What do we mean by a neighborhood?
Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ® uses the official government designation for neighborhoods - the census tract.
Census tracts are small, relatively permanent subdivisions of a county that are defined by the U.S. Census Bureau in conjunction with local authorities all across the country to define real neighborhoods that are bounded to contain areas with homogeneous population characteristics (including economic status, lifestyle, and living conditions). Census tracts usually have 4,000 persons, but can range between 1,500 and 8,000 persons. This is the most fine-grained area for which detailed information is made available from the government, to protect the individual privacy of each of us. Because census tracts are based on population, they vary in size depending on the density of settlement. In urban areas, they are small, and in rural areas they can cover an entire small town or even a few small towns in very rural areas.
Since census tracts are subdivisions of a county, we did a spatial overlay of the census tracts onto city and town boundaries using a geographic information system to properly assign each census tract to its appropriate city or town. Then we named each census tract to the local colloquially recognized neighborhood name for that spot (e.g., Boston, MA (Dorchester). If there was not a name available, we named the census tract by the largest street intersection in the census tract (e.g., Worcester, MA (Lincoln St/Plantation St)
Why we don't use Zip Codes as neighborhoods
Zip codes were developed by the Postal Service for the purpose of delivering mail, but were never intended to define coherent neighborhoods. In addition, Zip Codes can have as many as 10 distinctly different census tracts contained within them. When distinct census tracts are blended together in a single Zip Code, the data reflects their average conditions and often gives a false sense of the area. The result is that potentially great matching neighborhoods can be missed, and erroneous matches can also be produced and delivered to you.
Using census tracts makes great matches possible, and helps people find the areas that are best for them and their families. Because we are committed to providing the highest possible quality and finding the neighborhoods that best meet your criteria, we use census tracts. And, as always, we show you the actual street map of the neighborhood so you know exactly where your best matching neighborhood is located.
What is a Condition Alert?
A condition alert is a condition in the neighborhood that triggers an alert. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ contains condition alerts to highlight conditions that are extreme, whether good or bad. This helps answer crucial questions about the state of the neighborhood being evaluated, such as:
What are the risks of violent crime here?
Is the risk of home break-ins or other property crimes increasing?
Does real estate here hold its value?
Are the trends in local vacancies or unemployment concerning?
...and dozens more.
Information at a glance that you need to know to invest, appraise or finance a property.
Ocean Beach Southwest median real estate price is $1,392,130, which is more expensive than 74.8% of the neighborhoods in California and 94.5% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Ocean Beach Southwest is currently $3,584, based on Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 40.1% of California neighborhoods.
Ocean Beach Southwest is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in San Diego, California. This is a coastal neighborhood (i.e., is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet).
Ocean Beach Southwest real estate is primarily made up of small (studio to two bedroom) to medium sized (three or four bedroom) apartment complexes/high-rise apartments and single-family homes. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Ocean Beach Southwest neighborhood are older, well-established, built between 1940 and 1969. A number of residences were also built between 1970 and 1999.
Real estate vacancies in Ocean Beach Southwest are 4.7%, which is lower than one will find in 67.5% of American neighborhoods. Demand for real estate in Ocean Beach Southwest is above average for the U.S., and may signal some demand for either price increases or new construction of residential product for this neighborhood.
Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's exclusive exploration and analysis.
Real Estate
Ocean Beach Southwest is a neighborhood that is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet. Many times, such places have amenities that bring locals and visitors to the waterfront for recreational activities or to check out the scenery. In some densely populated areas that are less financially well-off, the neighborhood waterfront can be relatively industrial and less open to recreation. In addition to being coastal, Ocean Beach Southwest is a very nautical neighborhood, meaning that it is somewhat historic, walkable, densely populated and on the water. This gives the neighborhood a very nautical feel, with some seaside and shipping feel, which some may really enjoy the sights and sounds of.
People
In a nation where 1 out of every 4 children lives in poverty, the Ocean Beach Southwest neighborhood stands out as being ranked among the lowest 0.0% of neighborhoods affected by this global issue.
In addition, one of the most interesting things about the Ocean Beach Southwest neighborhood is that it has a greater concentration of residents who live alone than most all neighborhoods in America. With 50.3% of the households here made up of people living alone, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's research reveals that this is a larger proportion of people living alone than in 95.6% of the neighborhoods in America.
Also, neighborhoodScout's analysis shows that the Ocean Beach Southwest neighborhood has a greater concentration of residents currently enrolled in college than 95.4% of the neighborhoods in the U.S. With 10.9% of the population here attending college, this is very much a college-focused neighborhood.
Finally, the Ocean Beach Southwest neighborhood stands out within California for its college student friendly environment. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's analysis reveals that this neighborhood is home to a number of college students, is relatively walkable, and above average in safety. In combination, this makes it stand out for a good place for college students to consider. Because a number of college students live here, this neighborhood may be close to a college campus and offer certain amenities nearby geared towards the student body. While it's not an environment for everyone, ambitious scholars can enjoy seasonal excitement between semesters and school breaks, and parents can rest easy knowing that the area has an above average safety rating. For each of these reasons, the neighborhood is rated among the top 5.8% of college-friendly places to live in CA. In addition to being an excellent choice for college students, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for young, single professionals.
Occupations
With 4.3% of employed workers living in the Ocean Beach Southwest neighborhood active in the military, this neighborhood has the distinction of having a higher proportion of people in the military than 98.4% of American neighborhoods. This is a major shaper of the neighborhood's culture and character.
Modes of Transportation
In the Ocean Beach Southwest neighborhood, many people's commute means walking from the bedroom to the home office. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's analysis found that 31.6% of residents worked from home. This may not seem like a large number, but Scout's research shows that this is a higher percentage of people working from home than 95.7% of the neighborhoods in America. Often people who work from home are engaged in the creative or technological economy, such as is found in areas around Boston, and in Silicon Valley. Other times, people may be engaged in other businesses like trading stocks from home, or running a small beauty salon.
Diversity
Did you know that the Ocean Beach Southwest neighborhood has more Portuguese and Irish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 2.2% of this neighborhood's residents have Portuguese ancestry and 22.2% have Irish ancestry.
Ocean Beach Southwest is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 1.8% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Portuguese at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 97.3% of the neighborhoods in America.
The Neighbors
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.
The neighbors in the Ocean Beach Southwest neighborhood in San Diego are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 76.1% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 100.0% of America's neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the Ocean Beach Southwest neighborhood, 65.0% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 24.2% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (9.2%), and 4.3% in the military.
Languages
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the Ocean Beach Southwest neighborhood is English, spoken by 90.4% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.
Ethnicity / Ancestry
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the Ocean Beach Southwest neighborhood in San Diego, CA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (22.2%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (17.0%), and residents who report Mexican roots (13.5%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (11.0%), along with some Italian ancestry residents (6.7%), among others.
Getting to Work
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in Ocean Beach Southwest neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (52.8% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (50.3%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (8.7%) and 8.1% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.
SCOUT’s patented match algorithm identifies the most similar neighborhoods to a subject location, and quantifies the similarity to the subject location. This allows analysts to identify the most similar neighborhoods in a local market area for appraisals, investments, and research.
The algorithm uses 273 neighborhood conditions, identifies the dominant dimensions underlying the conditions and calculates the similarity. This captures the true culture and character of locations, economic conditions, and trends.
The closer to 100% means the locations are nearly identical. 80% is a very good, but not excellent match, and so forth.
