Why even try to have an identity? The marketers have one for you...

[HamdenRice]

I was researching my neighborhood, when I came across a reference to this system of categorizing neighborhoods. For some reason it just infuriates me.

http://www.clusterbigip1.claritas.com/MyBestSegments/Default.jsp?ID=30&SubID=&pageName=Segment%2BLook-up

Marketers divide and characterize neighborhoods into segments, which them give catchy names like:

"Money and Brains" -- "The residents of Money & Brains seem to have it all: high incomes, advanced degrees and sophisticated tastes to match their credentials. Many of these citydwellers, predominantly white with a high concentration of Asian Americans, are married couples with few children who live in fashionable homes on small, manicured lots."

or:

"Bohemian Mix" -- "A collection of young, mobile urbanites, Bohemian Mix represents the nation's most liberal lifestyles. Its residents are a progressive mix of young singles and couples, students and professionals, Hispanics, Asians, African-Americans and whites. In their funky rowhouses and apartments, Bohemian Mixers are the early adopters who are quick to check out the latest movie, nightclub, laptop and microbrew."

And you thought that you moved to Williamsburg or the East Village for your own personal reasons! How naive of you!

In addition to stereotyping you, they predict that you: "shop at Banana Republic, Go jogging, Read Vanity Fair, Watch Friends in syndication and drive a Audi A4/S4." (No mention that the reason you might read Vanity Fair is to learn about Plamegate!)

or:

"White Picket Fences" -- "Midpoint on the socioeconomic ladder, residents in White Picket Fences look a lot like the stereotypical American household of a generation ago: young, middle-class, married with children. But the current version is characterized by modest homes and ethnic diversity -including a disproportionate number of Hispanics and African-Americans."

Who would have thought that white picket fences is now a stereotype for middle class Black and Latino people?!? You "Eat at fast food picked by kids, Do home remodeling projects, Read Baby magazines, Watch ESPN Classic and Drive a Ford Excursion"

or:

"Big City Blues" -- "With a population that's 50 percent Latino, Big City Blues has the highest concentration of Hispanic Americans in the nation. But it's also the multi-ethnic address for downscale Asian and African-American households occupying older inner-city apartments. Concentrated in a handful of major metros, these young singles and single-parent families face enormous challenges: low incomes, uncertain jobs and modest educations. More than 40 percent haven't finished high school."

Hmmmm, no mention of WHY you might be experiencing big city blues, but who cares? Your utility is that you "Rent videos, Eat at Sizzler Steakhouse, Read Essence, Watch All My Children and Drive a Nissan Sentra."

So why have you been trying to create an online persona here at DU, suggesting that you are progressive, engaged, intelligent or committed to improving the country. They have your number!

So what are you to the marketers?

[pitohui]

1. bright lights, little city

12 Brite Lites, Li'l City
Not all of the America's chic sophisticates live in major metros. Brite Lights, Li'l City is a group of well-off, middle-aged couples settled in the nation's satellite cities. Residents of these typical DINK (double income, no kids) households have college educations, well-paying business and professional careers and swank homes filled with the latest technology


not too shabby a guess, they even got the # of kiddies right, which is zero

we do not eat at bennigan's tho we may have done so in the 80s, is bennigan's even still around, we demand a decent wine cellar from our restaurants these days

[bryant69]

2. Interesting

Lisa: It's awful being a kid. No one listens to you.
Abe: It's rotten being old. No one listens to you.
Homer: I'm a white male, age 18 to 49. Everyone listens to me -- no
matter how dumb my suggestions are.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[pitohui]

4. middle age women

a lot of market listens to us too, heh heh heh

[OKDem08]

3. someone to whom their efforts are in vain

as I am becoming anti-materialistic and am directing my attention, efforts, & discretionary income to issues of greater importance

[HamdenRice]

6. You only think you are being anti-materialistic ...

but the profound and disturbing point of their stereotyping is that anti-materialism is just another "segment" of materialist lifestyle -- in your case Bohmeian Mix.

It's like the criticism of the 60s -- that rebellion against the system simply became another lifestyle which the corporate sector turned around and marketed to people who only thought they were rebelling.

And if you really are rebelling, than you are a proto-type that may not fit into the system, but your lifestyle can be marketed to others less astute or committed than you.

Cynical, isn't it?

[OKDem08]

10. bah humbug

We're apparently in the 'young accumulators' stage of life, in the market for a speed boat, & live child-centered lives (lot of truth to that). Seems so superficial. It makes me think of the Abbie Hoffman stunt on Wall Street to demonstrate the silliness and futility of our greed based economy. He stated he would like to see a society based upon cooperation, not competition. silly dreamer

[Solly Mack]

5. Yeah...knew about the zip code demographics

Just for fun I put my Germany zip in and it matched one in NE.

[HamdenRice]

7. I guess we don't fit their profile ...

When I plugged in my zip code it spit out American Dreams, Close-In Couples, Money & Brains, Multi-Culti Mosaic, and The Cosmopolitans.

But I know this neighborhood really well, and none of those really fit, except there are a lot of retired African American couples (Close In Couples).

My guess is that we're a mix of White (or black and brown) Picket Fences and American Dreams.

Yuck! Just characterizing myself in their terms disgusts me. Excuse me if I don't post for a few minutes -- I have to go take a shower, ewwwww.

[Clark2008]

8. Well, it was absolutely incorrect about my neighborhood

So, I wouldn't purchase their little product, that's for sure.

[wli]

9. I don't come close to any of these profiles

In fact I can't even guess at a closest approximation.