A tour of New York's startup "Silicon Beach"

It's not just a real estate term of art -- there are over 65 digital companies within a five-block radius in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Here are six of the hottest.

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For years real estate agents, always keen to coin inventive new neighborhood names, have been branding and rebranding a five-block radius in DUMBO as tech's next big stomping ground, using any handle that might stick: the next Silicon Alley, Digital DUMBO, and more recently, Silicon Beach. While swimming on the shores of the East River is probably about as wise as sunbathing on Sand Hill Road, the designers, developers, and transplanted executives employed at the 65-plus tech companies in the neighborhood agree that the 'hood is a sweet spot, not just for client opportunities, but for affordable office space a subway stop away from Manhattan.

Fortune spent the day with six companies, including a digital design agency, a mobile-app developer, and a popular arts and crafts e-commerce site, in what they like to call -- after they sign their leases -- the New York Digital District.

By JP Mangalindan, Writer-Reporter

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Last updated December 06 2010: 10:54 AM ET
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