THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 5, 1996 TAG: 9602030219
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: Ted Evanoff
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
If you are what you buy, then author Michael J. Weiss has America pegged.
Weiss' Latitudes & Attitudes profiles 211 urban areas throughout the nation.
The book is already two years old, but it remains a handy guide to popular culture, and adds a bit of focus to that old question - is Tidewater really a major league town?
Of course, that's the question of the moment as Hampton Roads considers building a $100 million-plus sports arena to attract a big league hockey or basketball franchise.
Tidewater wonders if enough investors will support a pro club?
And are there enough fans in town with the income to afford pro tickets?
No, Weiss can't answer either question.
Latitudes & Attitudes can, though, provide an interesting insight into the makeup of some cities that already have big league teams.
You've always heard Tidewater is the biggest town in America without a big league club.
Well, just maybe it's the biggest major league town without a big league club, too.
Let's take a look. What Weiss measures is consumption. If a town buys something at a rate above or below the U.S. average it shows up on his map of America.
By that standard, Tidewater is at once quirky and sophisticated.
Richmond favors Food & Wine, the magazine, while Roanoke likes Field & Stream. Tidewater buys New Woman.
San Diego watches Letterman. Philadelphia prefers Joan Rivers. New Orleans tunes in Black Entertainment Tonight. New York loves the Honeymooners. Tidewater watches the Disney Channel.
Topping the list of what isn't hot: In Jacksonville, it's travel; in Nashville, theater; Indianapolis, art; Tidewater, health food. Sound dowdy?
Well, in Weiss' America, Hampton Roads is young, energetic, middle class, college educated, artsy. He writes:
``Norfolk has been a thriving port for two centuries, a vestige of Old Virginia that still supports a thriving cultural scene . . . '
Weiss isn't so much a tour guide as a researcher. He analyzes consumer polls and market data used by big consumer product makers to draw conclusions about what each city by looking at what the residents like to buy.
Weiss dismisses Nashville as lower middle class, not well educated, while Orlando fares better as an eclectic middle-class beach town (Daytona Beach and Melbourne are within 75 miles) favored by the retired set and baby boomers.
Tidewater likes jogging and tennis, Volvos and Ford Escorts, gospel and rhythm and blues, stocks and life insurance, fried chicken and cola.
Charlotte runs to pro wrestling and gardening, Chevys and Mustangs, gospel and country music, home improvement loans and peanut butter and Kool-Aid.
``City boosters would like outsiders to believe that Charlotte's skyscrapers reflect a cosmopolitan and cultured metropolis - an Atlanta wannabe,'' Weiss writes. ``In fact, surveys of residents in North Carolina's largest city reflect a middlebrow lifestyle with a striking antipathy toward fine art, fashion, gourmet cooking and luxury foreign cars.''
What's interesting, and to the point when it comes to whether Tidewater can afford pro basketball, is Weiss' figures for median household income (median is the middle - half the households in town earn more, half earn less).
Weiss suggests median household income of about $29,000 in Nashville, $32,000 in Orlando, $32,200 in Charlotte, $33,500 in Hampton Roads.
When it comes to sports, though, Tidewater would rather participate than watch.
Viewership of both college and pro basketball is below average for an American city, below average as well for pro football and baseball.
What Tidewater would rather watch, compared to the rest of the nation, is the Simpsons.
Only a handful of East Coast cities have as high a rate of Simpson views, and they, research shows, tend to be filled with college-educated service workers with three or more children.
When the Simpsons is switched off, C-SPAN is switched on. The town is full of liberals and conservatives.
Only a handful of cities in the nation have as high a rate of viewers tuned in to C-SPAN as Tidewater.
So. Does Tidewater have what it takes to lure a pro ball club?
It's still hard to say.
One thing's for sure, though. We buy the right stuff. by CNB