The Road Less Traveled

The consensus I’ve seen in the media is people are commuting less over the long distance for the Thanksgiving holiday this 2008. This is my first American Thanksgiving. We drove a brief fifteen minutes for some good company and a lovely feast. We did not fly, nor visit family in another state. I wonder if we could have reduced our carbon footprint even more? What would a green thanksgiving look like?

The images that come to mind are images of pioneers and the true thanksgiving spirit. Carpooling, walking, or even a horse and buggy are all possibilities in Western Pennsylvania. I am thankful for the many conveniences and luxuries we have, yet we each hold a choice whether we wish to exploit these options, or simply know they are available.

SoHo was initially known as a neighborhood in New York City originally associated with the Arts. Artist’s studios and living spaces were conjoined into a singular space, narrowing the divide between work and home. Today the acronym SoHo refers to, in spirit, anyone who does business from a small office/home office. SoHo generally refers to a small office environment of 1-10 persons; a small business is a company which reaches 100 employees or more. With the emergence of the virtual office, SoHo is now finally able to compete in the world market in unique ways. Research has predominately focused on small business rather than the SOHO office, but this is changing as SOHO becomes into its own. Here are some SOHO research links for interested readers:

http://www.sba/gov/library/reportsroom.html

http://www.econdata.net/

http://www.demographics.com/