Finding your Starbucks Quotient :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Neigh...

short for Starbucks Quotient -- a bellwether number I've come up with that can be used to determine if your hood is happening. Whether you like it or not.

Corinne, a junior at the Latin School, lives in part of the Gold Coast that's tied for having the top SBQ in Chicago.

In 60611, there are 12 spots where you can get a grande, nonfat, no-whip, sugar-free vanilla latte with a slice of lemon loaf, and a tip for the barista for about seven bucks.

"I never counted all of them. I just thought there was a Starbucks on every corner," Corinne says.

That's the running joke for a lot of people living in a neighborhood with a high SBQ. But it's not exactly true.

So, I enlisted the help of Sun-Times computer-assisted reporting guru, Art Golab, to map out the SBQ for every Chicago postal district.

What Ol' Art found was that besides in the Loop and at O'Hare Airport -- where nobody lives but there're 20 Starbucks kiosks -- three ZIP codes in Old Town, Lincoln Park and the Gold Coast have 12 Starbucks each.

There're five Starbucks per 10,000 residents in Streeterville. And about two Starbucks for every 10,000 residents in the Lincoln Park and the Gold Coast ZIP codes.

What does a hood's SBQ say about the people who live there?

Well, parts of town with the most Starbucks are home to rich, white families who take home more than $60,000 a year, according to people who keep track of those things.

Less sophisticated Starbucks researchers use the company's store locator to find out how many Starbucks you can find in a five-mile radius -- which some blogger in 2005 dubbed "Starbucks Density."

Back then, the greatest Starbucks Density in the world -- if you believe everything you read on a blog -- was found in London, which boasted 170 Starbucks locations in a five-mile radius.

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There can be no doubt that people need Starbucks, and having plenty to choose from factors into the decisions city folks make on where to buy a condo, rent an apartment or even attend college.

Lincoln Park Realtor Ben Osbun says that when he shows a condo in an up-an-coming part of town that still has more crack dealers than coffee houses he brings along a map of where prospective buyers can find the nearest Starbucks.

"Not the nearest coffee house," he says. "It's a map of the nearest Starbucks."

And Eliana, Corinne and their friends agreed that a university's SBQ -- like its academic reputation and opportunities for meeting cute boys -- is something to consider before they pick a place to spend their parents' money on college.

"I wouldn't not go to a college because it doesn't have a Starbucks," Eliana says. "But it's something to keep in mind. Definitely."

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And it's not just in the land of plenty-o-Starbucks where coffee drinkers find the Frappuccino comforting.

Down on the South Side, where the SBQ is often zero, folks say the handful of Starbucks are pleasant nooks where they don't have to worry about getting pounced on by a stranger.

At the South Side's newest Starbucks on 35th and State -- the former home of the Stateway Gardens projects -- Ted Barrett says the coffee shop makes the neighborhood feel more friendly.

"Yesterday, I talked to four or five people who I probably wouldn't have otherwise," Ted says. "You don't have to worry that you're gonna get hustled, like you might on the street."

But sometimes, paying five bucks a cup for a fancy coffee drink does feel like you're getting your pocket picked, says Phil Redd, a Starbucks regular from Bronzeville.

"I come here every day and get the same thing. A grande caramel Frappuccino," he says. "It's like having a new bill: $4.37 a day."

That's what you can expect when your SBQ improves.

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