The story of Miami-Dade County’s transformation into a Hispanic majority county is a twenty year old story. The county was at the tipping point when the 1990 Census was taken and that tally showed that Miami-Dade was 49.2% Latino. That grew to 56.4% in the 2000 Census and the 2008 ACS shows that trend has continued and the percentage of Hispanics has now grown to 61.8%. Large increases in the Hispanic population in both Broward and Palm Beach counties have now made Latinos a plurality, if not a majority,  in the three county metro area.

African-Americans and Asian-Americans both have a growing presence in the metro area. Blacks now make up 19.2% of the population, up from 18.9% in 2000. The relatively small but fast growing Asian-American population increased to 2.1% from 1.7%.

Please note that Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach County will be explored in forthcoming postings. This posting is about the overall three county metro area and Miami-Dade.

Table One: Miami Metro Population by Race

Miami’s Latinos: A Virtual OAS (Organization of American States)

The Miami metro area has come to be defined by the large contingent of Cuban-Americans that have emigrated to the city of Miami and Miami-Dade County in great numbers over the last 50 years. Although Cubans make up the largest single ancestry group of all Latinos with 42.3% of the metro area’s  Latino population, the constellation of other Latino groups are actually growing faster than the Cuban population.

The Colon Market in the historic Cuban district of Miami. Photo by copelaes. Click to visit the original photo on Flickr.

The growth of the Cuban population has been spasmodic due to the shifting nature of Cuban-American political tensions. Cuba’s upper-middle class departed en masse once Castro began confiscating their material wealth. This first wave, the Historicos, were the well-educated upper-middle to upper class Cubans that lost everything when Communism socialized their possessions. Miami was the logical destination of choice for many of these political and economic refugees. Most started with very little material wealth but an abundance of talent and ability.

They first settled in the central city of Miami bringing a Latin vitality to Calle Ocho (8th Street). However, it wasn’t long before the suburban migration began in earnest. The migration to places like Coral Gables, Doral, Key Biscayne, and Miami Lakes was a natural progression for an upwardly mobile element of the Latino community. The migration of successful Cubans (and other Hispanics) to Miami’s best neighborhoods was helped along by the continuing in-migration of Cubans from a much lower socio-economic background (e.g. the Mariel Boat Lift). This may also account for the steeply rising population of affluent Latinos moving to the better neighborhoods in Broward and Palm Beach.

It is not surprising that the well educated and hard-working Cuban minority was soon knocking at the door of financial success and buying into Miami’s traditional elite neighborhoods, overwhelmingly populated by Non-Hispanic Whites.

No suburb was more a preserve of the traditional elite than Coral Gables. By 2008, Hispanics, mainly Cubans, have now reached numerical parity with the Non-Hispanic White population (of mainly German, Irish, English, and Italian extraction).

Hispanics moved increasingly into “old money” (what passes for old money in Florida, anyway) places like Coral Gables and Pinecrest, as well as the out-sized nouveau riche waterfront mansions of Miami’s rich in places such as Coral Gables’ Cocoplum, Key Biscayne, and Miami Beach’s Star Island.

Beyond the Cubans, Miami’s other Hispanic Migrants

Undoubtedly, every country’s immigration story is different as they provide a steady stream of newcomers to the Miami  area. Puerto Ricans make up the second largest group of Latinos and they are by and large economic migrants that lack critically needed skill to prosper quickly.

On the other hand, the influx of Colombians and Venezuelans most likely have a large contingent of those countries wealthy White elite. They are escaping endemic violence in Colombia and Hugo Chavez’s erratically careening march to dictatorship dressed up as Socialism. Like their Cuban compadres, I’m sure they hope to return to their native land as soon as sanity is restored. The big question is… at what point does temporary residence become permanent in the wait for things to get “better” at home?

Table Two: The Kaleidoscope Of Miami Metro’s Latino Population

Miami’s Huge Increase in Households Earning Over $200,000

When pondering the huge increase in the number of high income households,  one has to keep in mind that the American Community Survey data was collected during the years of 2006, 2007, and 2008. In other words, at the height of  the real estate bubble. Florida’s economy was flying high.

As is well known, Florida has been staggered by the collapse in the housing market and the latest state population estimates show an out-migration from the state. As a state that has predicated its view of itself on an endless vista of sunny growth, it has come as a rude shock. Don’t feel too bad Florida, things are worse in Nevada and Arizona!

In spite of the timing of people reporting their incomes from 2006-8, the huge increase in the number of  households reporting an income of more than $200,000 is staggering. The number of households in the metro area increased a mere 5.3% between 2000 and 2008, the number of +$200,000 households increased 63.8%. This is significantly lower than the growth of  this category in the country (84.9%).

Non-Hispanic Whites may be at parity with Hispanics when it comes to numbers, but they dominate the wealth sweepstakes. The American Community Survey showed the Miami metro area had 96,969 households with an income over $200,000 (out of a total of 2,006,818 households). Non-Hispanic Whites had 69,380 of these incomes or 71.5% of the total. Latinos had 21,599 of these high income households or 22.3%. The growth in this high income sector shows Latinos gaining on Non-Hispanic Whites . The number of  Latino households earning over $200,000 between 2000 and 2008 grew by101.9%, double the  percentage increase by Non-Hispanic Whites (50.6%).

African-Americans make up a very small portion of high income households with only 3,146 households reporting an income over $200,000. Blacks make up 19.2% of the three county Metro area’s population and yet only 3.2% of the households with incomes over $200,000. Asian-Americans make up a mere 2.1% of the Miami metro’s population and 2.3% of the high income households. Due to the paucity of  affluent Black and Asian-American households, the rest of this essay will concentrate on Non-Hispanic White and Latino households.

Patterns of Wealth: Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Palm Beach

When one examines the three counties and cities with over 20,000 people, there are some interesting patterns in the growth of wealthy households between 2000 and 2008. Table Three shows that the number of households earning over $200,000 are fairly evenly split between Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties. Broward showed an extraordinary growth in high income households (+85.8%) and Palm Beach lagging at a growth rate of 45.1%. Palm Beach County’s growth may lag a bit but it is still the wealthiest of the three counties in terms of median household income and it also continues to have the highest proportion of wealthy households.

Table three lists all of the cities in the metro area with over 1,000 households earning more than $200,000. Note that two of the metro areas wealthiest suburbs (Palm Beach and Pinecrest) are not enumerated for 2008, as they don’t have the requisite 20,000 population to be broken out separately in the  American Community Survey.

Table Three: Where the Wealthy Live in Miami Metro

1  2000 Census figures for recently incorporated Palmetto Bay are a composite for the previous CDP’s (unincorporated places) of Cutler and East Perrine.

The Changing Face of Wealth in Metro Miami

Every major city in the metro area showed a much larger growth in wealthy households than total households. Whereas the metro’s number of households grew by 5.3% between 200o and 2008, the number of wealthy households earning over $200,000 grew by 63.8%.

An art deco hotel in Miami Beach. Photo by Stig Nygaard. Click to visit the original at Flickr.

As most Miamians know Miami Beach’s resurgence is very noticeable. Although the number of households actually declined by 10.3%, the number of high income households increased by 78.7%. The building boom that has so altered Miami Beach’s architecture has also altered it’s socio-economic make up.

The ACS found the number of Non-Hispanic White  +$200,000 households increased to 2,298 of Miami Beach’s households, an increase of 64.3%. Meanwhile, Latinos saw a 91.0% increase to 785 households  making that sum or more.

Miramar, a fast growing southern Broward County suburb showed the highest percentage increase of high income families (+336.9%). Miramar has a significant African-American population as well as large contingents of rapidly increasing  Latinos and decreasing Non-Hispanic Whites. The number of Hispanic households earning more than $200,000 increased an astonishing 424.8%. Table 4 shows the vast increases by Latinos earning high income by county and place with over 20,000 people.

Table Four: Increase in Latino households earning over $200,000 by county and place: ACS 2008

The Hierarchy of Water in Miami Metro’s Wealthy Neighborhoods

The physical of geography of Miami metro’s three counties’ highest income neighborhoods is difficult to capture by the Census Bureau’s system of tracts and block groups. For the most part, waterfront property and it’s many gradations of status reign supreme in determining the value of housing. At the top of the hierarchy are two types of lots that have their charms depending on your personal taste. Atlantic Ocean lots are scarce and extremely expensive. Most are so valuable that they are monopolized by high rises. Equally desirable are intra-coastal lots that have the added advantage of allowing for a place to moor your yacht.

Palm Island in Miami. Photo by Patrick Swint. Click to see the original at Flickr.

The endless miles of canals and faux lakes that have been excavated to create more waterfront seems to be valued by how far it is away from the oceanfront. Naturally, the further from the ocean, the lower the value.

The end result is an extremely linear geographic pattern of wealth with houses on water costing two to three times as much as there landlocked neighbors. All three counties have a series of spectacularly wealthy small communities on the barrier islands that face the Atlantic. Starting with Key Biscayne in the south and working it’s way to the grand daddy of them all, Palm Beach.

Further complications to accurately capturing wealth in the Miami metro area are the high number of seasonal homes. Income is counted at a household’s “first home”, and therefore many of the beautiful homes in the Miami area are not counted for income purposes.

Yet another complication is the large number of retirees: even wealthy retirees have lower incomes than people in their working prime.

Finally, there is the mixed use of the highly desirable waterfront locations: endless high-rises dot the waterfront and they inevitably bring mean household income down whether they are rentals or condominiums. The Brickell Avenue corridor has witnessed a boom in high rise construction (until recently) and it is not represented in the Higley 1000 despite a large array of very expensive condos.

Miami-Dade’s Higley 1000 Neighborhoods

There are two main areas of Higley1000 neighborhoods  in Miami-Dade, the Coral Gables-Pinecrest nexus and the luxury housing found on Miami Beach.

Coral Gable’s expensive neighborhoods range from the traditional villages built when the city was first developed by George Merrick in the 1920s Florida land boom, to more recent gated communities along the Biscayne Bay waterfront.

Merrick’s planned suburb included the  grand Coral Gables Biltmore Hotel as well as the University of Miami. The original 1920s homes  featured the eclectic architectural style that was popular at that time. They were available in various “villages”. Three of these older neighborhoods from the Twenties that are ranked in the Higley 1000 have significant Latino populations. These neighborhoods are #477, Southern Colonial Village (43.4% Hispanic in 2000); #486, Dutch South African Village (30.6% Hispanic); and a neighborhood  that came in at #683 and that I have dubbed Granada Golf Course West (47.9% Hispanic).

The large Block Group that runs along Biscayne Bay is home to Coral Gables’ nouveau riche McMansions. The neighborhood that I have dubbed Cocoplum-Gables Estates is actually made up of a dozen gated developments along the waterfront. These gated communities rank a lofty 64th on the Higley 1000 and are 42.9% Latino.

Pinecrest, is a newly incorporated suburb. Following a  successful campaign by Key Biscayne for incorporation, many of the more affluent areas of Miami-Dade County quickly followed suit. In the course of a few years, Pinecrest, Doral, Miami Lakes, Palmetto Bay and even downscale Miami Gardens made successful bids for incorporation.

Pinecrest, often referred to as “Old Cutler” before incorporation has some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the Miami area. I have named the Higley 1000 neighborhoods in Pinecrest for the largest subdivision names in each Block Group. The Pinecrest neighborhoods also have a  significant number of Latino households: #25, Rockdale Estates-Cutler Bay Estates (38.5% Latino); #44, Devonwood-Bayridge Estates (16.9%); # 490, Mitchell Manors-Collins Heights (31.9%), and, #585, Rollingwood Estates-Town and Country Estates (15.9%).

Coconut Grove (#348), Miami’s premiere central city neighborhood of wealth had a surprisingly low 9.8% of its households categorized as Latino in the 2000 Census.

Map of Higley 1000 Neighborhoods in the Coral Gables-Pinecrest Area

View Coral Gables - Pinecrest in a larger map

Miami Beach

The glitzy transformation of Miami Beach’s South Beach neighborhood over the last 20 years has been stunning. However Miami Beach has always featured a wide array of wealthy single family island neighborhoods far away figuratively, if not physically from the pulsating Ocean Drive.

The wealthiest of these island neighborhoods is Fisher Island (#18 in the Higley1000). It’s is relatively “new” in that it has built out over the last 20 years on an island that was originally owned by the Vanderbilts. The Fisher Island Club is located in the renovated Vanderbilt mansion. It is located at the southern tip of Miami Beach and is accessible solely by ferry or private boat. It is extremely luxurious and primarily made up of condominiums… a rarity for such a lofty ranking in the Higley 1000.

Other exclusive island neighborhoods in Miami Beach include the celebrity laden Star Island as well as Hibiscus Island, Palm Island, the Sunset Isles, and La Gorce.

Indian Creek Village is a ultra-exclusive island (and a tiny incorporated place) in Biscayne Bay. It consists of 35 mansions surrounding a golf course. Due to it’s tiny size and the fact that most of the homes are second homes, it does not make the Higley 1000.

Map of Miami Beach Higley 1000 Neighborhoods

View Miami Beach in a larger map

Table 1 United States Population Increase 2000 to 2008, by Race

A picture of Asian-American material success begins to emerge when one examines the median household income growth figures (inflation adjusted) and is further illustrated by the number of households that claim an income of over $200,000.

Table 2 clearly shows that Asian-American households used the beginning of the 21st Century to increase their median household income by 33.0% to $69,047, significantly widening their lead over all other racial categories and nearly doubling the median household income of African-Americans ($35,086).

It is important to note that within the broad category of  “Asian-American”, there are significant different rates of median household income. The 2000 Census found that Indian-Americans had the highest median income ($63,669) followed by Filipinos ($60,570). At the bottom end were the Cambodians ($36,155), the Malaysians ($35,767), and the Hmong ($32,076). Each of these low income ethnic groups are relatively small in number compared to the two largest Asian ethnic groups, Chinese and Indians.

As there are no current income statistics by ethnic group in the ACS, it is impossible to know how they have fared over the last 8 years. My guess is that along with the rest of the country, the 2010 Census will show the greatest gains in personal income going to those already at the top of the distribution.

Table 2  Median Household income Increase 2000-2008, by Race

The +$200,000 Club

The story that the rich have gotten a lot richer over the last twenty years is an old story. The physical proof of wealth pooling at the top is easily seen in the vast expanses of  nouveaux riche McMansions on the periphery of almost any self respecting American metro area. The teardown phenomenon in older wealthy neighborhoods is but another symptom of this increase in high-income households.  American material success, following a well worn path in history,  has a strong penchant for displaying  wealth and prosperity through architecture. Americans aren’t what we eat…. we’re what we live in!

The  increase in the number of American households that claimed an income of over $200,000 between 2000 and the ACS of 2006-8 is stunning. Although the total number of households in the United States increased by 8.0%, the number earning over $200,000 skyrocketed by 88.2%. The number of Asian-Americans earning over that amount increased an incredible 181.5%– a growth rate more than twice the national average and more than 3 1/2 times the growth rate in African-American families (a healthy increase of 48.9%, but lagging considerably behind other racial categories).

Table 3: Number of Households Earning Greater than $200,000, by Race

Asian-Americans Flock to America’s Wealthiest Suburbs

As the number of high income Asian households increases dramatically, they have moved easily into America’s most elite suburbs as well as many other places that may not be the richest, but extremely comfortable.

Table Four lists 22 well-to-do American suburbs and illustrates the huge increase in the percentage and number of Asian households. These increases are much larger than the Asian-American population growth in general and corresponds to their growing affluence as a racial group.

The vast majority of the 22 wealthy suburbs listed below have experienced modest population growth. Many are geographically landlocked and their slow but steady growth is usually associated with intensified land-use. However. the growth in the Asian population is overall quite remarkable. As can be seen in the table the only place on the list to see a decrease in the Asian population was found in Potomac, Maryland. Note that the decrease is tiny and well within the statistical variance.

Table 4  High Income Places with Large Asian-American Populations

Cupertino, California: An Asian-American Success Story

Cupertino, California in the heart of Silicon Valley. Apple is headquartered in the city and just a short distance from a major Hewlett-Packard complex.Cupertino has joined Milpitas, California as the second Asian majority affluent suburb in the United States. Cupertino may be an insignificant socio-economic notch below Saratoga to the south or Los Altos Hills to the north, but it is very affluent by any American standard. On Dec 5th, 2009, Zillow.com’s valued the typical Cupertino home at $964,700. The schools are superb and Cupertino has extraordinarily high levels of adult education attainment befitting a high tech mecca.  More adults have graduate or professional degrees (41.0%) than measly Bachelors degrees (34.1%)!

Between 2000 and 2006-8 the percentage of Asian households has increased from 44.4% to 57.1%. Cupertino’s Asian population is dominated by two ethnic groups. Chinese-Americans makeup 47.7% of Cupertino’s Asian population and Indian-Americans makeup an additional 32.2% of the Asian population (2006-8 ACS). With majority status comes political power. I will leave it to the Political Scientists to let us know how local power politics are playing out! Better yet, it would be interesting to hear from some Cupertinos (?) as to racial relations in their fair city. Drop a note on my blog!

Map of Cupertino, California

View Cupertino, California in a larger map

Asian Diversity in the Southeastern Bay

Although not geographically part of Silicon Valley, but close by, are two excellent examples of affluent suburbs with large Asian populations: Milpitas and Fremont

Located to the northeast of San Jose, Milpitas’ population is 60.3% Asian, an increase from 51.8% in the 2000 Census. It is interesting that the population of Milpitas has a very diverse Asian population (Filipinos, 30.6% of all Asians; Chinese, 22.9%; Vietnamese, 20.7%; Indian, 18.4%). Milpitas has one Higley 1000 neighborhood that surrounds the Summitpointe Golf Club on the city’s east side.

Fremont,  just north of Milpitas, is a large city (206,241) that has a high median household income ($94.979, ACS) and a large, diverse Asian population that is dominated by Chinese (36.3% of all Asian groups), and Indians (34.1%)… a close second in population (well within the margin or error). The third largest Asian contingent in Fremont is Filipino. They contribute 12.4% of the Asian-American population.

Fremont has three of the four highest percentage Asian neighborhoods in the entire United States in the  Higley 1000 neighborhoods. They are all found in the Mission San Jose district of the city: Mission Hills-Vineyards North, 74.6 % Asian; Cameron Hills South, 63.9% Asian; and Avalon-Vineyards South, 54.2% Asian. It should be noted that Fremont’s highest income neighborhoods are significantly more Asian than the rest of the city.

In both Fremont and Milpitas, the largest percentage increase among Asian population subcategories was clearly seen in American-Indian households. The population increase was significant at 58.4% in Fremont and 66.9% in Milpitas.

Map of Fremont-Milpitas Higley 1000 Neighborhoods (2000)

View Fremont-Milpitas, California in a larger map

In summary, the 2010 Census will give us more concrete numbers and it is my opinion that we will see the estimates of the American Community Survey confirmed: Asian-Americans are flocking to our wealthiest Suburbs in large numbers driven by high levels of education and income.

One of the aspects that makes Milwaukee so unique is that for much of its historical development, Milwaukee was guided by the socialist leanings of its German heritage. The city is blessed with many beautiful landscaped parkways and a large park system that is a direct reflection of a Germanic concern for a beautiful built environment that is accessible to rich and poor alike.

The string of neighborhoods north of the public lakefront parks has been the home of Milwaukee’s wealthiest families since the 19th Century and continues to be the center of Milwaukee’s social elite. Industrialists and Beer Barons built palatial homes along Milwaukee’s alpha street, Lake Drive. Think of Lake Drive as similar to Chicago’s famed Sheridan Road on a smaller scale. As Milwaukee’s elite moved north along the lake, River Hills, a pastoral suburb with large lots, became the favored destination. Although River Hills is not directly on the lake, it is the home to the only country club that matters to Milwaukee’s wealthiest families, the Milwaukee Country Club.

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin: The Birthplace of the Higley 1000

I grew up in the middle class suburb of Wauwatosa on the west side of Milwaukee. During the fifties and sixties, Wauwatosa was a large suburb (56,000) singularly lacking in any minorities. My High-School (Wauwatosa East) was almost 100% non-Hispanic White. Talk about homogeneous!…. we had no Blacks, one Latino, and one Asian in a High-School of 1,300. At the time, the city was overwhelmingly Republican and conservative. Like all older, inner suburbs, it’s politics have become much more Democratic or time, if not much more diverse.

Thirty years later Wauwatosa has shrunk to 44,0000– a large decline that is typical of close-in suburbs across the United States. The quality of Wauwatosa’s neighborhoods have not declined along with the population and if anything they have actually improved. The community is still overwhelmingly non-Hispanic White, but there have been some minority inroads into the community. The city was 92.9% non-Hispanic White, 2.5% Black, 2.3% Asian and 1.8% Latino in the 2000 Census. Although the vast majority of Tosans are lower-middle class, there are some lovely upscale neighborhoods in the city. The most noteworthy is the Washington Highlands.

Map of Washington Highlands

View Larger Map of Washington Highlands

The Washington Highlands: Wauwatosa’s Gem

The Washington Highlands was one of America’s first themed and planned subdivisions. “Before its development in 1916 the Highlands (as it is commonly called) was part of a parcel of rural property owned by Milwaukee brewer Captain Frederick Pabst. On the 200 acre farm, Pabst grew hops for brewing and bred large, fast trotting Percheron horses that pulled his beer wagons.

The property gradually became a rural oasis surrounded by development, and after Pabst’s death in 1904 his heirs decided to subdivide the residual 133 acre farm. They hired renowned German city planner Werner Hegemann to design a model residential neighborhood for the site.

Working with American landscape architect Elbert Peets, Hegemann created a plan using the advanced concepts of England’s new Garden City movement. The objective of the movement was to use an overall master plan to obtain healthful, peaceful environment shielded form the intrusions of industrialization.

The Washington Highlands is considered a premier example of Garden City Planning. Laid out to minimize through-traffic, the curving streets meander along the site’s naturally hilly topography. Numerous private parks help preserve the neighborhood’s rolling landscape, as do “split-grad” boulevards (in which on one of a roadway sits as much as 10 feet fighter than its sister lane).

From the beginning , “the Highlands” were home to both the professionals and worker/tradesmen. Hegemann’s plan for the community provided a central core of large lots to accommodate affluent Milwaukeans, as well as a perimeter of smaller lots for dwellings of more modest means. (Editors note: the perimeter working classes duplexes have been left out of the equation in the Higley 1000).

Building standards and design controls governed lot size, structure design and placement. Nevertheless, the residential architecture of this beautiful old neighborhood’s 350 plus homes is varied, and includes 14 styles popular during the 1920s and 1930s.” (Lynch & Lynch, 1993).

Today the Washington Highlands maintains its cache as the best neighborhood in Wauwatosa and the use of themed streets (Washington Circle, Martha Washington Drive, and Revere Drive) have become commonplace throughout the country. However, this was a novel idea in 1916 and the sub-division can be thought of as a truly unique neighborhood and design original.

Milwaukee’s Aristocratic Retreat: Pine Lake (aka Chenequa)

Chenequa, Wisconsin clearly leads all other municipalities in the state according to 2008 Wisconsin state figures of mean adjusted income. Chenequa is a tiny incorporated village surrounding Pine Lake in suburban Waukesha County. Pine Lake was the favored “lake country” destination of Milwaukee’s elite in the early 20th Century. It has followed the common historical path of transforming itself from a second home place to a first home place over the years. None-the-less, there were still 57 out of 283 homes vacant at the time of the 2000 Census. My assumption is that although some of them may have been for sale and thus empty, most were second homes. The village of Chenequa was incorporated in 1928 and has maintained a single family residential policy since its inception.

Map of Chenequa and Oconomowoc Lake

View Larger Map of Chenequa and Oconomowoc Lake

Each year the State of Wisconsin publishes a list of every city, village, and town’s personal income tax returns. The Wisconsin’s Revenue Department’s figures are different from the Higley 1000 list as my list is derived from the 2000 Census and the Wisconsin list is published annually from Wisconsin tax returns. The Wisconsin numbers are for 2006 and 2008.

It is important to remember that (as detailed in “Methodology”) the mean household income statistics from the 2000 Census are not actual mean household income figures and have a tendency to play down great wealth by limiting the amount a household can claim to approximately $2,000,000 dollars. It appears that there is no statistical rounding to minimize wealth in the Wisconsin Department of Revenue figures and that their statistics include every personal taxpayer in a municipality.

The following is a list of the 10 wealthiest communities in the Milwaukee metro area. Note the huge gains at the top of the list as the affects of the Bush recession had only begun to show up in the 2008 statistics. Although the filthy rich in Chenequa and River Hills were still seeing large gains in income, the mere upper-middle class professional of Bayside and Elm Grove were already starting to see their incomes decline.

Mean Income by Individual Tax Return, Wisc. Dept. of Revenue (2006 & 2008)

Community                                          2008             _           2006

1. Chenequa                                   $892,425                   $825,209
2. River Hills                                  $542,158                    $418,869
3. Oconomowoc Lake                   $362,702                   $307,906
4. Lac La Belle                                $212,205                   $172,854
5. Fox Point                                    $185,094                   $146,380
6. Mequon                                       $159,112                    $153,859
7. Bayside                                        $156,549                   $157,959
8. Elm Grove                                   $138,242                   $143,481
9. Delafield (Town)                        $136,484                   $127,338
10. Whitefish Bay                             $134,356                   $131,090

Elm Grove: A Sylvan Retreat in the Western Suburbs

There are few Elm’s left in Elm Grove, but this delightful little suburb is still heavily wooded, and the village provides a lovely retreat for it’s 6,000 residents. Elm Grove is surrounded on three sides by it’s much larger neighbor Brookfield. The two communities share a highly rated school system (Elmbrook), but they are very different in the quality of their residential areas. Brookfield is a standard issue, builder built agglomeration of upscale sub-divisions. It also provides the essential big box shopping for the area on the typically overbuilt suburban arterial, Bluemound Road.

Elm Grove’s gracious homes are architecturally unique and the homes on its grandest street, Highland Avenue, hearken back to the eclectic period of the pre-Depression era. Although Elm Grove really doesn’t have any downscale neighborhoods, Indian Hills Estates is noteworthy in having the largest and most impressive homes found in this little village.

Map of Indian Hills Estates, Elm Grove

View Larger Map of Indian Hills Estates

Map of North Shore Cluster (The East Side of Milwaukee to the Mequon Waterfront)

View Larger Map of the North Shore Cluster

All of Milwaukee’s highest income neighborhoods are almost exclusively Non-Hispanic White.  Massey’s Index of Dissimilarity is a statistical method to measure racial segregation and Milwaukee (along with Detroit and Chicago) is ranked among the most rigidly segregated metro areas in the country. Asian’s and Hispanics were not found in significant numbers in the state of Wisconsin when the 2000 Census was taken nor are they present in its wealthiest places.

Although Milwaukee has a large Black population, African-Americans remain isolated and segregated from the suburban islands of affluence. It is also interesting to note that there are few minorities found in the exclusive East Side of the central city. African-American’s makeup an insignificant .7% of the households in Milwaukee’s 11 Higley 1000 neighborhoods.

In summary, Milwaukee faces an uncertain future that is similar to many of the former industrial powerhouses found in the upper Great Lakes. The goal of the city’s leadership is to follow the path of their dynamic neighbor Chicago and avoid becoming a failed city that is on unfortunate display in Detroit.

The Catalina Foothills Landscape

Modernist Architecture in the Catalina Foothills:

The ten Higley 1000 neighborhoods found in Tucson are quite small as they represent sub-divisions built by individual developers. There are only 2,484 households in the ten neighborhoods, each one approximately 1/3 as large as the typical Higley 1000 neighborhood found in the rest of the country. Eight of the ten neighborhoods and almost 90% of the households are found in the Catalina Foothills.

There are two historic neighborhoods found in the geographic heart of the central city. This pair of adjacent subdivisions were platted in 1928 when the city was a small Western city of 32,506 residents (1930 Census). The much larger and newer grouping of eight Catalina Foothill neighborhoods are found in a series of mostly gated communities along the highest elevations of the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains to the north of the city, often shortened to “The Catalinas” in local parlance.

The foothills north of the Tucson city limits encompass 100.1 square miles of unincorporated suburban sprawl that is differentiated solely by socio-economic status. The Census Bureau has divided this suburban area into three distinct unincorporated suburban entities that are called Census Designated Places (or CDPs): Casas Adobes, Catalina Foothills, and Tanque Verde. Together, the three CDPs have 123,900 people according to the 2000 Census. This large concentration of upper-middle and lower-middle class households is vociferously against annexation by the City of Tucson and equally resistant to incorporation. All services are provided by Pima County.

The Racial Makeup of Tucson and the Ten Higley 1000 Neighborhoods

The metro area has two dominant racial groups: Latino (32.5% of households, 2000 Census) and Non-Hispanic Whites (58.1%) plus small but notable populations of Native Americans (3.4%), African-Americans (3.1%) and Asians (2.4%). The racial makeup of the “best” neighborhoods have little minority representation. 90.3% of the households in the ten Tucson Higley 1000 neighborhoods are non-Hispanic White, which is similar to all Higley 1000 neighborhoods (91.0%).

Latinos represent a mere 5.4% of the households in these wealthiest of Tucson neighborhoods. Although this is significantly higher percentage than Latino representation in the entire Higley 1000 (2.2%), it seems relatively small considering the significant Latino population that is found in the metro area and City of Tucson (36.5% Latino).

As is typical of the pattern found throughout the United States, Asians are represented in Tucson’s wealthiest neighborhoods at above average numbers than the United States as a whole (3.3% vs 2.7%). However, this is significantly less than the percentage of Asian households in all Higley 1000 neighborhoods (4.8%).

There are virtually no Blacks (.5% of all households) or Native-Americans (.4%) in Tucson’s elite neighborhoods.

The Census Bureau’s geographic division of the metro area has made an accurate accounting of Tucson’s wealthy neighborhoods very difficult. The Block Groups are clumsily mapped and do not follow the mandate of the Census Bureau to isolate neighborhoods of similar socio-economic makeup. The end result is that I have had to estimate the mean household income for each of the ten Higley 1000 neighborhoods found in the greater Tucson area. I estimate mean household income by comparing statistics such as real estate prices and median age as well as speaking to local realtors (always an invaluable resource!).

In the case of Tucson I drove by or through all ten neighborhoods on my last two visits to the metro area to give each neighborhood a “windshield survey”. I was able to tabulate accurate racial statistics by adding up the totals for each race and each neighborhood on a block by block basis using 2000 Census Block data. The bottom line is that the mean household income statistics are estimates, the racial statistics are exact.

Map of Colonia Solana and El Encanto Estates: Two Historical Neighborhoods “on the Flats”
View Larger Map of El Encanto Estates and Colonia Solana

Colonia Solana and El Encanto Estates were developed east of the city’s boundaries in 1928 next to the El Conquistador Hotel, a posh tourist destination during the first half of the 20th Century. Unfortunately, the hotel was torn down in 1969 to make way for the El Con Mall. The El Con Mall’s day in the sun was short and today it is mostly abandoned, losing it’s last anchor (Macy’s) in 2007. The best description of these two neighborhoods is found in Virginia and Lee McAlester’s wonderful Book, “A Field Guide to America’s Historic Neighborhoods and Museum Houses: The Western States”, (Knopf 1998). “This contrasting pair of Eclectic-era subdivisions, both opened in 1928, provide a fascinating lesson in the crucial role that landscape and streetscape play in neighborhood ambiance. Both subdivisions offered irregular lots, curvilinear streets, and dense vegetation, and both suffered the slowdown in development that came with the 1930′s depression and Second World War. Individual houses in both run the stylistic gamut from late 1920s period houses to 1950s Ranch-style houses to a scattering of new construction. Most of these, including the Ranch houses, display some Neo-Hispanic detailing. The two developments thus share similar house designs and street layouts, yet are startlingly different because of their landscaping.

Colonia Solana is an exquisite, and perhaps unique neighborhoods in which you feel as if you have driven directly into the surrounding desert and stumbled upon a few scattered houses. There is no street paving, no curbs, and no gutters. A line of rocks is used to delineate the boundary between road and yard. A natural arroyo running through the neighbhorhood has been left undisturbed. There are no “lawns” in the conventional sense. Instead, the neighborhood contains the fascinating native plants of the surrounding Sonoran Desert”.

“Adjacent to the north is El Encanto Estates, less unusual but also charming. Here the curved streets and irregular lots are arranged in a symmetrical bull’s-eye pattern, a type favored by those designing early -Twentieth Century geometric neighborhoods. Although much native vegetation is used, the neighborhood is dominated by majestic imported palm trees, which accent the formal curve of the streets.”

Both of these ungated neighborhoods are small. I counted 144 houses in El Encanto Estates and 121 in Colonia Solana. Located in the middle of the city, neither has the spectacular views that are available in the foothills to the north. In spite of being located next to a dead mall and some dicey neighborhoods, it appears as if these two islands of wealth have managed to maintain their unique desirability. The houses for sale in both neighborhooods as of June 2008 were generally in the $700,000 to $1,500,000 range.

The Catalina Foothills: Gated Wealth

There are eight Higley 1000 neighborhoods nestled up against the Catalina Mountains. The foothills provide breathtaking vistas of the city to the south and the mountains to the north. All of the wealthiest neighborhoods are found in the central section of the foothills that the Census calls the Catalina Foothills. Casas Adobes to the west is considered Tucson’s first suburb and is predominately lower-middle class. Tanque Verde, a mixture of lower and upper middle class households to the east, is less developed, more open, and in general has lower real estate values than the central foothill area The first elite subdivisions in the Catalina Foothills were layed out by an ambitious Tucson developer by the name of John Murphey in the early 1930s. He called his development Catalina Foothills Estates and the 10 additions he constructed eventually encompassed 1,600 homes that are still represented by a homeowner association to this day. The subdivisions were planned with large lots (three acres or more are common) to maximize privacy. Two of Murphey’s subdivisions are found in the Higley 1000: Numbers 9 & 10. Catalina Foothills Estates #9 has been lumped in with several adjacent newer subdivisions in the Higley 1000, notably the The Foothills I and The Foothills II developments.

Catalina Foothills Estates #10 is a hidden gated community located south of the Westin La Paloma Resort between Hacienda del Sol Road and Pontatoc Road. The original 10 subdivisions are sometimes referred to as “Old” Catalina.

Map of the Catalina Foothills’ Higley 1000 Neighborhoods
View Larger Map of the Higley 1000 Neighborhoods in Catalina Foothills

Touring the wealthiest neighborhoods of the Foothills is difficult because most are gated. Fortunately with the sparse desert landscape and the aid of Microsoft Virtual Earth and Google Earth, it is easy to view the million dollar homes with the million dollar views. The architecture of all of these neighborhoods is essentially the same: sprawling single story modern houses that often have neo-Hispanic architectural motifs. Architectural Review Boards of Homeowner Associations reign supreme in these neighborhoods and the architecture is relentlessly similar.

The amount one pays for a home in these neighborhoods is directly related to one factor above all else: The View. El Encanto Estates and Colonia Solonia on the flats of the central city are 2,500 feet above sea level. The houses at the loftiest elevations of the various foothill neighborhoods are found in the 3,000 to 3,400 foot range. The highest peak to the north in the Catalina Mountains is Mt. Lemmon, at 9,157 feet above sea level.

One of the interesting aspects of some of the foothill neighborhoods is the mixing of house types. Unlike most Higley 1000 neighborhoods, one finds patio homes, townhouses, and condominiums interspersed among the single family homes. The Skyline Country Club has a wide assortment of condominiums and patio homes. I have artfully drawn this neighborhood to exclude these lower income units. I have done the same with the lovely neighborhood of Rancho Sin Vacas by drawing the boundaries to include the estate homes but exclude the assisted living facility and multi-unit housing.

I have included Tucson’s newest luxury gated development, Pima Canyon Estates with the adjacent Rancho Sin Vacas. At the time of the 2000 Census, this neighborhood was just being built and there were few households to be counted. However, with 298 lots that start at $700,000, this neighborhood will definitely become part of the 2010 Census update of the Higley 1000.

The two gated communities with some of the most impressive homes, Cobblestone and The Canyons are relatively small and difficult to photograph. I was able to snap this shot of one of the peripheral houses in The Canyons from outside the walls.

The Canyons, Catalina Foothills

One of the few neighborhoods in the foothills that is not gated is Alta Vista Estates. During my recent visit to Tucson I took several good pictures of the homes in this neighborhood. The pictures below should give one and idea of the foothills landscape and the type of architecture found throughout all ten neighborhoods.

A Typical Home in Alta Vista Estates

Alta Vista Estates, #2

Skyline Bel Aire Estates – My Sensational Tucson Headquarters

I have the fortune of having two wonderful friends that live in the Skyline Bel Aire Estates subdivision in the Catalina Foothills. It has been my base of operation as I have explored the beautiful neighborhoods of the Foothills. Skyline Bel Aire Estates is one of the older neighborhoods in the upper Foothills, having originally been built in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. With a mean household income of $97,895, it is not close to making the Higley 1000 (the minimum mean income is approximately $185,000). However, this desirable neighborhoods has many beautiful houses and the neighborhood is in the midst of slowly being gentrified due to its wonderful views and excellent location.

When one looks at the list of the 1,000 wealthiest neighborhoods in the United States, the information is so fine grained, that the larger picture can be lost. In order to give my readers a bit of perspective I have totaled up the the number of Higley 1000 households in each city or town within their corporate limits.  With these totals in mind, one can then get the big picture of where to find the greatest geographical concentrations of wealth in the United States.

Many of the Higley 1000 neighborhoods that are near the top of the list (based on mean household income) tend to be very small homogeneous collections of mansions such as Holmby Hills or the Woodley Road neighborhood of New Trier Township just North of Chicago. If there was someway to statistically isolate the 63 Coops and 5 Condominiums that line Fifth Avenue from 60th to 96th, this would be undoubtedly be the wealthiest “neighborhood” in the United States. Alas, Census Geography includes the west side of Madison Avenue. Consequently, it is impossible to isolate this gilded row of Fifth Avenue using Census data.

It may surprise some that central cities dominate the top of the list for total number of households found in the Higley 1000. Not all central cities have seen their wealthiest citizens flee to the suburbs (e.g. Detroit, Hartford, and Cleveland). In fact, five out of the top six places are central cities. Manhattan easily tops the list with 37,429 Higley 1000 households found in six neighborhoods.

The Upper East Side of Manhattan, with over 23,000 households on the Higley 1000 dwarfs the average neighborhood on the list that has approximately 700 households. Throw in 9,500 households from the Upper West Side and it is easy to see why Manhattan is at the top of the list. The total for Manhattan also includes the much smaller Higley 1000 neighborhoods of Sutton Place, Beekman Place, Tribeca, and Midtown.

Table of the City & Towns with the Largest Number of Higley 1000 Neighborhoods

Neighborhoods containing the
Greatest Number of Households

Within the city of Los Angeles there is a string of 23 neighborhoods from the West Hollywood Hills to Castellammare. When the neighborhoods along the flanks of the Santa Monica Mountains are combined, Los Angeles is a close second to Manhattan. Beverly Hills would add an additional 3,000 households to Los Angeles’ total, but it is a separately incorporated city. The Los Angeles total also includes the four neighborhoods in the Hancock Park area (Hancock Park, Windsor Square, Fremont Place, and New Windsor Square) as well as Los Feliz.

Surprisingly, Chicago’s Gold Coast does not figure in the Higley 1000. In fact, in the entire city of Chicago, only one stray Block Group in Lincoln Park had a mean household income high enough to make the list.

Dallas is in third place when totaling the Higley 1000 households within city limits. At 385 square miles, Dallas is similar to Los Angeles (469 square miles) in having the foresight to annex large amounts of land in the path of upscale development. Consequently, Dallas has no less 15 Higley 1000 neighborhoods that stretch from the unique mansions of Preston Hollow on the South to the tract McMansions of Bent Tree North in Collin County.

The annexation of large swathes of land in the direction of upscale development eventually would prove to be a master stroke. When a city’s elite flees to the suburbs, high-end retail, as well as institutions (e.g. churches and synagogues), are soon to follow. Central cities are filled with Church’s in the hands of much poorer folk that have inherited the cathedrals of the rich.

The loss of the upper and upper middle class tax dollars and spending is bad enough for central cities, but without elites, you also lose their input and their involvement in civic affairs. They also have the means to contribute to “good government” candidates and hire lawyers if necessary to keep the city officials on their toes.

Comfortably ensconced in Grosse Pointes of this world… why care about the problems of the Detroits of this world?  It is an all too unfortunate reality in the United States that suburbanites don’t care if the central city struggles as they only care about their small hometown. When race enters the equation, problems between city and suburbs can grow exponentially. My current hometown of Birmingham is a classic example of very little meaningful cooperation between the African-American city and the lily White suburbs.

Homer Hoyt was Right

Homer Hoyt was a urban sociologist at the University of Chicago in the 1930s. He observed the sector and wedge geographical development of American cities and noticed a pronounced pattern where the wealthy move outward from the original elite neighborhoods… usually towards the metro area’s most scenic and desirable geography. Dallas is a perfect example of this pattern (although if you’ve ever seen Plano, the “scenic and desirable” may not apply…)

With the sole exception of the Lakewood neighborhood, all of Dallas’ wealthiest neighborhoods are found along the Dallas North Tollway and Preston Road heading due north from the CBD. The wealthiest neighborhoods of Dallas are bracketed on the south by the separately incorporated Park Cities (Highland Park and University Park) and on the north by the four Higley 1000 neighborhoods in Plano. As the map below shows, the Dallas neighborhoods of the Higley 1000 make an almost perfect North/South axis.

Map of the Dallas Metro Areas’ Higley 1000 Neighborhoods

View Larger Map of Higley 1000 Neighborhoods in Dallas

It will come as no surprise that Greenwich, Connecticut, the land of Hedge Fund operators as well as Social Register Blue Bloods has the largest number of suburban Higley 1000 households (8,065). This number is just over 1/3 of the total Greenwich households. Not only are there a large number of Higley 1000 households in Greenwich, many of the neighborhoods are also near the top of the list. Five of the 25 richest neighborhoods in the country are found in the sylvan confines of Greenwich: Round Hill-North Greenwich (#3 on the Higley 1000); Burning Tree Country Club (#9); Belle Harbor (#11); Stanwich-Conyers Farm (#14); and the Greenwich Country Club comes in at (#23).

Map of Greenwich, Connecticut and the Surrounding Communities

View Larger Map of Higley 1000 Neighborhoods in the Greenwich area

The last nexus of wealth on Long Island is the Gold Coast’s poor cousin 20 miles East on Long Island Sound in Suffolk County. I am being a bit facetious in this description as the best roads in Nissequogue and Old Field look and feel much like Lattingtown or Mill Neck on the better known section of the Gold Coast to the west. On this lovely stretch of Long Island Sound, the wealth is much smaller in numbers and scope and there is only one village on the Higley 1000. The Village of Old Field ranks 357th on the Higley 1000.

In spite of the fact that their is but one Higley 1000 neighborhoods in this area, their are a string of lovely coastal incorporated villages and neighborhoods that just missed making the list. These places include Setauket ($180,748 mean household income); Nissequogue ($180,134); Belle Terre ($163,424); Poquott ($161,898); Head of the Harbor ($158,338); Strongs Neck ($157,058), and Old Stony Brook ($142,049). I have included them on the map above because I love making maps and it will give the reader an idea of where this area’s other nicest residential neighborhoods are located in relationship to the two Higley 1000 neighborhoods.

TABLE of the TOP 5% MEAN HOUSEHOLD INCOMES PLACES

The Elite 5% in America’s Highest Income Places

1  American Community Survey 2006-8

2 American Community Survey 2005-7

The newest survey of the top 5% has similar methodology problems compared to looking at all households. The first irksome problem for either table is that the Census Bureau does not let any household claim an income of over $2,000.000 for statistical reasons. Statistically speaking there is good reason to limit the amount a household can claim as income. After all, Bill Gates would surely blow out Medina, Washington’s mean household income!  However, $2 million seems like an arbitrarily low amount and it will not change for the 2010 Census.

Secondly, because of the use of sampling, variances are very large and although there are real differences, one shouldn’t get hung up on whether a community is 3rd or 4th on the list.

Another problem in looking at the wealthiest places is the population cut-off of 20,000. This leaves some of the wealthiest places in America that are so familiar to Americans, off the list (e.g. Scarsdale, Millburn Township aka Short Hills, Winnetka, Hillsborough, and Palm Beach).

The one problem with the data in high income suburbs that is cleared up by looking at just the top 5% of households is the Servant Problem (as I call it). Servants that have their own  housekeeping  facilities such as kitchens are considered separate households. Naturally their incomes pull down mean household income statistics for any community with particularly large houses that require live-in staff. Greenwich, Connecticut would be a good example of this kind of place.

Climbers: Even Wealthy Places have Stratification

When one compares the mean income for all households to that of the top 5% there are some statistical surprises. Even places that are generally considered to be “wealthy” by any conventional definition can be highly stratified.

Laguna Beach makes the most jarring leap in the standings from 44th for all households compared to 8th place for mean household income ($1,170,959).  The stratification of this beautiful beach town is obviously the spectacular ocean front  mansions vs. more modest homes and apartments near the center of town.

Beverly Hills climbs from 57nd to 23rd. This is no surprise as the wealth associated with north of Santa Monica Boulevard vs. the tracts south of that major road are from two different strata entirely. The wealthy precincts north of Santa Monica (aka 90210) makes up less than a third of all of Beverly Hills households. The lower 2/3 of the city has a surprisingly low mean household income considering the astronomical real estate prices. Let’s face it, living in Beverly Hills means you’ve made it in America!

Although including Manhattan is a bit like comparing apples and oranges, I couldn’t help but add it to the chart as the borough is well known for it’s extreme social segmentation. The size and number of extremely wealthy neighborhoods are familiar to most (the Upper East Side, Sutton Place, Greenwich Village and Tribeca). The mean household income of Manhattan’s top 5% comes in 42nd on the list at $816,029. Three other highly stratified central cities did not make the top 50 list: San Francisco ($506,233); Atlanta ($506,096); and Washington DC ($487,133).

Southampton to East Hampton: Serious Stratification even in the “off  season”.

Household income is always counted at one’s primary residence so many of the most elite vacation spots have relatively low mean household income due to year round service people statistically overwhelming the relatively few very wealthy  permanent residents. The income data from the Towns of East Hampton and Southhampton capture this dichotomy of wealth. However, those wealthy households that due claim the two towns as their “first homes” for personal reasons ensures the Hamptons’ representation among the 50 wealthiest communities of the top 5%.

It is safe to assume that the lions share of the top 5% of incomes are located in the high income core of the Hamptons displayed below.

The Southampton and East Hampton Core Communities Map


View Southampton-East Hampton in a larger map

Places that are less Segmented and more Homogeneous

Just as there are places that are more stratified, there are some notable places that have a much higher degree of homogeneous income. A couple of the most extraordinary examples of this pattern of income are two Fort Worth suburbs. Both are collections  of  monotonously nouveaux riche subdivisions filled with endless McMansions. They exhibit little demographic or architectural difference. Southlake falls from 8th in rank for all households to  35th for the top 5%. Colleyville falls off the top 50 list from 14th to 55th.

New Jersey’s Montgomery Township falls from 21st to 47th. It is an illustration of  an East Coast homogeneous nouveau riche community.

An example of an older planned community that exhibits less stratification is the gracious Long Island community of Garden City. Although 12th in the nation for all household incomes, it falls to 36th for the top 5% of earners.

Map of Garden City, New York’s Higley 1000 Neighborhoods

View Garden City in a larger map

On the other hand, the Census Bureau collects population and racial data with an exact count (as mandated by the Constitution), so I have decided to include these wealthy villages and towns in the Higley 1000. My rationale is that if these village are are organized enough to incorporate, they deserve recognition. As my research proceeds, one of my guiding principals is that all rich people are created equal and just because approximately 1700 families ended up in a tiny place, or stray subdivision, if I can measure it, they will be counted! As I add these places on to the Higley 1000, they will knock off about 25 places from the bottom of the list that are larger, but not as representative of the highest echelon of geographical wealth in the United States. I doubt that anyone would quibble about the inclusion of these tiny but very elite places. Each one seems to have an interesting and fun story and I thought a series of postings on these places would be an interesting addition to my website.

Overall these wealthy micro villages are overwhelmingly Non-Hispanic White (93.0%) with little minority home ownership. The Non-Hispanic White population is even higher if one excludes Deering Bay, a new real estate development just south of Miami, the percentage of Non-Hispanic white climbs to 95.7% if one excludes Deering Bay from the 26 places on the list. With the exception of Deering Bay, there are few minorities to be found in these tiny elite places.

Deering Bay’s Hispanic population percentage (39.0%) is in the typical range that one finds in many of Miami’s and Coral Gable’s neighborhoods. Of course, we are talking about Cubans for the most part when we talk about any neighborhood in Miami with a large wealthy Hispanic population. Deering Bay was just be built and occupied when the 2000 Census was taken and it will have a much larger pop when the 2010 Census is taken.
Where to draw the line as to which place should be included and which is not a legitimate Higley 1000 place is somewhat tricky. Although I have no problems with some of these tiny places that just missed the cut-off of 150 households, as the micro villages get smaller and smaller the decision becomes more difficult. Should I include Country Life Acres, Missouri? Country Life Acres is merely an incorporated sub-division of 24 houses on a circle drive. It is surrounded by the large nouveau riche suburb of Town & Country and the houses are identical in size and style to houses found in adjacent neighborhoods. I doubt that anyone except a sifted few even know of Country Life Acres anonymous upper-middle class existence. This may be be the most print this “village” has ever seen!

I will also report back to you on apparent hoax towns that have somehow made it into Wikepedia’s list of wealthiest places in America. These are the most absurd wealthy places in America. I love Mound, Louisiana, with a population of 22 and supposedly a mean income of $205,548 (!). A rather exact figure for a place with 6 households. Mound Louisiana appears to be a Cotton Farm when one looks down at it from Google Earth.

Lotsee, Oklahoma wouldn’t make the Higley 1000 with an mean income of “$150,500″, but it appears to be a couple of cheap houses on a highway between Tulsa and Stillwater. I can’t believe that I must have driven through Lotsee dozens of times in my five years of teaching Geography at Oklahoma State and never even knew I was passing through such an elite place! I do remember (vaguely) a conversation from many years ago about stores incorporating as sales tax dodges. I’m not saying Lotsee is one of these, I just don’t know. I hope to visit Lotsee again someday (Population: 6). Not really.

Others in this questionable category include Baker, Missouri (Population: 2), Rex, North Carolina. Halibut Cove, Alaska is made up of 35 households in the middle of nowhere, Alaska. Of 35 households, 29 are Non-Hispanic White. None of the households are Native Alaskan. After a little research on the web, it appears that Halibut Cove is a remote artists colony that evidently does quite well in catering to tourists that want to get away from everything. The Census Bureau counts every tiny agglomeration of households in Alaska whether incorporated or not. This is a policy that is unique to Alaska.

Then there is the mystery of Green Hills, Pennsylvania. Green Hills is a legitimate Borough of Washington County yet appears to be 8 houses on a country club. There’s got to be a story behind this one!

Look forward to future occasional postings on these tiny wealthy places. I have already mentioned Crows Nest, Indianapolis in my posting on my trip to that city this summer.

I will first write about those places that I have personally visited or find particularly interesting. Here is a short list of some of those place I will be writing about:

1. Indian Creek, 38 houses on an Island in Biscayne Bay surrounding a country club. There are only 14 households that were recorded in the 2000 Census. Nine are Non-Hispanic Whites with a Mean Household Income of $496,000. Five are Hispanic with a Mean Income of $41,500. This tiny place neatly illustrates that live-in servant households can skew mean income figures.

2. Huntleigh (Missouri), an old money enclave that looks down it’s nose at Ladue

3. Cove Neck, New York: An elite peninsula on Long Island’s Gold Coast that can boast being the home to Teddy Roosevelt’s ghastly Victorian pile. A national treasure no doubt…. but what a place to live!

4. Golf, Florida: A sister city of Golf, Illinois and one of those places that I had the opportunity to tour. Legitimately. With an invitation (it is gated). When I attempted to drive around the Country Club instead of heading straight for the clubhouse to meet my interviewee, I was run down by the bored cop that had nothing better to do than harass a poor professor on a joy ride through a boring landscape of large ranches.

5. Sea Island, Georgia: Home to the recently remodeled and famed Cloisters. This gated Golden Isle of exclusivity has a suspiciously low mean income ($190,629). Sea Island is a classic example of how difficult it is to make the Higley 1000 when a place has a large number of seasonal homes and retired Households. I will tell the story of being turned back at the gates when I tried to visit the island, in spite of looking almost respectable!

6. Barton Hills, Michigan: Where Ann Arbor’s elite reside in wooded splendor.

7. Orchid, Florida: A Florida real estate development that incorporated as a village. It is just south of another upscale, though ungated unincorporated place that is known as North Beach.

8. Mettawa, Illinois: Lake Forest extended.

9. Willowbrook, Kansas: It is an incorporated Country Club on the prairie that seems to have bamboozled the Census Bureau. The 2000 Census found 12 homes. Of course, there could have been 26 more houses built since then… but then they all landscaped there new houses with mature plantings on the prairie. There must have been a boom in wealth in Hutchinson, Kansas in the last 7 years! Will Google Earth help the Census in 2010? Let’s hope so!

10. And finally, Mockingbird Valley. Well, actually a beautiful ravine that leads to the Louisville Country Club. This is a place of incredible wealth and it’s almost as beautiful as it’s upriver neighbor Glenview.

If you know of any place that I have missed… Let me know!

I’ll attempt to describe my methodology as I go along, and hope you’ll give me your ideas, too.

As might be expected, neighborhoods vary as widely as those that comprise them. Consequently there are various approaches which will be needed during our search. Not only do I depend upon the data so carefully compiled by The U.S. Census Bureau, I have also reaped untold benefits from using the tools available via the Internet. With the advent of modern mapping tools available on the web, complete with satellite and aerial photography, visiting a distant neighborhood has become as easy as sitting down in front of my computer screen. I heavily use both Google Earth and Microsoft Live Maps to get a close-up look at unfamiliar neighborhoods. Only a few years ago I would have never dreamed of having these types of tools available for my research.

Follow along as I delve the depths of the American Landscape!

Thanks for visiting, and enjoy your stay!