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While the rest of the nation watched in horror, bad weather turned deadly and quickly wreaked havoc. Houses were ravaged, and tens of thousands of residents were displaced. Thats Los Angeles since the historic wildfires struck in January, destroying more than 16,000 structures and leaving thousands of people homeless. It was also western North Carolina in late September after Hurricane Helene created raging rivers that flooded some houses and swept others away. Nearly 74,000 homes in the area were damaged or destroyed, around 10,000 of which were in Buncombe County, where the city of Asheville is located. Every disaster is unique, and these two were markedly different. But from a housing perspective, they have some important similaritiesand L.A. leaders can learn from what Buncombe County has already gone through in its recovery. Among other things, both regions have been hot real estate markets with ever-increasing property values that have been gradually pushing lower-income people out. Catastrophes like fires and hurricanes can, paradoxically, cause housing prices to rise over time: Supply is tighter, speculators may capitalize on newly vacant properties, and investors and residents often rebuild bigger than before. That makes it imperative to get residents into safe homes as quickly as possible, before conditions change that might make that unfeasible. From left: Before and after roof repair [Photo: Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity] Buncombe County is still in the early stages of its response; the disaster was so overwhelming that simply accounting for everyone and filing initial claims has taken months. But the Federal Emergency Management Agency has come, state legislators have allocated aid and are debating more, and federal assistance seems to be on its way, though given the Trump administrations focus on government downsizing, its unclear when it will arrive or whether the amount will be even close to whats needed. The governments of Asheville and Buncombe County have been very responsive, observers say. But whats been truly critical is the work of community organizations, which have cooperated with one another in an unprecedented way to help thousands of renters and homeowners begin returning to their homes. Its been a grassroots effort of seeing what the community needs and how to respond, says Lukas Ray, communications and engagement officer at Mountain Housing Opportunities, an affordable housing group. Its a collaboration: Put your head down and work together. In some ways, the region was well-positioned for a disaster, if such a thing is possible. Weeks before the hurricane, the city had released a 100-plus-page affordable housing plan that it spent a year hammering out with local housing and social service agencies. So when the storm hit and brought mass unemployment with it, they knew just how vulnerable many of the areas renters were, and made preventing displacement a priority. [Photo: Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity] An eviction moratorium would have been ideal, but thats a state-level decision that officials in Raleigh failed to enact. However, more than $5 million in rental assistance has been a boon to the 1,000-plus households who received it. Some of those funds came from the city and county, but most were raised through private donations and distributed by a church. Rental assistance was recommended [in the affordable housing plan] to prevent further displacement, said Susan Bean, housing and transportation director at MountainTrue, a grassroots environmental group. That made it easierit was a need that was clear. Another of the plans recommendations was to expand home repair resources for low-income homeowners, work that was already underway pre-Helene. Following COVID-19, the areas Habitat for Humanity affiliate had aimed to streamline the work of a few home repair organizations, using bespoke software and a universal intake form. The initiative, Asheville Regional Coalition for Home Repair, or ARCHR, was on the verge of a soft rollout when the storm hit, and the coalition quickly took it live. Theyve since received more than 300 applications from low-income households. “We see a lot of roof issuestrees on roofs, wind damage, or roofs that were already in disrepair before the storm, said Joel Johnson, home repair director at the Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity. ARCHR is a one-stop shop that allows each group to tackle the job its best at, whether thats roof repair or access issues or water damage. And as an organized, coordinated entity, its better positioned to receive government funding and individual donations. [Photo:Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity] ARCHR is also part of a bigger-picture effort thats getting underway. In the early months after the hurricane, community stakeholders talked to leaders from places like Louisiana, Florida, and eastern North Carolina that had experienced similar disasters. They recommended Buncombe County form a long-term recovery group, a collaborative body composed of key nonprofits, local governments, and community funders that includes subgroups focusing on case management, rental assistance, repairs, and construction. This is a local way to respond to a disaster, to provide a coordinated process, says Sarah Roth, interim director of emergency operations at United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County, which is helping lead the process. The groups look different in every community. Buncombe Countys long-term recovery group is still figuring out its mission and scope. Leaders are seeking a fiscal sponsora tax-exempt nonprofit organization that can accept funding on their behalfso they can hit the ground running when government assistance finally arrives. In the meantime, theyre sharing real-time data with policymakers and advocating for on-the-ground needs. The housing groups are concerned that damaged or destroyed properties may be replaced by more expensive structures. In response, said David Bartholomew, an attorney with Pisgah Legal Services, Were all looking to make sure that when theres opportunity, we get in there and can take advantage. One group is already doing that. In December, the nonprofit BeLoved Asheville bought an 8-acre parcel of land in Swannanoa, one of the regions hit hardest by the storm, for $1.6 million in community donations. Its leaders plan to build a small enclave of at least 15 two- and three-bedroom houses for very-low-income people. Their purchase is timely. While Buncombe Countys real estate prices have remained stable so far, theyre likely to rise soon as the weather warms and investors begin eying vacant properties. Property values could look very different next year. L.A. housing leaders may want to take note. The speed, creativity, and collaboration could serve them well, too, as they launch a recovery effort that, as in Buncombe Countys case, is predicted to last around a decade.
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The Lamborghini of baby strollers is literally a Lamborghini. Luxury carmaker Automobili Lamborghini is getting into baby gear by partnering with the British nursery brand Silver Cross for a limited-edition stroller called the Reef AL Arancio. Just 500 of the strollers will be made and each comes with a numbered edition plaque. Silver Cross calls it a super stroller, and it retails for about $5,000. [Image: Silver Cross] The stroller’s design borrows from the Lamborghini’s foundations, Silver Cross says, with an automotive-inspired brake pedal, hand-finished handlebar, and high-performance suede with Italian leather details. It comes with a high-gloss polycarbonate carry cot, full suspension wheels, and a cup holder. Lamborghini badging uses the Italian company’s script wordmark, and its bull-and-shield logo is incorporated throughout. The design process for the Reef AL Arancio took more than two years and included meetings with the Automobile Lamborghini design and licensing teams and visits to Lamborghini showrooms to draw inspiration. The finished product is designed to mirror the intricacy and faceted nature of the vehicles, Silver Cross says. [Image: Silver Cross] While babies aren’t impressed by luxury brands, their parents increasingly are. High-end baby gear like smart cribs, electronic bottle warmers, and pricey strollers have proliferated as fertility rates have fallen and the age of first-time mothers has risen. With parents having fewer children at older ages, they have more to splurge on their kids; some, apparently, are even willing to drop $5,000 for a one-of-500 stroller. In 2020, Bentley Motors announced its own officially licensed kids bicycle and stroller tricycle brand called Bentley Trike, created in collaboration with Posh Baby & Kids. With the Lamborghini stroller, now your baby can travel in style with luxury car-branded gear all the way from the crib until the training wheels come off.
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E-Commerce
A bartender makes a Brandy Alexander, pouring equal parts of a Courvoisier V.S.O.P brandy, Marie Brizard crme de cacao, and fresh cream. He shakes it with ice, strains through a fine mesh strainer, and finishes it off with a neat pile of freshly-grated nutmeg. This imagery may seem to be out of a bartending documentary, but it’s actually a scene from an anime series, Bartender: Glass of God. Its this unavoidable, radical attention to detail in the animation itself that tells the story of a Japanese way of lifeputting extreme care into ones craft. During scenes inside the bar, the liquor wall features an elaborate selection of spirits, the labels of which are meticulously drawn. They include Makers Mark bourbon, Roku gin, and Laphroaig scotch, all of which fall under the portfolio of Suntory Global Spirits, which provided production support for the show. The show’s ability to combine real-life liquor brands with attention to detail helps it pull off a focus on craft that isn’t often seen outside of live-action documentary. The series portrays bartending as an empirical trade through the experience of each viewer watching on a screen. Not everyone watching will be a bartender nor will they each absorb every single nuance incorporated into the anime. But the care in the crafts of animation and bartending that Nakazawa meshed together with Suntory and other partners reveal a comprehensive and respectful illustration of the power of a cocktail. A reboot with emphasis on detailsand brands Bartender originated as a Japanese manga, or graphic novel, in 2004 to then be turned into an anime series in 2006. Last year, anime studio Liber released a 12-episode revival, with streamer Crunchyroll releasing episodes dubbed in English from July through October. Creatives behind the reboot said the goal was to be as accurate as possible with cocktails and vibes. We focused on creating an authentic bar ambiance that viewers could experience through anime, ensuring the movements and atmosphere retained a sense of realism, says Takaaki Nakazawa, the series lead producer. [Image: Araki Joh, Kenji Nagatomo/Shueisha, Bar hoppers] Nakazawa and his team pulled this off by consulting renowned Japanese bartenders Akihiro Sakoh of Sakoh Bar in Tokyos Shibuya district and Noriyuki Iguchi of Bar Gaslight in Tokyos Ginza district. Before production, we interviewed them and filmed their actionscocktail-making techniques and handling bottleswhich the animation team studied closely to replicate the movements, Nakazawa says. They also prepared all the cocktails featured in the entire anime series. [Image: Araki Joh, Kenji Nagatomo/Shueisha, Bar hoppers] Suntory’s involvement is integrated throughout the seriesmostly contained to brands behind the barbut the anime also takes its protagonist, Ryu, to the Suntory Whisky Yamazaki Distillery in Osaka, Japan. It looks precisely in the anime the way it looks on Google Maps street view, down to the shrubbery. Every glass of whisky is a coalescence of memorieslike history, distilled, Ryu says to his friends outside the distillery. And even if our guests know nothing about that history, isnt it better that we know the meaning contained within each glass, so we can serve something that transcends flavor alone? [Image: Araki Joh, Kenji Nagatomo/Shueisha, Bar hoppers] This statement sums up the overall message of Bartender, which highlights the longing to feel empowered through human connection. Creating these scenes, with all of the partnerships involved in settings where the Suntory brand is so prominently placed, gives the viewers a sense that they can too feel that sense of empowerment when sipping on its products. Focus on craft Nakazawa has been a huge fan of the original Bartender manga and felt emboldened to reimagine it, borrowing some plot lines but catering it to a new generation. When a customer visits a bar, they dont perceive everything in a straightforward way, he says. Their perception changes depending on their individual circumstances. It’s not what a typical, you know, Western audience would think of immediately, says Crunchyroll CCO Asa Suehira. We want to showcase anime more than just entertainment, but an art form that bridges cultures and tells a universal story. Crunchyroll currently has 15 million subscribers, most of whom are in North America, but the service has been working to expand globally, including into Southeas Asia and India. [Image: Araki Joh, Kenji Nagatomo/Shueisha, Bar hoppers] From an American perspective, the narrative may come across as cliché and over-exaggerated, but hospitality as an art form is taken more seriously in Japanese culture. The anime takes that reverence for craft and applies to a profession most American viewers might not think about much. When you have an excellent bartender, they’re able to connect with a lot of people, says Chris Leavitt, a Las Vegas bartender and cocktail content creator. That aspect was on par with what I experience as a bartender myself. It’s so important for someone who mans a bar to understand that’s the priority over everything. Neither Toho nor Crunchyroll commented on sponsorships other than Suntory. But dozens of other liquor brands, like Beefeater gin, Dolin vermouth and Heering cherry liqueur, are heavily featured in the show too despite not being Suntory brands. Leavitt commends the precise attention given to the animation, from the style in which Ryu holds his bar spoon through his fingers, to the motion of his Japanese hard shake, both in close-ups and wide shots. That’s exactly how these bartenders operate, he says. Nothing was inaccurate. Every drink recipe was on point.
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