Entries by Babs De Lay

That Housing Bill

Last month POTUS would and did not sign the major housing reform bill, hailed as ‘the biggest housing bill in decades.  Instead, it became law 10 days after it passed through congress and condos around the country are facing some major changes via new lending and insurance requirements. The bill was written in part due […]

Getting Greener

Salt Lake City Corp. is concerned about the Great Salt Lake drying up and the remaining dust killing all of us with toxic chemicals. I recall when SLC set up the E2 Business program under then-Mayor Rocky Anderson in 2003.  I signed up and was the first company to do so. Several of my fellow […]

PARK IT!

I remember back when I served (8 years!) as a volunteer Planning and Zoning Commissioner for Salt Lake City. It was one of the most interesting and educational experiences I’ve ever had. Besides learning about past, present and future planning laws and trends I learned a great deal about my city.  At one meeting an […]

Making Sense

There are things in life that just make sense, and I’ve noticed that we Americans could take tips from other countries how to do things better and smarter. Japan has public restrooms that play music to mask the sound of flushing, and some have readout screens that show which toilets are free or occupied so […]

Staycation

Making Summer plans yet? Many folks will travel out of town this season, but due to high gas prices and airline tickets, others will staycations instead. There is a lot to see and do this year in the capitol city and I’m excited about visiting some of the new attractions. ‘Bug World’ is an immersive, […]

Is It Limited?

  Moving to Chicago?  Maybe parts of Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin?  Last week thousands of Zillow listings disappeared on that website. Why? Well, the 411 is simple-there’s a battle going on across the country between MLS services and in this case it’s between Zillow and Chi-town’s real estate database called MRED. The database cut off […]

ADU UPDATES

SLC has three residential zoning areas, ranging from very low-density single-family areas to high density areas for multi-family dwellings. There are actually 12 residential zones as part of the City’s total of 30 zoning classifications that also include commercial, industrial and special purpose areas. Each zone allows for different activities and supposedly helps prevent conflicts […]

Summer Shorts

I went out to lunch with friends the other day across from IHC’s mega hospital to a chain restaurant not of my choosing. The food was horrible, like warmed from a SYSCO bag of product produced in San Diego and shipped to chains around the west. Generally, I’ve always seen the parking lot there full, […]

Purge your spurge

I recently filmed some social media (@thebabsdelay) about purging your spurge. Most folks I’ve talked to had no idea that this plant known as Myrtle Spurge (aka: Donkey Tail or Burro Tail)  grows low to the ground and thrives in crappy soils, looks like a pleasing silvery succulent and has lovely little yellow flowers this […]

STAYING HOME

A study done at the end of last year by Marketscreener.com found that 43% of U.S. homeowners renovated their home last year, and an additional 33% plan to renovate this year.  This means roughly two in five Americans are either currently remodeling or planning to do so! The survey showed that for those who have […]