From: Fast Company Compass - Sunday Mar 07, 2021 06:31 pm
Fast Company Compass
 
When Amazon announced that its HQ2 would be in Arlington, Virginia, it triggered some not-unexpected anxiety about the company’s impact on the local housing market. Within a year of Arlington’s selection, median home prices in HQ2’s Crystal City neighborhood had jumped more than 50%. Today, the market has cooled a bit, but prices are still high and inventory is tight.

To try to counteract pressure on the housing market, Amazon has taken the unusual step of financing the purchase of a market-rate apartment complex next to HQ2 that will be preserved for 99 years as affordable housing. Is it enough to offset the dreaded Amazon effect? Read Nate Berg's story here.
 
co.design
Amazon crushed affordable housing. Now it’s trying to offset the problem it helped create

Amazon is financing 1,300 units of affordable housing next to its new headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. Is it enough to offset the dreaded Amazon Effect?

 
tech tips
These 5 apps take the pain out of wrangling your huge photo collection

Here’s the easy way to sort, scan, sweeten, and share your ever-growing stockpile of snapshots.

 
coronavirus
Public transit workers are struggling to enforce mask mandates

We’re asking bus drivers to also do public health outreach, but without giving them the resources to succeed.

 
 
 
 
leadership
3 leadership traits we desperately need in 2021

This year will not look all that different from 2020. The hope is that leaders are able to display three fundamental traits that would mitigate the extended consequences of this brutal pandemic.

 
tech
How the world ran out of a critical technology that powers our cars, phones, and more

The great semiconductor shortage of 2021 has most impacted automakers, which now rely on chips to build cars. But no company, large or small, is safe from the fallout—and bitcoin is partly to blame.

 
work life
Why streetwear design legend Melody Ehsani is Foot Locker’s new creative director

Melody Ehsani has established herself as a trailblazer in streetwear, particularly for women. Now she’s bringing that energy to the apparel retailer.

 
coronavirus
Online pharmacy Ro is now vaccinating seniors at home

Ro, which is known for selling sexual health products, is moving into home healthcare.

 
work life
Quitting can be a good thing. Here’s what to think about if you’re considering it

Why did I keep doing a job that wasn’t working for so long—even when I had other options? Because of the prevailing cultural norm that quitting is bad.

 
co.design
Forget Giphy. This new app creates movie montages to accompany your texts

Plus, there’s a soundtrack.

 
weekend read
Inside Jeff Bezos’s failed attempt to make Amazon “cool” like Apple and Nike

We talked to more than a dozen designers, many of whom worked with Bezos on Amazon’s most important products, as he steps down as CEO.

 
co.design
Why you should design for breakups—and let your users go

Do the right thing. Let your users move on.

 
from the archives
Stop annoying everyone with these common email mistakes

“You’d think years of using the tool would make us proficient, but email is considered one of the biggest time wasters at work.”

 
from the archives
25 incredibly useful things you didn’t know Google Docs could do

Whether you’re a Google Docs newbie or an old pro, you’ll learn something–or several somethings–from this how-to extravaganza.

 
 
video; brand hit and miss of the week
Jay-Z shines a light on hypocritical cannabis policies while Nike faces a sneaker reselling scandal—brand hit and miss of the week
Jay-Z’s cannabis company Monogram points out the hypocrisy in cannabis policy, and a Nike executive comes under fire for her son’s sneaker resale business.
WATCH NOW
 
 
 
Join us March 9-10, 2021 for the first-ever Most Innovative Companies Summit. Featuring a mix of panels, interviews, and breakout sessions the Summit will provide an early look at major business trends that Most Innovative Companies and their ilk are capitalizing on, while offering inspiration and practical insights on what it takes to innovate in 2021.
REGISTER
 
 
FREE SPONSORED E-BOOK OF THE DAY
The Ultimate Guide to Working from Home: 26 Tips for Maximum Productivity
Click here to download your free e-book.
 
 
Help support our journalism.
Subscribe to Fast Company Premium.
 
 
You can update your details here.
If you don’t want to receive Compass anymore, unsubscribe here.
If you were forwarded Compass and like it, subscribe here.

View this newsletter online.

7 World Trade Center, 29th Floor, New York, NY 10007-2195