Let the great debate over the hippest 'hoods and real estate hot-spots begin! Geographer extraordinaire Richard Campanella's heat map ranks downtown neighborhoods (sorry, Uptown, Mid-City, et al.) on a color-coded scale from the "very cool" Tremé and St. Claude Avenue areas to Bourbon Street and its "very uncool" status. How exactly does one map the hip factor, anyway?
I devised a technique entailing the distribution hundreds of points digitally throughout a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) map of downtown. Each point was then ranked 0 (uncool) through 10 (very cool) reflecting how that neighborhood, bar, restaurant or venue is generally perceived, based on a wide range of observations, readings, conversations and vibes from the zeitgeist. It's worth noting that "very uncool" status goes to the "inauthentic and touristy" areas. So, while the Seventh and Upper Ninth Wards are topping this hip list, the majority of the French Quarter isn't getting a "cool" label this time around but don't fret, the real estate scene there will be just fine.
· Putting hip on the map: Real estate markets heat up when a neighborhood turns cool [NOLA.com]
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