The Richest of the Rich: 'Gossip Girl' vs. '90210'

Gossip Girl and 90210 are the two hottest properties on teen-oriented television right now, and both revolve around exclusive clubs, designer clothes and private jets. But not all wealth is the same in the upper crust. Just who is richer in a battle of the bank accounts? The couture sporting East Coast teens of Gossip Girl or the West Coast jet setters on 90210?

Property Values
Set in two of the most expensive neighborhoods in the country, the homes on both shows are valued way above $248,000, which was reported as the median price for new home sales in 2007 by the U.S. Census Bureau. In September 2008, the median sales price of a home in Beverly Hills was more than a $1 million above the national median, at $1,310,000, according to Trulia Real Estate Research. Gossip Girl’s home on the Upper East Side clocked in slightly above that, with a median sales price of $1,650,000.

What’s more telling than simple sales price is price per square foot. A sprawling McMansion in the Hollywood Hills with a pool, guesthouse and acres of landscaping commands an average price of $738/per square foot. Space in Upper East Side homes is worth nearly three times its West Coast counterpart, at $1707/per square foot. But it seems like half the characters on Gossip Girl live out of luxury hotels at any given time, whether because of remodeling, redecorating, family tragedy or choice, so its hard to tell how that even begins to affect their housing costs.
Posh princess: Gossip Girl