5 months which is typically the precursor to a recovery. At least that is what has always happened in the past.

So that is the story of Good.

to be continued…

Levi

On the 12th of this month my family and I are boarding a plane to Ethiopia to go help out with the orphanage we have been talking about on here lately. That means you are going to start seeing some changes here on the blog and I thought I would start to introduce you to a few of them.

This trip means that LJ Urban is going to be on a sort of hiatus. Still alive and passionate about making cities better but temporarily backing off of what has proven to be an incredibly hard real estate market. We own several properties across the central city that we intend to come back and develop when the market is delivering active buyers at reasonable prices. Today that is not the reality and this trip provides the perfect opportunity to take a break while things are slow, and sales prices are lower than the cost to build.

We are going to keep blogging here but from a whole different angle. Jessie and I are going to be doing our best to update the Blog from Ethiopia. So instead of hearing about city planning meetings and the epic saga that is green building, you will be hearing about a family in culture shock and the struggle to learn how to speak Amharic and find diapers by the truck load in rural Ethiopia. Our favorite friends over at EMRL are going to be working over the next few weeks on changing the feel of the blog so that its design is more in line with what you are going to be reading. For instance the red box at the top right of your screen is going to say something about how we are a development company on Sabbatical in Ethiopia and how you can come along and join us on our adventure. I am sure that we will loose some of our 25K visitors every month but such is life. I guess if we do a real good job of telling the story we might be able to keep everyone… You never know.

So changes will abound and you are as always invited to chime in and make suggestions as we journey onward and upward into a whole new world. Here we go!

Levi Benkert

Congratulations to Joanie of Austin, Texas. Joanie purchased 5 raffle tickets and won the scooter drawing last night at the orphanage fund-raiser. I spoke with her today and she is ecstatic with joy over her win. She already found a shipping company and they will be picking it up and bringing it to her next week!

We had a great time at the event, and I want to thank everyone who came out and supported the effort to save these children in Ethiopia. All in all, and I am guessing here, I think there were around 250 people who showed up, which is very cool!

Thank you, and congratulations Joanie. Happy Scooting!

Levi