341: In 2019, you don’t want to be called any of these: Developer; Bachelor Bro; Lawyer; Podcaster.

“How ‘Developer’ Became Such a Dirty Word.” That’s the title of this New York Times article, talking about the  impact of opportunistic development throughout the boroughs (spoiler alert: it’s not good).

The developers are coming. They’ve got the politicians in their pockets and the gaudy architectural plans in their hands. They will gorge on the entire city. And they won’t stop until peak profit has been wrung from every patch of land.

This is a problem everywhere, and, here in Middle Tennessee, we have front row seats.

In fact, as Nashvillians prepare to head to the polls next month, it’s interesting that the recurring (and most damaging) insult hurled by Mayor David Briley at challenger John Cooper is that Cooper is a  “millionaire developer.“

“Nashville neighborhoods reel from ‘bachelor party bros,’ other Airbnb side effects as council faces key vote.”  This article in the Tennessean may offer an explanation. The story discusses the blistering pace of gentrification throughout some of Nashville’s oldest neighborhoods and considers the impact of that gold-rush on the existing residents, who are usually lower income, renters, and, generally, unable to effectively fight the changes.

Sure, the developers always point out that they are increasing property values, but I wonder if the trade off of sharing your street with a visiting group of “bachelor party bros” comes at a significant cost to quality of life.

Now the neighbors have to contend with occasional raucous parties and obnoxious drunk tourists on the street — including one who tried to break into a house late one night, mistakenly thinking it was his rental.

“There’s a bottle of Maker’s Mark bourbon on my sidewalk right now,” Cobucci said. “The trash and that kind of stuff gets to me.”

Before we thank them for the property value spike, let’s remember that the impacted people are probably just renters, who don’t benefit in any way from the increases and are simply forced to move away when they can’t afford the new rental prices. Like musicians, as this Tennessean article discusses.

Remember when all the musicians lived on Music Row and in Madison, because those were the easiest places you could find cheap housing on a musician’s salary? Now, those are the hot areas for new condos for all the young professionals moving to town…

“Don’t retire early, buy a home, or be a lawyer if you want to be happy, researchers say — here’s why.” This is a headline is from a cnbc.com article, talking about the same-old, same-old about the practice of law.

TL; DR: Lawyers are unhappy and stressed out. 

Aside from the “miserable lawyer” talk, I liked the advice about not always apologizing for delay in responding to emails. Earlier this year, I actually considered having the phrase “Sorry for the delay in responding” just incorporated into my e-mail signature.

Glad to see other people dealing with that guilt as well.

The article suggests that the guilt is misplaced:

Such anxiety about responding immediately might make you think you’re being conscientious, but you’re probably just driving yourself crazy.

According to a study from Loughborough University, which analyzed email interruptions within the workplace, people respond to emails within an average of six seconds. Yet in almost all cases, the sender doesn’t actually expect an immediate response.

The article notes that only 2% of the study respondents said they expected an “immediate response.”

“Have We Hit Peak Podcast?”  I immediately thought of this recent New York Times article, when I saw that both the Tennessee Bar Association and the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts have launched brand new legal podcasts.

I give lots of “Lawyer Social Media” CLE speeches, and  those presentations generally include the following statements:

1. The internet is littered with the bones of abandoned lawyer blogs.
2. The only people making money off lawyer social media marketing are people selling lawyer social media marketing to lawyers.
3. Just because a lawyer can blog/have a facebook page/tweet/ [insert new social media platform], it doesn’t mean the lawyer should.

I wonder if it’s time to update that line to include podcasts.

Don’t get me wrong, I think these new Tennessee podcasts are great and well-produced, and I think it’s an innovative way to introduce the court system and process to the general listening public. But, I also wonder about the longevity cycle and audience retention that a fledgling law podcast can expect. As New York Times notes:

And yet the frequency with which podcasts start (and then end, or “podfade,” as it’s coming to be known in the trade) has produced a degree of cultural exhaustion.

The best advice I’ve heard about these issues was on a lawyerist podcast, Podcasting as a Marketing Tactic, with Megan Zavieh. If you’re thinking about starting your own podcast, be sure to listen to this.

Also, I get the irony. Thanks for reading all this on my lawblawg.