Assorted Links Friday

How parking destroys cities:

America did not become a country of strip malls and office parks because we collectively lost aesthetic ambition. These developments are ubiquitous because they are the cheapest way to comply with regulations.

The US Is Not Ready For An All-Electric Future:

The U.S. is woefully unprepared to handle “the electrification of everything.” Increased electrification in all sectors will need huge investments in the electric grid, in battery storage to back up renewable power generation, in charging points for EVs, and in technologies such as green hydrogen to help those technologies to reach maturity and cost efficiency enough to start replacing fossil fuels.

Retailers couldn’t stock hand sanitizer fast enough. Now they can’t give it away: Once nearly impossible to find, bottles of sanitizer are now taking up shelf space and stores are trying promotions to get rid of them; ‘it’s worth more to us gone’

The strongest sign yet that inflation is transitory: After a year of soaring prices, some builders — and homebuyers — are beginning to step back. The rest of the economy may follow suit.

US produce shippers face new export crisis: now pallets are in short supply.

Speaking of parking lots, what's the difference between asphalt and concrete ones?

Producer prices for lumber are up 89.7% for the year ended April 2021.

Finally, we've started putting together this week's Economic Development and Developers in the News.  If your work has been mentioned in the news this week, make sure we know about it so we can spread the word and you can be somebody now, too.