Photos
Appraiser 1963
Wedding 1966
With Denise Epstein 1993
Through my professor at CCNY I had an interview with Larry Smith a real estate consultant with offices in Seattle and Washington DC. He hired me for the Washington office and I moved to the District of Columbia. Once there I loved it; I loved the work and made many friends. Many of who are still close friends.
Larry Smith did economic studies for proposed shopping centers and estimated the gross sales for the centers after they were open 5 years. I traveled throughout the eastern half of the country doing the original field research on which the estimates were based. I got to know the country and had a wonderful time. Larry Smith also did reuse studies for redevelopment agencies and I did the original fieldwork for those too.
After the job came to an end, I could not find another job in Washington for love or money. I decided to head west and seek my fortune. I had answered ads in the San Francisco and Los Angeles newspapers and was headed for LA. I had bought my buddy Irwin’s car and was driving Route 66 from Chicago to LA. In the middle of the Mojave Desert in Barstow I said to myself, “Why am I going to LA, when everybody tells me that San Francisco is so beautiful?” So when Route 66 met Highway 101 instead of turning left, I turned right and north to San Francisco.
Once is San Francisco I went to the Jewish Community Center on California Street and was advised to find a residence club. It was November and the weather was sunny and gorgeous. I moved into ‘Baker Acres’ on Washington Street in Pacific Heights and when I first saw the Palace of the Legion of Honor and the Golden Gate Bridge I thought that I had died and woken up in heaven. After about two weeks I met David Simmons, a real estate appraiser and became his assistant. Later Big Dave helped me become a US citizen and I never looked back! I was Dave’s assistant for about 3 or 4 years and then decided to take a job with the Richmond Redevelopment Agency. I went back to see my Mother several times and it was during this period that I convinced her that she should give up her house in Guildford and move to Oakland. My Mother had been right about “the land of savages” because the day that she arrived in America was the day that President Kennedy was assassinated! After Richmond I worked for several local public agencies doing appraisals and sometimes land acquisition and also married Jean in 1966 and we had two daughters; Suzanne was born in 1968 and Lysa in 1971. Eventually I worked for the Real Estate Services Division of BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit District) After 25 years in public agency real estate including 7 years with BART, I retired. By this time I was also divorced.
Larry Smith did economic studies for proposed shopping centers and estimated the gross sales for the centers after they were open 5 years. I traveled throughout the eastern half of the country doing the original field research on which the estimates were based. I got to know the country and had a wonderful time. Larry Smith also did reuse studies for redevelopment agencies and I did the original fieldwork for those too.
After the job came to an end, I could not find another job in Washington for love or money. I decided to head west and seek my fortune. I had answered ads in the San Francisco and Los Angeles newspapers and was headed for LA. I had bought my buddy Irwin’s car and was driving Route 66 from Chicago to LA. In the middle of the Mojave Desert in Barstow I said to myself, “Why am I going to LA, when everybody tells me that San Francisco is so beautiful?” So when Route 66 met Highway 101 instead of turning left, I turned right and north to San Francisco.
Once is San Francisco I went to the Jewish Community Center on California Street and was advised to find a residence club. It was November and the weather was sunny and gorgeous. I moved into ‘Baker Acres’ on Washington Street in Pacific Heights and when I first saw the Palace of the Legion of Honor and the Golden Gate Bridge I thought that I had died and woken up in heaven. After about two weeks I met David Simmons, a real estate appraiser and became his assistant. Later Big Dave helped me become a US citizen and I never looked back! I was Dave’s assistant for about 3 or 4 years and then decided to take a job with the Richmond Redevelopment Agency. I went back to see my Mother several times and it was during this period that I convinced her that she should give up her house in Guildford and move to Oakland. My Mother had been right about “the land of savages” because the day that she arrived in America was the day that President Kennedy was assassinated! After Richmond I worked for several local public agencies doing appraisals and sometimes land acquisition and also married Jean in 1966 and we had two daughters; Suzanne was born in 1968 and Lysa in 1971. Eventually I worked for the Real Estate Services Division of BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit District) After 25 years in public agency real estate including 7 years with BART, I retired. By this time I was also divorced.
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