San Luis Obispo holds its own in commercial real estate market
While San Luis Obispo was busy weighing the pros and cons of a possible Target or an Ernie Dalidio development, Lee & Associates released its commercial real estate update, which showed that vacancy is actually down 33 percent from a year ago. The commercial vacancy rate for San Luis Obispo County is relatively small at Read More →
South Coast needs a path for recovery
Up until the crash in the global financial markets last September, it looked like the South Coast region of the Tri-Counties would escape the recession largely unscathed. That turns out not to have been the case. And now the stretch of coast from Carpinteria to Goleta is in danger of losing its status as Read More →
Region loses reputation as safe haven for jobs
The Tri-Counties have historically faired well in bad times, but the latest unemployment figures released by the U.S. Labor Department show that California’s budget woes and the nationwide recession may have finally begun to catch up to the region. While the highest unemployment rate in the Tri-Counties is in Ventura County, Santa Barbara and San Read More →
Tuning in profits
The raucous public debate over health care reform has given shares of Camarillo-based Salem Communications a healthy 375 percent boost. Salem owns a nationwide network of Christian and conservative talk radio stations. Opponents of health care reform have spent millions to get their message out to just such an audience, and investors seem to think Salem Read More →
Civic Alliance helps stitch Ventura Co. up
Not so very long ago, Ventura County was defined by its differences. Oxnard and Ventura came to legal blows over the future of some large retail shops that abandoned the Esplanade Mall for new digs across the Santa Clara River. Agricultural and environmental interests teamed up to pass SOAR, dealing a blow to urban interests Read More →
The lesson learned from BuenaVentura
One of the things we are learning about the current financial crisis is that banks operate best when they really operate as banks. When it was launched a year ago, Banco Buenaventura looked like a great idea for serving the Hispanic community. And we gave the brains behind the institution the benefit of the doubt Read More →
