A shift in demographics. Affordable apartments transformed into luxury condos. A coffee shop called something like “Brew Slut.”
The signs of gentrification take many forms. A newly opened art gallery can serve both as a communal space and a harbinger of the displacement to come. Remodeled homes might boost a street’s curb appeal but then drive up rents in the ensuing months and years.
There are plenty of ways to tell when gentrification is coming to a community; rising home prices and an influx of trendy shops are classic omens. But in the modern market, developers are flipping houses at the highest rate since 2000, and the houses they churn out are often homogeneous: boxy, black and white, minimalist. They’re adorned with trendy house number fonts and chic drought-tolerant gardens, and they can be an obvious sign of gentrification on the way.
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Take a stroll through your neighborhood and keep an eye out for these trends. If you spot a few, gentrification may be on the way. If you spot a bunch, it might be well underway.
The gentrification font
If Neutraface starts speckling the homes and fences around your neighborhood, your rent might soar soon.
The sleek typeface and its many knock-offs have become so commonplace that they’ve become a meme, and the Guardian even declared it “the gentrification font.” It crowns countless brand-new builds across L.A., and like certain wines and cheeses, it pairs well with cheaply done fixer-uppers or the aforementioned box houses.
“The Shake Shack font has invaded,” said Steven Sanders, a Highland Park resident who has lived in the rapidly changing neighborhood since 2015. When Sanders moved there, the median single-family home value was around $463,000, according to Zillow. Today, it’s $1.002 million.
There’s nothing specifically wrong with the font; it’s clean, modern and easy to read. Ironically, it’s named after Richard Neutra, an iconic architect who often stressed affordability in his work.
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If a for-sale house has a Neutraface house number, the listing price will probably be anything but affordable.
Gentrification bonus point: if the font is also brass or gold.
Black-and-white paint jobs
Gentrification, in terms of housing, has become a monochromatic movement. Gone are the green-colored Craftsmans or the pink-hued bungalows of old; today, newly built homes are overwhelmingly white, black or a brutal combination of the two.
“Taste aside, a black house in an era of climate change is ridiculous,” said Adam Greenfield, a transportation and land-use advocate.
Gentrification bonus point: if a black-and-white exterior comes with an accent door — a splash of bright blue, yellow or turquoise to showcase that the property isn’t completely devoid of character. Just mostly devoid of character.
Excess security cameras
If you’re taking a stroll down your street and feel watched — not by anyone specific, but by a small army of Ring doorbells, Nest cameras and other electronic eyes making sure you don’t pick a Meyer lemon or your dog doesn’t defecate on the decomposed granite — brace for a new brand of neighbor.
Surveillance systems and the context behind them, in which owners view their neighbors and passersby as potential package-stealers, are all too common in gentrifying communities. For if it were truly a high-crime place, there would still be chain link and barred windows.
There’s plenty of evidence that smart doorbells lead to racial profiling, and while there’s nothing inherently wrong with security systems, they generally detract from the community feel instead of adding to it.
“It’s the degradation of the social fabric that for so long we all took for granted,” Greenfield said. “It’s legitimate to walk up to a neighbor’s door to ask for or offer something, and security cameras and warning systems discourage that. We can’t let fear win in our society.”
Gentrification bonus point: if they come with a speaker with a disembodied voice that barks at passersby in a condescending tone: “Hi! You are currently being recorded.”
Privacy fences
Sometimes, surveillance systems aren’t enough. Many modern homeowners moving into new neighborhoods don’t even want to be seen by neighbors, so they install privacy fences or towering hedges to shield themselves from anyone walking by.
Greenfield calls them “f— you fences.”
“Many people were raised in the suburban sprawl, where they don’t have as much access to other people. Then they move to denser areas and import those suburban norms of separation and privacy,” Greenfield said.
Lola Rodriguez, a Lincoln Heights resident who grew up in the area, said if a home in the neighborhood is ever hidden from view, it’s usually someone who just moved in.
Gentrification bonus point: if the privacy fence is chic and stylish, like the horizontal trend that has taken over in some areas.
Box houses
One of the more uninspired architectural trends of the last century, modern box houses forgo attempts at character or ornamentation, instead serving as shrines to simplicity. They worship at the altar of minimalism, squeezing out as much square footage as zoning laws will allow.
They’re clean, they’re simple, and they’re a likely sign that a new demographic is moving into a neighborhood.
“It’s jarring seeing a bright white box house jammed between older houses with more character,” Rodriguez said. She prefers the neighborhood’s stock of century-old bungalows over the new homes being built.
The polarizing style isn’t for everyone, but it’s a hit for deep-pocketed buyers eyeing extra space. And box houses are quicker and cheaper to build for profit-minded developers, who will keep cranking out supply as long as there’s demand.
Gentrification bonus point: if the box house includes a glass garage door.
Drought-tolerant gardens
To be clear, the ecological benefits of drought-tolerant landscaping make it a net positive for Southern California. Limited water usage is absolutely a good thing.
But such gardens aren’t always cheap, and if they start popping up in neighborhoods where most residents can’t afford to spend thousands of dollars, sometimes tens of thousands, on their yard, it could be a sign of gentrification.
Most carry the same look: a handful of shrubs, succulents and cacti surrounded by gravel or decomposed granite, giving it a sandy, desert-like quality.
Kerry Kimble and Steven Galindo, two real estate agents with the Agency, said they’ve noticed an increase in drought-tolerant gardens in neighborhoods such as Echo Park, Highland Park and Silver Lake, where displacement has already been happening for years.
The majority of Kimble’s listings are in northeast L.A., and she said she’s noticed a surplus of succulents.
Galindo said some developers add drought-tolerant gardens to attract potential buyers.
“Developers remodel homes for the taste of the gentrifier,” he said.
The pair are currently listing a 106-year-old duplex in Angelino Heights, a neighborhood protected by a Historic Preservation Overlay Zone, which preserves a community’s architectural feel by limiting new building designs and renovations. But not every neighborhood enjoys such protection.
Gentrification bonus point: if the garden is riddled with Firestick plants — the trendy, orange-tipped succulents that seem to anchor every lawn in those “up-and-coming” neighborhoods.
Little Free Libraries
Listen, these are lovely. Unlike surveillance systems and privacy fences, little libraries actually evoke a sense of community, bringing neighbors together over a shared love of literature (even though most generally seem to be stocked exclusively with James Patterson novels and unreadable how-to books).
The charming, birdhouse-like structures certainly don’t cause gentrification, despite what a handful of critics have claimed over the years. But they definitely seem to be a product of gentrification, usually popping up in areas where home prices are rising and well-to-do residents are moving in.
Gentrification bonus point: if a smart doorbell camera watches over the library, making sure nobody takes more than their fair share of books.
Pointed listing language
Sometimes, the clearest sign of gentrification is hearing how people are talking about a neighborhood and the homes within it. There’s a wealth of such examples posted daily on Zillow, Redfin and other listing sites as real estate agents take on certain tones to market properties to potential buyers.
For example, if a listing brags about the home being some kind of port in a storm, a refuge from the area around it, a ship of gentrifiers might be sailing in. One listing in Boyle Heights is touted as an “urban oasis.” Another in South L.A. promises to add “a touch of serenity to urban living.”
Also pay attention to whether a listing is marketed as an actual place to live or simply an investment opportunity. This listing near Leimert Park asks potential buyers to “come see your future investment today.” An Elysian Heights listing touts its use as an Airbnb.
Gentrification bonus point: if the language sounds like an extra flowery wellness ad, such as this listing in East L.A.: “Imagine stepping into a world where every corner whispers tales of renewal.”
At the beginning of inflation/rate hike cycle, everything I read said invest in stocks and real estate (and TIPS) to beat inflation. It sure doesn’t feel like stocks beat inflation but I haven’t run the numbers… Can you show how accurate these suggestions were and what, if anything, did beat inflation the past 2 or 3 years?
Michael
What a fantastic question. Let’s answer it today. We’ll need to take a few baby steps to answer Michael’s question.
What time frame are we going to look at (and why)?
What asset classes are we going to look at (and why)?
What tools can we use to look at those asset classes and compare their performance?
What’s Our Timeframe?
We must start by determining a “before” and “after.” Are we looking at inflation? Or the Fed’s interest rate hikes? A combination of both?
The current jumble of inflation and interest rates is undoubtedly connected to COVID-19. The Federal Reserve swiftly lowered interest rates in response to the pandemic’s economic slowdown and printed a few trillion dollars.
To answer today’s question, we should start prior to that period. January 2020 makes sense. For an end date, we’ll pick right now – December 2023. Here’s how interest rates (in orange) and inflation (purple) have changed over time. For ease of comparison, the inflation line shows a total increase of 19.03% in the past 36 months.
What Asset Classes Are We Looking At (And Why)?
Specifically, Michael asked about stocks, real estate, and TIPS** in his question.
TIPS are Treasury Inflation-Protected Bonds. These bonds provide a small nominal return plus a variable return based on rates of inflation.They are, as the name implies “inflation-protected” and, in theory, should not have been negatively affected by recent inflation.
We must also look at the most basic, inflation-exposed asset: cash. I also want to look at traditional bonds and commodities.
Most bonds aren’t TIPS. They’re not inflation-protected. In fact, inflation is a bond investor’s worst nightmare. The cashflow from a bond is guaranteed to be fixed. Inflation guarantees the value of those fixed dollars slowly decays. Not good.
Commodities – like oil, gold, timber, pork, etc. – should, in theory, rise with inflation. As prices rise around us, the price of commodities should rise too. While the magnitude of commodity inflation might not match CPI data 1-to-1, we *should* see some correlation.
The Results
Remember: our inflation figure is 19.03% over this time period. In comparison, our six asset classes have performed:
Cash = +6.33% (in purple below)
Stocks = +49.32% (orange)
Real estate = +3.59% (blue)
TIPS = +11.17% (green)
Bonds = (-5.27%) (pink)
Commodities = +42.36% (brown)
Back to Michael’s original question:
Stocks provided a legitimate real return (despite 2022 being a bad year). Take it with a grain of salt, though. I’m not a proponent of using a 3-year stock market return to prove an investing idea – stocks are just too volatile. Today’s article is a special case based on the inflation/interest rate timeline we chose.
Real estate got crushed. Some of you might be thinking, “Aren’t houses and apartments crazy expensive?! How can real estate be doing poorly?” For today’s purposes, we’re using Vanguard’s most diversified real estate index fund as our measuring stick. That fund includes various commercial real estate sectors, many of which got 1) crushed by COVID and then 2) got similarly throttled by the interest rate hikes of 2022. It’s been a tough period for real estate investors.
TIPS “only” returned 11.17%, despite the promise they’d keep up with inflation. What gives?! The main explanation is, once again, rising interest rates. TIPS should be thought of as two-products-in-one. The first product is a normal bond with a fixed nominal return. The second is a variable aspect that protects against unexpected inflation. While the second portion is doing its job, the first “normal bond” portion has been negatively affected by rising interest rates just like all other bonds (in pink). TIPS are doing what they’re meant to do…but that doesn’t mean TIPS investors are excited about it. In fact, if you compare TIPS (+11.17%) to normal bonds (-5.27%) the difference is pretty close to the overall rate of inflation, which is what we’d expect.
Commodities are up 42.36% – wow! But when I see that commodities plot, I see volatility! Plus, commodities are not income-producing assets. That’s the main reason I don’t own commodities, and not even today’s graph is going to change my mind.
Finally, we have cash providing a slow, steady 6.33% return. The lesson is clear: cash loses ground to inflation. Period. Cash is vital to meet your near-term financial needs. That cash should be parked somewhere earning ~5% right now. But that’s not a long-term solution, nor a reason to be overexposed to cash right now. Long-term assets need to be elsewhere, earning a real return above inflation.
Michael, thanks for the awesome question. Hopefully these lessons help us out some time in the future.
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this article, join 7000+ subscribers who read my 2-minute weekly email, where I send you links to the smartest financial content I find online every week.
-Jesse
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Increase in urbanization and rise in consumer interests for home decor drive the growth of the home decor market.
WILMINGTON, Del., Dec. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Allied Market Research published a report, titled, “Home Decor Market By Product Type (Home Textile, Floor Covering, and Furniture), Price (Premium and Mass), Distribution Channel (Supermarkets And Hypermarkets, Specialty Stores, E-Commerce, and Others), and Income Group (Lower-Middle Income, Upper-Middle Income, and Higher Income): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032”. According to the report, the global home decor market size was valued at $647.4 million in 2022, and is projected to reach $1.1 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 4.9% from 2023 to 2032.
Request Sample Copy of Report: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/751
Prime determinants of growth
The home decor market is a dynamic and ever-evolving industry, shaped by a blend of prevailing trends, growth factors, and industry obstacles. Notably, the industry is witnessing surge in sustainability practices and environmentally conscious product choices as a prominent trend. Consumers are increasingly seeking eco-friendly solutions, further increasing the shift towards responsible consumption. Furthermore, technological innovations, particularly the integration of smart home solutions, are driving transformative changes in the sector. The digital sector has emerged as a crucial platform for businesses as consumers increasingly opt for online shopping. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this transition, emphasizing the need for a strong online presence in the home decor sector.
Nevertheless, tariffs and trade restrictions limit the supply chain, affecting the cost and availability of raw materials, and subsequently, influencing pricing and profit margins. Economic fluctuations and shifting consumer tastes are projected to introduce volatility into the market. Despite these limitations, the home decor market offers different business opportunities. Collaborations with local artisans and the innovative use of eco-friendly materials can open up niche markets.
Report coverage & details:
Report Coverage
Details
Forecast Period
2023–2032
Base Year
2022
Market Size in 2023
$647.4 Million
Market Size in 2032
$1.1 billion
CAGR
4.9 %
No. of Pages in Report
444
Segments Covered
Product Type, Price, Distribution Channel, Income Group, and Region
Drivers
Increase in consumer interest toward home décor
Increase in urbanization worldwide
Opportunities
Improvement in lifestyle
Smart home decor
Restraints
Increase in cost of raw materials
Procure Complete Report (444 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures): https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/checkout-final/5a77b1796e54e7c753f05351508016bf
The floor covering segment to maintain its leadership status during the forecast period
By product type, the floor covering segment held the highest market share in 2022, accounting for less than half of the global home decor market revenue, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status during the forecast period. Floor covering products are made from materials such as tiles, wood & laminate, vinyl, and rubber. Awareness regarding wastage and recycling has increased significantly. Thus, recycled flooring materials such as wood & laminate and tiles had an impact on the market for flooring products. Consumers have shown high acceptance for stylish floor covering products, which are cost-effective and eco-friendly. However, the home textile segment is projected to attain the highest CAGR of 4.9% from 2023 to 2032.
The mass segment to maintain its leadership status during the forecast period
By price, the mass segment held the highest market share in 2022, accounting for more than three-fifths of the global home decor market revenue, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status during the forecast period Increase in consumption of mass pricing products by lower-middle and upper-middle class consumers significantly contributes toward the growth of the market. The cost of these products does not include the security or insurance charge. In addition, the premium segment is projected to attain the highest CAGR of 5.3% from 2023 to 2032. Luxury brands are intended to have symbolic and experiential benefits in terms of prestige and social status. The ingredients used in luxury confections are of premium quality and naturally sourced.
The specialty stores segment to maintain its leadership status during the forecast period.
By distribution channel, the specialty stores segment held the highest market share in 2022, accounting for less than half of the global home decor market revenue, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status during the forecast period. Consumers prefer to analyze and evaluate products before purchase, thereby boosting the retail sales of home décor products through specialty store. In addition, the e-commerce segment is projected to attain the highest CAGR of 5.3% from 2023 to 2032.
Asia-Pacific to maintain its dominance by 2032
Region-wise, Asia-Pacific held the highest market share in terms of revenue in 2022, accounting for nearly one-third of the global home decor market revenue. Changes in lifestyles of the people in the region have influenced buying trends of consumers. Young families mostly spend on floor covering and furniture. Consumers in the region prefer buying home décor products from specialty stores and departmental stores. Online buying trend is emerging in the region, which significantly contributes toward the growth of the market. In addition, the LAMEA region is also expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 5.6% from 2023 to 2032 and is likely to dominate the market during the forecast period.
Enquire before buying: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/751
Leading Market Players: –
Mannington Mills Inc.
Mohawk Industries Inc.
Shaw Industries Group, Inc.
Ashley Furniture Industries Ltd.
Inter IKEA Systems BV
Forbo International SA
Herman Miller Inc.
Duresta Upholstery Ltd.
Kimball International
Armstrong World Industries, Inc.
The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global home decor market. These players have adopted different strategies such as new Distribution Channel launches, collaborations, expansion, joint ventures, agreements, and others to increase their market share and maintain dominant shares in different regions. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, Distribution Channel portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario.
Read More Trending “AMR Exclusive Insights:
• DIY Home Decor Market Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031 • Sustainable Home Decor Market Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031 • Home Decor And Accessories Market Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032 • Textile Home Decor Market Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032 • U.S. Home Decor Market Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020-2027
About Us:
Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Wilmington, Delaware. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of “Market Research Reports” and “Business Intelligence Solutions.” AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.
Pawan Kumar, the CEO of Allied Market Research, is leading the organization toward providing high-quality data and insights. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.
Contact:
David Correa 1209 Orange Street, Corporation Trust Center, Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware 19801 USA. USA/Canada (Toll Free): +1-800-792-5285 UK: +44-845-528-1300 Hong Kong: +852-301-84916 India (Pune): +91-20-66346060 Fax: +1-800-792-5285 [email protected]: www.alliedmarketresearch.comAllied Market Research Blog: https://blog.alliedmarketresearch.com/consumer-goods
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/home-decor-market-to-reach-1-1-billion-globally-by-2032-at-4-9-cagr-allied-market-research-302005707.html
I bet you didn’t know that Home Depot isn’t just for hammers and nails — it’s also stocked with beautiful decorative items, from fancy candles to luxe linens. As a designer, I often source from the retailer, because it carries everything from key pieces of furniture to blissful bedding. Below I’ve collected just a smattering of the deals still on offer in the Home Depot 2023 Black Friday sale.
Save an orange bucket’s worth of dough with this sale, and freshen up your home. But don’t wait too long — these Home Depot extended Black Friday deals are going faster than your famous sweet potato pie did on Thanksgiving.
Home Depot
Channel hygge this winter — the art of being comfortable — with a sherpa-lined throw in cozy plaid. Save 50% on this holiday-worthy option, and snuggle up under the weight of the standard throw-sized charmer. Looks great on a chair or at the edge of your bed. Machine washable for easy cleaning.
$18 at Home Depot
Home Depot
You can never have enough storage, and large woven baskets are a charming way to keep tidy. This set includes two, so you can use them in the foyer for extra shoes, the living room for throw blankets or the bathroom for rolled-up towels. Save nearly 60% on these open-weave organic looking winners.
$50 at Home Depot
Home Depot
Score a 60% discount on lanterns so versatile, you’ll want them everywhere in the house. Designed for use with flameless candles, this set will serve you year-round. Add a welcoming touch to an entryway, some ambiance to the living room or dress them up for the holidays with fresh greens and ribbon. The set comes in varying heights of 15 and 18.75 inches tall.
$72 at Home Depot
Home Depot
A tray goes a long way as an essential multi-tasker in your home. Use it to serve up cocktails or as a reliable surface to rest your drink on your coffee table ottoman. This beauty, in a natural wood grain walnut finish, is finished with brass handles lending it elegance. Add some decor, like a live plant or trio of accessories. Get creative— it’s as functional as it is attractive.
$66 at Home Depot
Home Depot
Mirrors are a designer’s trick of the trade to catch the light and make a room appear larger. This beauty is available in different sizes for just the right fit. Hang it over your dresser in the bedroom, above a console in your entry or use it as your bathroom vanity mirror. Save 55%.
$90 at Home Depot
Home Depot
When my clients don’t have a green thumb, are worried about pests or have a second home, I recommend a faux plant to give a room a natural vibe that springs to life. At 6 feet, this palm makes a statement, filling your space with fresh greens without the worry. Save more than 40% on this lush palm with bamboo-like stems and you’ll bring a taste of the tropics indoors.
$70 at Home Depot
Home Depot
A pouf or small ottoman is a great addition to any room. It provides extra seating in a pinch, or a great place to put your feet up. Light enough to move where you need them, this knit version is just the texture for winter. I’m drawn to this pretty blush color, but check out the variety of shades, from bold to neutral. Get 25% off — I’d grab two.
$50 at Home Depot
Home Depot
I’m charmed by this pair of decorative vases, in 6 and 8 inch heights, that are the perfect objét to add to your bookcases, entry console or dining centerpiece. Natural pottery such as this adds warmth to the room with a hand-cast feel, and the speckled glaze finish is earthy and pleasing to the eye. Not waterproof, these are meant for dried flowers or add a topiary ball to the top. Though I think their shape and texture is attractive enough to stand alone. Enjoy 20% off.
$26 at Home Depot
Home Depot
Good design should inspire all the senses, so don’t forget to add a scent to the air. This candle by Root is literally rooted in its passion for bees, creating a natural beeswax-blended candle. Aromas abound, but I’ve featured the Winter Balsam scent to evoke the season with its combination of Canadian fir needle and green citrus. With a natural fiber wick, you can feel good about gifting this made-in-the-USA candle. Save 20%.
$21 at Home Depot
Home Depot
Score a 45% discount on a new set of sheets and level up your bedding. These luxurious cotton sateen sheets are wrinkle-resistant with a silky finish. OEKO-TEX certified for safety, the fitted sheet works with mattresses anywhere from 8 in. to 20 in. using patented Flexi Fit technology.
$49 at Home Depot
Home Depot
Don’t forget the bathroom. This 45%-off deal is a great opportunity to refresh your bath linens for less. Available in a bevy of colors, the set includes bath and hand towels, plus washcloths. The 100% Hygro Cotton gets softer and fluffier the more you wash.
$66 at Home Depot
Home Depot
Do you have something in your yard you’d prefer not to look at — like a rough fence around an air conditioning unit? These artificial hedges can cover up an eyesore with ease. You’ll get 12 tiles, each 20 inches by 20 inches, that will cover a total of 33 square feet.
$60 at Home Depot
Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In the Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.
How we find and select deals: Our deal-hunting team of award-winning writers and editors are seasoned experts in their fields (tech, style, home, beauty), many with 20+ years of experience. This team works diligently to bring you the best sales, deals and price drops. Our unbiased experts maintain strict editorial integrity: We only feature items we believe will save you money. Here’s more on how we select deals for our Black Friday and Cyber Monday coverage.
Ameer Katifi wasn’t content to be a top loan officer for an established mortgage provider.
He wanted to strike out on his own, to start a new company and “build a legacy for myself.”
And he wanted his business to be like a family, where everyone gets treated how they want to be treated, with state-of-the-art technology in a supportive environment.
So in January, the 31-year-old Irvine native launched Trusted Mortgage Capital, a mortgage brokerage and loan origination business in Laguna Hills.
Depending on how you look at it, he either had lousy timing or is getting in on the ground floor of the next boom.
On the one hand, soaring interest rates throttled the mortgage business, causing home loan volume to plunge 71% in the first half of 2023 from the 2021 peak. But on the other hand, a wave of mortgage layoffs created a large pool of unemployed talent for Trusted Mortgage to tap.
“It’s all about the mindset you have going on. Even though the business went down by 70%, there’s still a lot of business out there,” said Katifi, Trusted Mortgage’s chief executive.
“In this type of environment, it’s really you building out your engine and sharpening your skill to be the best you’ve ever been,” he said. “And the best time to grow is when it’s slow. Once it’s busy, once the rates are low again, then it will be really hard to capture good talent.”
Trusted Mortgage Capital already scored big in one arena. Even though it’s just a year old, it ranked No. 1 in the small business category of the Orange County Register’s Top Workplaces program.
The selection is based on employee survey responses rating the company.
In one response, an anonymous employee said he or she loves the job because “of the potential to grow.”
The 40-employee company already is licensed to work in 17 states. As of October, license applications were pending in five others.
The firm is both a lender — originating its own home loans to borrowers — and a mortgage broker, acting like a matchmaker connecting customers to other lenders.
During the first 10 months of the year, Trusted Mortgage already had issued 81 loans totaling almost $30 million. That doesn’t include income from the mortgage brokerage side of the business.
Katifi said his company was on track to become profitable by the end of 2023.
The firm has just seven salaried employees and at least 19 loan officers who work on commission. Of those, three to five earn both a salary and commission.
The remaining 14 loan officers are independent contractors, depending solely on commissions. And the company is looking to hire more.
Half of the company’s 6,100-square-foot office is for future growth. The other half, with about 30 cubicles, is festooned with motivational posters, with slogans like, “The only time SUCCESS comes before WORK is in the dictionary.”
Liz Meza, Trusted Mortgage’s compliance manager, said loan officers can earn $3,500 to $50,000 a month.
What makes Trusted Mortgage unique, however, is the free package of services the company provides its loan officers, including marketing, loan processing, technology and lead generation.
“A lot of mortgage lenders and a lot of mortgage brokers have the independent model, which means you have to provide your own marketing, pay for your own processing, pay for everything yourself,” Katifi said. “The difference about us is we provide all that for our branch managers (and) our loan officers … so they don’t need any money out of pocket to be able to work as a mortgage loan originator.”
Katifi said Trusted Mortgage is big on marketing and big on training. New employees start out as junior loan officers, working under the tutelage of a senior loan officer for six months.
They get a week of training at the United Wholesale Mortgage’s headquarters in Pontiac, Mich., and the company gets them licensed.
There are weekly sales and training meetings as well.
“I’m constantly adapting to changes in the industry. I’m constantly updating our approach on how they should approach the clients,” Katifi said. “And just creating a fun environment where people want to come to the office where they don’t watch the clock.”
The company provides lunch every Friday, stages potlucks and celebrates all the major holidays. There are awards ceremonies recognizing the top producers.
The big question is how long can a new company hang on during one of the slowest housing markets on record.
Katifi feels confident that loan volume will pick up as soon as mortgage rates start to subside. A lot of borrowers have high-interest home equity loans. Once rates moderate, they will want to refinance, combining those second mortgages with their firsts.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Katifi said. “Diamonds form under pressure. We’ve got the marketing down. We’ve got the operations down. … There’s still people (who are) going to be buying and selling homes, having to move and needing to get second mortgages for some unexpected expenses.
“So we are here for a long time.”
Trusted Mortgage Capital
Founded: 2022
Headquarters: Laguna Hills
Industry: credit and finance
OC employees: 40
Website: trustedmortgagecapital.com/
Quote: “In this type of environment, it’s really you building out your engine and sharpening your skill to be the best you’ve ever been.” — Ameer Katifi, CEO of Trusted Mortgage Capital
El Paso is a city known for its vibrant food scene, and if you’re looking for some new restaurants in town, you’re in luck. From cozy cafes to sizzling steakhouses, El Paso has it all. Whether you’re a local or just visiting, there’s something for everyone’s taste buds. So get ready to embark on a culinary adventure and discover the must-try restaurants in El Paso, TX that make it a food lover’s paradise.
1. Park Tavern
Cuisine Type: Dining and Drinking Location: 204 E Mills Ave, El Paso, TX 79901 Website: Park Tavern
Park Tavern is a popular dining and drinking establishment. They offer a diverse menu with a variety of options to satisfy any craving.
2. Cafe Central
Cuisine Type: Wine Bar, American Restaurant Location: 109 N Oregon St Ste 210, El Paso, TX 79901 Website: Cafe Central
Cafe Central is a charming wine bar and American restaurant. Their menu features a selection of delicious dishes paired perfectly with their extensive wine list.
3. Anson Eleven
Cuisine Type: Steakhouse Location: 303 N Oregon St, El Paso, TX 79901 Website: Anson Eleven
Anson Eleven is a renowned steakhouse. They pride themselves on serving high-quality steaks cooked to perfection.
4. House of Pizza Downtown
Cuisine Type: Pizzeria Location: 208 N Stanton St, El Paso, TX 79901 Website: House of Pizza Downtown
House of Pizza Downtown is a popular pizzeria. They offer a wide range of pizza options, from classic favorites to unique creations.
5. The Pizza Joint
Cuisine Type: Pizzeria Location: 500 N Stanton St, El Paso, TX 79901 Website: The Pizza Joint
The Pizza Joint is a local favorite pizzeria. Their menu features a variety of specialty pizzas and delicious toppings to choose from.
6. Mamacitas Cafe and Cantina
Cuisine Type: Dining and Drinking Location: 325 N Kansas St, El Paso, TX 79901 Website: Mamacitas Cafe and Cantina
Mamacitas Cafe and Cantina is a vibrant dining and drinking spot. They offer a menu filled with flavorful Mexican dishes and a lively atmosphere.
7. Orange Cow Burgers
Cuisine Type: Burger Joint, Fast Food Restaurant Location: 955 N Resler Dr, El Paso, TX 79912 Website: Orange Cow Burgers
Orange Cow Burgers is a popular burger joint and fast food restaurant. They are known for their juicy burgers and wide selection of toppings.
8. G & R Restaurant
Cuisine Type: Mexican Restaurant Location: 401 E Nevada Ave, El Paso, TX 79902 Website: G & R Restaurant
G & R Restaurant is a beloved Mexican restaurant. They serve authentic Mexican cuisine with a variety of flavorful dishes.
Ardovino’s Pizza is a well-known pizzeria. They offer a wide range of pizza options, from traditional flavors to unique combinations.
10. Crave Kitchen & Bar
Cuisine Type: New American Restaurant Location: 300 Cincinnati Ave, El Paso, TX 79902 Website: Crave Kitchen & Bar
Crave Kitchen & Bar is a popular new American restaurant. Their menu features a fusion of flavors and unique dishes that will satisfy any food lover.
11. Mustard Seed Cafe
Cuisine Type: Dining and Drinking Location: 1140 N St Vrain St, El Paso, TX 79902 Website: Mustard Seed Cafe
Mustard Seed Cafe is a charming dining and drinking establishment. They offer a menu filled with delicious options made with fresh, locally sourced ingredients.
12. Rib Hut
Cuisine Type: BBQ Joint, American Restaurant Location: 2612 N Mesa St # ST-3130, El Paso, TX 79902 Website: Rib Hut
Rib Hut is a popular BBQ joint and American restaurant. They are known for their mouth-watering barbecue dishes and flavorful sauces.
13. Crawdaddy’s Bar And Grill
Cuisine Type: Bar, Cajun and Creole Restaurant Location: 212 Cincinnati Ave, El Paso, TX 79902 Website: Crawdaddy’s Bar And Grill
Crawdaddy’s Bar And Grill is a lively bar and Cajun and Creole restaurant. They offer a menu filled with flavorful dishes inspired by the vibrant cuisine of Louisiana.
14. Tara Thai Restaurant
Cuisine Type: Thai Restaurant Location: 2606 N Mesa St, El Paso, TX 79902 Website: Tara Thai Restaurant
Tara Thai Restaurant is a popular Thai restaurant. They serve authentic Thai cuisine with a variety of traditional dishes.
15. Corralito Steak House
Cuisine Type: BBQ Joint, Steakhouse Location: 2725 N Mesa St Ste 100, El Paso, TX 79902 Website: Corralito Steak House
Corralito Steak House is a renowned BBQ joint and steakhouse. They are known for their tender steaks and flavorful barbecue dishes.
16. Geogeske
Cuisine Type: Italian Restaurant, New American Restaurant Location: 2701 N Stanton St, El Paso, TX 79902 Website: Geogeske
Geogeske is a unique Italian and New American restaurant They offer a fusion of flavors and a menu filled with creative and delicious dishes.
17. L & J Cafe
Cuisine Type: Café, Mexican Restaurant Location: 3622 E Missouri Ave, El Paso, TX 79903 Website: L & J Cafe
L & J Cafe is a charming café and Mexican restaurant. They serve authentic Mexican cuisine with a variety of traditional dishes.
Every few months over the last two years, a sea of California carpenters has clogged the state Capitol to voice their support of high-profile housing legislation, their yellow and orange vests, hard hats and work boots in stark contrast to the suits, dresses and fancy shoes more customary in the hallways and hearing rooms of Sacramento.
Their grassroots lobbying has paid off with major legislative wins, including a pair of housing construction bills that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Wednesday.
The laws represent more than the possibility of desperately needed new homes in a state with a 2.5-million-unit housing shortage. They also signal a shift in power dynamics among unions in California, and which ones have the greatest influence over labor standards at residential construction sites.
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“The carpenters’ engagement on housing policy has been an absolute game changer,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat who chairs his chamber’s housing committee and is the author of both laws, Senate Bills 4 and 423.
The first bill, SB 4, will make it easier for nonprofit colleges and faith organizations to build affordable homes on their land, while SB 423 will expand current law that lets developers expedite construction of multifamily projects in cities that have fallen behind on their state-mandated housing goals. The measures build on Assembly Bill 2011, a law that went into effect in July to convert buildings traditionally zoned for commercial retail and office space into affordable housing.
The new laws come after years of gridlock on housing proposals, leading to a rift between the California Conference of Carpenters, which is gaining newfound clout in the state Capitol, and the State Building and Construction Trades Council, one of the most influential players in Sacramento over the last decade.
Divisions bubbled up last year when the carpenters broke with the council and other influential unions and sponsored AB 2011, legislation the broader labor movement opposedbecause it lacked more rigorous job standards.
AB 2011 still mandates developers pay union-approved, or “prevailing,” wages and provide some healthcare benefits to workers, whether they’re union members or not. But it lacks the work standard the building trades union prefers, known as “skilled and trained,” a mandate that generally means laborers on job sites are unionized.
In the Democratic-controlled Legislature, where labor has an outsize influence, last year’s union infighting put many lawmakers in the uncomfortable position of having to choose a side.
Opponents of the skilled and trained standard argue it’s unachievable for housing developers because there aren’t enough union workers to meet the threshold. The trades union contends it’s a model that protects workers against exploitation and inadequate job safety protections.
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“I think that prevailing wage in legislation for housing is a positive step,” said Chris Hannan, who was selected president of the State Building and Construction Trades Council this summer. “We don’t believe that that’s enough.”
Hannan succeeded Andrew Meredith, who resigned as president this year as the fight over labor standards raged in the Capitol.
Leadership at the carpenters union say they had no choice but to move forward with their own plan after discussions with the council fell apart.
Jay Bradshaw, executive secretary-treasurer of the Northern California Carpenters Union, said the new standards will help dismantle the underground construction economy and create job opportunities for union members, while safeguarding all workers against wage theft and other unfair labor practices currently happening on residential job sites.
The carpenters’ approach with the new standards is to organize members on job sites, but the trades council historically preferred requiring a unionized workforce to begin with.
“The labor standards we developed will significantly help our current membership. … And it will also pull wages out of competition for those that are not represented,” Bradshaw said. “And then it’s our job to go organize those folks, not the government’s.”
Todd David, a political advisor to Wiener who served as executive director of the Housing Action Coalition in 2022, said the increased influence of the carpenters helped clear a path for new housing legislation.
“There were lots of quiet conversations between legislators with people who knew the carpenters very well, like, can they really do this?” David said.
They did.
So began a new era for the carpenters — and their Democratic allies eager to pass more sweeping housing bills into law using the same labor language.
“They showed up, and they really planted a flag in AB 2011,” said Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, the Oakland Democrat who wrote the legislation and chairs the Assembly committee on housing. “It was a breakout moment, I think, for the carpenters, where they decided enough is enough, we’re going to build housing, we’re going to do strong labor standards, we’re going to break the juggernaut that has been preventing us from actually accomplishing stuff in California in housing policy, with regards to labor standards. And they did it.”
The building trades council and its allies see the fight as far from over.
Hannan and others still consider the dispute over the labor language an easy choice between protecting workers or leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and job safety issues that may result from a lack of training.
“Our members … are the very best at what they do. And they deserve us to fight as hard as we can for them,” Hannan said. “And we believe we are going to be the strongest, loudest voice for the construction worker.”
But the council lost its second battle this year after Wiener introduced his two bills, which largely include the same labor standards as last year’s deal.
Considered this year’s most consequential housing measure, SB 423 will extend by another decade current policy that lets developers streamline multifamily development in cities that have failed to plan for enough housing, which was set to expire in 2026. The original law passed in 2017 and has led to more than 18,000 proposed units, the majority for low-income families.
Last year’s coalition included the California Housing Consortium and other affordable housing groups and two other major unions — the California School Employees Assn. and the Service Employees International Union. This year, Wiener and the carpenters expanded support for the labor changes to add more construction unions.
“We just hung tough, and I think the nature of the crisis sort of forced people to do what they were not comfortable doing in terms of the labor issues,” said Danny Curtin, director of the carpenters conference. “Breaking ranks, or however you want to put it, is never simple or easy. And you don’t want to do it unless you really think there’s no real alternative. But it was unassailable, our bill was unassailable.”
Others don’t see it that way.
Scott Wetch, a lobbyist who represented several unions in the negotiations, described SB 423 as an undemocratic law that would come back to haunt every legislator who voted for it, a “political aneurysm” that “one day will burst.”
He criticized how housing might get built in a streamlined capacity that edges out community input, and questioned whether the healthcare requirements will withstand future legal challenges.
And while some unions were going to bat for their members fighting for more rigorous job rules, Wetch said, others, like the carpenters, “sold their members down the river.”
“The carpenters went to a handful of developers, and said to them, ‘Hey, we want to get some work, we want to work with you, and we will be the Judases that remove these worker protections that you don’t like, because we want to get some work out of you,’” Wetch said.
The carpenters have shrugged off those criticisms. They see the issue as a done deal, the new labor standards now the blueprint for housing legislation in California.
“The carpenters would rather be problem solvers than just problem fighters,” Bradshaw said.
We’re now well and truly into fall, with festivities in full swing, which signifies perhaps our favorite part of this time of year: cozy home decor. While naturally, there are obvious changes to your home you’ll no doubt make each year to increase the warmth as we spend more evenings indoors, we’re taking inspiration from Nate Berkus’ very own fall decor ideas.
Taking to Instagram, the interior design master shared a video in which he talks through two changes he makes to ensure his home is ready for the colder months ahead, and as expected, they’re not only practical but of course endlessly stylish.
home decor ideas, which are incredibly easy to recreate yourself. Perhaps the best part – you can take these ideas and make them your own with your preferred decor style.
1. Swap fresh florals for fall-inspired foliage
Nate’s first fall decor rule is to swap summertime florals with more winter-appropriate foliage. ‘The flowers and the branches and the things that we have throughout our home turn to something a little bit richer… a little bit warmer. In the summertime, it’s usually whites and brights, and now they’re like leaves that are changing.’
‘I love bringing the outside in and this is the way to do it,’ he continues. There are endless fall foliage decorating ideas to embrace, from decorative garlands to a simple arrangement in a vase of dried seasonal plants. This time of year is perfect for bringing in rich, autumnal colors such as deep orange and red hues. For a more subtle look, opt for classic green foliage which will promote a classic style that looks festive for all of your Christmas foliage ideas.
2. Refresh bedding with a layered look
‘The second thing that we do, when fall comes, is that our beds get layered,’ explains Nate. ‘The kids get extra blankets; we get extra blankets. Maybe I’ll throw in a highly textured pillow… I just like the idea of home feeling warm, all the time. But especially when it’s fall.’
This decor idea is essential for this time of year. Not only does layering bedding add much-needed warmth for colder nights, but the visual effect it has can be endlessly stylish. You can incorporate whichever type of textiles you’re most drawn to, but for a cohesive look, try and establish one color palette and opt for different variations of one color family when layering bedding. You can then mix lots of different textures, such as boucle cushions, and a velvet throw, to create an eclectic look that looks endlessly cozy.
Below, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite winter-appropriate bedding items to help you create a similar fall bedding trend; they’re not only cozy but stylish too.
1
McGee & Co. Gabriella Block Print Quilt
2
Anthropologie Plush Crushed Velvet Quilted Shams, Set of 2
3
McGee & Co. Hadlee Boucle Throw
For the colder months that lie ahead, we have lots more winter decor ideas to give you some inspiration to ensure your home is as cozy as possible; from warming scents to decorating with color.
To the native Wintu people it was Bohem Puyuik, the “Big Rise,” and no wonder. Mt. Shasta towered above everything else, her loins delivering the natural springs and snowmelt that birthed a great river.
The Sacramento River provided such an abundance of food that the Wintu and many neighboring tribes — the Pit River, Yana, Nomlaki and others — had little to fight over. They thrived in pre-colonial times, on waters that ran silver with salmon, forests thick with game and oaks heavy with acorns.
But centuries of disease, virtual enslavement and murder wrought by European and American invaders scrambled the harmony that once reigned along the Upper Sacramento River.
Today, three tribes here are locked in a bloodless war. At issue is a proposal by one Indigenous group to expand and relocate its casino and whether the flashy new gambling hall, hotel and entertainment center would honor — or desecrate — the past.
The casino envisioned by the Redding Rancheria and its 422 members would rise nine stories on 232 acresalong Interstate 5. The rancheria — home to descendants from three historic tribes — began planning the development nearly two decades ago, envisioning a regional magnet for tourists and gamblers.
But the proposal has been buffeted by influential opponents, including the city of Redding, neighborhood groups and the billionaire next door — who happens to be the largest private landowner in America. The naysayers list a cavalcade of complaints against the new Win-River casino complex, saying it would despoil prime farmland, exacerbate traffic, increase police and fire protection costs and threaten native fish in the Sacramento River.
Those complaints have helped stall, but not kill, the project, whose fate rests almost solely in the hands of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C. And now the BIA’s obscure bureaucrats have been confronted with an explosive new charge from two neighboring tribes: that construction of the casino would desecrate what the tribes say should be hallowed ground — the site of an 1846 rampage by the U.S. Cavalry that historians say probably killed hundreds of Native people.
The Sacramento River massacre has not received the attention of other atrocities of America’s westward expansion, such as the one in 1890 at Wounded Knee, S.D., where U.S. troops killed as many as 300 Lakota people. Estimates of the carnage, recorded over the decades from witness accounts and oral tradition, range from 150 to 1,000 men, women and children slaughtered along the banks of the Sacramento River.
If the higher estimates of the death toll are correct, it would rank as one of the largest single mass killings of Indigenous people in American history.
“In my heart, I find it hard to believe that there are Wintu people that are willing to build a casino on … the blood-soaked dirt of the massacre site,” Gary Rickard, chair of the Wintu Tribe of Northern California, told a state Assembly committee in August. “There are dozens of other places along the I-5 corridor and the Sacramento River.”
Redding Rancheria Chair Jack Potter Jr., himself part Wintu, called the claim that his tribe would build its casino on the massacre grounds “a slander that will not be easily forgotten.” He told state lawmakers that the real massacre site is miles away. Rancheria leaders said their opponents have manufactured the controversy for a less honorable reason: to block what would be a sparkling new competitor.
“Gaming in Indian country can be a tide that raises all of our canoes,” insisted Potter, who appeared at times to fight back tears as he spoke at the Sacramento hearing. “We should not battle against one another, in that spirit.”
Column One
A showcase for compelling storytelling from the Los Angeles Times.
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Friendships that go back decades and tribal ties of a century or more have been imperiled by the casino furor. Native people normally aligned against a hostile or indifferent U.S. government — “We’re all the children of genocide,” as one elder put it — have watched sadly as their conflicts turn inward.
It’s a dynamic that has played out before. Robbed of their ancestral lands, tribes now sometimes fight when one tries to claim new territory, often as a base for a lucrative modern endeavor: gambling.
The friction is exacerbated by the peculiar history of the Redding Rancheria — and by opponents’ eleventh-hour invocation of the Sacramento River massacre, 19 years after the rancheria began to assemble parcels for the project.
The Redding Rancheria refers to a nearly 31-acre stretch of land near the south end of Redding that the federal government bought in 1922 for “homeless Indians” who came to the area as seasonal workers for ranches and orchards. The rancheria sits in a relatively obscure location compared with the interstate-adjacent site of the proposed casino, more than three miles by car to the northeast.
In 1939, the Wintu, Pit River, Yana and other Indigenous peoples formed a rancheria government. It was recognized by the United States. But in 1958, an act of Congress “terminated” recognition of multiple California groups, including the Redding Rancheria, in an attempt to force Indians to disperse into the general population. It took a landmark 1983 court settlement to formally restore recognition of 17 rancherias, including the one in Redding.
The result is that there are Redding Rancheria members with Wintu blood, like Potter, 52, who firmly support the casino, while other Wintu descendants who are not descended from the original rancheria families, like Rickard, 78, adamantly oppose it. Rickard grew up with Jack Potter Sr. and has known his son since he was a boy.
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Cordiality prevails, at least outwardly, when Rickard and Potter meet today. But the bad blood between their groups has become fierce, exacerbated by the yawning wealth disparity between the rancheria and the Northern Wintu.
Rancheria members have thrived largely because of the success of their existing Win-River Resort & Casino, which operates 550 slot machines, a dozen table games, an 84-room hotel and an RV park.
The complex is the biggest income producer for the rancheria, which also owns a Hilton Garden Inn and a marijuana dispensary in Shasta County. Sources familiar with the tribe said each enrolled member receives a monthly “per capita” payment of at least $4,000 and perhaps as high as $6,000.
The rancheria’s chief executive, Pitt River descendant Tracy Edwards, 54, declined to discuss the amount of the payments.
That income, along with health clinics and other benefits, makes the Redding Rancheria members the envy of Indigenous groups with comparatively paltry assets. Rickard’s Northern Wintu claims roughly 560 certified members, but like many groups across America, the tribe has been laboring for years and still has not received formal recognition from the U.S. government. That means the tribe can’t put land into trust, a prerequisite to casino development and also a shield against federal, state and local taxes.
“We don’t have the resources in order to obtain the things we need,” said Shawna Garcia, the Northern Wintu’s cultural resources administrator. “We don’t have the revenue to assist our members with things like college, housing and other assistance.”
Historians and ethnographers say the Wintu were the predominant tribe around the site proposed for the casino complex, an expanse of meadow and scrubland that locals dub the Strawberry Fields because of its agricultural history. And Rickard questioned why the “pure-blood Wintu people” he represents have been left to struggle, while the rancheria — representing an amalgamation of tribal groups — stands poised to create an even bigger cash cow with its new casino.
Rancheria leaders like Edwards, a UC Davis-trained lawyer, have emphasized how the tribal group has supported Native and non-Native people, both as one of the largest employers in Shasta County and through its charitable foundation.
In just one year, 2018, the rancheria said it gave more than $1.2 million to community organizations, helping serve the homeless and victims of the Carr fire. During the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rancheria donated $5,000 each to 60 businesses struggling to stay afloat.
At a cost of $150 million, the rancheria’s new casino would feature 1,200 slot machines — more than double the number at its current casino — and with 250 rooms, the new casino hotel would be more than triple the size of the existing hotel. The tribal group has pledged to close its current Win-River casino when the new one opens.
The rancheria’s outsized community presence has created substantial goodwill around Redding, but a portion of residents have stepped forward — via petitions and ballot measures — to express disdain for large developments they feel could harm the rural character of their community.
Among the more powerful opponents is Archie Aldis “Red” Emmerson, president of logging giant Sierra Pacific Industries, whose sprawling estate looms along the Sacramento River, just south of the casino site.
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In 2020, an Emmerson-allied company purchased property from the city of Redding that included a portion of a road that would be the north entry to the casino site and created an easement that would have barred access to the rancheria land for all but agricultural purposes. The easement effectively would have thwarted the casino by blocking vehicle access to the development.
But in 2022, a Shasta County Superior Court judge voided the deal, saying that in selling the land (for just $3,000 to the billionaire) the city had violated its “own processes, procedures and the relevant law.” The ruling nullified the easement, preserving the rancheria’s unrestricted access to the property.
The Redding City Council and neighboring homeowners have maintained their opposition to the project for years, while a new conservative majority on the Shasta County Board of Supervisors recently reversed the county’s earlier objections. The supervisors supported the casino, despite admonitions from the sheriff, fire chief and county counsel that the agreement with the rancheria did not provide sufficient compensation to cover the increased costs of serving the big development.
The rancheria agreed to make one-time payments totaling $3.6 million to support Shasta County, the Sheriff’s Department and fire and emergency services. That initial infusion would be supplemented by recurring payments: $1,000 for each police service call and $10,000 for each fire/emergency service call.
No issue has unsettled intra-tribal relations, though, like the debate flowing out of the terrible events along the Sacramento River 177 years ago.
Oral histories of the Wintu and neighboring tribes recall how Native families and elders had gathered along the river known as the Big Water each year in early April for the spring salmon run. Traditionally, the season signaled rebirth.
But Capt. John C. Fremont had other ideas.
Fremont diverted his men from their ordered assignment: completing land surveys in the Rocky Mountains. The Americans instead went adventuring to California, where, in the spring of 1846, they responded to sketchy claims from settlers that they were endangered.
About 70 buckskin-clad white men set upon the Native people, the locals far outgunned by the invaders, each toting a Hawken rifle, two pistols and a butcher knife, according to UCLA historian Benjamin Madley‘s detailed account of the massacre.
The horsemen completed their grisly work with such evident pride that legendary frontiersman Kit Carson later bragged that the coordinated assault had been “a perfect butchery.”
The massacre marked the beginning of “a transitional period between the Hispanic tradition of assimilating and exploiting Indigenous peoples and the Anglo-American pattern of killing or removing them,” according to Madley’s “An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe.”
Fremont (later a U.S. senator from California and a Republican presidential candidate) would say that his party attacked the natives because of reports of an “imminent attack” upon settlers. But the “battle” was one-sided, with the federal troops suffering no known casualties. Afterward, according to Madley’s account, Fremont’s men feasted on the Native people’s larder of fresh salmon.
In the nearly two centuries since, the tragedy would be more forgotten than remembered. There is no historical marker around Redding noting the event.
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The Wintu people believed to have been the principal victims have preserved memories of the mass killing in their oral history. But no ceremony marks the atrocity. And at the Wintu cultural resource center in Shasta Lake City, a wall-size timeline of the group’s history makes no mention of the 1846 bloodshed.
There’s also the now-pressing question — pushed to the fore by the casino feud — about precisely where the massacre occurred. The Northern Wintu and another outspoken opponent, the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians, insist that the Strawberry Fields property was a key location in the atrocity.
The Paskenta commissioned a study by a retired anthropologist from Cal State Sacramento that drew on research from the late 1800s by a linguist from the Smithsonian Institution who, in turn, got much of his information from a Wintu elder who survived the massacre. The report, by Dorothea Theodoratus and a colleague, said that the “center” of the massacre was “opposite the mouth of Clear Creek” in the Sacramento River, a point roughly two miles south of the proposed casino location.
But other accounts from participants and witnesses said Fremont’s soldiers chased down victims after the initial assault, leaving the exact range of the bloodshed unknown. The Theodoratus report says that six villages, including two on the proposed casino property, were so thoroughly intermingled that all “would have had some direct involvement with that massacre.”
Andrew Alejandre, chair of the Paskenta Band, told the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee in August that his tribe is seeking to have the state and federal governments designate the Strawberry Fields a sacred site, off-limits to development. Alejandre, 35, said his tribe vehemently opposes building a casino “on top of men, women, children and elders. The spirit of these ancestors … Let them rest!”
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In rebuttal, Potter and rancheria CEO Edwards note that during the many years that they and others have pursued developments in the region, the rival tribes never mentioned the massacre. Divisive fights over a proposed auto mall and a sports complex (both scrapped) came and went without any discussion about desecration of a mass grave site.
“I would never disrespect the remains of my ancestors,” Potter said.
Fifty miles south of Redding in rural Corning, the 288-member Paskenta Band opened the Rolling Hills Casino and Resort two decades ago. The luxe gaming hall is just one part of an economic surge by the tribe, which has also opened an equestrian complex, an 18–hole golf course, a 1,400-acre gun and hunting center and a 3,000-person amphitheater, where Snoop Dogg performed in May.
Potter charged that the fight over the historic massacre is really a ploy by the flourishing Paskenta to squelch the Redding Rancheria’s hopes for a shimmering destination casino “because of the mistaken belief that it … will cut into the profits of their gaming facilities.”
Paskenta’s Alejandre, a designer who once ran a clothing company, denied that is the case.
While representatives for the Paskenta and Northern Wintu tribes bashed the casino proposal at the August hearing, representatives of at least eightother California tribes argued in support of the Redding Rancheria. One said the Redding group had proved itself a good steward of cultural resources.
Another speaker at the hearing was Miranda Edwards, the 28-year-old daughter of the rancheria CEO. The Stanford-educated Edwards and her mother spoke about the importance of moving the tribal group forward for the “Seventh Generation,” future descendants whose livelihoods must be planned for today.
“We work hard every day to provide for this rural community and make it the best that we can for everyone that lives there,” Miranda Edwards told legislators. “It’s disheartening to hear from those that choose not to see that. But it will not stop our work.”
Potter, the rancheria’s chairman, had a sardonic take on the dispute.
“We always talk about crabs in a pot,” Potter said. “We are like all these crabs, stuck in a pot. When one tries to get out of the pot, all the others reach up and pull him back in.”
Will arguments about the Sacramento River massacre sway the final outcome of the Redding Rancheria’s casino quest? A BIA spokesman said only that “these issues are under review.” Nearly two centuries after representatives of the U.S. military decimated a civilization here, the federal government still retains ultimate authority over the fate of Native people.
Watch L.A. Times Today at 7 p.m. on Spectrum News 1 on Channel 1 or live stream on the Spectrum News App. Palos Verdes Peninsula and Orange County viewers can watch on Cox Systems on channel 99.
With the
holiday season officially underway, West Virginia University Extension experts are offering simple, low-cost decorating tips to help you save
money while creating meaningful experiences with friends and family.
Alex Mathias, assistant
professor and Extension 4-H agent in Grant County, and Luci Mosesso, Extension
4-H agent in Pocahontas County, enjoy taking advantage of opportunities to use
simple items and the beauty of nature to create unique home decor and gifts. Both
say the holidays offer the perfect opportunity to experiment with “found”
objects and natural items to make a fun, festive home for all to enjoy.
Quotes:
“Dried oranges are not
only economical but also back in style when decorating. They are a simple way
to make garland, decorate gift boxes or add pizzazz to your tree as ornaments,
and you can even use them for stovetop potpourri or ciders. Make sure to dry
them fully and properly to ensure they won’t mold. It’s a great way to create
coziness and save money. Additionally, with supervision during the slicing
process, it is a great way to involve kids, too.
“Make your home smell
like the holidays with a stovetop simmer pot. There are many ways to do a
simmer pot, including using fresh or dried fruits as well as mixing and
matching your spices. For a simmer pot to be prepared that day you can add several
orange slices, a stick of cinnamon, one-half cup of cranberries and a sprig of
pine. Dried oranges can be substituted for fresh and usually last longer. Dried
apples, cloves, star anise and more can be added too. Add enough water to cover
all items in a small pot and turn on low on a stovetop. It will take 20 minutes
or so to start to smell the simmer pot. You can leave it on the lowest setting
all day, if you are home to check on it. Refill water as needed and enjoy.
“Salt dough ornaments
are an age-old tradition that are super affordable and fun. Salt dough can be
stamped, painted, molded and more. Let your artistic side show without breaking
the bank. When properly dried, salt dough ornaments can last decades.
“If you want a true throwback and inexpensive way to make all the garland you
need, make a popcorn garland. All you need is embroidery floss or even waxed
dental floss, a needle, scissors and unbuttered popcorn along with and shellac to
make it last longer. Make sure you pop plain popcorn to avoid flavor or salt
residues. To make it more festive and colorful, add cranberries. Take time to string
your popcorn garlands. Garland can be used on trees, mantels and around windows
inside the home. While these usually only last the season, you can make it a
tradition of stringing popcorn garland each year.” — Alex Mathias, WVU
Extension assistant professor and 4-H agent, Grant County
“Fresh greens are the perfect, budget-friendly accent to make a cozy home
around the holidays. Many of our everyday decorations can become holiday or
winter decor simply by adding holly, boxwood or pine. Add in natural or painted
dried flowers and seed pods for accent pieces. As the days get shorter, we tend
to spend more sedentary time indoors, so foraging for greenery is a great way
to get back outside for a little sunshine and exercise when we need it the most.
When it’s time to clean up, the greens can be composted, used for fires or
taken back to the woods to decompose.
“Pine boughs are a staple foraged decoration in our house. When trimming your
tree, save the bottom branches for the foundation of the boughs. I like to
start with pine and add boxwood for texture followed by juniper or holly for a
little color. Green zip ties blend in perfectly and are an easy way to hold it
all together. Pick out your favorite ribbon to finish them off. I put boughs
under the windows and even on the mailbox post. If you have any old sleds or
ice skates, they make the perfect winter complement to fresh pine boughs.
“Bringing greens indoors is a great way to fight off the dark days of winter. I
like to use ground pine, holly, eucalyptus and rosemary for indoor decorations.
The rosemary and eucalyptus smell fresh and dry nicely for extended periods of
time. The ground pine provides volume and the delicate holly berries are a
perfect pop of color. Use these greens to spruce up grapevine wreaths, advent
wreaths or create a mantel display with candles or lights, but be sure to watch
candles or choose the battery-operated ones.
“Pine cones are another
fun, budget-friendly winter decoration. Fill up antique baskets with cones, a
few springs of greenery, battery-operated fairy lights and a ribbon for a quick,
cozy indoor or outdoor display.
“If you have a fireplace that no longer works or is not being used, the
holidays are the perfect time to show it off. White birch logs, pillar candles or
lights are a perfect way to make it cozy without the actual fire. Add some
greenery to the mantel for the finishing touch.
“Solar lights are
affordable, long-lasting and conveniently turn themselves on and off each day.
Solar lights come in all shapes, sizes and colors, and the best part is they
don’t add to the power bill.” — Luci Mosesso, WVU Extension 4-H agent,
Pocahontas County
West
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