Urban Ruins Exploration

Interested in visiting sites of urban ruins?  That is old factories, warehouses and other abandoned buildings and infrastructure.  While there guided tours, most of this kind of tourism is more for the renegades, those willing to trespass.  Want to learn more?  visit....

https://www.uer.ca/  World wide.

http://www.forbidden-places.net/explo1.php  US and Europe.

https://www.theurbanexplorer.co.uk/  For UK.

Be careful.

Green Book

Now a major motion picture, some details and links for you.

Airlines adopting Gender neutral recording

One of the challenges I have to stress to my Quant students is that you cannot calculate the "average" gender.  I mean if you code women 1 and men 2, and you want to know the mean, you get something like 1.4.

What does that mean?

The better way to describe a nominal variable is using mode or a frequency count.

So now that American, Delta and United will update their booking options to include a gender "non-binary" value, say click on Female, Male or undisclosed (or unspecified), we will still need to calculate it as a mode or frequency.

Finally, and kind of unrelated, I just did a survey online for the NYT, and I hate it when they force you to answer a question when you really want to say "none of the above."

Goodbye Airbus Superjumbo A380

800 seats in a plane?  well not much of a demand it seems.  The production of the huge Airbus in France is being halted by 2021 with the final 17 jets.

Seems most of the buyers (airlines) prefer smaller planes, even for the long haul flights.

For a news report and a great photo, visit WSJ.

NERR 2019

Paper for National Environment and Recreation Research Symposium (NERR)

Rail trails and home values: a longitudinal study

Robert S. Bristow

Geography, Planning and Sustainability

Westfield State University

Jo Beth Mullens

Geography, Outdoor Recreation, and Planning

Keene State College

Abstract

Greenways are recognized as an essential planning tool to build sustainable communities.  One unique form of a greenway is the repurposing of abandoned railroad corridors known as a rail trails or greenways. Rail trails have a long history in America, the Pacific Rim and Europe.  Decommissioned rail corridors are being improved to provide the benefits of non-motorized transportation system for recreation and exercise, and the daily commuting to school, work, and shopping.  Yet despite these benefits there are citizens who argue against the presence of the rail trail citing them as a NIMBY.  There needs to be more research on the benefits and costs associated with repurposing the thousands of miles of abandoned rails across the lands.

One such area of study is the calculation of the economic benefit to home owners living in proximity to rail trails.  These open spaces contribute to the values home owners place on their property.  Hedonic pricing has been used to quantify the benefits and costs since the buyer in a market will pay for the amenities of the house, including the proximity to park lands.  

To study this impact, this paper compares home values over ten year period and links the changes to key dates in the establishment of a continuous rail trail corridor, during the planning, construction and current use stages.  The setting is two rail trails in neighboring communities that are a recent addition to the thousands of miles of rail trails in America.   It is believed this research reflects the first longitudinal study of home values tied to development of a rail trail.  It is especially unique since real estate values have dramatically fluctuated over the past decade.

Keywords: Rail Trails, greenways, economic value of parks

ORD is the busiest airport in the US

ORD of course stands for Chicago O'Hare International Airport.  It surpasses Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport  (ATL).  ORD had 903,000 arrivals and departures in 2018.

POP for Gregorio Luperón International Airport.

Want to learn more about these 3 digit airport codes?  Visit https://www.world-airport-codes.com/.

Do not travel (previously “extreme risk”)

Want to know where the New Zealand Government doesn't want you to travel due to risk?

See this exhaustive list.

And what about allies across the Big Pond in the UK?

And of course, the US warns us.

NERR 2019

The preliminary schedule is out for NERR 2019.

Annapolis, Maryland

7-9 April 2019

See this link for the National Environment and Recreation Research Symposium.

State of the Food Tourism Industry

Hungry?

I mean, people eat and home and also away from home.  Check out the latest report from the World Food Travel Association.

Contents
Executive Summary: What You Can Expect
Importance of the Food Tourism Industry Today
Assessing the Performance of Food Tourism Providers
Considerations for Improving the Food Tourism Experience
Key Food Tourism Issues
Areas for Improvement in the Food Tourism Industry
Spotlight on Preserving Culinary Authenticity
Educating Visitors with Food & Drink
Nurturing the Development of Food and Drink Activities
About the Expert Panelists
About the Research & Research Team

Something to chew on (sorry but had to do that).