“Blood grows hot, and blood is spilled. Thought is forced from old channels into confusion. Deception breeds and thrives. Confidence dies, and universal suspicion reigns. Each man feels an impulse to kill his neighbor, lest he be first killed by him. Revenge and retaliation follow. And all this … may be among honest men only. But this is not all. Every foul bird comes abroad, and every dirty reptile rises up. These add crime to confusion.”

— Abraham Lincoln, letter to the Missouri abolitionist Charles D. Drake, 1863

I. ON THE BRINK

In the weeks before Labor Day 2020, Ted Wheeler, the mayor of Portland, Oregon, began warning people that he believed someone would soon be killed by extremists in his city. Portland was preparing for the 100th consecutive day of conflict among anti-police protesters, right-wing counterprotesters, and the police themselves. Night after night, hundreds of people clashed in the streets. They attacked one another with baseball bats, Tasers, bear spray, fireworks. They filled balloons with urine and marbles and fired them at police officers with slingshots. The police lobbed flash-bang grenades. One man shot another in the eye with a paintball gun and pointed a loaded revolver at a screaming crowd. The FBI notified the public of a bomb threat against federal buildings in the city. Several homemade bombs were hurled into a group of people in a city park.

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Extremists on the left and on the right, each side inhabiting its own reality, had come to own a portion of downtown Portland. These radicals acted without restraint or, in many cases, humanity.

In early July, when then-President Donald Trump deployed federal law-enforcement agents in tactical gear to Portland—against the wishes of the mayor and the governor—conditions deteriorated further. Agents threw protesters into unmarked vans. A federal officer shot a man in the forehead with a nonlethal munition, fracturing his skull. The authorities used chemical agents on crowds so frequently that even Mayor Wheeler found himself caught in clouds of tear gas. People set fires. They threw rocks and Molotov cocktails. They swung hammers into windows. Then, on the last Saturday of August, a 600-vehicle caravan of Trump supporters rode into Portland waving American flags and Trump flags with slogans like TAKE AMERICA BACK and MAKE LIBERALS CRY AGAIN. Within hours, a 39-year-old man would be dead—shot in the chest by a self-described anti-fascist. Five days later, federal agents killed the suspect—in self-defense, the government claimed—during a confrontation in Washington State.

What had seemed from the outside to be spontaneous protests centered on the murder of George Floyd were in fact the culmination of a long-standing ideological battle. Some four years earlier, Trump supporters had identified Portland, correctly, as an ideal place to provoke the left. The city is often mocked for its infatuation with leftist ideas and performative politics. That reputation, lampooned in the television series Portlandia, is not completely unwarranted. Right-wing extremists understood that Portland’s reaction to a trolling campaign would be swift, and would guarantee the celebrity that comes with virality. When Trump won the presidency, this dynamic intensified, and Portland became a place where radicals would go to brawl in the streets. By the middle of 2018, far-right groups such as the Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer had hosted more than a dozen rallies in the Pacific Northwest, many of them in Portland. Then, in 2020, extremists on the left hijacked largely peaceful anti-police protests with their own violent tactics, and right-wing radicals saw an opening for a major fight.

We face a new phase of domestic terror, one characterized by radicalized individuals with shape-shifting ideologies willing to kill their political enemies.

What happened in Portland, like what happened in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021, was a concentrated manifestation of the political violence that is all around us now. By political violence, I mean acts of violence intended to achieve political goals, whether driven by ideological vision or by delusions and hatred. More Americans are bringing weapons to political protests. Openly white-supremacist activity rose more than twelvefold from 2017 to 2021. Political aggression today is often expressed in the violent rhetoric of war. People build their political identities not around shared values but around a hatred for their foes, a phenomenon known as “negative partisanship.” A growing number of elected officials face harassment and death threats, causing many to leave politics. By nearly every measure, political violence is seen as more acceptable today than it was five years ago. A 2022 UC Davis poll found that one in five Americans believes political violence would be “at least sometimes” justified, and one in 10 believes it would be justified if it meant returning Trump to the presidency. Officials at the highest levels of the military and in the White House believe that the United States will see an increase in violent attacks as the 2024 presidential election draws nearer.

In recent years, Americans have contemplated a worst-case scenario, in which the country’s extreme and widening divisions lead to a second Civil War. But what the country is experiencing now—and will likely continue to experience for a generation or more—is something different. The form of extremism we face is a new phase of domestic terror, one characterized by radicalized individuals with shape-shifting ideologies willing to kill their political enemies. Unchecked, it promises an era of slow-motion anarchy.

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Consider recent events. In October 2020, authorities arrested more than a dozen men in Michigan, many of them with ties to a paramilitary group. They were in the final stages of a plan to kidnap the state’s Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, and possessed nearly 2,000 rounds of ammunition and hundreds of guns, as well as silencers, improvised explosive devices, and artillery shells. In January 2021, of course, thousands of Trump partisans stormed the U.S. Capitol, some of them armed, chanting “Where’s Nancy?” and “Hang Mike Pence!” Since then, the headlines have gotten smaller—or perhaps numbness has set in—but the violence has continued. In June 2022, a man with a gun and a knife who allegedly said he intended to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was arrested outside Kavanaugh’s Maryland home. In July, a man with a loaded pistol was arrested outside the home of Pramila Jayapal, the leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. She had heard someone outside shouting “Fuck you, cunt!” and “Commie bitch!” Days later, a man with a sharp object jumped onto a stage in upstate New York and allegedly tried to attack another member of Congress, the Republican candidate for governor. In August, just after the seizure of documents from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, a man wearing body armor tried to breach the FBI’s Cincinnati field office. He was killed in a shoot-out with police. In October, in San Francisco, a man broke into the home of Nancy Pelosi, then the speaker of the House, and attacked her 82-year-old husband with a hammer, fracturing his skull. In January 2023, a failed Republican candidate for state office in New Mexico who referred to himself as a “MAGA king” was arrested for the alleged attempted murder of local Democratic officials in four separate shootings. In one of the shootings, three bullets passed through the bedroom of a state senator’s 10-year-old daughter as she slept.

Gretchen Whitmer: The plot to kidnap me

Experts I interviewed told me they worry about political violence in broad regions of the country—the Great Lakes, the rural West, the Pacific Northwest, the South. These are places where extremist groups have already emerged, militias are popular, gun culture is thriving, and hard-core partisans collide during close elections in politically consequential states. Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Georgia all came up again and again.

For the past three years, I’ve been preoccupied with a question: How can America survive a period of mass delusion, deep division, and political violence without seeing the permanent dissolution of the ties that bind us? I went looking for moments in history, in the United States and elsewhere, when society has found itself on the brink—or already in the abyss. I learned how cultures have managed to endure sustained political violence, and how they ultimately emerged with democracy still intact.

Some lessons are unhappy ones. Societies tend to ignore the obvious warning signs of endemic political violence until the situation is beyond containment, and violence takes on a life of its own. Government can respond to political violence in brutal ways that undermine democratic values. Worst of all: National leaders, as we see today in an entire political party, can become complicit in political violence and seek to harness it for their own ends.

II. SALAD-BAR EXTREMISM

If you’re looking for a good place to hide an anarchist, you could do worse than Barre, Vermont. Barre (pronounced “berry”) is a small city in the bowl of a steep valley in the northern reaches of a lightly populated, mountainous state. You don’t just stumble upon a place like this.

I went to Barre in October because I wanted to understand the anarchist who had fled there in the early 1900s, at the beginning of a new century already experiencing extraordinary violence and turbulence. The conditions that make a society vulnerable to political violence are complex but well established: highly visible wealth disparity, declining trust in democratic institutions, a perceived sense of victimhood, intense partisan estrangement based on identity, rapid demographic change, flourishing conspiracy theories, violent and dehumanizing rhetoric against the “other,” a sharply divided electorate, and a belief among those who flirt with violence that they can get away with it. All of those conditions were present at the turn of the last century. All of them are present today. Back then, few Americans might have guessed that the violence of that era would rage for decades.

In 1901, an anarchist assassinated President William McKinley—shot him twice in the gut while shaking his hand at the Buffalo World’s Fair. In 1908, an anarchist at a Catholic church in Denver fatally shot the priest who had just given him Communion. In 1910, a dynamite attack on the Los Angeles Times killed 21 people. In 1914, in what officials said was a plot against John D. Rockefeller, a group of anarchists prematurely exploded a bomb in a New York City tenement, killing four people. That same year, extremists set off bombs at two Catholic churches in Manhattan, one of them St. Patrick’s Cathedral. In 1916, an anarchist chef dumped arsenic into the soup at a banquet for politicians, businessmen, and clergy in Chicago; he reportedly used so much that people immediately vomited, which saved their lives. Months later, a shrapnel-filled suitcase bomb killed 10 people and wounded 40 more at a parade in San Francisco. America’s entry into World War I temporarily quelled the violence—among other factors, some anarchists left the country to avoid the draft—but the respite was far from total. In 1917, a bomb exploded inside the Milwaukee Police Department headquarters, killing nine officers and two civilians. In the spring of 1919, dozens of mail bombs were sent to an array of business leaders and government officials, including Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.

All of this was prologue. Starting late in the evening on June 2, 1919, in a series of coordinated attacks, anarchists simultaneously detonated massive bombs in eight American cities. In Washington, an explosion at the home of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer blasted out the front windows and tore framed photos off the walls. Palmer, in his pajamas, had been reading by his second-story window. He happened to step away minutes before the bomb went off, a decision that authorities believed kept him alive. (His neighbors, the assistant secretary of the Navy and his wife, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, had just gotten home from an evening out when the explosion also shattered their windows. Franklin ran over to Palmer’s house to check on him.) The following year, a horse-drawn carriage drew up to the pink-marble entrance of the J. P. Morgan building on Wall Street and exploded, killing more than 30 people and injuring hundreds more.

From these episodes, one name leaps out across time: Luigi Galleani. Galleani, who was implicated in most of the attacks, is barely remembered today. But he was, in his lifetime, one of the world’s most influential terrorists, famous for advancing the argument for “propaganda of the deed”: the idea that violence is essential to the overthrow of the state and the ruling class. Born in Italy, Galleani immigrated to the United States and spread his views through his anarchist newspaper, Cronaca Sovversiva, or “Subversive Chronicle.” He told the poor to seize property from the rich and urged his followers to arm themselves—to find “a rifle, a dagger, a revolver.”

Galleani fled to Barre in 1903 under the name Luigi Pimpino after several encounters with law enforcement in New Jersey. He attracted disciples—“Galleanisti,” they were called—despite shunning all forms of organization and hierarchy. He was quick-witted, with an imposing intellect and a magnetic manner of speaking. Even the police reports described his charisma.

Left: Mug shot of the anarchist leader Lui­gi Galleani, 1919. Right: The aftermath of the Wall Street bombing outside the J. P. Morgan building, 1920. (Paul Spella; source images: Paul Avrich Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections, Library of Congress; Bettmann / Getty)

The population of Barre today is slightly smaller than it was in Galleani’s day—roughly 10,000 then, 8,500 now—and it is the sort of place that is more confused by the presence of strangers than wary of them. The first thing you notice when you arrive is the granite. There is a mausoleum feel to any granite city, and on an overcast day the gray post-office building on North Main Street gives the illusion that all of the color has suddenly vanished from the world. Across the street, at city hall, I wandered into an administrative office where an affable woman—You came to Barre? On purpose?—generously agreed to take me inside the adjacent opera house, which, recently refurbished, looks much as it did on the winter night in 1907 when Galleani appeared there before a packed house to give a speech alongside the anarchist Emma Goldman.

Galleani almost certainly could have disappeared into Barre with his wife and children and gotten away with it. He did not want that. In his own telling, Galleani’s anger was driven by how poorly the working class was treated, particularly in factories. In Barre, granite cutters spent long hours mired in the sludge of a dark, unheated, and poorly ventilated workspace, breathing in silica dust, which made most of them gravely ill. Seeing the town, even a century after Galleani was there, I could understand why his time in Vermont had not altered his worldview. In the foreword to a 2017 biography, Galleani’s grandson, Sean Sayers, put a hagiographic gloss on Galleani’s legacy: “He was not a narrow and callous nihilist; he was a visionary thinker with a beautiful idea of how human society could be—an idea that still resonates today.” For Galleani and other self-identified “communist anarchists” like him, the beautiful idea was a world without government, without laws, without property. Other anarchists did not share his idealism. The movement was torn by disagreements—they were anarchists, after all.

In Galleani’s day, as in our own, the lines of conflict were not cleanly delineated. American radicalism can be a messy stew of ideas and motivations. Violence doesn’t need a clear or consistent ideology and often borrows from several. Federal law-enforcement officials use the term salad-bar extremism to describe what worries them most today, and it applies just as aptly to the extremism of a century ago.

When Galleani had arrived in America, he’d encountered a nation in a terrible mood, one that would feel familiar to us today. Galleani’s children were born into violent times. The nation was divided not least over the cause of its divisions. The gap between rich and poor was colossal—the top 1 percent of Americans possessed almost as much wealth as the rest of the country combined. The population was changing rapidly. Reconstruction had been defeated, and southern states in particular remained horrifically violent toward Black people, for whom the threat of lynching was constant. The Great Migration was just beginning. Immigration surged, inspiring intense waves of xenophobia. America was primed for violence—and to Galleani and his followers, destroying the state was the only conceivable path.

The spectacular violence of 1919 and 1920 proved a catalyst. A concerted nationwide hunt for anarchists began. This work, which culminated in what came to be known as the Palmer Raids, entailed direct violations of the Constitution. In late 1919 and early 1920, a series of raids—carried out in more than 30 American cities—led to the warrantless arrests of 10,000 suspected radicals, mostly Italian and Jewish immigrants. Attorney General Palmer’s dragnet ensnared many innocent people and has become a symbol of the damage that overzealous law enforcement can cause. Hundreds of people were ultimately deported. Some had fallen afoul of a harsh new federal immigration law that broadly targeted anarchists. One of them was Luigi Galleani. “The law was kind of designed for him,” Beverly Gage, a historian and the author of The Day Wall Street Exploded, told me.

During the Years of Lead, at least 400 people were killed and some 2,000 wounded in more than 14,000 separate attacks.

The violence did not stop immediately after the Palmer Raids—in an irony that frustrated authorities, Galleani’s deportation made it impossible for them to charge him in the Wall Street bombing, which they believed he planned, because it occurred after he’d left the country. Nevertheless, sweeping action by law enforcement helped put an end to a generation of anarchist attacks.

That is the most important lesson from the anarchist period: Holding perpetrators accountable is crucial. The Palmer Raids are remembered, rightly, as a ham-handed application of police-state tactics. Government actions can turn killers into martyrs. More important, aggressive policing and surveillance can undermine the very democracy they are meant to protect; state violence against citizens only validates a distrust of law enforcement.

But deterrence conducted within the law can work. Unlike anti-war protesters or labor organizers, violent extremists don’t have an agenda that invites negotiation. “Today’s threats of violence can be inspired by a wide range of ideologies that themselves morph and shift over time,” Deputy Homeland Security Adviser Josh Geltzer told me. Now as in the early 20th century, countering extremism through ordinary debate or persuasion, or through concession, is a fool’s errand. Extremists may not even know what they believe, or hope for. “One of the things I increasingly keep wondering about is—what is the endgame?” Mary McCord, a former assistant U.S. attorney and national-security official, told me. “Do you want democratic government? Do you want authoritarianism? Nobody talks about that. Take back our country . Okay, so you get it back. Then what do you do?”

III. CREEPING VIOLENCE

In another country, and in a time closer to our own, a sustained outbreak of domestic terrorism brought decades of attacks—and illustrates the role that ordinary citizens can sometimes play, along with deterrence, in restoring stability.

On Saturday, August 2, 1980, a bomb hidden inside a suitcase blew up at the Bologna Centrale railway station, killing 85 people and wounding hundreds more, many of them young families setting off on vacation. The explosion flattened an entire wing of the station, demolishing a crowded restaurant, wrecking a train platform, and freezing the station’s clock at the time of the detonation: 10:25 a.m.

The Bologna massacre remains the deadliest attack in Italy since World War II. By the time it occurred, Italians were more than a decade into a period of intense political violence, one that came to be known as Anni di Piombo, or the “Years of Lead.” From roughly 1969 to 1988, Italians experienced open warfare in the streets, bombings of trains, deadly shootings and arson attacks, at least 60 high-profile assassinations, and a narrowly averted neofascist coup attempt. It was a generation of death and bedlam. Although exact numbers are difficult to come by, during the Years of Lead, at least 400 people were killed and some 2,000 wounded in more than 14,000 separate attacks.

As I sat at the Bologna Centrale railway station in September, a place where so many people had died, I found myself thinking, somewhat counterintuitively, about how, in the great sweep of history, the political violence in Italy in the 1970s and ’80s now seems but a blip. Things were so terrible for so long. And then they weren’t. How does political violence come to an end?

No one can say precisely what alchemy of experience, temperament, and circumstance leads a person to choose political violence. But being part of a group alters a person’s moral calculations and sense of identity, not always for the good. Martin Luther King Jr., citing the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, wrote in his “Letter From Birmingham Jail” that “groups tend to be more immoral than individuals.” People commit acts together that they’d never contemplate alone.

From the August 1963 issue: Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter from Birmingham Jail

Vicky Franzinetti was a teenage member of the far-left militant group Lotta Continua during the Years of Lead. “There was a lot of what I would call John Wayneism, and a lot of people fell for that,” she told me. “Whether it’s the Black Panthers or the people who attacked on January 6 on Capitol Hill, violence has a mesmerizing appeal on a lot of people.” A subtle but important shift also took place in Italian political culture during the ’60s and ’70s as people grasped for group identity. “If you move from what you want to who you are, there is very little scope for real dialogue, and for the possibility of exchanging ideas, which is the basis of politics,” Franzinetti said. “The result is the death of politics, which is what has happened.”

In talking with Italians who lived through the Years of Lead about what brought this period to an end, two common themes emerged. The first has to do with economics. For a while, violence was seen as permissible because for too many people, it felt like the only option left in a world that had turned against them. When the Years of Lead began, Italy was still fumbling for a postwar identity. Some Fascists remained in positions of power, and authoritarian regimes controlled several of the country’s neighbors—Greece, Portugal, Spain, Turkey. Not unlike the labor movements that arose in Galleani’s day, the Years of Lead were preceded by intensifying unrest among factory workers and students, who wanted better social and working conditions. The unrest eventually tipped into violence, which spiraled out of control. Leftists fought for the proletariat, and neofascists fought to wind back the clock to the days of Mussolini. When, after two decades, the economy improved in Italy, terrorism receded.

The second theme was that the public finally got fed up. People didn’t want to live in terror. They said, in effect: Enough. Lotta Continua hadn’t resorted to violence in the early years. When it did grow violent, it alienated its own members. “I didn’t like it, and I fought it,” Franzinetti told me. Simonetta Falasca-Zamponi, a sociology professor at UC Santa Barbara who lived in Rome at the time, recalled: “It went too far. Really, it reached a point that was quite dramatic. It was hard to live through those times.” But it took a surprisingly long while to reach that point. The violence crept in—one episode, then another, then another—and people absorbed and compartmentalized the individual events, as many Americans do now. They did not understand just how dangerous things were getting until violence was endemic. “It started out with the kneecappings,” Joseph LaPalombara, a Yale political scientist who lived in Rome during the Years of Lead, told me, “and then got worse. And as it got worse, the streets emptied after dark.”

A turning point in public sentiment, or at least the start of a turning point, came in the spring of 1978, when the leftist group known as the Red Brigades kidnapped the former prime minister and leader of the Christian Democrats Aldo Moro, killing all five members of his police escort and turning him into an example of how We don’t negotiate with terrorists can go terrifically wrong. Moro was held captive and tortured for 54 days, then executed, his body left in the back of a bright-red Renault on a busy Rome street. In a series of letters his captors allowed him to send, Moro had begged Italian officials to arrange for his freedom with a prisoner exchange. They refused. After his murder, the final letter he’d written to his wife, “my dearest Noretta,” roughly 10 days before his death, was published in a local newspaper. “In my last hour I am left with a profound bitterness at heart,” he wrote. “But it is not of this I want to talk but of you whom I love and will always love.” Moro did not want a state funeral, but Italy held one anyway.

Top: A bodyguard slain by the Red Brigades during the kidnapping of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro, 1978. Bottom: Graffiti in Milan supporting the Red Brigades, 1977. (Paul Spella; source images: Gianni Giansanti / Gamma-Rapho / Getty; Adriano Alecchi / Mondadori Portfolio / Getty)

The conventional wisdom among terrorism experts had been that terrorists wanted publicity but didn’t really want to kill people—or, as the Rand Corporation’s Brian Jenkins put it in 1975, “Terrorists want a lot of people watching, not a lot of people dead.” But conditions had become so bad by the time Moro was murdered that newspapers around the world were confused when days passed without a political killing or shooting in Italy. “Italians Puzzled by 10-Day Lull in Terrorist Activity,” read one headline in The New York Times a few weeks after Moro’s murder. “When he was killed, it got a lot more serious,” Alexander Reid Ross, who hosts a history podcast about the era called Years of Lead Pod, told me. “People stopped laughing. It was no longer something where you could say, ‘It’s a sideshow.’ ”

The Moro assassination was followed by an intensification of violence, including the Bologna-station bombing. People who had ignored the violence now paid attention; people who might have been tempted by revolution now stayed home. Meanwhile, the crackdown that followed—which involved curfews, traffic stops, a militarized police presence, and deals with terrorists who agreed to rat out their collaborators—caused violent groups to implode.

The example of Aldo Moro offers a warning. It shouldn’t take an act like the assassination of a former prime minister to shake people into awareness. But it often does. William Bernstein, the author of The Delusions of Crowds, is not optimistic that anything else will work: “The answer is—and it’s not going to be a pleasant answer—the answer is that the violence ends if it boils over into a containable cataclysm.” What if, he went on—“I almost hesitate to say this”—but what if they actually had hanged Mike Pence or Nancy Pelosi on January 6? “I think that would have ended it. I don’t think it ends without some sort of cathartic cataclysm. I think, absent that, it just boils along for a generation or two generations.” Bernstein wasn’t the only expert to suggest such a thing.

No wonder some American politicians are terrified. “We’ve had an exponential increase in threats against members of Congress,” Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, told me in January. Klobuchar thought back to when she was standing at President Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony, two weeks after the attempted insurrection. At the time, as Democrats and most Republicans came together for a peaceful transfer of power, she felt as though a violent eruption in American history might be ending. But Klobuchar now believes she was “naive” to think that Republicans would break with Trump and restore the party’s democratic values. “We have Donald Trump, his shadow, looming over everything,” she said.

This past February, Biden sought to dispel that shadow as he stood before Congress to deliver his State of the Union address. “There’s no place for political violence in America,” he said. “And we must give hate and extremism in any form no safe harbor.” Biden’s speech was punctuated by jeers and name-calling by Republicans.

IV. A BROKEN SOCIAL CONTRACT

The taxonomy of what counts as political violence can be complicated. One way to picture it is as an iceberg: The part that protrudes from the water represents the horrific attacks on both hard targets and soft ones, in which the attacker has explicitly indicated hatred for the targeted group—fatal attacks at supermarkets and synagogues, as well as assassination attempts such as the shooting at a congressional-Republican baseball practice in 2017. Less visible is the far more extensive mindset that underlies them. “There are a lot of people who are out for a protest, who are advocating for violence,” Erin Miller, the longtime program manager at the University of Maryland’s Global Terrorism Database, told me. “Then there’s a smaller number at the tip of the iceberg that are willing to carry out violent attacks.” You can’t get a grip on political violence just by counting the number of violent episodes. You have to look at the whole culture.

A society’s propensity for political violence—including cataclysmic violence—may be increasing even as ordinary life, for many people, probably most, continues to feel normal. A drumbeat of violent attacks, by different groups with different agendas, may register as different things. But collectively, as in Italy, they have the power to loosen society’s screws.

In December, I spoke again with Alexander Reid Ross, who in addition to hosting Years of Lead Pod is a lecturer at Portland State University. We met in Pioneer Courthouse Square, in downtown Portland. I had found the city in a wounded condition. This was tragic to me two times over—first, because I knew what had happened there, and second, because I had immediately absorbed Portland’s charm. You can’t encounter all those drawbridges, or the swooping crows, or the great Borgesian bookstore, or the giant elm trees and do anything but fall in love with the place. But downtown Portland was not at its best. The first day I was there I counted more birds than people, and many of the people I saw were quite obviously struggling badly.

On the gray afternoon when we met, Ross and I happened to be sitting at the site of the first far-right protest he remembers witnessing in his city, back in 2016; members of a group called Students for Trump, stoked by Alex Jones’s disinformation outlet, Infowars, had gathered to assert their political preferences and provoke their neighbors. Ross is a geographer, a specialty he assumed would keep him focused on land-use debates and ecology, which is one of the reasons he moved to Oregon in the first place. After that 2016 rally, Ross paid closer attention to the political violence unfolding in Portland. We decided to take a walk so that Ross could point out various landmarks from the—well, we couldn’t decide what to call the period of sustained violence that started in 2016 and was reignited in 2020. The siege? The occupation? The revolt? What happened in Portland has a way of being too slippery for precise language.

We walked southwest from the square before doubling back toward the Willamette River. Over here was the historical society that protesters broke into and vandalized one night. Over there was where the statues got toppled. (“Portland is a city of pedestals now,” Ross said.) A federal building still had a protective fence surrounding it more than a year after the street violence had ended. At one point, the mayor had to order a drawbridge raised to keep combatants apart.

On the evening of June 30, 2018, Ross found himself in the middle of a violent brawl between hundreds of self-described antifa activists and members of the Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer, a local pro-Trump offshoot. Ross described to me a number of “ghoulish” encounters he’d had with Patriot Prayer, and I asked him which moment was the scariest. “It’s on video,” he told me. “You can see it: me getting punched.” I later watched the video. In it, Ross rushes toward a group of men who are repeatedly kicking and bludgeoning a person dressed all in black, lying in the street. Ross had told me earlier that he’d intervened because he thought he was watching someone being beaten to death. After Ross gets clocked, he appears dazed, then dashes back toward the fight. “That’s enough! That’s enough!” he shouts.

By the time of this fight, Patriot Prayer had become a fixture in Portland. Its founder, Joey Gibson, has said in interviews that he was inspired to start Patriot Prayer to fight for free speech, but the group’s core belief has always been in Donald Trump. Its first event, in Vancouver, Washington, in October 2016, was a pro-Trump rally. From there, Gibson deliberately picked ultraliberal cities such as Portland, Berkeley, Seattle, and San Francisco for his protests, and in doing so quickly attracted like-minded radicals—the Proud Boys, the Three Percenters, Identity Evropa, the Hell Shaking Street Preachers—who marched alongside Patriot Prayer. These were people who seemed to love Trump and shit-stirring in equal measure. White nationalists and self-described Western chauvinists showed up at Gibson’s events. (Gibson’s mother is Japanese, and he has insisted that he does not share their views.) By August 2018, Patriot Prayer had already held at least nine rallies in Portland, routinely drawing hundreds of supporters—grown men in Boba Fett helmets and other homemade costumes; at least one man with an SS neck tattoo. In 2019, Gibson himself was arrested on a riot charge. Patriot Prayer quickly became the darling of Infowars.

Paul Spella; source image: Nathan Howard / Getty

The morning after I met Ross, I drove across the river to Vancouver, a town of strip-mall churches and ponderosa pine trees, to meet with Lars Larson, who records The Lars Larson Show—tagline: “Honestly Provocative Talk Radio”—from his home studio. Larson greeted me with his two dogs and a big mug of coffee. His warmth, quick-mindedness, and tendency to filibuster make him irresistible for talk radio. And his allegiance to MAGA world helps him book guests like Donald Trump Jr., whom Larson introduced on a recent episode as “the son of the real president of the United States of America.” Over the course of our conversation, he described January 6 as “some ruined furniture in the Capitol”; suggested that the city government of Charlottesville, Virginia, was secretly behind the violent clash at the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally; and made multiple references to George Soros, including suggesting that Soros may have paid for people to come to Portland to tear up the city. When I pressed Larson on various points, he would walk back whatever he had claimed, but only slightly. He does not seem to be a conspiracy theorist, but he plays one on the radio.

Larson blamed Portland’s troubles on a culture of lawlessness fostered by a district attorney who, he said, repeatedly declined to prosecute left-wing protesters. He sees this as an uneven application of justice that undermined people’s faith in local government. It is more accurate to say that the district attorney chose not to prosecute lesser crimes, focusing instead on serious crimes against people and property; ironically, the complaint about uneven application comes from both the far left and the far right. When I asked Larson whether Patriot Prayer is Christian nationalist in ideology, the question seemed to make him uncomfortable, and he emphasized his belief in pluralism and religious freedom. He also compared Joey Gibson and Patriot Prayer marching on Portland to civil-rights activists marching on Selma in 1965. “What I heard people tell Patriot Prayer is ‘If you get attacked every time you go to Portland, don’t go to Portland,’ ” he told me. “Would you have given that same advice to Martin Luther King?”

Gibson’s lawyer Angus Lee accused the government of “political persecution”; Gibson was ultimately acquitted of the riot charge. Patriot Prayer, Lee went on, is “not like these other organizations you referenced that have members and that sort of thing. Patriot Prayer is more of an idea.” Gibson himself once put it in blunter terms. “I don’t even know what Patriot Prayer is anymore,” he said in a 2017 interview on a public-access news channel in Portland. “It’s just these two words that people hear and it sparks emotions … All Patriot Prayer is is videos and social-media presence.”

Portland stands as a warning: It takes very little provocation to inflame latent tensions. Once order collapses, it is extraordinarily difficult to restore.

The more I talked with people about Patriot Prayer, the more it began to resemble a phenomenon like QAnon—a decentralized and amorphous movement designed to provoke reaction, tolerant of contradictions, borrowing heavily from internet culture, overlapping with other extremist movements like the Proud Boys, linked to high-profile episodes of violence, and ultimately focused on Trump. I couldn’t help but think of Galleani, his “beautiful idea,” and the diffuse ideology of his followers. One key difference: Galleani was fighting against the state, whereas movements like QAnon and groups like Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys have been cheered on by a sitting president and his party.

When I met with Portland’s mayor, Ted Wheeler, at city hall, he recalled night after night of violence, and at times planning for the very worst, meaning mass casualties. Portlanders had taken to calling him “Tear Gas Ted” because of the police response in the city. One part of any mayor’s job is to absorb the community’s scorn. Few people have patience for unfilled potholes or the complexities of trash collection. Disdain for Wheeler may have been the one thing that just about every person I met in Portland shared, but his job has been difficult even by big-city standards. He confronted a breakdown of the social contract.

“Political violence, in my opinion, is the extreme manifestation of other trends that are prevalent in our society,” Wheeler told me. “A healthy democracy is one where you can sit on one side of the table and express an opinion, and I can sit on the other side of the table and express a very different opinion, and then we have the contest of ideas … We have it out verbally. Then we go drink a beer or whatever.”

When extremists began taunting Portlanders online, it was very quickly “game on” for violence in the streets, Wheeler said. In this way, Portland stands as a warning to cities that now seem calm: It takes very little provocation to inflame latent tensions between warring factions. Once order collapses, it is extraordinarily difficult to restore. And it can be dangerous to attempt to do so through the use of force, especially when one violent faction is lashing out, in part, against state authority.

Aaron Mesh moved to Portland 16 years ago, to take a job as Willamette Week’s film critic, and since then has worked his way up to managing editor. He is sharp-tongued and good-humored, and it is obvious that he loves his city in the way that any good newspaperman does, with a mix of fierce loyalty and heaping criticism. Like Wheeler, he trained attention on the dynamic of action and reaction—on how rising to the bait not only solves nothing but can make things worse. “There was this attitude of We’re going to theatrically subdue your city with these weekend excursions,” Mesh said, describing the confrontations that began in 2016 as a form of cosplay, with right-wing extremists wearing everything from feathered hats to Pepe the Frog costumes and left-wing extremists dressed up in what’s known as black bloc: all-black clothing and facial coverings. “I do want to emphasize,” he said, “that everyone involved in this was a massive fucking loser, on both sides.”

It was as though all of the most unsavory characters on the internet had crawled out of the computer. The fights were enough of a spectacle that not everyone took them seriously at first. Mesh said it was impossible to overstate “the degree to which Portland became a lodestone in the imagination of a nascent Proud Boys movement,” a place where paramilitary figures on the right went “to prove that they had testicles.” He went on: “You walk into town wearing a helmet and carrying a big American flag” and then wait and see “who throws an egg at your car or who gives you the middle finger, and you beat the living hell out of them.”

Both sides behaved despicably. But only the right-wingers had the endorsement of the president and the mainstream Republican Party. “Despite being run by utter morons,” Mesh said of Patriot Prayer, “they managed to outsmart most of their adversaries in this city, simply by provoking violent reactions from people who were appalled by their politics.” The argument for violence among people on the left is often, essentially, If you encounter a Nazi, you should punch him. But “what if the only thing the Nazi wants is for you to punch him?” Mesh asked. “What if the Nazis all have cameras and they’re immediately feeding all the videos of you punching them to Tucker Carlson? Which is what they did.”

The situation in Portland became so desperate, and the ideologies involved so tangled, that the violence began to operate like its own weather system—a phenomenon that the majority of Portlanders could see coming and avoid, but one that left behind tremendous destruction. Most people don’t want to fight. But it takes startlingly few violent individuals to exact generational damage.

V. THE COMPLICIT STATE

America was born in revolution, and violence has been an undercurrent in the nation’s politics ever since. People remember the brutal opposition to the civil-rights struggle, and recall the wave of terrorism spawned by the anti-war movement of the 1960s. But the most direct precursor to what we’re experiencing now is the anti-government Patriot movement, which can be traced to the 1980s and eventually led to deadly standoffs between federal agents and armed citizens at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, in 1992, and in Waco, Texas, in 1993. Three people were killed at Ruby Ridge. As many as 80 died in Waco, 25 of them children. Those incidents stirred the present-day militia movement and directly inspired the Oklahoma City bombers, anti-government extremists who killed 168 people at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995. The surge in militia activity, white nationalism, and apocalypticism of the 1990s seemed to peter out in the early 2000s. This once struck me as a bright spot, an earlier success we might learn from today. But when I mentioned this notion to Carolyn Gallaher, a scholar who spent two years following a right-wing paramilitary group in Kentucky in the 1990s, she said, “The militia movement waned very quickly in the 1990s not because of anything we did, but because of Oklahoma City. That bombing really put the movement on the back foot. Some groups went underground. Some groups dispersed. You also saw that happen with white-supremacist groups.”

A generation later, political violence in America unfolds with little organized guidance and is fed by a mishmash of extremist right-wing views. It predates the emergence of Donald Trump, but Trump served as an accelerant. He also made tolerance of political violence a defining trait of his party, whereas in the past, both political parties condemned it. At the height of the Patriot movement, “there was this fire wall” between extremist groups and elected officials that protected democratic norms, according to Gallaher. Today, “the fire wall between these guys and formal politics has melted away.” Gallaher does not anticipate an outbreak of civil strife in America in a “classic sense”—with Blue and Red armies or militias fighting for territory. “Our extremist groups are nowhere near as organized as they are in other countries.”

Because it is chaotic, Americans tend to underestimate political violence, as Italians at first did during the Years of Lead. Some see it as merely sporadic, and shift attention to other things. Some say, in effect, Wake me when there’s civil war. Some take heart from moments of supposed reprieve, such as the poor showing by election deniers and other extremists in the 2022 midterm elections. But think of all the ongoing violence that at first glance isn’t labeled as being about politics per se, but is in fact political: the violence, including mass shootings, directed at LGBTQ communities, at Jews, and at immigrants, among others. In November, the Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin warning that “the United States remains in a heightened threat environment” due to individuals and small groups with a range of “violent extremist ideologies.” It warned of potential attacks against a long list of places and people: “public gatherings, faith-based institutions, the LGBTQI+ community, schools, racial and religious minorities, government facilities and personnel, U.S. critical infrastructure, the media, and perceived ideological opponents.”

The broad scope of the warning should not be surprising—not after the massacres in Pittsburgh, El Paso, Buffalo, and elsewhere. One month into 2023, the pace of mass shootings in America—all either political or, inevitably, politicized—was at an all-time high. “There’s no place that’s immune right now,” Mary McCord, the former assistant U.S. attorney, observed. “It’s really everywhere.” She added, “Someday, God help us, we’ll come out of this. But it’s hard for me to imagine how.”

The sociologist Norbert Elias, who left Germany for France and then Britain as the Nazi regime took hold, famously described what he called the civilizing process as “a long sequence of spurts and counter-spurts,” warning that you cannot fix a violent society simply by eliminating the factors that made it deteriorate in the first place. Violence and the forces that underlie it have the potential to take us from the democratic backsliding we already know to a condition known as decivilization. In periods of decivilization, ordinary people fail to find common ground with one another and lose faith in institutions and elected leaders. Shared knowledge erodes, and bonds fray across society. Some people inevitably decide to act with violence. As violence increases, so does distrust in institutions and leaders, and around and around it goes. The process is not inevitable—it can be held in check—but if a period of bloodshed is sustained for long enough, there is no shortcut back to normal. And signs of decivilization are visible now.

A pro-Trump demonstrator at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, when insurrectionists stormed the building (Paul Spella; source image: Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty)

“The path out of bloodshed is measured not in years but in generations,” Rachel Kleinfeld writes in A Savage Order, her 2018 study of extreme violence and the ways it corrodes a society. “Once a democracy descends into extreme violence, it is always more vulnerable to backsliding.” Cultural patterns, once set, are durable—the relatively high rates of violence in the American South, in part a legacy of racism and slaveholding, persist to this day. In The Delusions of Crowds, William Bernstein looks further afield, to Germany. He told me, “You can actually predict anti-Semitism and voting for the Nazi Party by going back to the anti-Semitism across those same regions in the 14th century. You can trace it city to city.”

Three realities mark the current era of political violence in America as different from what has come before, and make dealing with it much harder. The first—obvious—is the universal access to weaponry, including military-grade weapons.

Second, today’s information environment is simultaneously more sophisticated and more fragmented than ever before. In 2006, the analyst Bruce Hoffman argued that contemporary terrorism had become dangerously amorphous. He was referring to groups like al-Qaeda, but we now witness what he described among domestic American extremists. As Hoffman and others see it, the defining characteristic of post-9/11 terrorism is that it is decentralized. You don’t need to be part of an organization to become a terrorist. Hateful ideas and conspiracy theories are not only easy to find online; they’re actively amplified by social platforms, whose algorithms prioritize the anger and hate that drive engagement and profit. The barriers to radicalization are now almost nonexistent. Luigi Galleani would have loved Twitter, YouTube, and Telegram. He had to settle for publishing a weekly newspaper. Because of social media, conspiracy theories now spread instantly and globally, often promoted by hugely influential figures in the media, such as Tucker Carlson and of course Trump, whom Twitter and Facebook have just reinstated.

The third new reality goes to the core of American self-governance: people refusing to accept the outcome of elections, with national leaders fueling the skepticism and leveraging it for their own ends. In periods of decivilization, violence often becomes part of a governing strategy. This can happen when weak states acquiesce to violence simply to survive. Or it can happen when politicians align themselves with violent groups in order to bolster authority—a characteristic of what Kleinfeld, in her 2018 book, calls a “complicit state.” This is a well-known tactic among authoritarian incumbents worldwide who wield power by mobilizing state and vigilante violence in tandem.

Complicity is insidious. It doesn’t require a revolution. You can see complicity, for example, in Trump’s order to the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” in the months ahead of January 6. You can see it in the Republican Party’s defense of Trump even after he propelled insurrectionists toward the U.S. Capitol. And you can see it in the way that powerful politicians and television personalities continue to cheer on right-wing extremists as “patriots” and “political prisoners,” rather than condemning them as vigilantes and seditionists.

Americans sometimes wonder what might have happened if the Civil War had gone the other way—what the nation would be like now, or whether it would even exist, if the South had won. But that thought experiment overlooks the fact that we do know what it looks like for violent extremists to win in the United States. In the 1870s, white supremacists who objected to Reconstruction led a campaign of violence that they perversely referred to as Redemption. They murdered thousands of Black people in terror lynchings. They drove thousands more Black business owners, journalists, and elected officials out of their homes and hometowns, destroying their livelihoods. Sometimes violence ends not because it is overcome, but because it has achieved its goal.

Norbert Elias’s warnings notwithstanding, dealing seriously with society’s underlying pathologies is part of the answer to political violence in the long term. But so, too, is something we have not had and perhaps can barely imagine anymore: leaders from all parts of the political constellation, and at all levels of government, and from all segments of society, who name the problem of political violence for what it is, explain how it will overwhelm us, and point a finger at those who foment it, either directly or indirectly. Leaders who understand that nothing else will matter if we can’t stop this one thing. The federal government is right to take a hard line against political violence—as it has done with its prosecutions of Governor Whitmer’s would-be kidnappers and the January 6 insurrectionists (almost 1,000 of whom have been charged). But violence must also be confronted where it first takes root, in the minds of citizens.

Ending political violence means facing down those who use the language of democracy to weaken democratic systems. It means rebuking the conspiracy theorist who uses the rhetoric of truth-seeking to obscure what’s real; the billionaire who describes his privately owned social platform as a democratic town square; the seditionist who proclaims himself a patriot; the authoritarian who claims to love freedom. Someday, historians will look back at this moment and tell one of two stories: The first is a story of how democracy and reason prevailed. The second is a story of how minds grew fevered and blood was spilled in the twilight of a great experiment that did not have to end the way it did.

*Lead image source credits from left to right: Kathryn Elsesser / AFP / Getty; Michael Nigro / Sipa USA / Alamy; Mathieu Lewis-Rolland / AFP / Getty; Alex Milan Tracy / AP; Michael Nigro / Sipa USA / Alamy; Michael Nigro / Sipa USA / AP; Mathieu Lewis-Rolland / AFP / Getty; Mark Downey / ZUMA / Alamy; Mathieu Lewis-Rolland / AFP / Getty

This article appears in the April 2023 print edition with the headline “The New Anarchy.” When you buy a book using a link on this page, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic.

The post America’s Terrifying Cycle of Extremist Violence appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

• Portland experienced a 23 percent increase in plumbing issue searches in 2022 
• The terms that spiked included clogged drain and drain cleaning 
• These issues can arise for reasons involving usage and food dumping 

Plumbers may find they are not feeling quite so thankful for Thanksgiving the day after the November holiday.

Dubbed ‘Brown Friday’, it’s known as a busy day in the plumbing world courtesy of an annual surge in clogged sink drains, toilets and leaky pipes.

Portland in Oregon was awarded the title of the most clogged up city in America in 2022, according to a report compiled by Yelp. 

The company’s research revealed the city experienced a 23 percent increase in searches for common plumbing issues such as ‘clogged drain’ and ‘drain cleaning’ within the seven days after Thanksgiving.

Clogging can occur more frequently during this period due to increased toilet or sink usage, and households dumping cooking oils and food down the drain. 

Brown Friday is a day that plumbers experience a business increase because of plumbing issues like clogged drains and leaky pipes The annual day takes place the day after Thanksgiving – the same day as Black Friday

The towns in third, fourth, and fifth place include Raleigh, North Carolina, and Indianapolis, Indiana, tying at 21 percent, and Jacksonville, Florida at 18 percent. 

Sacramento, California, Boston, Massachusetts, and New Orleans, Louisiana share a three-way tie at 15 percent, while Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Phoenix, Arizona tie at 14 percent.

Although Portland is the number one most clogged city, California is the state that is featured most on the list with a total of five cities: Sacramento, San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

Los Angeles is ranked number 18, but Yelp concluded that the California city had the highest number of Request a Quote submissions for plumbing projects between November and December 2022.

However, their 2022 clogging issues are different from Portland’s since the city only amounted to a 12 percent increase in plumbing searches. 

The chart indicates that the four other towns in the top five most clogged cities are Virginia Beach, Raleigh, Indianapolis, and Jacksonville

Yelp trend expert and vice president of community expansion Tara Lewis released some tips to help households avoid contributing to the Brown Friday business surge.

People should pay more attention to the kitchen since it will be one of the most popular rooms in a home on Thanksgiving Day.

Water usage and food scraps can cause massive problems with pipes, so washing plates thoroughly and using a sink strainer to prevent clogged drains is essential. 

Dinner goers should still remember that bathrooms are a crucial factor on Thanksgiving, especially toilets. 

One of the reasons why a toilet gets clogged is because of unsafe things like cooking oils and diapers being flushed down the drain. 

Lewis suggests the party host leave a note reminding guests to only flush safe items down the drain. 

She also said using all bathrooms available at the house will be better since doing so will decrease the chances of clogging a toilet.

Clogged sinks are a common problem because of water usage and food scraps going down the drainWhen the temperature outside is 32 degrees or under, watch out for frozen pipes

Party organizers who have time to look around their houses should watch out for water usage and keep an eye on the weather.  

Leaky pipes, one of the popular Brown Friday problems, can happen because of a sudden increase in water usage.

It’s important to keep track of the water usage not just in sinks and toilets, but also in dishwashers or showers since they too are connected to pipes.

The weather can also make a difference. 

If the temperature outside hits 32 degrees or below and ice forms on pipes, they can fail or even break. 

People have a better chance of preventing this if they let faucets drip, experts said.

This method will keep water circulating and help prevent pipes from freezing in cold temperatures. 

The post These are America’s most clogged up cities the day after Thanksgiving appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Doug Burgum, North Dakota’s first-term Republican governor, has a unique background in software and venture capital. The North Dakota native and graduate of Stanford’s business school invested in tiny Great Plains Software in 1983 and became its CEO, growing the accounting software firm to 2,000 employees. In 1997 Great Plains went public, and in 2001 it was sold to Microsoft for $1.1 billion. Burgum later was an early investor in SuccessFactors, which sold to SAP for $3.4 billion in 2012, and Atlassian, a Sydney, Australia cloud software company that went public on the Nasdaq in 2015. Burgum served as Atlassian’s chairman before stepping down to run for governor in 2016.

Q: You grew up in a tiny North Dakota town.

BURGUM: Arthur has 350 people. The family business was a grain elevator. My dad taught me that North Dakota farmers have long memories for bad service, so we worked hard to serve our grain customers.

Q: How big was your high school class?

BURGUM: We peaked at 43.

Q: How did you get from North Dakota–and North Dakota State University–to Stanford business school?

farm on a startup, his old friend Steve Ballmer and the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Joe Treleven for Forbes

BURGUM: My senior year at NDSU I had started a business sweeping chimneys. The newspaper wrote a story about me as a chimney sweep and ran a photo of me sitting on top of an icy chimney in below-freezing weather in Fargo. The story made the AP wire service. I was later told it caused quite a stir in the Stanford admissions office: “Hey, there’s a chimney sweep from North Dakota who’s applied.”

Q: You first met Steve Ballmer at Stanford business school.

BURGUM: I got to know him very well, which is odd, because you don’t usually get to know kids in the prior class. Steve was a rock star. He’d been to Harvard, then he’d been at Procter & Gamble. He comes to Stanford and wins both the Bain and the Boston Consulting Group awards. Then he left Stanford and joined Microsoft, when it had 30 people. During my last year at Stanford, I spent the whole final quarter on a project team with Ballmer.

Q: After Stanford, when was the next time you talked to Ballmer?

BURGUM: It was in 1983. I’d mortgaged the quarter section of farmland my late dad had left me. I called Steve and said, “Hey, Steve, I’m thinking about investing in this software company. But I want to know if Microsoft is thinking about doing accounting software.” And Ballmer was like, “No, never. We’re not gonna do that.” I wanted to check with Ballmer before I bet every last dollar I had on a startup.

Then Steve called me in 2000 and said, “Hey, remember that conversation we had in 1983? Well, we’re revisiting it.” And I knew exactly what he was talking about.

Q: What got you interested in Great Plains?

BURGUM: VisiCalc. After graduating from Stanford business school, I was working at McKinsey, crunching numbers for spreadsheets. One of my workmates said, “Check this out.” He hits this thing and his Apple II chugs away for, like, four minutes, and it recalculates a simple spreadsheet. I looked at that and knew it would change everything.

Q: When you bought into Great Plains, how much did you invest.

BURGUM: $250,000—that quarter section of farmland I’d inherited; I mortgaged it to invest. I literally bet the farm.

Q: What did your family think?

BURGUM: Let’s just say I couldn’t find anyone who thought it was a good idea. My grandfather had homesteaded the property, and I had mortgaged it, which meant I could lose it. Two weeks later we went to the Comdex trade show, thinking we’d be one of four or five companies. There were 64 accounting-software companies demo’ing their products.

Q: Did you think you’d made a mistake?

BURGUM: I felt fear. But fear is actually is a good motivator. Because when you think you’re going to lose everything you have, it can be a real driving force.

Q: How did Great Plains stand out among 64 accounting software companies.

BURGUM: In those early years it was really hard to achieve differentiation because the industry was so young. I mean, you’d think you were getting ahead, and then someone would come out with a new printer. All of a sudden there were 50 printers and none of them worked with your software, so you had to write a different printer driver for every one of those printers. We were constantly just playing catch up because the industry hadn’t matured in terms of APIs. It was really challenging.

Q: What finally allowed Great Plains to break through?

BURGUM: Two things. One, we decided to build a middleware layer that would let us write once and that program would run across the Mac, as well as across whatever Windows versions came along. We could see graphical user interfaces were going to take over. A lot of our competitors made the mistake of ignoring that, thinking they weren’t going to matter for accounting.

The other thing was differentiated support. In those days all support was reached by calling an 800 number, and all support was awful. It didn’t matter whether it was Apple or Intuit, you just had to wait. I remember having a discussion about this with Scott Cook. Using the Comdex example in Vegas, I said, “Scott, if one line is for free cab rides, but there are 1,000 people on it, and another line is for pay cabs, and nobody is on it, which line are you going to get on?” Scott said, “I’m going to get on the pay line.” And I said, “Well, some of the customers feel that way, too.”

So we came up with the idea of differentiated support, which included levels of paid support. We were the first in the industry, and it saved our company.

Q: How did it work?

BURGUM: We said, “If you want to wait 24 hours for us to get back to you, the price will be very low. But if you want an answer in the first hour, the price will be high.” We had a guaranteed response time. Customers loved it, and employees loved it. This foundation around customer service became our path to becoming one of the 100 best places to work.

Q: Between the time you invested in Great Plains in 1983 and sold to Microsoft in 2001 were there any mistakes you regret?

BURGUM: The missed opportunity was that that call-center software became an industry unto itself. Four different companies reached market caps of $1 billion before any accounting-software companies did. I should’ve figured that out. We had call support, and we had the instrumentation, the data, the analytics. But I didn’t think about productizing that. At McKinsey we had learned to stick to our knitting – to stay focused. I was focused to a fault.

Q: When did Great Plains become consistently profitable?

BURGUM: Not until the late 1990s. Along the way we’d achieve profitability, but then I’d say, “Okay, now let’s build our national sales force, or start working on next-gen software, or do this new platform, or create these new tools.” The year after we’d finally achieve profitability, we’d lose $6 million. My nickname became the Six-Million-Dollar Man.

Q: Great Plains went public in 1997. You were North Dakota’s first public tech company. What was that like?

BURGUM:  Goldman Sachs led the IPO. We were priced at 16 and closed at 32.375. It was front-page news.

Q: And then you got the call from Ballmer.

BURGUM: Yeah, in 2000.

Q: What persuaded you to sell Great Plains to Microsoft?

BURGUM: Ballmer said, “I’m sending our CTO to visit with you.” We had a very far-ranging discussion about business solutions over the next 10 years, and where the company was headed. I wanted to make sure Microsoft wanted a company and its people, not just a product. Great Plains had 2,000 people: 1,200 in Fargo, 400 in the rest of North America and 400 overseas.

Q: Tell us how you got to know Satya Nadella. What was he doing at Microsoft at the time?

BURGUM: Great Plains was put into a Microsoft division that was very decentralized. Satya was in that group. We quickly elevated him to be our global head of R&D. You could see right away that the guy had a great future.

Q: Any Satya stories to share?

BURGUM: When we were traveling in India, I had a chance to meet Satya’s parents and visit the home where he grew up. His family was middle class, his dad a civil servant. His parents were happy to meet his boss from the American company, but they were very worried about his job. “How is Satya? Is he doing well; is he doing okay?” They worried about his job security. So I assured his parents that Satya didn’t have any job-security problems.

Q: You left Microsoft in 2007. How did you get into venture capital?

BURGUM: A friend of a friend found out I was leaving and asked if I’d be interested in serving on the board of SuccessFactors. I didn’t want to do anything that was competitive with Microsoft, but HRM software was a space that I had studied and knew was interesting. SuccessFactors could be the Salesforce.com of HRM, I thought.

Q: So you joined the board?

BURGUM: Only after they let me invest. I wanted to have skin in the game.

Q: Then you invested in Atlassian, the Sydney, Australia cloud toolmaker.

BURGUM: Yes, because Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brookes are brilliant founders and co-CEOs. This could be another Hewlett-Packard, with great co-CEOs. Most boards see a startup team with co-CEOs and decide that only one can be CEO. But these two guys decided to work together and perfectly complement each other.

Q: How did a Sydney, Australia, company reach you in Fargo?

BURGUM: Scott Farquhar called me and said, “We’re looking for a board member who started with something really small and stayed with it until it reached a multibillion-dollar scale. And we’re looking for someone who was a CEO. We want someone who understands Cloud and Enterprise.”

Q: He was looking for a board member?

BURGUM: He was looking for a chairman of the board. I recommended Scott Cook of Intuit, as he had started little and stayed with it forever. But then Farquhar said, “Oh, there’s one other thing. We want someone who’s done it outside of Silicon Valley.” I said, “Okay, I’ll be happy to talk.”

Q: So you relented and joined the board then?

BURGUM: Only after they let me invest. I joined the board as chairman.

Q: With all this going on, why run for governor of North Dakota? When did you decide?

BURGUM:  I’d been making payroll in North Dakota every two weeks from the time I was 26 years old. I had 30 years of experience in hiring and trying to attract talent and capital back to North Dakota. And any time someone talks about the future of North Dakota, what are the challenges? Where do we get the talent, and where do we get the capital? Well, that’s what I’ve been dealing with my whole working career. I thought, wouldn’t it be great to run a state like that—to develop talent and attract capital?

Q: But you had never run for elected office.

BURGUM: That’s not a bad thing in North Dakota. The previous three governors had all been business guys. I was at a board meeting in San Francisco for Atlassian when Governor Jack Dalrymple announced that he wasn’t running again. The Fargo Forum tracked me down to ask, “Would you ever throw your hat in the ring?” And, without any hesitation whatsoever, I responded, “I wouldn’t rule it out.”

Q: When was that?

BURGUM: August 2015. Atlassian was on its final quarter before going public, and I wanted to see that through. I also had other obligations at Arthur Ventures [Burgum’s Fargo-based venture capital firm that he runs with his nephew, James Burgum].

Q: So what finally tipped you to run?

BURGUM: Technology is changing every job, every company and every industry—or soon will be. The next frontiers are education, health care, transportation—and the government touches all of these things. Doesn’t it make sense to have an elected leader who gets it? So we built a campaign around a new leader for a changing economy.

Q: Your first polls weren’t encouraging.

BURGUM: Before we announced in January 2016, we took a poll to see what my chances were. I was down 69 to 19. But I thought, what’s five months to find out? I’ll run hard at this thing. We’ll be participating in a dialogue about the future of North Dakota. If I win the primary, great; if I don’t, nothing lost.

Q: How did you run your campaign?

BURGUM: We went to every town in North Dakota with a population of 1,000 or more—and a lot of them were even smaller. I didn’t give stump speeches. Instead, I’d invite the mayor, the city council, the school superintendent, the person who runs the nursing home, any Main Street business leaders and whoever else wanted to come. And I’d ask, “What’s going on here?” And I filled notebook after notebook with answers and thoughts. Sometimes I’d go to a town and only 5 people would show up. But then all of sudden there were 20 and 30, and by the end there were 90 people showing up.

Q: Oil prices were low, the great North Dakota boom was over. What were people telling you?

BURGUM: Ag prices were down, too. I would go to these towns and I’d listen. Then I’d say that the one thing I couldn’t fix was commodity prices. However, we could diversify our economy. I’d say that if we didn’t want to be whipsawed by commodity prices, we’d have to be able to control our destinies by doing value-added ag and value-added energy and by applying technology to all kinds of businesses. So we’d talk about how to do that. And then we’d talk a lot about the efficient delivery of state services. People always tell you when they’re frustrated with government.

Q: What was the level of tech sophistication in these small North Dakota towns?

BURGUM: Higher than anyone realizes. Everywhere I went I’d ask, “How many of you guys have got a smartphone?” and every hand would go up. Then I’d ask, “How many of you have an app on your phone from the State of North Dakota?” I went months without an answer. The problem wasn’t the people, it was the government.

Q: Did you detect a fear of technology and the future?

BURGUM: Not at all. People want technology. Government has the idea that people need protection from technology-driven change. The other day I met a 60-year-old farmer who said, “I now run my 6,000 acres with two hired men, but one of them is in a John Deere tractor that’s got auto steer, auto everything.” He loves it. But then you have politicians who are fighting autonomous vehicles.

Q: Digital technology has transformed oil and gas extraction.

BURGUM: The miracle of the Bakken is how rapidly they dropped the break-even price. Thanks to precision drilling, you can drill 16 wells on one four-acre pad. You, therefore, need fewer roads, which is better for the environment. We need the same kind of revolution in health care and education.

Q: What’s stopping that?

BURGUM: The forces of both economics and technology are unstoppable, yet institutions don’t fully grasp that. My role as North Dakota’s elected leader is to use my influence to unleash innovation. There are innovators in state government, you just have to find them and help them get freed up.

Q: Health care or education? As governor, which is your higher priority?

BURGUM: Education. Half of our general fund in North Dakota is going to K-12 and higher education. That’s a huge commitment for us as a state. But education needs to transform. I just read in Forbes that the U.S. has $1.3 trillion in student debt, with an 11.2% default rate, which I don’t think is going to go down. So education has to change; it has to provide a much higher ROI.

Q: Therein lies the rub. Education – higher ed, especially – has an entrenched constituency that likes things the way they are.

BURGUM: Yes. If you look at a university, what do you find? You’ve got tenure, you’ve got a faculty senate, you’ve got hundreds of years of tradition. There’s a sort of entitlement thing going on–the sense that because you’ve been around so long you’re always going to be around. Too many leaders in higher ed don’t feel the existential fear that they could actually go out of business.

Q: So how do you instill that fear–and a sense of urgency?

BURGUM: You have to get transformative leaders across all these institutions. When I took office I was very clear. In my State of the State talk, I said: “I will meet with anyone, any time.  I’ll meet until midnight if you want to have a discussion about how to reinvent your cabinet, your institution, your whatever – I will do that. But if you want to have a meeting with me to defend your institution, I won’t have time on my calendar.”

Q: Has that worked?

BURGUM: Some people come in and say, “Hey, we want to tell you about all this exciting stuff we’re doing,” but pretty quickly the talk becomes a defense of why they’re doing everything the way they’ve been doing things and why they don’t need to change. Those meetings are shorter and less fun than the ones with people who come in and say, “Hey, look, we’re up against a big challenge here, and we know we need to change. How can we do that?” You’ve got to have leaders who are willing to drive the transformation. And then you have to keep communicating with them.

Q: You believe transparent data, presented simply, can solve a lot of arguments.

BURGUM: Yes. My mantra about government data is: “It’s the people’s data.” The taxpayers have a right to see the data–where their money is going and how decisions are made. When you’re talking any kind of budget item, you need to show people the data. Things that look like a good idea can be very expensive in the long run. For example, new roads to expand a city sound like a good idea. But new roads also mean a new maintenance liability; roads don’t repair themselves. The data will usually show that repairing existing roads closer to the center of town is a better bet.

Q: What would you consider a win after four years as governor?

BURGUM: The biggest win would be in workforce development. Right now we’ve got low unemployment, but we also have 15,000 jobs open in North Dakota. That’s the equivalent of having 750,000 jobs open in California.

Every one of those jobs, once it’s filled, becomes a tax contributor. So the priority of government should be in finding ways to help every private company fill every job they want to fill. Starting there will lead to all kinds of policy stuff. I’ve told my team that if we get nothing else done in the next four years but fill every job that’s available in North Dakota, that will be a huge win.

Q: Final question. The Dakota Access Pipeline.

BURGUM: It was potentially a very dangerous situation. You had the Obama Administration actively supporting the protest, as opposed to trying to enforce federal law on federal ground. The Administration helped create a tinder box that was ready to explode. This could have ended as a Wounded Knee, Waco or Ruby Ridge.

Q: How did it resolve?

BURGUM: I learned two things. Crowdfunding changes the nature of protests. The Dakota Access Pipeline Protest raised about $13 million in crowdfunding to pay for buses, hotels, meal vouchers. And protesters earned bonuses if they posted photographs of themselves in handcuffs.

When I came into office, I met with law enforcement and said: “Look, after looking at the data, let’s all agree that we can’t arrest our way out of this.” Arrests just feed crowdfunding.

Q: So what did you do?

BURGUM: I brought my team down to Cannon Ball, and we invited anyone who wanted to come in and share their concerns with us. And we listened. We didn’t talk; we just listened. We started at 6pm and listened until 11:30pm. Then later we shared the data about pipelines and rivers—that in the U.S. there are 38,000 oil or gas pipelines that run through rivers. The new pipelines are incredibly well-built; it’s the old ones you worry about.

Q: How did that go?

BURGUM: By listening to people, you show them basic respect, and a lot of tension is removed. Then, once you show them the data—their data, because it’s the people’s data—you can have a real conversation.

I’m the former publisher Forbes (1998-2018) and its futurist and editor-at-large. I write the “Tech Connector” column for Forbes Asia, serve as host of the “Innovation Rules” video series for Forbes.com, and perform as a speaker and panel moderator at business and financial events around the world. 

My 2014 book on innovation culture, The Soft Edge, examined successful corporate cultures. It featured an afterword by the late Harvard Business School professor, Clayton Christensen. My 2015 book, Team Genius, was praised by Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella. My 2019 book, Late Bloomers, was favorably reviewed by National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, The New Yorker, Harvard Business Review, Financial Times, and Wall Street Journal, which selected Late Bloomers for its C-Suite book club. 

I hold a B.A. from Stanford University. I’m also a past winner of the Northern California E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year award for my role in founding the Churchill Club, a Silicon Valley business network that operated from 1985 to 2020. 

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Everyone wants to find the right spot to retire. For some people, that means easy access to theaters and sports arenas while others want a house surrounded by warm air and water views.

There are thousands of cities across the U.S. that offer what you want, but WalletHub has narrowed it down for you. The personal finance company compared the retirement-friendliness of 182 cities across four key categories using 45 different metrics.

Within the “Activities” category, WalletHub assessed the number of recreation and senior centers per capita as well as the number of museums, theaters, municipal golf courses, music venues and more.

Based on their scores, here are the top cities if you’re looking for activity and excitement in retirement.

10. San Diego

bonandbon / Shutterstock.com

On WalletHub’s list, San Diego also ranked among the top 10 cities with the best quality of life. This may be in part because of its mild weather, which is perfect for golfing year round.

In fact, the Southern California coastal city is home to one of the nation’s premier golf courses, Torrey Pines Municipal Golf Course. In addition to beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean, San Diego residents can enjoy discounted course fees – even on weekends and holidays.

9. Minneapolis

James Kirkikis / Shutterstock.com

Dubbed the “City of Lakes,” it’s no surprise that the Minneapolis park system offers 22 lakes, 12 gardens and 55 miles of biking and walking paths. In addition to its 180 parks, the biggest city in Minnesota maintains seven golf courses.

Worried about the cold winters? According to the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, there are several cross-country skiing trails, ice rinks and tubing hills to keep you active. Or stay inside and explore the city’s rich cultural history at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

8. Atlanta

ESB Professional / Shutterstock.com

While Atlanta didn’t rank high in any of WalletHub’s other major categories, Georgia’s capital city still a hot market for active retirees. Real estate company Redfin credits Atlanta for its vibrant nightlife and endless social events, including October Pride.

After hours of dancing and parading, you’ll work up an appetite. Go ahead and indulge in Southern comforts, like chicken and waffles. Redfin says, “Atlanta’s food scene is a delectable melting pot of flavors and cultures.”

7. Las Vegas

Kobby Dagan / Shutterstock.com

Las Vegas has long been known for glitzy casinos, fine dining and world-renowned stage performances. But as Canyon Tours points out, there’s a lot more to do in Vegas than gamble and party the night away.

From Sin City, you’re about a three-hour drive from the Grand Canyon, less than an hour northwest of the Hoover Dam and only 17 miles away from Red Rock Canyon. If you’re still looking for dinner and a show, check out First Friday. It’s where you’ll find locals soaking up homegrown arts and entertainment.

6. Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Sean Pavone / Shutterstock.com

Fort Lauderdale residents enjoy more than 3,000 hours of sunshine per year, which you can fully soak up along its 165 miles of inland waterways.

When you’re ready for a break from the sun, head to the Riverwalk. This path is the heart and soul of Fort Lauderdale, where you’ll find the Broward Center for Performing Arts and the Museum of Discovery and Science.

5. Tampa, Florida

Peter Titmuss / Shutterstock.com

Sports fans and families will love Tampa the most. Tampa Bay is home to four professional sports teams plus a spring training baseball facility at Charlotte Sports Park. College-level athletics are played here too with both the University of South Florida and the University of Tampa calling this city home.

For all the retirees running for “best grandparents of the year” award, Disney World is just a one-hour drive away. Best of all, Tampa ranks 40th in WalletHub’s “affordability” category, which means you can actually shell out for all these games and parks.

4. Cincinnati, Ohio

aceshot1 / Shutterstock.com

Creative minds will thrive in Cincinnati. The Midwest city features several art museums and performing arts centers including the Taft Museum of Art and the Ensemble Theatre.

And with the Ohio River running right through the city, you can expect a lot of picturesque parks, bike paths and hiking trails — perfect for exercise and inspiration.

3. Miami

Kamira / Shutterstock.com

Retirees will feel young and invigorated living in a city like Miami. Whether you head to Brickell for dinner or South Beach for some sun, there is always somewhere to go and something to do.

If you’re looking for activities specifically for adults 55 and older, Miami-Dade’s Park Services have you covered with fitness classes, sewing workshops and organized field trips. But beware, though. Rising sea levels in Miami are a serious concern, as experts project the city will be 6 to 10 inches above 1992 average sea levels by the year 2030.

2. San Francisco

alessandro-colle / Shutterstock.com

San Francisco does not get high marks for affordability, but the hilly city does offer breathtaking views of the San Francisco Bay at its highest points. Not to mention, San Francisco is home to numerous landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Zoo, Oracle Park and Alcatraz Island.

There’s not much San Francisco doesn’t offer, which explains why the city ranks so high in three of the major categories evaluated by WalletHub: Activities, Quality of Life and Health Care.

1. Washington, D.C.

Sean Pavone / Shutterstock.com

The top-ranking city for active retirees is none other than the nation’s capital. With countless museums, memorials and monuments in and around Washington, D.C., you will never run out of things to do.

Even though the cost of living here is sky-high, many of the national parks and attractions are free of charge. Washington, D.C. is also known to have some of the nation’s best public transportation, so maybe you can eliminate the expense of owning and parking a car every day.

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Entrepreneur asked Yelp to dig into its data, to reveal which ones America loved the most. Together we created America’s Favorite Mom & Pop Shops, a list of 150 local, independently owned and operated businesses across 10 categories — including, yes, home and local services.

To see every category, as well as the methodology behind the list, click here. Below are the 15 companies included in the home and local services category.

Note: Some businesses may have multiple locations. Only one location is listed for each.

1. Pink Plumbing & Sewer

Phoenix, AZ

Company website | Yelp page

This mobile business, owned by Chris Martin, can dispatch a repair crew to anywhere in the Phoenix Valley for both scheduled appointments as well as emergencies (to which they can respond 24/7). A particular plus is Martin’s insistence upon flat-rate pricing, with no extra work done without approval.

The best plumbing service out there!” reads one Yelp review. “I have always been very happy and totally satisfied… received super service from Pink along with peace of mind.” “I contacted them Easter Sunday evening,” reads another. “[They were] prompt, professional and installed our new water heater in no time.”

2. Lani’s Tailor & Atelier

Redmond, WA

Company website | Yelp page

Owner Andrea Kim’s atelier has been a Downtown staple for knocking on 40 years now, which is a soaring achievement for any independently owned small enterprise. A seasoned designer, Kim makes wedding dresses from scratch, which is why brides-to-be constitute a sizeable chunk of the clientele.

But that’s not all. She’ll also alter/restore existing dresses and gowns, as well as tailor men’s and women’s suits, shirts, jeans and jackets. “[They] worked me in last minute for a next day wedding,” offered on gent on Yelp. “Amazing service with a smile! Great, great value.”

3. Rain of Las Vegas

Las Vegas, NV

Company website | Yelp page

There is arguably no urban population in the nation more acutely aware of the sustainability and efficiency of its water supply than Vegas. Since 1996, Michael Chuk’s company has made a mission of providing clean, safe and cutting-edge water quality systems, which can feature water conditioners, softeners and reverse osmosis filters.

Describing his hard water problem, one Yelp reviewer vividly described his dilemma: “Our water was essentially liquid rock, so we decided to get a water softener installed… Rain of Las Vegas [was] trustworthy, knowledgeable and professional… Our showers are awesome now.” An added bonus: All its systems are USA-made.

4. Hero Air

Chicago, IL

Company website | Yelp page

In June, Canadian wildfires caused air quality in the Windy City to hit 5 out of a possible 6 on the particulates meter — a mark classified as “very unhealthy.” The episode brought new focus on the need for indoor air quality systems, a service that this 10-year-plus business specializes in.

President Vladimir Yanev’s team services both the city and its suburbs, and can tackle boiler and furnace/installation and repair, as well as HVAC builds/service/repair and maintenance (including ductless mini splits for room-individualized temperature control). And if one Yelp review is any indication, there might also be an impromptu seminar offered in the bargain. “My granddaughter was very impressed with you taking time to help us understand the boiler,” it reads. “I am looking forward to you taking care of all our boiler and hot water tank needs.”

5. Texas Electrical Connect

Austin, TX

Company website | Yelp page

According to the National Fire Protection Association, wiring, lighting, cords and plugs cause approximately 35,000 home fires in the U.S. each year — which result in between one and two billion dollars in property damage. Owner Miguel Alonzo is here to save you from future calamity. His areas of expertise include lighting, electrical panel, doorbell and security system repair, as well as troubleshooting/addressing issues with generators and A/C systems and a variety of other challenges, both business and residential.

“Power in the bathroom was out,” recalled a Yelp reviewer. “They checked all the outlets and found the problem behind some DIY work that was done wrong. They fixed it and improved safety by moving the switch to a location that met code…all in the same day.”

Related: How This Home Care Service Makes Sure It’s Always Running on All Cylinders

6. 5 Points TV Installations

Hialeah, FL

Company website | Yelp page

How hard is it to mount a TV? Home renovation geeks might say it’s easy — but for everyone else, it’s fraught with embarrassment and actual peril, including wall damage (should you fail to find the studs and/or use the wrong anchors), injury/damage resulting from drops, electrical short issues and/or mounting at the wrong eye level (the results much more irritating than you might imagine).

In other words, it’s time to call a pro. Since 2010 this small operation, just outside of Miami, has been relieving home and business owners of those headaches, and can also handle the installation of speakers and sound bars, as well as shelves and stands.

7. A Few Good College Men

Gaithersburg, MD

Company website | Yelp page

Dany Afeni is the owner of this diversly-capable moving company, which not only serves the entirety of Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia, but can also assist with further-flung jobs up and down the Eastern Seaboard and even cross-country. Services include simple deliveries (for stores that do not arrange for shipping) and traditional packing and moving, but also junk cleanouts, storage, furniture assembly and mattress removal.

“I had a move from MD to VA to MD in one day,” reads one Yelp review, “and I appreciated the status updates so I could notify the second party of when the team would arrive. They are so speedy and friendly!”

8. Bronco Pro Kleen Carpet Cleaning Denver

Denver, CO

Company website | Yelp page

Strategically-placed carpets can be a sanity restorer, especially for homeowners with large pets and/or kids. But there’s a problem: Those carpets are also magnets for allergens, bacteria, proteins and dust. If improperly or too seldom cleaned, they’ll contribute to indoor air pollution, and so exacerbate asthma and other breathing problems.

Bronco Pro Kleen is here to solve that problem. It’s based in Denver’s Applewood neighborhood, and uses eco-friendly gear that’s safe for pets and kids. It also includes a truck-mounted steam systems designed to apply extra cleaning and odor-removal power to carpets, yes, but also to home and car upholstery. The company will also repair carpets in a pinch, and emergency services are available.

9. Tony LaMartina Plumbing

St. Louis, MO

Company website | Yelp page

Though now in its 41st year of servicing “The Lou,” this small enterprise actually taps an even deeper lineage: The LaMartina family has master plumber-class expertise that goes back more than a hundred years. Those stripes show in LaMartina Plumbing being placed in Angie’s List Super Service Award ranks seven times now, as well as it’s A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau of St. Louis.

Tony and crew’s capabilities extend from bathroom upgrades to lawn irrigation services and water heater installation, and from kitchen sink to garbage disposal maintenance/repair. For larger jobs, financing is available, too, and an added plus is the ability to track service crews’ ETA via GPS.

10. MMPC

Long Island City, NY

Company website | Yelp page

MMPC was among the first companies in this sector to integrate the EPA’s Integrated Pest Management Practices into its services. With environmental awareness as a cornerstone, the resulting approach explores a variety of approaches to rodent and insect infestations “before pesticides are even considered.” It also partners with state and other entities such as the FDNY, New York Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of Health and the Visiting Nurse Service of New York — with that same goal of effective but sustainable and careful application, keeping kids and pets particularly in mind.

Solutions could be hot- or cold temperature-based, for example, or emphasize exclusion (sealing pest entryways or exit paths). Beyond that, fumigation is always an option, along with natural and other pesticides.

Related: A Buzzing Business: How These Entrepreneurs Turned a Longtime Annoyance Into Successful Careers in Pest Control

11. Isle Locksmith

Honolulu, HI

Company website | Yelp page

Servicing Honolulu (and Oahu more broadly) and owned by Shai Rosen, this small business takes no small pride in its response times. “On a Saturday evening, my elderly relative found herself locked out of her apartment,” one Yelper wrote. “Shai arrived within 15 minutes…and our whole issue was resolved.” Another, locked out of his office, recounts a technician from Isle Locksmith arriving on site in 15 to 20 minutes.

Rosen and crew’s considerable list of capabilities includes lock installation and repair, keypad entry assistance, broken key extraction, car key duplication, lock changing (including electronic/smart variants) and safe lock service.

12. Auto Pro Detailing

Fremont, CA

Company website | Yelp page

With two locations (Fremont and Dublin), this company serves the entirety of the East San Francisco Bay community, including San Jose and Silicon Valley. Very much a family enterprise and founded in 1994, its owner, Marvin, has brought on his brothers, wife and daughter over the years, and offers a considerable range of services, from paint protection and correction to headlight restoration, full auto (including engine) detailing to tinting services.

Describing persistent scratches that had defied other treatment, one Yelper turned to Auto Pro Detailing and recalled: “[They] promised me 80% [scratch correction], but delivered 100%! The car looks new again!”

13. Kingdom Electric

Portland, OR

Company website | Yelp page

Among the qualities that a truly capable electrician should have (including expertise and good communication and time management skills), adaptability is too often overlooked, and is a highlight of this small Portland business. “[Owner] John understands that not everyone can afford to tackle massive projects all at once,” recalls one Yelper. “I greatly appreciate the guidance and patience… He is a skilled electrician, but even better, is a wealth of knowledge regarding home renovations in general.”

The company can take on a wide variety of issues, including AC installation, electrical panel repair and circuit breaker installation (among others), as well as a newer service of increasing importance and one that’s very much in demand: EV charging station builds.

14. Star Locksmith

Brighton, MA

Company website | Yelp page

Family owned and operated (with Bulent Hatipoglu as the principal), this company harnesses decades of experience in the field and serves the greater Boston metro area. Residential, auto and commercial services are on hand, whether the need is lock changing, new installation, electronic/smart lock repair, rekeying, vehicle lockouts or a variety of other issues, as well as the occasional and unexpected extra.

As one Yelper recounted, “After closing on our new home, everyone immediately said to change the locks. [Bulent did] the entire job (6 locks) done in about 30 minutes. Before leaving he noticed our main entrance had some wonky screws inserted which was hurting the doorframe… in the blink of an eye, [he] had new screws in and the door shuts perfectly.”

15. Residential Express Services Heating & Air Conditioning

Springfield, VA

Company website | Yelp page

This service and repair company tackles the vital task of making HVAC systems perform more efficiently, safely and reliably — all of which are vital for a home investment that can easily run tens of thousands of dollars. It does it so well that the years are flying by: It celebrates its 10-year anniversary in 2023.

HVAC is a complex job; it also involves air duct cleaning and repair, duct sanitizing and lint screen cleaning. The crew here additionally specializes in gas/electric furnace and water heater installation and repair, as well maintaining/fixing thermostats and air conditioners, and offers an ongoing service plan designed to extend the life of home HVAC systems. The company is able to respond to the entirety of Northern Virginia.

Related: Why This Industry Is Experiencing Incredible Pandemic-Fueled Growth

The post America’s 15 Favourite Native Dwelling Service Companies appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

By Jamie Chisholm

Critical information for the U.S. trading days

Wall Street is undecided about trying for another rally on Friday, according to early trading in futures. That’s in keeping with the struggle it has been of late, with the S&P 500 SPX down six of the last eight sessions amid August’s bearish tendencies.

Some technical factors are causing concern. The Nasdaq 100 NDX is in danger of decisively falling back below its 50-day moving average support trend. Apple (AAPL) did so a week ago, and now its relative strength index, a gauge of momentum, has swiftly dropped to 30, signaling the stock may soon enter short-term oversold territory.

Over the same short period, the yield on the 10-year Treasury BX:TMUBMUSD10Y has twitched within a range of roughly 4% to 4.2% as investors try to get a handle on varying inflation and economic growth readings.

So, what’s an investor to do amid such uncertainty? Well, buy the companies that help traders to trade it, reckons VGI Partners, the Australia-based fund manager. In it’s semi-annual investor letter, covering performance to the end of June, VGI highlighted the top ten long investments in its Global Investments fund , three of which provide, to varying degrees, what may be termed the plumbing of the financial markets.

With a weighting of 7% is the London Stock Exchange , which VGI is keen to point out has transformed from a traditional exchange into a data and analytics group. After its purchase of data group Refinitiv in 2021, the LSE now generates only 3% of revenues from its legacy cash equities exchange.

Deutsche Börse represents about 8% of the portfolio and is deemed atractive says VGI because it provides trading, clearing, pre/post-trading and data and analytic services in four key operating segments: Trading & Clearing, Fund Services, Security Services and Data & Analytics.

DB is a “well-diversified exchange group whose activities touch on most aspects of European capital markets, offering a blend of transactional and non-transactional revenue exposure,” VGI adds.

But top holding is CME Group (CME), with a 9% weighting. CME operates futures and derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the New York Mercantile Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade, and the Dow Jones Index Services.

VGI particularly likes CME’s “effective monopoly” of trading in interest rate derivatives. “Demand for interest rate derivatives is driven by volatility in interest rate markets, whose effect is compounded by the number of bonds held by those looking to manage interest rate risk and, by extension, market liquidity,” the fund manger notes. And the chart below illustrates this strong relationship.

VGI expects the growth in the size of the U.S. Treasury market, particularly in relation to privately held US treasuries as the Fed undergoes a balance sheet unwind, to provide important support to a CME’s interest rate derivatives business. CME should also benefit — as are other exchanges — from a boost to net interest income from the collateral balances it holds.

“We believe that CME’s assets are critical pieces of market infrastructure and will be recognized as such in the future,” VGI concludes.

Markets

U.S. stock-index futures , , are little changed as benchmark Treasury yields BX:TMUBMUSD10Y dip. The dollar DXY is lower, while oil prices slip and gold gains.

Try your hand at the Barron’s crossword puzzle and sudoku games, now running daily along with a weekly digital jigsaw based on the week’s cover story. To see all puzzles, click here.

The buzz

Economic data on Friday, include the July producer price index report, due at 8:30 a.m., and the August consumer sentiment reading at 10 a.m.. Both times Eastern.

UBS Group (UBS) has terminated a 9 billion Swiss franc ($10.27 billion) loss-protection agreement and a CHF100 billion public-liquidity backstop guaranteed by the Swiss government that were put in place at the time of its takeover of troubled rival Credit Suisse.

The pound rose back above $1.27 after data showed the U.K. economy grew 0.5% in June, more than twice the 0.2% expected.

Country Garden shares fell nearly 6% to below HK$1 for the first time as China’s biggest homebuilder warned of a loss and suffered another ratings downgrade of its debt.

Shares of Cano Health Inc. (CANO) are down more than 50% in Friday’s premarket after the primary-care provider and health-management platform said there was “substantial doubt” about its ability to keep operating.

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The chart

Just a reminder from Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies, of why some investors are getting twitchy about the recent rally in oil pries because of how it may clobber the happy narrative that major central banks can soon stop raising interest rates.

“The correlation between the Brent crude oil price and the five-year forward inflation expectation rate has been 0.88 since 2011,” says Wood. “This is potentially an awkward development in the context of the prevailing narrative that both the Federal Reserve and the ECB are all but done in this tightening cycle even if the official mantra in both cases remains ‘data dependent’.”

Top tickers

Here were the most active stock-market tickers on MarketWatch as of 6 a.m. Eastern.

Ticker Security name
TSLA Tesla
MULN Mullen Automotive
AMC AMC Entertainment
NIO Nio
WE WeWork
NVDA Nvidia
GME GameStop
TTOO T2 Biosystems
AAPL Apple
NKLA Nikola

Random reads

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-Jamie Chisholm

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In mid-June major earthwork construction began at the Thacker Pass lithium mine site north of Winnemucca, Lithium Americas said in its second quarter report. The company is targeting the second half of 2026 for initial production at the mine.

On Feb. 6 of this year the U.S. District Court in Nevada ruled favorably for Lithium Americas on an appeal filed against the Bureau of Land Management by declining to vacate the Record of Decision for the mine. Conservation and tribal groups which have been fighting the mine in federal court for around two years appealed that decision, and on July 17 the three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision, saying the BLM’s approval of the mine “was not arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with” the National Environmental Policy Act.

In its quarterly report Lithium Americas said it has approved a 2023 construction budget of $125 million. The company spent $48 million in the second quarter of the year for construction of water pipelines and ponds, infrastructure improvements and the start of major earthworks.

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Lithium Americas said it is continuing to work closely with the U.S. Department of Energy Loans Program Office to advance confirmatory due diligence and term sheet negotiations for the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, following the receipt of a Letter of Substantial Completion on Feb. 22 of this year.

The company expects the DOE ATVM Loan Program conditional approval process to be completed in 2023. If approved, the loan program will fund up to 75% of the capital costs for phase 1 construction at Thacker Pass. The project’s development costs may qualify as eligible costs under the ATVM Loan Program as of Jan. 31 of this year.

As of June 30, Lithium Americas had $502 million in cash and cash equivalents and short-term bank deposits, and an additional $75 million in available credit.

The company also announced that progress is being made toward separating into two companies – Lithium Americas (NewCo), which will continue as the 100% owner of Thacker Pass, and Lithium Argentina, which will continue to develop Lithium Americas’ projects in Argentina.

On July 31 at the annual, general and special meeting of Lithium Americas shareholders, 98.85% of the votes cast by shareholders were in favor of the separation. The separation is targeted to become effective in early October of this year.

“We are delighted to see our shareholders’ overwhelming support for the separation,” said Jonathan Evans, Lithium Americas’ president and CEO. “Following the separation, the Lithium Americas (NewCo) team is committed to advancing the Thacker Pass project toward production to support the critical North American lithium supply chain. Meanwhile, the Lithium Argentina team will advance Caucharí-Olaroz toward full commercial production and pursue development opportunities in its significant growth pipeline in Argentina.”

Also at the shareholders’ meeting, in connection with the second tranche of the previously announced $650 million investment by General Motors Holdings, the shareholders passed a resolution approving: the ownership by GM and its affiliates of more than 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of Lithium Americas, and of Lithium Americas (NewCo) following the separation.

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• Amid affordable housing shortages, the number of homeless people in the US continues to climb 
• Many have taken to living in RVs, largely off the grid, in cities from California to New England 
• Most cite the affordability and flexibility as their reasons for choosing live in their vehicles – but residents and businesses say the RVs are unsightly and leave mountains of trash 

The owner of a party bus company, Rikers Island prison guards and an Amazon worker are just some of the eclectic bunch who have formed a community of ‘working homeless’ people living out of RVs in the Astoria section of Queens, New York.

Similar communities have formed across the US from New England to California where people have chosen a nomadic lifestyle amid a national cost of living crisis. 

Rising costs across all sectors have caused pain for Americans in every state, particularly those living in rural areas, over the past 12 months. Rental prices continue have risen eight percent compared against the same time last year. In New York, they’ve reached record highs with a median cost of $3,410 a month for a one-bedroom apartment. Mortgage rates have more than doubled since the Federal Reserve’s key interest rate hike in March 2022, and last week hit 6.52%.

‘Compared to an apartment it’s better because it’s my space, nobody’s going to bother me,’ Luis Quintero, 30, a party bus owner, told DailyMail.com. 

Locals and businesses, including a Verizon repair hub and a Dollar car rental have complained about the presence of the campers on the street and residents say that RV dwellers leave mountains of trash strewn across the street, something Quintero denied. 

The area around Quintero’s home was immaculate, there were even two bottles of ammonia by his front door. DailyMail.com did see garbage as well as discarded furniture and a TV just left by the side of the street. A college student who attends school in the area said the street is often filled with trash because sanitation workers avoid the street because there are no homes or storefronts on it. 

QUEENS, NEW YORK: Luis Quintero, 30, stands outside of the RV that he has owned for the last three months QUEENS, NEW YORK: RVs have been lining the block in the Astoria neighborhood in Queens since the Covid-19 pandemic QUEENS, NEW YORK: A reason that many have chosen these streets, 45th and 46th along 20th Avenue, close to LaGuardia Airport and Rikers Island prison, is that there is no street cleaning

Quintero lives with his wife, their five-month-old daughter and their cat, Chloe, in the RV. He’s been in the mobile home for three months after buying it used for $30,000, having previously rented an apartment in Flushing, five miles or so east of where’s he now lives. 

He migrated from Venezuela 10 years ago following the death of his father. His mother lives in an apartment in Queens.

His brother, who works for Amazon, lives in the RV parked right beside his. He has a wife and two kids. It’s smaller than Quintero’s 250-square-foot home. 

Quintero is the owner of a party bus business. He owns two buses, has two drivers working for him and often does shifts himself.

For business purposes and for his brother’s kids’ school, they use their mother’s address.  

Quintero told DailyMail.com that he’s known among his neighbors for being good with his hands and that he often gets called on to help others with electrical or plumbing problems. 

Two of his neighbors work at Rikers Island, one is a corrections officer, the other is a driver. Quintero said that the police never bother them when they come around.  

Quintero said his wife, who is from Colombia, told him start a TikTok profile detailing his life in the RV. 

He is living there by choice, and was considering moving to Florida. ‘I just gotta get gas, start my engine and I’m gone.’ His mother and brother used to live in West Palm Beach where he says there is a large RV community. 

Quintero said many of the Venezuelan community in New York City live in shelters and, other than his brother, there are none of his countrymen in the area. 

‘My country now is crazy… a lot of people are coming across the border now. It’s crazy. They’re asking for apartments, the want money. It’s crazy, you gotta work, bro. How you gonna come to another country and you don’t want to do nothing?’ 

QUEENS, NEW YORK: The area is largely industrial, a Verizon maintenance hub and a Dollar car rental as well as a metal works shop surround the RVs QUEENS, NEW YORK: An employee of the Dollar car rental told DailyMail.com that the RV dwellers don’t bother him QUEENS, NEW YORK: An abandoned RV on the streets in Astoria, the tires of the vehicle were slashed

Quintero went on to say that the NYPD regularly knock on his door and tell him to move. Like others DailyMail.com spoke to, they say that they will oblige but never do. Quintero said that when we knocked on his door he thought we were cops or sanitation workers. 

A reason that many have chosen these streets, 45th and 46th along 20th Avenue, close to LaGuardia Airport and Rikers Island prison, is that there is no street cleaning, meaning that there is no need to move your car to allow access for city workers. 

The area is largely industrial, in addition to the Verizon maintenance hub and a Dollar car rental there is also a metal works shop surrounding the RVs. A worker at the Dollar said the RVs don’t bother him and a student, John, who attends college in the area said the same. Their only gripe was that parking can be difficult, and that on some days garbage was piled up along the streets. 

Quintero said that Verizon have complained multiple times about the RVs over parking concerns. He said that he would be willing to meet with a representative of the company over the issue, Verizon has yet to respond. 

He showed DailyMail.com his air conditioning, gas stove, TV, coffee maker and shower, powered by solar panels. ‘I like it because I can say I have a home.’ 

‘People say, “Oh, you can get benefits from the city,” I don’t want that. I spend my money, I work for my s***.’ 

QUEENS, NEW YORK: As we left Quintero’s home, he told us that other residents in the area were unlikely to want to talk to us QUEENS, NEW YORK: RV living is common across the United States, there are two known communities in New York City, the other is also in Queens, in the Maspeth neighborhood QUEENS, NEW YORK: A college student who attends school in the area said sometimes the RV dwellers leave garbage strewn across the street QUEENS, NEW YORK: Quintero told DailyMail.com that all of the RV residents that he knew in the area had jobs

As we left Quintero’s home, he told us that other residents in the area were unlikely to want to talk to us.  

The operator a mobile brick oven pizza stand said that residents of the RVs are regular customers. 

RV living is common across the United States, there are two known communities in New York City, the other is also in Queens, in the Maspeth neighborhood. 

The license plates parked along 45th and 46th street showed that the RVs were from a variety of places including Texas, Vermont, Florida and Pennsylvania. At least one was completely abandoned.

Another resident, Victor, who works nights in a deli, told the same story about NYPD officers regularly knocking his door and telling him to leave but never following up. 

Victor said that he could no longer afford rent – he paid $1,300 for his RV, his neighbor paid $2,900. 

LOS ANGELES: Many cities in California enforced an RV ban in 2016, with many coming to blows when residents refused to move LOS ANGELES: For decades, major cities across California have been grappling with homelessness, a problem that has only worsened in recent years SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA: Housing shortages and increased rents have made it difficult for many in the US to find an affordable place to live

Resident Paul Reevers described himself as ‘working homeless.’ He said that he has a job but the rent went up too high and he could not longer to afford a an apartment. 

Reevers, who works for a New York City hospital, said that he took out a loan and bought his RV.

He said that he was the first person to be living in an RV on the block, the was four years ago. 

The RV camps with America’s ‘working homeless’ are spread out across the country. Earlier this month, shocking photos emerged showing an ever-growing line of trucks and other vehicles along 101 Highway in California – which now stretches over two miles in one of the largest encampments in the country.

Cities in Marin County, where on average homes cost $1.4million, are pushing for the line along the highway to end after the number of residents living in their cars ballooned during the pandemic.

Photos and video taken by DailyMail.com show families living in tents and using portable barbeques as their belongings spill out of the RVs and trucks.

Some appeared to use flags to mark the area of road that they use for their home, with many pulling tarpaulin over their cars to protect their possessions.

Officials say that there were at least 135 vehicles along Binford Road, on the outskirts of Novato in the Bay Area, as the number who call it home has expanded.

NOVATO, CALIFORNIA: Earlier this month, shocking photos emerged showing an ever-growing line of trucks and other vehicles along 101 Highway in California NOVATO, CALIFORNIA: California now has nearly a third of the nation’s homeless population, according to federal data NOVATO, CALIFORNIA: Cities in Marin County, where on average homes cost $1.4million, are pushing for the line along the highway to end NOVATO, CALIFORNIA: The average household income in the county is $131,000 ¿ which has left those with lower incomes nowhere to turn

The average household income in the county is $131,000 – which has left those with lower incomes nowhere to turn.

Residents of the surrounding area are now coming together to try to help bring the encampment to an end by helping people find services they need.

Every month they are given free groceries, assistance with their housing case management, medical assistance and much more.

There will be a push for the services to be expanded after state funding was awarded to Novato, Sausalito and San Rafael and to Marin County for unincorporated areas like Binford Road.

Each city, and Marin County, received $500,000 to address their encampment issues – with the county bringing in $1million in resources to help each of the regions.

Gary Naja-Riese, director of homelessness for Marin County said that their ‘first and immediate priority is Binford.’

They are also planning on hiring a full time social worker to support the encampment residents with their issues directly.

NOVATO, CALIFORNIA: Residents of the surrounding area are now coming together to try to help bring the encampment to an end by helping people find services they need NOVATO, CALIFORNIA: Every month they are given free groceries, assistance with their housing case management, medical assistance and much more NOVATO, CALIFORNIA: The county estimates that there are around 80 residents permanently staying in Binford, with others abandoning their vehicles at the side of the road NOVATO, CALIFORNIA: In March, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state would build of these small homes across the state

The county estimates that there are around 80 residents permanently staying in Binford, with others abandoning their vehicles at the side of the road.

Local organizations are on hand to help with social and medical issues, with the encampment mostly struggling with hypertension, diabetes and mental health issues.

But some are well enough to work full time – though none are able to afford a place to live in the county with skyrocketing costs.

Other cities in California enforced an RV ban in 2016, with many coming to blows when residents refused to move.

Officials have speculated that because Binford Road’s encampment gets support, it has a reputation as one of the last remaining areas where people sleeping in their cars won’t get hassled by law enforcement.

Zoe Neil, director of Marin County’s Downtown Streets Division told the San Francisco Chronicle: ‘Historically, in Marin, it has been tough to sleep safely in vehicles or campsites outside.

‘Binford is one of the only places that folks can go. But it’s not like it’s a safe haven.’

However some officials have pushed for an overnight parking ban, which has not been put into place.

NOVATO, CALIFORNIA: Homes that are as small as 120 square feet that have electricity but no running water SEATTLE: Seattle’s plan to tackle the RV residents is ticketing. Timothy Barto, who has been living in his RV since 2017, told KING5 that his vehicle regularly gets impounded because of tickets SEATTLE: Amid a growing homeless crisis in Seattle, Mayor Bruce Harrell allocated $250 million in the city’s budget to address the homeless problem SEATTLE: Overall violent crime has remained persistently high in the city, with 2022 marking the deadliest year for the homeless population in King County, which encompasses Seattle

The county is also seeking an additional $1.5 million in state funding that would allow it to hire two more outreach staffers and a housing-based case manager who would work full-time at Binford.

On average, the county house an average of a dozen people a month across Marin County, primarily through landlord partnership programs at Marin Housing Authority.

Around 78 percent of people who are homeless in the area had residences in Marin County before becoming unhoused.

In April, city officials in Sacramento announced they had leased the land for free to Safe Ground Sacramento, a nonprofit group, for up to four months. People can park their cars or RVs on the property, and the city will provide up to 33 trailers for people to live in.

The city said the site will be self-governed by what it calls a ‘resident council,’ along with an operations plan that must be approved by the City Council in the next 30 days.

‘I am incredibly proud that through months of hard work and open communication we found an innovative solution for this site that benefits our entire community,’ Councilmember Sean Loloee, whose district includes the land, said in a city blog post.

For decades, major cities across California have been grappling with homelessness, a problem that has only worsened in recent years as a housing shortage has increased rents and made it difficult to find an affordable place to live. 

California now has nearly a third of the nation’s homeless population, according to federal data. 

SEATTLE: 2022 saw 310 deaths in the homeless community, a 65 percent spike from 2021, including at least 18 homicides and 160 fentanyl-related overdoses in Seattle SEATTLE: Retail vacancy in the heart of downtown Seattle sits at 13.5 percent, a significant spike from less than 2 percent in 2019 SEATTLE: As of November 2022, police reported 285 rapes, 1,654 robberies and 3,258 aggravated assaults in the city SEATTLE: Murder, however, was the only figure that surpassed 2021’s year-end-count, with 48 reported before 2022 was done, a 12.5 percent increase

In March, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state would build of these small homes across the state — homes that are as small as 120 square feet that have electricity but no running water. 

Sacramento is scheduled to get 350 of those homes, most of which will likely be at the state fairgrounds, according to Mayor Darrell Steinberg.

The homeless encampment in Sacramento, known as ‘Camp Resolution,’ is not meant to be permanent. The city said the initial lease will run for four months. But the lease can be renewed until ‘all the residents obtain permanent housing.’

‘We are anxious to assist Camp Resolution residents to demonstrate that homeless people can self-govern and assist each other to obtain permanent housing,’ said Mark Merin, executive director for Safe Ground Sacramento.

Seattle’s plan to tackle the RV residents is ticketing. Timothy Barto, who has been living in his RV since 2017, told KING5 that his vehicle regularly gets impounded because of tickets. 

Amid a growing homeless crisis in Seattle, Mayor Bruce Harrell allocated $250 million in the city’s budget to address the homeless problem.  

A couple in Arizona told AZ Central in January that they had been ‘outpriced’ of the rental market in the Phoenix suburb where they lived. The report noted that rents in the state had increased by as much as 40 percent since 2020. 

Officials in the national park where Morgan Rice and his girlfriend live refer to those in RVs as ‘nonrecreational campers.’

The notion of living in an RV is nothing new. In 1992, the National Forest Service set up a camp in Oregon homeless people living out of their vehicles.  

A remote tech worker told the newspaper that he lives out of his RV because ‘homes are terrible. They cost too much. Might as well live in a trailer.’ 

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Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Los Angeles rank among the top ten “neediest” cities in the country, according to an analysis by personal finance website WalletHub.

The report assessed 182 cities across 28 economic indicators, including child poverty, food insecurity and inadequate kitchens.

Detroit was ranked as the neediest metropolitan area. According to a report by the Detroit News, one in five tenants in Detroit was at risk of eviction this year.

Brownsville, Texas took second place. According to a recent report in 24/7 Wall St, a quarter of the city’s population lives in poverty, twice the national average.

Cleveland is in third place. According to a report by WEWS-TV, Cleveland’s poverty rate is 29 percent, making it the second poorest city in the country after Detroit.

Fourth through sixth were Gulfport, Miss.; Fresno, California; and Laredo, Texas.

Philadelphia placed seventh. According to WTXF-TV, the City of Brotherly Love recorded 500 murders in 2022.

New Orleans took eighth place. The city may have the highest homicide rate in the country, with more than 250 murders this year, according to a report by nola.com.

Despite its wealth, Los Angeles ended up ninth on the list of cities in need. According to a recent report in The Nation, more than 40,000 Angelenos live on the streets.

The least needy city in the country, according to WalletHub, is the DC suburb of Columbia, Maryland, a swanky bedcommunity in Howard County.

Other cities at the desirable bottom end of the list include Bismarck, the capital of North Dakota; Overland Park, the suburb of Kansas City; Pearl City, part of Greater Honolulu; South Burlington, Vt., home of Ben & Jerry’s; and Irvine, California, beyond LA’s Orange Curtain

The WalletHub analysis has singled out cities with high rates at certain levels of need. Rochester, NY had the highest child poverty rate, followed by Detroit and Cleveland. Huntington, W.Va. had the highest rate of adult poverty, again followed by Detroit and Cleveland.

Five cities share the top spot for homelessness: Fresno and San Francisco in California, New York, DC and Honolulu. During the years of the pandemic, homeless camps have sprung up around the country’s capital. San Francisco officials faced legal challenges over the eviction of their homeless.

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Gulfport, Miss., was at the top of the list for food insecurity. More than a quarter of Gulfport residents live in poverty.

San Francisco had the highest rate of homes with inadequate plumbing.

Lewiston, Maine topped the list of cities with inadequate kitchens, presumably a measure of available water and electricity rather than counter space and cabinetry.

Copyright 2023 Nextstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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The Good Food Awards, a food trade show that highlights great-tasting products made with environmental and social responsibility in mind, will be moving its awards ceremony from San Francisco to Portland for the first time this year.

At first glance, the move feels like a match made in slow food heaven. Portland has dozens of small and large specialty stores. The restaurants here follow the farm-to-table approach pioneered by Chez Panisse owner Alice Waters — the ceremony’s longtime host of honor — as a founding principle. And local chefs have long argued — and even fought — for Portland’s supremacy over San Francisco when it comes to food.

But now, after more than a decade in San Francisco, Good Food Awards executive director Sarah Weiner says the show is moving to Portland for practical and personal reasons.

On the one hand, Oregon’s travel organizations — Travel Oregon, Travel Portland — and commodity commissions — the Oregon Dairy and Nutrition Council, the Blackberry and Raspberry Commission, etc. — have done something California never did: financially support the awards show and its attendees. Ditto for Oregon State University and the Oregon Department of Agriculture. Depending on how things go this year, the move could be permanent.

On the other hand, Weiner moved to Portland herself five years ago after falling in love with the city’s laid-back vibe. Several members of the Good Food team also live here.

(The Good Food Foundation, a nonprofit that works with specialty food and beverage companies nationwide, will remain headquartered in San Francisco for the time being.)

Last year, for the first time in Portland, the foundation hosted a smaller event, the Good Food Mercantile, which attracted 14 sponsors, more than double the number of similar events in New York or San Francisco.

“We felt embraced by the city,” Weiner said.

Despite some typical late April rains, a welcome dinner for Mercantile sponsors at Bar Casa Vale restaurant in southeast Portland last year sealed the deal for Weiner and the Good Food team.

“We had so many sponsors that we thought, let’s do a welcome dinner for everyone and put an Oregon twist on a traditional Spanish Spring Onion Festival,” Weiner said. “They grilled them (calçots, a spring leek popular in the Catalan region of Spain) outside on this big grill, wrapped them in newspaper, and everyone got their hands dirty dipping them in romesco sauce. It was just that social moment where the community came together to celebrate the harvest.”

Oregon typically ranks behind California in terms of the annual number of attendees for the awards show, Weiner says. In addition to paying an application fee, companies are required to demonstrate that they are “a genuine member of the good food community committed to promoting equity and inclusion at every level of their business,” among other standards that focus on responsible and sustainable practices. This year’s event attracted more than 2,000 entries in categories including beer, cheese, chocolate, honey and pickles.

Local winners from last year’s ceremony include sambal from Sibeiho, chorizo ​​from Olympia Provisions and a hot habanero sauce from Hot Mama Salsa. This year’s finalists include Smoked Geoduck by Tiny Fish Co. by Executive Chef Sara Hauman, Yakisoba Pasta and Sauce by Umi Organics, and Horseradish Vodka by Kachka.

[Related: Here are Oregon’s 2023 finalists for the Good Food Awards]

Good Food Award winners label their products with a small blue sticker, a mark of quality that can draw the attention of social media influencers and specialty grocery stores alike. In the Olympia Provisions cookbook, co-owner Elias Cairo credits early Good Food Awards wins with propelling his burgeoning Portland charcuterie business to the shelves of San Francisco’s influential Bi-Rite Market, Dean & Deluca stores and more.

Cairo, the event’s master of ceremonies, will be joined by keynote speaker and restaurant sustainability advocate, Anthony Myint. Waters, the owner of Chez Panisse, is having an Earth Day lunch with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and isn’t sure if she’ll be able to attend.

The Good Food Awards will celebrate the winners and their families for the first time in Portland on Friday, April 21 at 6:00 p.m. at Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark St. More than 700 people are expected. An industry-only Mercantile event follows Saturday at the Portland Night Market building, 100 SE Alder St.

— Michael Russel; mrussell@oregonian.com

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