The Hamptons and swimming 55 stories up
This week’s Top of the TweetsBy Camilla McLaughlin
Patrician or Proletarian? When it comes to watches, less is more according to a tweet from the Wall Street Journal’s Robert Frank linked to an article, “The Four Species of Wealthy Consumers,” http://bit.ly/cfzJb1. Although watches were the jumping off point, researchers at the USC’s Marshall School found what for most of us seems pretty obvious: truly rich consumers want subtle badges of status, while the lesser wealthy want bigger logos. Check out Frank’s article if you’re interested in the differences between the Patricians, Parvenus, Poseurs, or Proletarians. There is no info on what percentage of the wealthy fall into each group but from most of the other research that I’ve read, I wouldn’t be surprised to find a good percentage in the Proletarian group.
All signs point to a recovery . . . sometime. The Twittershere was fraught with the R word this week as the economy struggled and consumer confidence plunged. A nationwide survey showed nearly two thirds of Americans believe the economy still hasn’t hit bottom, even though it’s been growing since the third quarter of 2009. Once again, kudos to @housingwire for bringing this to our attention.
The release of the latest S&P/Case Shiller Index showed positive price gains compared to previous months in 19 of the 20 cities tracked. Put the data in context as David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard and Poors did and a whole different picture emerges. After a recovery from the trough in April 2009, prices continue to hover at October 2009’s level, basically remaining flat over the last seven months, at levels comparable to fall 2003. http://bit.ly/6Ivqgq
Still, luxury real estate is alive and well in the Hamptons where home sales doubled with Wall Street buyers fueling the rebound, according to Bloomberg. Sales doubled in the first half of 2010. Jonathan Miller of New York appraisers Miller Samuels keeps tabs on this market and he says it’s a normal market that feels like a boom because there was so little activity last year. http://bit.ly/cni9XI
Need a little light reading to counteract all the bad news? NPR and Utne Reader think the next pop culture wave (after cupcakes) will be libraries. The discussion was sparked by a Brigham Young University (BYU) parody of an Old Spice commercial and a separate debate over whether or not li
braries are necessary. NPR fans will like the “NPR does Gaga” video featuring their reporters that is included in the link to this story making the case for libraries. http://n.pr/9wWtfG
Random social media trivia The average Facebook user has 135 friends and other interesting facts (Al Pacino’s face was on the original Facebook home page on the popular social networking site.) http://bit.ly/cfZ6du
When is it too high to swim? Evidently not at 55 stories above ground, unless you’re afraid of heights. That’s the site of an infinity pool at the world’s most expensive hotel, the Marina Bay Sands development in Singapore (pictured). The pool, which is three times the size of an Olympic pool, is part of an impressive boat-shaped sky park on top the three towers that make up the hotel. The Daily Mail online has the story: http://bit.ly/dc3o9i.
