Latest news with #Kimmelman
Vox
05-08-2025
- Politics
- Vox
The curse of America's high-speed rail
is the host of Explain It to Me, your hotline for all your unanswered questions. She joined Vox in 2022 as a senior producer and then as host of The Weeds, Vox's policy podcast. If you're traveling in America, there are plenty of ways to get to where you want to go. Interstate highways make road trips possible. Planes let you go from one side of the country to the other in a matter of hours. But there's one mode of transportation that still eludes the US: high-speed rail. Countries in Europe and Asia have safe high-speed trains that can take you from city to city as fast as 200 miles per hour, while a little more than half of Amtrak trains reach speeds up to 100 miles per hour. So what is the state of high-speed rail in the US? 'Nonexistent and terrible,' says Michael Kimmelman, editor-at-large of the New York Times's Headway, a section that focuses on progress when it comes to the world's biggest challenges. 'The United States has consistently failed to build high-speed rail, and there's been conversation about it for a long time.' Despite the setbacks, it still could be on the horizon. 'There's some glimmer of hope. High-speed rail exists all around the world.' Today, Explained Understand the world with a daily explainer, plus the most compelling stories of the day. Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. What's the deal with the lack of high-speed rail in the US? Why hasn't the country caught up? And will we ever have high-speed trains? That was the question we explored in this week's episode of Explain It to Me, Vox's weekly call-in podcast. Below is an excerpt of our conversation with Kimmelman, edited for length and clarity. You can listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts. If you'd like to submit a question, send an email to askvox@ or call 1-800-618-8545. How'd we end up falling behind in passenger rail? The story is usually told that we once had a great rail system. The country was connected by the transcontinental railway in the 19th century. And we gave up that advantage. Once the automobile became something that people could afford, and it wasn't just for rich people, people wanted roads, so we invested less and less in trains. We have a million obstacles to progress and very few easy paths. That's part of the story, but there are a lot of other reasons why we failed too, which is that we've become a country that's extremely regulated and that has made it very difficult to build anything big anymore. We have a million obstacles to progress and very few easy paths. Who is getting high-speed rail right? China has built nearly 30,000 miles of high-speed rail just in the past couple of decades. Japan, of course, has a famous high-speed bullet train called the Shinkansen and has had that for decades. And most of western Europe is connected by high-speed rail. It's perfectly normal in Europe to go to your local train station and get on a train that will take you 200 miles an hour to another city. We were supposed to have high-speed rail in the US. What happened to that project out in California that was supposed to connect Los Angeles to San Francisco? Back in the 1980s, Gov. Jerry Brown had this idea that California could use high-speed rail. By the 1990s, California had a plan in place. It took them until 2008 to approve a measure that set aside about $10 billion to construct a high-speed rail, which was going to connect LA and San Francisco. It would take about two hours and 40 minutes to get directly from one city to the other, the cost estimate was around $33 billion, and the completion date was 2020. But by 2018, it was clear this was never going to happen. The cost estimates more than doubled, and they would ultimately triple. When Gavin Newsom, the current governor, succeeded Brown, he spoke about the fact that this was obviously not going to be possible anytime soon. And his big promise was that possibly California might have high-speed rail between Bakersfield and Merced, two cities in the Central Valley that no one had really asked for high-speed rail to travel between. Now, that's pretty unlikely too. The estimated completion date would be sometime in the 2030s perhaps, and at a cost of well over $110 billion. That's California. Is there high-speed rail in other parts of the country? Florida's a good example. Brightline is a privately owned and operated rail line that runs between Miami and Orlando, on what used to be freight line tracks. In short, they didn't have to go through a million of these approval processes to get it done because they kind of already owned the route. California to Vegas is the plan for Brightline 2. It's not just that you have a private investor as opposed to a government; it's also that you have a given route which presents itself that makes economic sense and makes sense for consumers. As a consequence, that may actually happen. And that might be in fact the first genuine high-speed rail in the United States. The safety record of Brightline in Florida is really troubling. Partly it's growing pains transitioning from a freight rail to a passenger train that runs through the middle of cities, but the company bears a lot of the blame. It's clearly a crisis and a learning curve for the company and those Florida communities. How hopeful are you about the future of high-speed rail in the US? I think it is a possibility. The fact that we're having conversations around our inability to get big things done is actually not the same as the conversations we were having five or 10 years ago. You see some signs of that change in California; for instance, the repeal of some of the environmental regulations that have been weaponized to prevent things like high-speed rail, and other things which actually are environmentally good.
Associated Press
02-04-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Redwood Living, Inc. reaches major milestone: 20,000 apartment homes in growing portfolio
Independence, Ohio, April 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ohio-based developer and manager of single-story apartment homes, Redwood Living, Inc., has 20,000 reasons to celebrate an exciting new milestone. The company now has developed and manages a total of 20,000 apartment homes. 'Ultimately, this achievement tells a much bigger story than one number can,' said Steve Kimmelman, founder and CEO of Redwood. 'Every new Redwood apartment home represents an opportunity to enhance lives and demonstrate our unwavering commitment to quality, community and our vision to reinvent the apartment home. We mark this milestone with the deepest appreciation for the remarkable team members, residents, investors and partners who have been part of our journey. Without them, we simply wouldn't be here. We recognize that it's our people who got us here, and it will be our people who carry us into an exciting future. We remain focused on our ambitious goals for 2025 and beyond, continuing to expand, innovate, and create exceptional living experiences for our residents.' Fueled by strong development and expansion, Redwood reached this milestone thanks to the newest additions to its portfolio, including Redwood Galloway in Galloway, Ohio, part of the Columbus metro area. 'Redwood Galloway is home to our 20,000th apartment, so it was only appropriate to install a commemorative plaque at that neighborhood to honor the accomplishment,' Kimmelman said. Here's a look at Redwood's other recent neighborhoods that contributed to reaching the 20,000-home milestone: Ohio Redwood Amherst: New neighborhood Redwood Maumee: New neighborhood Redwood West Jefferson: New neighborhood Redwood Cincinnati Pippin Road: New neighborhood Redwood Sandusky: New neighborhood Redwood Miamisburg: New neighborhood Illinois Redwood Fox River Grove: New neighborhood Redwood Merrillville: New neighborhood Redwood Aurora: New neighborhood Redwood Crystal Lake: New neighborhood North Carolina Redwood Kannapolis: New neighborhood Redwood Hickory: New neighborhood Indiana Redwood Greenfield: New neighborhood Nebraska Redwood Omaha Wenninghoff Road: New neighborhood Redwood Bennington: New neighborhood Redwood Bellevue South 25th Street: New neighborhood Celebrating 20K Homes 'In the real estate industry, everyone says it's about location, location, location. But Redwood believes it's about people, people, people, which is why it was so important to us to make our Redwood Ambassadors the center of this special time in our company's history,' said Kimmelman. Redwood team members and residents spent the month of March celebrating the 20K milestone. Every week, Redwood held a raffle to award $200 to five employees and five residents. The month culminated with celebrations at Redwood's home office and across all its regions. Site teams gathered for activities including bowling, indoor golf, karaoke, and more. Spanning nine states, including Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Iowa, North Carolina, South Carolina and Nebraska, rental homes by Redwood feature the brand's signature single-story layout, two bedrooms, two bathrooms and attached garages. Residents also enjoy that their apartment home comes with its own private entrance and dedicated street address. Some additional amenities and Redwood Advantages that make a Redwood apartment feel like home include spacious eat-in kitchens, large pantries, open floor plans, large closets, washer and dryer hookups, vaulted ceilings, personal patios, pet-friendly accommodations, bonus living space and much more. About Redwood Redwood Living, Inc. (Redwood) is an innovative development and property management company with neighborhoods in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Nebraska. The success of Redwood's approach to construction, development and property management continues to be validated in new and existing markets. Redwood is a company that believes in its mission, product and amazing people. It creates a simplified, relaxed lifestyle for residents, and offers a rewarding atmosphere for its employees. For more information, visit .
Axios
19-03-2025
- Business
- Axios
Exclusive: UAE, U.S. partnership to invest to power data centers
The Abu Dhabi-based wealth fund ADQ and U.S. heavyweight Energy Capital Partners aim to invest over $25 billion in projects to power data centers and other industrial consumers. Why it matters: Their new U.S.-focused, 50-50 partnership unveiled Wednesday is stark evidence that AI's voracious power demand is attracting fresh capital as the nation's electricity needs rise. Driving the news: A major goal is new, gas-fired generation co-located with data centers, rather than connected to wider power grids, ECP's Doug Kimmelman said. "What we don't want to do is be taking power off of the grid, which certainly could impact, for the average consumer, reliability and prices. So we need additionality," Kimmelman, the firm's founder and executive chairman, told Axios in an interview. What's next: The partnership envisions 25 gigawatts worth of projects, with the first coming online in around three years. One gigawatt is enough to power at least 700,000 homes for a year. Data centers require the predictability that gas plants provide, but could be "selectively" supplemented with renewables and storage, Kimmelman said. The U.S. will be the main focus for building generation and related infrastructure, but the partnership may venture into international markets later, the announcement states. The partners are initially planning to provide a combined $5 billion. The big picture: Analysts see U.S. power demand poised for a prolonged rise after many years of stasis. A late 2024 Energy Department study projects data centers accounting for 6.7% to 12% of U.S. electricity use by 2028, up from 4.4% in 2023, though estimates vary and it's a moving target as AI evolves. Data centers for AI and other powerful computing are the snazziest but far from the only thing behind the rise. Electric vehicles, new manufacturing and other sectors are all in the mix. State of play: It's a new partnership, but the two entities are hardly starting from scratch. "We have relationships with the hyperscalers, and certainly ADQ and UAE, they have significant relationships with the hyperscalers as well," Kimmelman said. The intrigue: Kimmelman said Trump 2.0 economic and infrastructure policies — including support for new fossil fuel generation and pipelines — provides strong tailwinds. "The environment has changed dramatically to encourage what we're doing," he said. "This is also going to spur production of natural gas, which is also on the president's agenda," he said. What we're watching: When and where the planned projects take shape.
