Category: Business

Take that, evil donut empire

To get everybody in the mood for irresponsible eating, I’d like to bring your attention to this story about a hole in the wall donut shop at Watt & Arden staying put while the Krispy Kreme next door closes its doors.

I have always felt that the Krispy Kreme Emperor’s new clothes were nonexistent. When I call up the image of “Donut” in my mind, what I picture is what Mike Teselle is holding up in the KCRA video clip, not that teeny undercooked runt of a pastry. Looks like I was not alone in this, as the little guy clearly triumphed here.

A “Vintage” Snack in East Sac

On our way uptown this evening I spotted Big Spoon Yogurt, a fro-yo establishment recently installed in the plot formerly occupied by the genius-ly (you heard me) titled Art of Party. Pretty dead inside Big Spoon from what I could tell, though perhaps that’s mainly just because nobody had access to a time machine to go back to 1989 to eat frozen yogurt.

I Don’t Feel Overvalued…

I know the overvaluation of our local housing market is not news to most people who care about that sort of thing, and I don’t generally like to obsess about this stuff, because I realize that although I am technically sitting on a big pile of potential cash or potential financial ruin, it is also still the place where my shirts and underwear and bathroom are for the time being. But this caught my eye. #11 with a bullet! Whoo hoo!!

But seriously. There are no cities in California outside the top 53. Hey, can we blame people though? But look closer: I am no urban/ecomonical expert, but how is San Francisco the least overvalued metro area in CA? From what I can tell {PDF file}, the most recent median price for Sacto is $377.4, and the most recent median for SF is $726.9. In other words, the other factors about SF would have to account for that difference and also for Sacto being almost twice as overvalued. What am I missing?

But again, I don’t really care. I’m just median-bashing. I’ll leave the rest of the discussion and the obvious factual errors I’m overlooking to the comments box.

Housing Boom or Bust or Boom?

As we say at The Rag, “if you live here, you’ll know,” and nowhere is that phrase more appropriate than when discussing the housing market in Sacramento. Whether you are on the outside looking in or sitting pretty in a 4 walled gold mine, you will certainly appreciate this little gem from our friends at the Bee. Just browse the article names mentioned on the right column (they seem to be dynamically generated and therefore may not appear after publishing). “House market in flux” – “‘For sale’ signs are increasing” – “Housing boom slows” – “Realtors see solid housing market”…whiskey tango foxtrot?

As long as we are on the topic check out the Capital region home sales by zip code and tell me you’re not a bit surprised. Specifically, the median price paid per square foot. Not bad for a cow town, huh?

Demographic Creepyness

I have just recently discovered PRIZM Neighborhood Types, a real estate concept for identifying neighborhoods by demographics, usually three or four different groups per ZIP code. The idea is snappy name (think “Urban Achievers” and that’s a very low-key designation) and a quick demographic stereotype (that one is “Mid-level, White-collar urban couples”). A quick rundown of some Sacto neighborhoods gives us a quick lesson on our own backyard:

95819 (the closest one to my house):

  • Urban Achievers – Mid-Level, White-Collar Urban Couples – 58.68%
  • Young Literati – Upscale Urban Singles & Couples – 14.09%
  • Money & Brains – Sophisticated Urban Fringe Couples – 10% (What does this mean? Tattoo parlor entrepreneurs? Couples who run their own, ahem, internet photography businesses?)

95816:

  • Single City Blues – Multicultural Urban Singles – 65.25% (Does this mean a multicultural population, as in different cultures? Or did they just drive by and see lots of Peter Tosh and Dalai Lama posters and make a pretty safe guess.)
  • Urban Achievers – Mid-Level, White-Collar Urban Couples – 15.57%
  • Bohemian Mix – Bohemian Singles & Couples – 15.39%

95864:

  • Money & Brains – Sophisticated Urban Fringe Couples – 33.01%
  • Urban Achievers – Mid-Level, White-Collar Urban Couples – 27.93%
  • Towns & Gowns – College Town Singles – 12.62%
  • Blue Blood Estates – Elite Super-Rich Families – 11.01%

We all knew about the “Elite Super-Rich Families” of Arden Park, but who knew they were being run out of town by the coeds? Watch your back, Elite Super-Rich Families of 95864.

Check out the demographics yourself.