I am a licensed architect living in the Boston metro area. I am member of the Boston Society of Architects, American Institute of Architects, have done some teaching/thesis advising and numerous other organizations and affiliations that really don’t matter here. Mostly I am just a person with a passion for what I do, and as a designer I have a ‘function follows form’ (literally) modern approach. But as an architect I specialize in the fundamental service of problem solving and will engage in whatever kind of project allows me to do this every day.
Like most architects I am an introvert and usually find myself more comfortable in the shadows. I have a very dry sense of humor and will always leave you laughing. I’m not here with an agenda nor am I here to debate (or promote) social, economical or political issues. At the end of the day, with my architect hat on a hook, I am just the quite guy next door who can be found on a mountain 
bike or discussing swim times, boys, and scary movies with my daughter Lindsay, playing Axis & Allies, or Skyrim with my son Enin, or on a little league diamond molding young baseball minds. But my favorite non architect activity is sitting out in the yard with friends and family, some cold drinks, a summer evening and pizza.
I try not to take life too seriously, but I do take architecture and construction seriously. Enough to step out of the shadows and reveal myself when I began to see the amount of people who want to build or renovate but don’t know what steps to take or what to expect if they even get the project off the ground. So I opened this forum as a virtual coffee shop, but mostly a friendly place to have a conversation with an architect. We obviously see building and buildings differently, it’s part of our training and for most it’s in our nature. But I also believe that we think differently in general and might be perceived a little mysterious and perhaps misunderstood. Or not, you tell me. I have designed this blog to be candid and approachable with a touch of humor, the perfect place for what you might think is a stupid question.
Good morning, Bryan,
Thanks for your correspondence this morning. Wish I had more conclusive information to offer you but your interest interests me.
1. We both like the MLS access system you’ve used on and off. As you may know, it’s one of dozens options offered by the vendor community to real estate brokerages. One of their competitive advantages is that it offers ACTIVE listings in a lifestyle decision-making context. The other advantage is that it once offered access to public records from the same interface.
2. It appears that they no longer offer public records showing tax assessments, so my desire to offer clients the opportunity to search 100% of the inventory can no longer be delivered through this vendor.
3. I’ve asked them to confirm the status of that functionality, before I decide whether to renew my account which is currently inactive.
4. I offer another MLS option, and have been selected by a NEW start-up to offer another next generation MLS access option. The new vendor, TLCEngine, will give homebuyers to option to sort listing “matches” by TLC, which means True Living Costs.
5. Knowing you are an architect, if you’d like to be able to BETA test that site, it should be ready to test in the next 30 days if not next week.
Finally, there was a time in my academic life 35 years ago when I aspired to be part of MIT joint architecture / city planning program. As a young parent, I opted to finish the MCP. Over a decade, that path turned towards devoting my life to reforming the real estate industry. Still, I have never lost my interest in architecture, and am pleased that my daughter works at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design.
I’m intrigued by your development of “this forum as a virtual coffee shop,” and would enjoy the opportunity to have friendly conversation with you offline sometime. I’m at the Starbucks at Wendell St (my last name with two LL’s) and Mass. Ave every morning, but glad to meet anywhere.
Bill
Thanks Bill,
Great information. I’ll contact you off-line and we can set something up.
Bryan