Zip Codes In Ny

Mapping Home-Value Drops by Zip Code

The housing bust could be described as a tale of two collapses: Pain was widespread but it wasn’t always evenly felt.

Stan Humphries, chief economist for the real-estate website Zillow , mapped the price decline from the peak for zip codes in six major metro markets – Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., New York and Chicago ( see maps ). The data provide a detailed look inside the anatomy of the downturn: Green dots show declines from the peak that are above the metro average; reds are below the metro average.

Zillow’s maps show that poorer center-city neighborhoods and far-flung suburbs tended to fare worse even as trendy urban neighborhoods or established suburbs managed to either weather the storm with limited damage or see losses half that of other zip codes with 50% or 60% declines.

Los Angeles and San Francisco are particularly clear examples of this, with waterfront corridors or select suburbs that saw value drops less severe than either lower-income neighborhoods in the city or exurbs flooded with supply during the boom (Santa Monica vs. San Bernardino, in other words). Price maps for New York and Washington, D.C. show, once again, that demand for real-estate in places like Manhattan and tony Virginia or Maryland suburbs didn’t disappear as dramatically as it did elsewhere. (There’s even an Upper East Side zip code, 10128, where it’s still like 2006.)

The drops were calculated using the Zillow Home Value Index , which is the median value of all homes and does not include foreclosures or foreclosure resales. Peaks are measured for each market, compared with current values as of April.

Mr. Humphries said several key factors are at work: For one, lower-priced neighborhoods were ground zero for subprime loans, fueling the collapse in those markets. “Everyone has been hit hard by this housing recession,” Mr. Humphries said recently. “But there are big differences in the amount of pain that has been felt by the different price tiers.” This means that the forest-green clusters likely show wealthier areas that held their value better during the downturn. A separate analysis by Zillow split the housing market into three value tiers, showing that the top tier dropped 28% in value from the peak, but the bottom tier dropped 38%.

Other factors were also at work: Excess supply from the boom drove prices down further during the downturn. And certain closer-in suburbs or city neighborhoods now have more cachet as McMansions lose their luster, undermined by changing buyer appetites and rising gas prices. (Christopher Leinberger, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution and a smart-growth developer, has argued this point explains much of this price-drop differential.

Seeking Sweetness in Everyday Life - CakeSpy - Baker's Dozen ...

My self-appointed spy mission on my most recent visit to NYC? To visit 13 bakeries I'd never visited before (or at least to get a treat I had never tried, if it was a bakery I had been to), in 13 different zip codes.

Reasons? Threefold. #1, I might make some sweet new bakery discoveries and branch out from just the famous spots or my old favorites. #2, the number 13 because it's a baker's dozen. #3, you know, for a great adventure and all.

My adventure took place over 2 days, and directly before it commenced, two very serendipitous things happened. First, I had a date with one of my favorite bloggy bff's, Blondie from Blondie & Brownie . She's awesome and supplied my first two leads listed below--as well as having tipped me off to the fact that D'aiuto (famous for their cheesecake) was worth a visit for something else entirely: the fritters. She is to be trusted. And without further delay, the great adventure:

10018: Gregory's Coffee. This coffee shop might be unassuming, but there's something special about their baked goods case. While many of the items are brought in from wholesalers, a handful are made on-site, including their crumb cake. As a documented die-hard of the crumbly stuff, I found this to be a deeply appealing version, with a wonderful ratio of crumb (lots) to cake (little).

10016: Culture Espresso. Every day at 12 and 3, something magical happens: the chocolate chip cookies that they bake in-house come out of the oven. Now, I will be honest, I did not arrive at the serendipitous time to try one fresh out of the oven, but if it is a tip trusted by Blondie, that is good enough for me.

11103: Frank's Bakery , Astoria, Queens. Old school as all get-out, I decided to pick up a rainbow cookie here. “Can I get just one rainbow cookie?” I said, and the shopkeeper replied “you can, but you look like you could use a dozen.” Flatterer! These cookies were a keeper, with jam between the cakey layers, and that wavy chocolate topping that is so lovable.

10028: William Greenberg's. Now, I have been here—they are famous for their black and white cookies—but I have never tried the Pink and White cookies. Not only were they the perfect color palette, but they are ideal for the rare eater (like yours truly) who actually prefers the “white” side taste-wise but enjoys the contrasting color visual (still weirded out by the “just whites” at Donut Pub ). Best method of eating? Slowly nibble the pink side first, obvi.

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