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The Archaeologist Who Collected 4,500 Beer Cans (Atlas Obscura)

$ You Might Be a Late Bloomer (The Atlantic)

$ The First Wave at Omaha Beach (The Atlantic, 1960)

Four States that Have Banned Billboards (Daily Passport)

As Gen-X nears retirement, new survey says the numbers aren’t adding up (MSN.com)

With as much as 39% of downtown real estate devoted to surface spaces for cars, advocates say it’s time to junk Asheville’s minimum parking requirements (Asheville Watchdog)

North Carolina’s huge school technology mistake (Longleaf Politics)

$ NC House passes a new bill about property taxes, with more legislation to come (News & Observer)

Rental scams rising across North Carolina (Ashe Post & Times)

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Quotes

“Effort is the one thing that gives meaning to life. Effort means you care about something.” – Carol Dweck, Stanford Psychologist, quoted in The Atlantic

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High prices are pushing homebuyers to consider drastic steps (Multifamily Dive)

Is the apartment industry ready for an AI job apocalypse? (Multifamily Dive)

State of Mind: Batter Up! (SouthPark Magazine)

Thom Tillis called something “stupid on stilts.” Where the hell did that come from? (NC Rabbit Hole)

Homeowners are suddenly pulling their houses off the market – and this is why (Fast Company)

The National Mall: From memorials to museums (The American Facts)

NASA in your house: 10 inventions that revolutionized everyday life (The Amerian Facts)

A Low-Income Housing Program Is Pouring Billions Into Housing Many People Can’t Afford (ProPublica)

$ Private-equity firms expanding ownership stakes in Triad apartment market (Winston-Salem Journal)

Uprooted: 18 Months After Helene, Thousands in Western North Carolina Are Still Waiting to Come Home (DC Report)

HUD report: North Carolina homelessness up 33%, cites Helene as source of increase (WLOS)

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Quotes

“Sometimes magic is just someone spending more time on something than anyone else might reasonably expect.” – Teller, quoted in The Writing Shed

“To call Paxton ethically challenged is to call Jeffrey Dahmer suffering from an eating disorder.” – US Senator Thom Tillis

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From 99% Invisible: 100 Objects #2 – 60 Degree Screw

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HUD trims environmental reviews for multifamily projects (Multifamily Dive)

Durham City council approves $4.5 million funding for affordable housing crisis (WRAL)

$ Half of Durham Tech students report housing insecurity. Now watch this site (News & Observer)

Charlotte fund helping thousands of people by preserving affordable housing (Spectrum News)

What an investor sees in Spruce Pine (Longleaf Politics)

Raleigh’s Missing Middle Has a Next Step (StrongTowns.org)

New Study Reveals Bulk Billing Arrangements Save Multi-Family Housing Residents More Than 50% on Broadband (Business Wire)

Unwelcome Guests (Santa Fe New Mexican)

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Quotes

“You’re not a bad person because of how you voted. And you’re not a good person because of how you voted.” – Pete Buttigieg – @naoandrsn on Threads

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RIP to the summer home-selling season (Business Insider)

Lots of Opportunity: How Communities Can Address the Affordability Crisis on Land They Already Own (Lincoln Institute of Land Policy)

Extinguishing Fraud (National Apartment Association)

$ One of California’s Ritziest Beach Towns Has a Problem: A Tsunami of Raw Sewage (Wall Street Journal)

10 States With the Worst Drivers (Daily Passport)

$ Raleigh leans on public private partnerships to deliver hundreds of affordable homes (News & Observer)

Remodeling Growth to Slow Sharply in Early 2027 (Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies)

Embracing three little words: Not for Me (The Writing Shed)

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Quotes

“The timing of all this couldn’t have been worse from a housing perspective.” – Rick Palacios Jr.- John Burns Research & Consulting

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$ Triad wastewater expansion could cost $3.1B as Greensboro, High Point face capacity crunch (Triad Business Journal)

North Carolina Zoo stuck in limbo with Asia Continent ready to open, no state budget to hire staff (WSPA)

The new homeowner penalty (Business Insider)

$ Kolter Multifamily launches Carolinas operation, targeting Charlotte and Triangle markets (Charlotte Business Journal)

Prince’s way (The Writing Shed with Tommy Tomlinson)

Greensboro Increases Penalties for Unsafe Housing Conditions (WGHP)

$ Phillips Management, Signature Property Group plan over 700 housing units near PTI airport (Triad Business Journal)

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Quotes

”Looking into the things that you’re not good at, especially intellectually, is one way to stay young, because you’ve got a beginner’s mind.” – Stewart Brand

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$ This May Be the Most Important Medical Story of the Decade (New York Times)

$ Why this Wake County neighborhood keeps fighting new homes (News & Observer)

Asheville Housing Authority cuts 34 positions amid $9M financial shortfall (WLOS.com)

Hotel-to-housing project nixed, council says low-income residents deserve better (Port City Daily)

Central City Redevelopment Spurs Rental Housing Opportunities (Units Magazine)

“Even” (Seth Godin)

$ Who Gets to Live in a Single-Family Home? (The Atlantic)

A New Model for Achieving Attainability (ProBuilder)

$ I FOUND IT: THE BEST FREE RESTAURANT BREAD IN AMERICA (The Atlantic)

‘I Don’t Know That I’ll Ever Be OK With Myself’ (Politico)

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Quotes

“My neighbour asked why I still use paper maps.

Because GPS tells you where to go but maps show you where you could go.

One is navigation.

The other is possibility.

At my age, I’ve had enough of being directed. I want to see all the roads I haven’t taken yet, spread out like promises.” – The Old Grey Thinker

“Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered—that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes.” – Abraham Lincoln, Inauguration Address, March 4, 1865

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$ Greensboro apartment giant Bell Partners bought by Canadian financial firm for $350M (Triad Business Journal)

$ In updating Mebane plans, Buc-ee’s exec says ‘We will have more stores in North Carolina’ (Triad Business Journal)

$ Winston-Salem leads North Carolina in Gen Z homeownership as 26% own homes (Triad Business Journal)

$ Greensboro parking deck demolition to begin as developer preps 171-unit complex (Triad Business Journal)

$ Behind the deal: Bell family to exit Bell Partners after $350M acquisition; HQ to remain in Greensboro (Triad Business Journal)

$ Who paid to help oust NC’s Phil Berger? Voters may never know. Here’s why. (News & Observer)

$ As lawmakers probe Western NC housing recovery, Eastern NC’s still isn’t done (News & Observer)

Developers See Early Signs of Recovery in Multifamily Construction Market (GlobeSt.com)

5 Years of Lessons From Running My Own Bookstore (RyanHoliday.net)

Chasing quiet (MattCrossman)

Your 12 Good Years (Humans vs Retirement)

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Quotes

“Are you optimizing for attention or for service?” – Scott Galloway, Pivot Podcast

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$ Livable Raleigh calls for $200M affordable housing bond, doubling city’s figure (News & Observer)

Charlotte City Council considers $3.5M investment for affordable housing (WSOC)

HUD targets households with undocumented residents; local housing authority says there aren’t many (News from the States)

HUD moves to allow rapid eviction, work requirements, term limits (Multifamily Dive)

$ Greensboro tracking two years ahead on ‘Road to 10,000 Homes’ initiative (Triad Business Journal)

$ Raleigh is building ‘missing-middle’ housing. Is it reducing rents and homelessness? (News & Observer)

The Untold Story of the Guy Who Broke Into a Pizza Shop And Started Selling Pizzas (NC Rabbit Hole)

Renters use ‘rent now, pay later’ services to manage monthly payments, but fees raise concerns (Queen City News)

Football brought Jesse Jackson to Greensboro. His time there molded him into a civil rights leader (NC Rabbit Hole)

North Carolina lawmakers just found out nobody is safe (Charlotte Observer)

$ Build-to-Rent Developers Sound Alarm Over Senate Housing Proposal (GlobeSt)

6 U.S. Cities and States That Offer the Best Benefits for Seniors (Daily Passport)

A reader found a strange snippet of North Carolina law. Turns out it’s a six-decade old beef (NC Rabbit Hole)

Pub Day: Danny Funt, EVERYBODY LOSES (The Writing Shed)

Bucking stigma, more places turn to factory-built for affordable housing (WFAE)

Data Hunt Begins On Corporate Landlords Buying Up Guilford County Homes (Rhino Times)

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Quotes

““Our neighbor across the street, a cattle farmer and landscaper, single-handedly rebuilt our neighborhood despite his property having had arguably the most damage,” Lindsey says. “Good people, lots of small community stories, and your fair share of weird shit.” Lindsey Sullivan, resident of Meat Camp, NC, North Carolina Rabbit Hole

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The Worst-Case Future for White-Collar Workers (The Atlantic)

$ Microsoft Confirms Plans for 1,350 Acre Megasite North of Triangle (News & Observer)

$ Charlotte developer plans second Triad build-to-rent community in Clemmons (Triad Business Journal)

The ‘Hawaii of Europe’ is 2026’s Top Trending Destination (Daily Passport)

$ When the presses stop, student newspapers scramble to keep print alive (Charlotte Ledger)

Immigration raids are hitting multifamily operators. Here’s how they’re responding. (Multifamily Dive)

Gas Prices are Set to Go Vertical (The Silver Bulletin)

$ All in for Our Schools campaign exceeds $9 million as state auditor releases new WS/FCS report (Triad Business Journal)

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Quotes

“We know if you say, like, ‘Hey, go to our website,’ the kids aren’t going to do that, but if we put the paper in their hand, they’ll read it.” Megan Ledford, Myers Park HS Newspaper Advisor, The Charlotte Ledger

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10 US Cities Famous for Their Culinary Creations (Daily Passport)

Only Six Apartment Metros Still Favor Landlords (GlobeSt.)

The 2025 Relocation Map: America’s Most Desirable Cities, States and Counties to Move To (US News & World Report)

$ NC has most desirable county in U.S.; Winston-Salem, Greensboro rank among top 50 cities (Triad Business Journal)

How Wilmington’s public housing authority is handling a supply crisis (Wilmington Star News)

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Quotes

“If you cancel a premium ChatGPT subscription, that’s $20 a month, or $240 a year in savings. Given that OpenAI is approaching a funding round that values the company at about $850 billion — more than 40 times its revenue of $20 billion — a withdrawal of $240 translates into a market cap reduction of about $10,000.” – Scott Galloway, The Algebra of Resistance, No Mercy/No Malice

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