Category Archives for "Urban Economics"

Book review of Pitch Anything, an innovative method for presenting, persuading and winning the deal by Oren Klaff, https://youtu.be/0ihMwKc2Sow With insights from Bruce M Firestone, PhD Plus, how a yoga teacher went from earning just over $30k a year to more than $100k Plus, how Prof Bruce successfully pitched the NHL for an expansion franchise […]

Here’s an article I wrote some time ago. In it, I was trying to understand why someone might pay $171,000 more for an urban townhouse, which was essentially the same as a suburban, much less expensive one, except closer into town. Was it a rational economic choice? Here’s what I concluded… then. Today, in an […]

A client of mine asks, “Hi Bruce, what are your thoughts on real estate and the economy over the next 12-24 months?” Here’s what I answered: No one really knows what will happen, but in my view, there will be many opportunities for people with cash. I suspect several trillion dollars of real estate in […]

Or what to do with underused parking lots and golf courses… OK, I’ll admit it. I am a bad (actually terrible) golfer and a not much better driver (of cars, that is). These days golf is a sport in decline (even before Covid-19 cratered much of the planet’s economy), which has triggered questions like: What […]

Traveling without moving, a new approach to downsizing Most realtors tell a person who is thinking of, say, downsizing, to list and sell their larger home and buy something smaller and presumably cheaper. This kind of talk is a bit self-serving because, if the client follows this piece of advice, the realtor gets another listing […]

I woke up on the Easter long weekend thinking I could help people become successful entrepreneurs by offering a new online course called: Pivot! Start a business in just 3-months w/ practically no money down. “Hi Bruce, I just wanted to say that I was on your Pivot! webinar this afternoon and it was awesome. […]

for LANDLORDS, INVESTORS (AND TENANTS) Here is a webinar in which Bruce M Firestone, PhD, and host Dave Dubeau talk about how to stay afloat during the Covid-19 era and also how to prepare for a hopeful future. Here’s what is covered: -snowbird real estate prices about to collapse? -big market correction coming #Gulp -buying […]

[A version of this article first appeared in Ottawa Business Journal] Since the dawn of the industrial age in the early 1700s when Thomas Newcomen produced the first successful steam engine (later perfected by James Watt in 1769), there has never been a major economy that contracted by 40% in a single quarter. This happened […]

I recently wrote to a senior planner at the city of Ottawa on this topic. Here’s what I said: Marina (not her real name), hope you and your family are well. I think in light of recent events, Ottawa’s OP should be completely overhauled… We were heading in this direction anyway, but now I am […]

Here is a 10-minute video I put together on: How to protect yourself, your biz and your real estate holdings as well as clients, employees, suppliers, guests, residents, tenants… in a time of covid-19. This is what I cover off: IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION CONTRACTED BY MORE THAN 40% in Canada, US and […]

Over 2,000 have signed up for this free webinar on March 24 at 7 pm ET: How to protect yourself, your biz, your real estate investments as well as clients, employees, suppliers, guests, residents, tenants… in a time of Covid-19 Listen as 20-experts give their views and take questions… Register now, https://www.covidcrisisplan.com/brucefirestone Prof Bruce is […]

The barndominium We live in what is fast becoming more and more of a gig economy. If you are a hobbyist, an assembler, an artist, a winemaker, a cabinetmaker, a woodworker, a plumber, an electrician, a contractor, manufacturer, a renovator, or you run an HVAC company or a yoga studio or a physiotherapy or RMT […]