Sign In
SHARE
Oh, To Own a Hotel in Latvia!
Perhaps New Yorkers are just too bitter about all the wealthy Europeans who can snag a Park Avenue pied-à-terre for a song while they whittle away their incomes on rent. Or maybe it's that New York used all of its marketing muscle in its failed Olympics bid.
Whatever the case, New Yorkers clearly don't want the world to covet their real estate anymore than they already do. In Hasbro's online voting contest for cities in its first global edition of Monopoly, the Big Apple landed squarely in the middle of the road.
The game company announced last week that in the coveted Boardwalk ($400) and Park Place ($350) properties, the international version will feature Montreal, Canada and (surprise!) Riga, Latvia.
We can almost hear the cheers from Latvia's version of the National Association of Realtors.
New York and London are about halfway around the board in the red neighborhood where Illinois Avenue ($240) and Indiana Avenue ($220) are located in the U.S. version.
We feel sorry for the kids who grow up with this version, only to find out that in real life real estate in Montreal and Riga is considerably cheaper than in New York or London.
Then again, we always thought getting out of jail would be free if we ever found ourselves unfortunate enough to land there, and we've turned out okay.
No other U.S. cities mobilized the vote at all, apparently. China scored with three cities (Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai), as did Canada (Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver). The Polish town of Gdynia (population: 252,443) snuck in as the cheapest property on the board where Mediterranean Avenue ($60) sits in the U.S. version.
The new game goes on sale today. Below is the full list of cities for your geography lesson of the day:
Dark Blue: Montreal, Riga
Green: Cape Town, Belgrade, Paris
Yellow: Jerusalem, Hong Kong, Beijing
Red: London, New York, Sydney
Orange: Vancouver, Shanghai, Rome
Magenta: Toronto, Kiev, Istanbul
Light Blue: Athens, Barcelona, Tokyo
Brown: Taipei, Gdynia
by Megan Barnett
Loading...
Thank you for registering as a Portfolio.com Insider. Your comment has been added.
Create Your Public Profile
- ACBJ to relaunch Portfolio.com
- May 20 2009 1:44PM EDT
- 44, Day 97: On Golf, Swine Flu, and a "Hallmark Holiday"
- Apr 26 2009 5:39PM EDT
- 44, Day 96: Where's the Suggestion Box?
- Apr 25 2009 2:10PM EDT
- 44, Day 95: Let Them Have Student Loans
- Apr 24 2009 6:49PM EDT
- Stressing Out Over Stress Tests
- Apr 24 2009 2:14PM EDT
- King of the Private Equity Hill
- Apr 24 2009 8:23AM EDT
- 44, Day 94: What's in Obama's Wallet?
- Apr 23 2009 6:39PM EDT
- Madoff Clawback Campaign Targets Ex-Clients
- Apr 23 2009 3:00PM EDT
- Merrill, Muzzle, and the Mob
- Apr 23 2009 1:45PM EDT
- 44, Day 93: Earthly Concerns
- Apr 22 2009 7:14PM EDT
- Stanford Prosecutor Arrested for Assault
- Apr 22 2009 5:47PM EDT
- IMF Downgrades the Global Economy
- Apr 22 2009 2:00PM EDT
- Ackman Opens His Target Slate to Questions
- Apr 22 2009 11:51AM EDT
- Freddie Mac Acting CFO Found Dead
- Apr 22 2009 8:42AM EDT
- 44, Day 92: About Those Interrogations
- Apr 21 2009 5:53PM EDT
Archive
