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.
W 109th St / Columbus Ave median real estate price is $1,427,108, which is more expensive than 81.6% of the neighborhoods in New York and 93.5% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in W 109th St / Columbus Ave is currently $2,717, based on Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 55.5% of New York neighborhoods.
W 109th St / Columbus Ave is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in New York, New York.
W 109th St / Columbus Ave 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 small apartment buildings. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the W 109th St / Columbus Ave neighborhood are relatively historic, built no later than 1939, and in some cases, quite a bit earlier. A number of residences were also built between 1970 and 1999.
Home and apartment vacancy rates are 5.9% in W 109th St / Columbus Ave. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ analysis shows that this rate is lower than 59.2% of the neighborhoods in the nation, approximately near the middle range for vacancies.
Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
Real Estate
What you'll find when you visit or move to this neighborhood is one of the most crowded neighborhoods in all of America. With an incredible 128,767 people per square mile, it is more densely populated than 99.9% of America's neighborhoods. Even if you drive or take transit to your place of employment, many people enjoy being able to walk in their neighborhood. What many people don't realize is that most of America's premier vacation locations are also very walkable. The W 109th St / Columbus Ave neighborhood is among the top 5% of American neighborhoods in terms of walkability.
In addition, the real estate in the W 109th St / Columbus Ave neighborhood really stands out in the way it looks for a unique reason: this neighborhood has a higher proportion of apartment complexes or high-rise apartments than nearly every neighborhood in the country. Most neighborhoods are a mixture of real estate and housing types, but here it is almost entirely dominated by big apartment buildings and complexes. In fact, 93.7% of the real estate here is classified as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments, which is more than is found in 98.8% of American neighborhoods.
Furthermore, renter-occupied real estate is dominant in the W 109th St / Columbus Ave neighborhood. The percentage of rental real estate here, according to exclusive Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ analysis, is 85.1%, which is higher than 95.4% of the neighborhoods in America. If you were to buy and live in the property you bought here, you would be almost alone in doing so.
Modes of Transportation
If you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's research revealed that 49.5% of the W 109th St / Columbus Ave neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 99.5% of America's neighborhoods.
Also, in the W 109th St / Columbus Ave neighborhood, walking to work is a real option for many. In fact, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's exclusive research reveals walking to and from work is the chosen way to commute for 16.3% of residents here. This is a higher proportion of walking commuters than we found in 97.5% of American neighborhoods. Get ready to put on your walking shoes if you move here!
Car Ownership
We Americans love our cars. Not only are they a necessity for most Americans due to the shape of our neighborhoods and the distances between where we live, work, shop, and go to school, but we also fancy them. As a result, most households in America have one, two, or three cars. But Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's exclusive analysis shows that the W 109th St / Columbus Ave neighborhood has a highly unusual pattern of car ownership. 59.6% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ found in 99.2% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Diversity
Did you know that the W 109th St / Columbus Ave neighborhood has more Dominican and Haitian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 21.5% of this neighborhood's residents have Dominican ancestry and 1.9% have Haitian ancestry.
W 109th St / Columbus Ave is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 5.4% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Chinese at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 95.4% 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 W 109th St / Columbus Ave neighborhood in New York are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 51.1% of the neighborhoods in America. With 27.2% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 78.8% of U.S. neighborhoods.
What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.
In the W 109th St / Columbus Ave neighborhood, 60.5% 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 21.0% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (16.2%), and 9.3% in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions.
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 W 109th St / Columbus Ave neighborhood is English, spoken by 52.9% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Chinese and Langs. of India.
Ethnicity / Ancestry
Boston's Beacon Hill blue-blood streets, Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish enclaves, Los Angeles' Persian neighborhoods. Each has its own culture derived primarily from the ancestries and culture of the residents who call these neighborhoods home. Likewise, each neighborhood in America has its own culture – some more unique than others – based on lifestyle, occupations, the types of households – and importantly – on the ethnicities and ancestries of the people who live in the neighborhood. Understanding where people came from, who their grandparents or great-grandparents were, can help you understand how a neighborhood is today.
In the W 109th St / Columbus Ave neighborhood in New York, NY, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Dominican (21.5%). There are also a number of people of Asian ancestry (10.2%), and residents who report Mexican roots (7.4%), and some of the residents are also of Irish ancestry (6.7%), along with some Puerto Rican ancestry residents (6.7%), among others. In addition, 23.7% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.
Getting to Work
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in W 109th St / Columbus Ave neighborhood spend between 30 and 45 minutes commuting one-way to work (43.3% of working residents), which is at or a bit above the average length of a commute across all U.S. neighborhoods.
Here most residents (49.5%) take the train to get to work. In addition, quite a number also hop out the door and walk to work to get to work (16.3%) and 5.9% of residents also ride the bus for their daily commute. This neighborhood is distinguished by the high number of residents who take the train to work each day, which can be a very good way to get to work at a lower cost and with less pollution.
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.
