The Giving and Taking Tree

Money doesn’t grow on trees. But money sure as hell can buy grown trees. Like, really grown. And that’s a big business these days. “More than ever, rich property owners are spending huge sums on full-grown oaks, palms and baobabs. They don’t have the time or patience to watch them grow.” The Latest Wealth Flex: Big Trees. “‘Of course, people have done big trees before,’ Andres Blanco, a principal at Ferguson & Shamamian Architects in New York, said. ‘But not at this scale. The money is now out of control.'”

+ If you don’t let the replanting craze block you from seeing the forest for the trees, you’ll notice that the same economic divide driving that purchase pattern is also leaving economic normies up a tree. Mayor Daniel Lurie has had a remarkably successful run as San Francisco mayor, but he’s facing a new challenge. The AI boom means that people doing well in the city might be doing too well. San Francisco Mayor Declares Rent Emergency Amid A.I. Housing Frenzy. “San Francisco has long had high housing costs, but the current atmosphere has been unusually difficult for residents to navigate. The housing frenzy has become so extreme that some landlords and apartment owners have offered tens of thousands of dollars to encourage longtime residents to leave their rent-controlled apartments.”