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Real Estate News and Advice |
August 29, 2008 |
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Mr. Jackson's Neighborhood
by Broderick Perkins
And you thought you'd heard the last of Michael "Who-Am-I?" Jackson, the King of Pop recently dethroned by a CD with lackluster sales and roasted by scathing news interviews and reports. While the interviews went over his $17 million Neverland fixer-upper-ranch-amusement park-zoo-hide-away with a fine-toothed comb that Jackson can get through whoever's hair is on his head, they didn't tell you much about Mr. Jackson's Neighborhood -- the tiny Santa Barbara County village of Los Olivos, population about 1,300. In a more down-to-earth spin on the strange lifestyle of a very rich-and-famous eccentric, Jackson's neighborhood is so unlike the maelstrom that swirls in and around Neverland, it acts to isolate the neighbors from Jacko's wacko world. Once but a stop on the overland stage coach route from San Francisco to Los Angeles and later a train depot on the same line, Los Olivos is now the bucolic home of some 500 or more horse ranch estates, Victorian-style homes and about two dozen businesses, small locally owned and operated art galleries, museums, boutiques and wineries nestled in the Santa Ynez Valley wine grape growing region of butterflies and honeybees. Households in the Currier and Ives-like setting are 91 percent white (Despite his appearance, Jackson is one of less than a dozen black households in the area. There's a larger smattering of Mexican, Hispanic, Asian and American Indian households), average 2.66 residents and are typically comprised of couples and small families. The largest group of residents are adults in the 35 to 54 age group. Most kids are 5 to 14 years old. The median age is 40.8 years and approximately two-thirds of the homes are owner-occupied will about one third are rented, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's FactFinder for the 93441 Los Olivos ZIP code. Real estate company T. Hayer & Associates, which listed the 2,300 acre Neverland estate before its sale to Jackson, also shows actor James Garner's 400-acre Savanna Ranch and Vineyard and television producer (Dynasty, The Love Boat, The Odd Couple, The Brady Bunch and Mission Impossible) Douglas S. Cramer's La Quinta Norte vineyard and 20,000 square foot residential compound, among its prior listings in Los Olivos. Los Olivos Realty yields current listings ranging from a 2-bedroom 2-bath hillside ranch-style home for $495,000 to a $4.4 million 3-bedroom, 2.5-bath barn kit home on 150 acres with more garages than bedrooms. But to know what really goes on in Mr. Jackson's Neighborhood outside Neverland's gates, a virtual peek through the windows can shed some light on the neighbors' activities. San Diego, CA-based Claritas' You Are Where You Live sifts through data from the Census, demographic statistics and consumer purchase records -- product registrations, warranty forms, service contracts and similar documents -- to distill two data bases of distinctive demographic and behavioral clusters or groups. A PRIZM database defines every neighborhood in the nation in terms of 62 demographically and behaviorally distinct types or "clusters" across 15 social groups. The MicroVision database likewise defines every neighborhood in 48 "segments" across 9 social groups. Marketers use either or both to target marketing campaigns, but home buyers can get a peculiar inside scoop on prospective neighborhoods and anyone can have a little voyeuristic fun by virtually peering into residents' windows to learn their habits, lifestyles and behaviors. In Mr. Jackson's Neighborhood, ZIP code 93411, here's what turned up. Largely professional and white collar, with ranch and farm homes, households earn from $36,500 to $89,000 with most earning more than $65,000. They often buy home improvements, laptop computers, fax machines and tax sheltered annuities. Pastimes include cross-country skiing, the rodeo, horseback riding, online shopping and online banking and households often include a cat and a garden tiller/tractor. For down time, residents watch Frasier, This Old House, QVC and nostalgia programming. They flip through Forbes, Bon Appetit, Colonial Homes, Soap Opera Digest and fraternal magazines.
Largely married couples, but also some married families with two or fewer kids and adults ranging in age from 45 to 69, households generate incomes considered above average with many residents in the high and very high income brackets. Active, sports-minded residents in the community enjoy downhill skiing, racquetball, boating, hiking, camping, fishing and hunting. They often own motor homes, campers, and small pick ups. They enjoy casual dining at Mexican restaurants, donut shops and Friendly's between stops at Home Depot and Nordstrom's. They also order housewares by mail or phone and take six or more domestic trips every year. Crammed with electronics, households often have extra phone lines, extra VCRs (they rent tapes from the grocery store) and more than one computer, as well as a cell phone, video camera and high end television. They use online services primarily to read online content and access e-mail, but also for education, entertainment and chat rooms. Big savers and big spenders, some households typically save or invest $20,000 a year (in mutual funds, money market deposit accounts and savings bonds) with the help of a financial planner, they have more than $200,000 in investable assets and use credit cards more than 10 times a month. Most have fixed rate first mortgages, second mortgages and they lease or buy cars on credit. TV lounging time includes tuning to NFL Monday Night Football, Friends, Home Improvement and reruns of Suddenly Susan and Seinfeld. Radio preferences include classical, golden oldies and country western music and news/talk programming. Reading includes National Geographic, Money, Golf Digest, Time, Country Living, Disney Channel and fishing/hunting magazines as well as the Wall Street Journal. Behavioral and lifestyle indications are that many residents may not even know they live in Mr. Jackson's Neighborhood. They likely couldn't care less. Published: February 28, 2003 Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws. 
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Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a
contemporary digital news service that really hits home.