Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

All of this was done on my own dime; the landlord didnt pay for a nail, Mr. Bloom said. My rent was subsidized, but that was offset by spending $60,000.

He hoped to renew his lease at favorable rates. But last spring, the landlord told him the rent would go from $3,865 a month to $5,850. And Mr. Bloom would still be responsible for heat and building maintenance from replacing a broken refrigerator in one of the two apartments to dealing with a broken boiler.

I was astonished I did not get a better deal, said Mr. Bloom, who couldnt afford the increase. Finally, in late fall, after months of negotiation, he signed a new four-year-lease at $4,800 a month, with 2 percent annual increases. While he would have preferred to simply rent his own unit at a discount, the landlord was not amenable to splitting the leases, and Mr. Bloom is still responsible for the heat and maintenance, including replacing appliances, although not for the mechanicals or the roof.

The deal, he said, is barely financially manageable. The downstairs unit now rents for $3,150 a month, leaving him with a cost of $1,650 for the top floor. And the landlord has told him he must leave after his current lease ends in 2023.

The space I created is a delightful, strange, kooky space, he said. I think I wanted to create a space that felt welcoming and like my New York the way New York used to be.

But it ended up driving home the reality of renting in New York: If youre not in a rent-stabilized apartment, your claim on a place begins and ends with the lease.

Its challenging to reconcile the idea of home with impermanence, he said. But that is the nature of being a renter.

See the original post here:
The Perils of Renovating if You Rent - The New York Times

WASHINGTON Construction of new homes surged in December to the highest level in 13 years, capping a year in which falling mortgage rates and a strong labor market helped lift the prospects of the housing industry.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that builders started construction on 1.61 million homes at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in December, up 16.9% from the November pace of home building.

Housing construction has been rising since July, helped by falling mortgage rates and increased demand as the unemployment rate approached a half-century low. For the year, builders started work on a total of 1.29 million homes, the best showing since 2007.

The December building rate was the strongest number since December 2006 during the last housing boom.

Applications for building permits, considered a good sign of future activity, fell 3.9% in December to an annual rate of 1.42 million, but remained well above the pace in July.

Construction of single-family homes rose 11.2% to an annual rate of 1.06 million homes last month while apartment construction fell 9.6%.

The 1.29 million units constructed for all of 2019 was up 3.2% from the previous year and was the best showing since 1.36 million homes were built in 2007. As the housing boom was reaching its peak, construction was started on a total of 2.07 million homes in 2005, the highest total for any year in that boom.

By region, construction was up 25.5% in the Northeast, 37.3% in the Midwest, 9.3% in the South and 19.8% in the West.

Like this article? Gain access to all of our great content with a month-to-month subscription.Start your subscription here.

Original post:
US housing construction jumps 16.9% in December - Finance and Commerce

Issuing predictions for a new year, let alone a new decade, is a mugs game. However, there are events to which the construction industry can look forward with certainty over the next several years. These will impact how developers, owners, designers and contractors consider new projects over the next ten years.

Many of these events will be regulatory in nature. Changes to Canadas National Building Code are expected later this year and will continue to evolve over the next 10 years as part of the countrys 2030 commitment to overall global GHG reduction.

As a result, the building industry will be motivated to look beyond green field construction and tear-down-and-replace projects in order to meet the housing, commercial and infrastructure demands for the worlds ever-increasing population. Some of that attention will be directed to something very familiar: older buildings.

Renovating or repurposing existing buildings is not an entirely new concept. Homeowners have been renovating with enthusiasm for decades. Old warehouses in former urban factory districts have been repurposed as trendy workspaces, restaurants, galleries and condominiums.

Through creative design, repurposing and renovation can offer new life even to existing shopping malls, high-rise apartments and commercial buildings without the complete demolition of what was standing beforehand.

There are examples everywhere. Calgary developer Strategic Group is converting the Barron Building, an iconic 50s-era downtown 12-storey office building into a mixed-use space featuring retail and rental residences. The buildings art deco exterior will be preserved while modern residences are built inside.

In Hamilton Ont., the Ken Soble Tower, a 50-year-old, 24-storey municipally-owned seniors residence, is undergoing a deep energy retrofit, the first of what will be many similar projects in cities across Canada.

Beyond the aesthetic appeal of many older structures, there is another reason for the growing interest in preserving buildings rather than replacing them with newly cast concrete and steel embodied carbon.

New construction processes are very wasteful of carbon and other GHGs, accounting for eight per cent of all GHGs created around the world. Of course, the argument that new buildings are more operationally energy-efficient than older buildings is compelling, at least until one learns that construction of those new buildings accounts for 80 per cent of total GHG emissions over the structures lifespan.

In fact, the payback period for carbon expended during construction can take decades to recover through energy-efficiency gains. Toronto architectural firm Quadrangle conducted an internal Life Cycle Carbon analysis that indicated a carbon payback period for concrete construction of 43 years. Mass timber construction was better, at 21 years.

While this would seem to favour wood over concrete during a buildings expected lifecycle, it overlooks the carbon savings of renovated or re-purposed buildings. These existing structures represent the embodiment of tons of carbon expended decades earlier.

However, not everyone is sold on the concept of renovation or repurposing to extend a buildings useful life.

The 2016 IKEA building in London, U.K., promoted as the companys most sustainable store in their global network, resulted ironically in the demolition of a 15-year-old supermarket that was itself a pioneer of passive and active solutions for heating, cooling and day-lighting.

In Canada, some leading developers are dismissive of apartment building upgrades in lieu of new construction despite the high demand for increased and improved rental housing supply.

RioCan REITs CEO, Ed Sonshine recently referred to such renovations in the Globe and Mail as attempting to put lipstick on a pig. When youve got 50 years of cooking in a building, the walls smell, he said. And you cant replace anything, because then you have to kick people out.

The reduction of the construction industrys contribution to GHGs will, of course, require several solutions: forced regulation, improved manufacturing and assembly methods, and increased use of carbon-reduced materials. At the same time, it will mean a new dawn for older buildings, and recognition that something old can be made new again.

John Bleasby is a Coldwater, Ont. based freelance writer. Send comments and Inside Innovation column ideas to editor@dailycommercialnews.com.

View post:
Inside Innovation: In praise of older buildings - Daily Commercial News

Halifax residents hoping for relief from the citys tight rental market may have a long wait ahead of them.

Public records show that the pace at which the city issues new building permits for multi-unit dwellings may not be keeping pace with population levels.

The news comes in the wake of a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. report, released Wednesday, which found that rental vacancy rates have fallen to one per cent their lowest level on record, according to CMHC economist Kelvin Ndoro.

When we look at where the changes have been, affordability is an issue for people, says Ndoro. Vacancy rates dropped the most in more affordable areas outside mainland Halifax.

The CMHC data refers to vacancy rates in privately owned apartment buildings with three or more rental units.

Information obtained through Halifaxs Open Data website, separate from the CMHC report, shows that number of new residential units being approved by the city is still growing. Counting the three-unit and larger projects, 3,895 units were approved in 2019, compared to 2,836 the year before.

And the CMHC report says that there are more than 4,000 rental housing units currently under construction in the Halifax Regional Municipality, which is the highest level ever recorded. It also states, however, that nearly 1,000 fewer rental apartments were completed between June of 2018 and June of 2019 than were built during the previous year.

In terms of construction, we are on the right track, says Ndoro. It all depends on how much faster apartments are completed and rented out, in relation to how quickly demand increases.

But data from the Halifax Partnership economic development organization shows that the citys population has been growing at a rate of about 8,000 people annually in each of the last three years. The CMHC report found that these migration levels, both from within Canada and from abroad, is driving much of the decrease in vacancies.

According to Investment Property Owners Association of Nova Scotia executive director Kevin Russell, most rental housing projects take several years to complete. And as the units already under construction are finished, the most acute demand may start to abate, possibly causing new projects to be slower in coming.

Ndoro adds: There is supply in the pipeline. Its just that supply takes a little bit longer than demand. Its difficult to say how many apartments are needed But definitely, we need more additions in the market than were currently having right now.

In 2016, according to Russell, it often took landlords 30 to 45 days to fill a vacant unit, and sometimes as many as 45 to 60 days. Now, most units are filled within a day or two.

Whats happening is what the industry calls back-to-backs, so someone is moving out and someone is moving in right after, says Russell.

According to Halifax Mayor Mike Savage, the rental crunch is partly the result of the city failing to take action soon enough: As the city has grown over the last number of years, we havent kept pace as much as people think we have.

But he cautions that building more apartments is only one of several possible strategies to address the rental shortage.

Other options are to permit the creation of rental units in areas where they were previously not permitted and to penalize landlords who fail to include affordable housing in new buildingsa tactic that he says will be included in the forthcoming second part of Halifaxs Centre Plan.

If they dont do it in their buildings, working with organizations like Housing Nova Scotia, we will charge them and take the money, which weve already begun to do, and use it to work with partners, says Savage. It could be some kind of a housing NGO, an organization that provides shelter to women or people with disabilities, and we will partner directly with them.

Risa Roberts, the provincial NDP housing critic, called for rent control in Nova Scotia to "properly regulated short-term rentals." She also said the province should support the development of more non-profit, cooperative and public housing.

"Average rent was up almost four per cent from $1,066 to $1,113 in Halifax, and up 3.6 per cent across the province. Already, 19 per cent of households spend 50 per cent or more of their income on housing and utilities, as these costs continue to rise that number will get even bigger," she said in a news release.

More here:
Construction in Halifax not keeping pace with apartment rental demand - TheChronicleHerald.ca

Ms McCarthy said residents of the apartment building were told on December 20 that building would begin in early January and take 12 months.

However, she said residents were only given details of the size of the building and the material used in its construction last week after work had already begun with the removal of the trees.

It's so depressing, she said. The big fig trees were just glorious. The irony of cutting down trees in the middle of bushfires just sends me spare.

Ms McCarthy also accused Defence of ignoring residents attempts to discuss the project before building works commenced.

I mean it's the arrogance and hubris of not responding to our letter, she said.

A Defence spokeswoman said the building works were part of a $286 million project to replace ageing and degraded substations.

Extensive community consultations were conducted in 2018 prior to a public inquiry into the project by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Work, she said. Defence continues to have ongoing and regular consultation with community members regarding the Base, with concerns raised being directly addressed with the affected residents.

While state planning laws do not apply to building projects on Commonwealth land, the spokeswoman said Defence had to comply with Commonwealth laws, which were similar in nature to the NSW planning rules.

But Andrew Woodhouse, the president of the Potts Point & Kings Cross Heritage & Residents' Society, said Defence had failed to adequately consult with its neighbours.

Mr Woodhouse outlined residents concerns about the bulk, size and design of the building, which he said was horrendous and looks like a Bunnings barn special in a letter to Defence.

Mr Woodhouse also said Defence had failed to investigate the potential negative impacts of the building on neighbours.

Loading

Defence is arrogant, ignorant and negligent and may be subject to very large future legal claims from its staff and neighbours, he said.

Mr Woodhouse said residents were concerned about the risk damage to their apartment building.

The underhand manner in which defence has dealt with locals is risible, he said.

A spokeswoman for the City of Sydney said the council had not not received any updates from Defence about the project since April 2018.

Loading

She said the council had strongly recommended Defence take measures to deal with potential issues such as noise, vibration, construction traffic and contaminants being washed into the harbour.

If the land was privately owned or under the jurisdiction of the city or state government, a development application for the project and proposed loss of two trees would have been required to be placed on public exhibition to allow the community to review and provide feedback, she said.

However, Alex Greenwich, the Independent member for Sydney, said the parliamentary committees scrutiny was unlikely to consider the impact of Defence building projects on adjacent neighbourhoods.

Mr Greenwich said any other developer would have to justify the removal of mature trees.

While Defence has national interests that warrant priority, there should be independent assessment and oversight of significant developments, most of which are not for urgent military outcomes, especially when neighbours are concerned about health, safety or amenity, he said.

Andrew Taylor is a Senior Reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.

Continued here:
'It's so depressing': Why this developer can ignore NSW planning laws - The Age

Phil Morrison, who heads up Clarions construction team, takes a look at some of the questions being raised in the wake of the Grenfell fire disaster three years ago.

There is understandable concern amongst the owners of apartments in high-rise buildings as to the level of financial liability that these owners may have for the replacement of the cladding to their high-rise building.

The fire safety of buildings is governed by overlapping legislation under the Housing Act 2014; the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRO) and Building Regulations. Under this legislation the responsibility for fire safety in apartment buildings can be imposed on the Landlord/Freehold Proprietor for the overall building, or the Management Company for the Common Parts and the Leaseholders for apartments and common parts.

As a result, it is likely that all of these parties will have responsibility for paying for (contributing to) the replacement of flammable cladding. However, there are various factors that influence where liability lies, and I would encourage those who are unsure to seek legal advice.

The potential claims that arise in this situation include a failure to meet the statutory obligations (mentioned above) for the design of the development, for the selection of materials used in the development and for the standard of workmanship used in the development.

The key issue is who a claim of this nature should be brought by and who it may be brought against. It will be important to establish the relevant facts, to understand how the particular cladding came to be installed and whether what was actually installed on the building is the same as what was specified to be installed. The parties and contracts to be identified are the developer, building contractor and design team.

It is unlikely that each of the leaseholders will have a direct contractual relationship with the parties who built and designed the building. Without this direct contractual relationship, any claim must be brought under the principal of negligence/tort. However, these are very difficult to win. The leaseholder may have a contractual claim against the developer/landlord.

The first point of call for leaseholders would be to review the NHBC/Zurich/Checkmate warranty issued in relation to the apartment, to see if this covers the cladding. Leaseholders will also need to look at the lease, freehold documentation and management company agreement which will set out the obligations and liabilities of each of the parties and what will be covered under the service charge. In addition, they will need to look at the insurance documentation. If leaseholders are unsure, it is important to seek legal advice.

If cladding complies with the Building Regulations in force at the time of construction, there is no requirement under the Regulations for upgrading existing fire safety measures to current standards. However, existing non-compliances with the current Building Regulations must not be made any worse in the course of alterations or building works. Powers also exist under the Building Regulations to require unauthorised material alterations to be rectified if a breach of the Regulations resulted from the work. At any time, an application can be made to the local authority building control for regularisation of unauthorised work carried out after 1985, enabling retrospective approval to be granted, subject to the work being satisfactory.

In the first instance, the Fire Marshalls will be appointed by the management company and the costs recouped from the leaseholders through the service charges. Such costs may be recoverable from any party who is responsible for non-compliance of the cladding, if it can be shown that the Fire Marshalls were required as a direct result of this non-compliance.

More here:
Flammable cladding an update from Clarions construction team - Business Up North

The City of Fredericton has approved two eight-storey apartment buildings for the Sunshine Gardens neighbourhood across from Odell Park.

This week, Fredericton's planning advisory committee approved the project through avariance, a process that doesn't require the approval of city council.

The 168-unit project willsit at the corner of Waggoners Lane and Rookwood Avenue across from the entrance to the park. The apartment buildings will also include a commercial use.

Work is expected to start in the spring, although dirt was already being piled at the site before the variance granted by the planning committee.

There wassome opposition tohaving large apartment buildings alter the neighbourhood so close to the park, but John MacDermid, a member of the planning committee, saidFredericton needs them.

"The face of our city is going to change," MacDermidsaid Thursday.

"I think we can be nostalgic about it and say, 'Look I want to keep it the same.' But the reality is as our economy grows and as the city grows we have to find a place to put these folks."

Right now,the properties at 264 and 270 Rookwood Ave.are both vacant.

Year after year,MacDermid said up to 1,500 people move to New Brunswick's capital city, andtheapartment buildings will help the city cope with the growth.

The city's population is expected to grow by24,000 in the next two decades.

MacDermid said about 8,000 of those people will be living in the core, which extends up to the intersection where the apartment buildings will be built. And he expects more apartment buildings to pop up in coming years.

"It's a reality, our city is changing," said MacDermid.

The councillor said Frederictonalso has one of the lowest apartment vacancy rates in New Brunswick, at around 1.7 per cent.

MacDermid acknowledged the mixed reaction to the project, including from two residents who shared their thoughts at this week's committeemeeting.

He has also received some emailsexpressing concerns about the project, which included the buildings' closeness to Odell Park.

But a staff report to the committee also includedletters of support, including a letter from Jim Morell.

He said there were too many "boxy buildings in the city," adding Fredericton needed more "architecturally unique and eye-appealing, modern-looking structures," which he suggested was what's being proposed by architect and project applicant Ann Scovil.

Another letter from Chris Miller said the new buildings would allow easy access to Odell Park, the local trail system and businesses in the area.

Only residents living within 30 metres of the planned buildings received letters notifying them of the development.

The city's zoning bylawpermits more than one larger-scalebuilding on the lot, according to a staff report.

But any changes with zoning amendments are required to go through council, which has final approval.

According New Brunswick's Community Planning Act,a variance canbe voted on at a planning advisory committee.

"It's being used exactly how the zoning bylaw outlines for it to be used," MacDermid said. "It's just changing the parameters."

Those parameters include variances in density that would accommodate the additional units, a three-metre variance in buildingheight, additional space for parking and a side yard setback to permit construction.

Wayne Knorr, a spokesperson for the city, said variances can be for a number of different projects that don't have to go through council, such as someone building a shed on their property.

The staff report also saysthe new apartment buildings could speed up a new roundabout that was expected to be built atWaggoners Lane and Rookwood Avenue for 2022.

Depending on a traffic study, budget approval and land acquisition, a new roundabout could now be built by 2021.

The rest is here:
8-storey apartment buildings next to Odell Park in Fredericton win approval - CBC.ca

As part of its expanded Community Store Program initiative, Starbucks Corporation SBUX announced that it plans to open 100 community stores in low income areas across the United States by 2025. The company partnered with United Way to develop programming for each store, such as youth job training classes or mentorship groups.

Notably, the community program initiative was launched in 2015 and since then Starbucks has opened 14 stores across the country with the first one in Ferguson, MO. It will open its 15th store in Prince Georges County, MD this spring.

The 14 Community Stores have helped the company empower partners and customers to create meaningful impact locally and reach out to more than 8,000 neighborhoods across the country.

The Seattle-based coffee chain, while opening or remodelling its 85 stores, will take into consideration some factors like high youth unemployment, low median household income and population stability. Moreover, the company will prioritize developing stores in economically distressed communities or Opportunity Zones. It anticipates to open stores in Prince Georges County, MD; Anacostia, D.C.; and Los Angeles, CA, among others.

Meanwhile, per estimates, the Community Stores have created more than 300 local jobs and generated more than $59.7 million in indirect economic development. The new stores will attract local workers, diverse contractors and will have dedicated community event spaces.

These apart, management focuses on increasing its global market share by opening stores in new and existing markets, remodeling existing stores, deploying technology, controlling costs as well as undertaking product innovation and brand building. In fiscal 2019, Starbucks added 1,900 net new stores. In 2018 and 2017, the company had added 2,300 and 2,250 net new locations, respectively.

For fiscal 2020, Starbucks plans to add 2,000 net new stores (600 net new stores in Americas and 1,400 net new stores internationally). New store productivity and Return on Investment (ROI) in the United States and China are high. By fiscal 2021, the company intends to open approximately 12,000 stores globally, taking the total store count to an estimated 37,000.

Courtesy of these efforts, the stock has outperformed the industry in the past year. The companys shares have rallied 44.7% compared with the industrys growth of 21.9% in the same time frame.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Starbucks currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Some better-ranked stocks from the same space include Chuy's Holdings, Inc. CHUY, Denny's Corporation DENN and Noodles & Company NDLS, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Chuys, Dennys and Noodles have impressive long-term earnings growth rate of 17.5%, 9% and 10%, respectively.

Biggest Tech Breakthrough in a Generation

Be among the early investors in the new type of device that experts say could impact society as much as the discovery of electricity. Current technology will soon be outdated and replaced by these new devices. In the process, its expected to create 22 million jobs and generate $12.3 trillion in activity.

A select few stocks could skyrocket the most as rollout accelerates for this new tech. Early investors could see gains similar to buying Microsoft in the 1990s. Zacks just-released special report reveals 8 stocks to watch. The report is only available for a limited time.

See 8 breakthrough stocks now>>

Denny's Corporation (DENN): Free Stock Analysis Report

Chuy's Holdings, Inc. (CHUY): Free Stock Analysis Report

Noodles & Company (NDLS): Free Stock Analysis Report

Starbucks Corporation (SBUX): Free Stock Analysis Report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

See the original post:
Starbucks Partners United Way to Expand in Underserved Areas - Nasdaq

Much research has helped paint a picture of the relationship between sugar and our brain's reward system, though there remains many blanks to be filled. Scientists in Denmark have now offered further insights into how the sweet stuff reshapes our brain chemistry, by performing experiments on pigs and taking note of how the reward circuitry lights up after consumption.

The research was carried out by scientists at Denmark's Aarhus University, who say the use of pigs rather than more conventional animal models was key to advancing their understanding of sugar and the brain. It was also useful in avoiding a range of other factors that can activate the brain's reward systems and cause wild fluctuations in data, such as playing video games, sex, romance or other things we eat.

"The pig is a good alternative because its brain is more complex than a rodent and gyrated like human and large enough for imaging deep brain structures using human brain scanners," says study author Michael Winterdahl. "The current study in mini-pigs introduced a well-controlled set-up with the only variable being the absence or presence of sugar in the diet."

Experiments were carried out on seven pigs, which were fed two liters (0.5 gal) of sugar water a day over a 12-day period. The scientists imaged their brains beforehand, after the first day, and then after the 12th day to observe any changes.

"After just 12 days of sugar intake, we could see major changes in the brain's dopamine and opioid systems," says Winterdahl. "In fact, the opioid system, which is that part of the brain's chemistry that is associated with well-being and pleasure, was already activated after the very first intake,"

This echoes findings from previous studies on sugar intake and neurotransmitters like dopamine, which the brain releases in response to rewarding experiences or consumption of addictive drugs like cocaine. The influence sugar appears to have on this kind of brain circuitry has long been likened to the effects of addictive drugs, and the scientists new analysis on pig brains has led them to a similar conclusion.

"If sugar can change the brain's reward system after only 12 days, as we saw in the case of the pigs, you can imagine that natural stimuli such as learning or social interaction are pushed into the background and replaced by sugar and/or other 'artificial' stimuli," says Winterdahl. "We're all looking for the rush from dopamine, and if something gives us a better or bigger kick, then that's what we choose."

The team's research was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Source: Aarhus University via EurekAlert

The rest is here:
Pig study sheds new light on sugar's addictive impacts on the brain - New Atlas

In film and television shows alike, cheerleaders are rarely taken seriously as complex characters and competitive athletes. But the new Netflix show Cheer, set in Texas, finally shows cheerleaders to be exactly that. (Disclaimer: Texas Monthly associate editor Leif Reigstad was interviewed for the documentary.)

The six-part docuseries follows the cheer team at Navarro College, a junior college of about 10,000 students in Corsicana, in the months leading up to the 2019 NCAA Collegiate Cheer and Dance Championships in Daytona Beach. For years, cheerleaders from all over the country have traveled to Corsicana for a chance to compete on the Navarro cheer team, known for consistently earning top spots at the NCAA National and Grand National Championships since 2000. The way we prepare, you keep going until you get it right, and then you keep going until you cant get it wrong, Monica Aldama, who heads Navarros team, says in the documentary. A Corsicana native, previous cheerleader, and now coach, Aldama had, up to 2019, brought home thirteen national championship titles to Navarro in the past two decadesher feats are so widely recognized within the cheer community that shes nicknamed The Queen.

Part gymnastics, part dance routine, and part Cirque du Soleil, competitive cheer belongs in its own category of sports. They are the toughest athletes Ive ever filmed, Greg Whiteley, Cheers director, said in a recent interview. I dont think that was something I would have thought would be true before I started exploring this world. Anyone in the cheer world is familiar with the intensity thats required to excel in this excruciating sport, yet Cheer shows that it can be a fairly insular worldeven Corsicana residents interviewed for the documentary are unaware of Navarros cheer prestige.

Cheer offers a corrective to that. As the Navarro team works to develop their two and a half minute routine throughout the docuseries, they flex their tumbling skills and impressive stunts, such as a pyramid formation that involves multiple cheerleaders flying through the air and landing on other members shoulders. But the documentary also places their falls and misstepsas well as the injuries stemming from themon full display. As a viewer, its brutal to watch as squad members get tossed into the air, and you find yourself crossing your fingers in hopes that theyre caught. Boys groan as their backs give out while holding up teammates, girls wince from bruised ribs; trips to the ER arent uncommon. But the Navarro College cheerleaders are willing to endure long hours and risky routines for the chance to keep training. If Monica believes in me enough to put me in, then I should be able to trust myself, Morgan Simianer, a flyer, says in Cheer. Id do anything for that woman.

Throughout its six episodes, Cheer follows five main characters (Simianer included) and the struggles they face amidst training. The stories include that of Gabi Butler, a cheerfluencer whos gained an impressive following on social media and faces an overwhelming pressure from herself, her parents, and the cheer community to be perfect; Simianer, who was abandoned by her parents as a teenager and who was left to live with her brother in a trailer; and LaDarius Marshall, an openly gay male cheerleader who felt rejected by his family in Florida. Each squad member sees Aldama as their champion, sometimes even as a second mother. Although they are bound by cheerleading, their ties typically extend outside of the sport, toofor instance, after one squad member has old nude photos of her leaked by someone she fought with in the past, Aldama helps her go to the police and report it.

While Aldama seems to have their best interests at heart, shes also tough about disciplining her cheerleaders on the mat and off. Students have a team tutor, and Aldama enforces punishments in practice for tardies and absences in classes outside of cheer. Whenever someone isnt caught or a move isnt completed, Aldama makes the entire team do push-ups. And in one instance, Aldama chastises a cheerleader who gets injured while competing outside of Navarro (some cheerleaders take on extra cheerleading outside of their extracurricular at school) by making him run through a routine while limpingand toward the end of it, hes on his knees crying from the pain. While a regimen is certainly needed to groom national champions, her methods are sometimes questionable.

At its core, Cheer homes in on the idea of trust, as much as the trust that squad members have in each other, in themselves, and what it takes to develop it. While dealing with their own personal traumas, the characters tackle both the physical extremities and emotional barriers of the sportwhich, in turn, is a critical part of cheerleading. If one person is off either physically or mentally, it could affect the whole team or send a pyramid tumbling down. Although the characters challenges are personal, theyre often solved with the help of their teammates: one character, Lexi Brumback, comes off as a loner in the beginning of the series (when shes instead trying to avoid drama, because of her past of getting into violent fights). As she begins to open up to her teammates, and sees that they accept her, she gains confidence in herself as both an athlete and a young woman.

Instead of capitalizing on tired cheerleading stereotypes, Cheer presents the sports harsh realities, from the physical brutality involved to the fact that theres no professional career to follow. (Unlike football, basketball, or soccer, college cheerleading is the end of the line for competitive cheer athletes.) By the time the team finally reaches Daytona, viewers find themselves not just rooting for Navarro athletes to win a national championship. Theyre also cheering on people who are trying their best to lift one another up.

Link:
Netflixs Cheer Docuseries Sheds Light on the Sports Harsh Realities - Texas Monthly