Rental ban puts spotlight on Escondido neighborhood

Rental ban puts spotlight on Escondido neighborhood

ESCONDIDO - Since the Escondido City Council adopted its controversial new rental law, Benny Herrera's Mission Park neighborhood has been getting a lot of attention.A study released earlier this year found that the central Escondido neighborhood was overwhelmingly Latino, plagued with poverty and cluttered with overcrowded apartments. Several council members pointed to the study in adopting the new law to bar landlords from renting to illegal immigrants in an effort to alleviate overcrowding.

But Herrera, who has lived in his Park Place home for more than 40 years, said the city was able to fix many of the problems that afflicted his corner of the Mission Park neighborhood by working with him and a group of his neighbors. In recent years, the city built sidewalks, provided streetlights and encouraged residents to report graffiti and vandalism, he said.

---

Developments will combine living, working, shopping and fun in one place

Developments will combine living, working, shopping and fun in one place

Imagine living so close to Starbucks that you can smell the beans.

So close to work, you can leave your house at 8:27 a.m. and be there by 8:30 a.m. — without starting your car. So close to the gym, there would be no excuses.

San Antonio residents won't have to move downtown for that kind of convenience anymore.

The new vision in real estate development combines work, living, restaurants and shopping all within one pedestrian-friendly village — in the suburbs.

The villages are called "new urbanism" or "lifestyle centers," but it's a concept that's anything but novel, said Brian M. Leary, vice president of design and development for Atlantic Station LLC, a mixed-use development in Atlanta that's considered a model for new urbanism.

---

Volkwyn crowned Boss of the Year 2006

Volkwyn crowned Boss of the Year 2006

Amid fierce competition from five equally impressive finalists, Primedia Broadcasting CEO Terry Volkwyn received the 2006 Boss of the Year award and trophy at a banquet lunch earlier this week at The Castle Kyalami.

Selected from a total of 291 nominations received nationwide, the five other finalists were: Dennis Lupambo, director, Self-service Banking, Standard Bank; David Collen Noko, MD, De Beers Consolidated Mines; Brian Riley - senior general manager, Motor Division, Wesbank; Thabo Seopa, MD, TDS Directory Operations and Eugene Wait, Head of CashPlan, Alexander Forbes Financial Services.

Organised by Career Success (published by Dictum Publishers), this Award celebrates its 17th anniversary this year and aims to identify, recognise and reward bosses throughout South Africa both for their attention to the needs of their workforce, and their impressive leadership skills.

---

Fitch: Kicking the Tires of the US Rental Car Industry

Fitch: Kicking the Tires of the US Rental Car Industry NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fitch said today that while the rental car industry has been restored to pre-9/11 levels, the financial deterioration of U.S. vehicle manufacturers and rising interest rates have combined to produce growing rental car fleet expenses and depreciation costs, only a portion of which have been passed on to the vehicle renter. Indeed, the financial deterioration at domestic vehicle manufacturers, combined with intense price competition and increasing interest rates are negatively impacting profit margins at the some of the largest rental car companies in the United States. In a report released today, Fitch takes a closer look at the major rental car companies, namely Hertz Global Holdings and Vanguard Car Rental Group, both of which plan to issue public equity securities in late 2006, in addition to publicly-traded Avis Budget Group (NYSE:CAR) and Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group (NYSE:DTG).