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.
Willow Springs / Crystal Springs median real estate price is $1,086,033, which is more expensive than 93.5% of the neighborhoods in Virginia and 91.8% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Willow Springs / Crystal Springs is currently $3,360, based on Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 82.0% of the neighborhoods in Virginia.
Willow Springs / Crystal Springs is a suburban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Fairfax, Virginia.
Willow Springs / Crystal Springs real estate is primarily made up of large (four, five or more bedroom) to medium sized (three or four bedroom) single-family homes and apartment complexes/high-rise apartments. Most of the residential real estate is owner occupied. Many of the residences in the Willow Springs / Crystal Springs neighborhood are established but not old, having been built between 1970 and 1999. A number of residences were also built between 2000 and the present.
In Willow Springs / Crystal Springs, the current vacancy rate is 1.9%, which is a lower rate of vacancies than 86.2% of all neighborhoods in the U.S. This means that the housing supply in Willow Springs / Crystal Springs is very tight compared to the demand for property here.
Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics
Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in Fairfax, the Willow Springs / Crystal Springs neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
People
If you come to know the people here, you will recognize that you're in the company of one of the wealthiest communities in the nation. In fact, a mere 1.4% of America's neighborhoods are wealthier than the Willow Springs / Crystal Springs neighborhood. Real estate here is exceedingly well-maintained, and similarly, tends to maintain its value over time. The cars driven are mostly luxury brands like Mercedes, Audi, BMW, and Lexus. If the public schools aren't up to snuff, the residents of this neighborhood preferentially send their children to private preparatory schools. Vacation to Disney? Yes, but equally popular are summers in Europe.
In addition, the Willow Springs / Crystal Springs neighborhood is considered a solid choice for executive lifestyles. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's analysis ranks it as better than 92.5% of Virginia neighborhoods for executive living, based on the wealthy, educated professionals, executives, and managers who choose to reside here, the spacious homes that are prominent features of the real estate in the neighborhood, and the high real estate appreciation rates found here relative to other neighborhoods in the state. In addition to being an excellent choice for highly educated executives, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for active retirees, families with school-aged children and urban sophisticates.
Real Estate
One way that the Willow Springs / Crystal Springs neighborhood really stands out, is that it has more large 4, 5, or additional bedroom homes and real estate than 98.4% of the neighborhoods in America. When you walk or drive around this neighborhood, you'll instantly notice the size of the homes here which definitely makes a strong visual statement.
Occupations
The Willow Springs / Crystal Springs neighborhood has a greater proportion of government workers living in it than 96.4% of the neighborhoods in America, according to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's exclusive analysis. This is a unique feature of this neighborhood, and one that shapes its character.
Furthermore, the Willow Springs / Crystal Springs neighborhood has a higher proportion of its residents employed as executives, managers and professionals than 96.2% of the neighborhoods in America. In fact, 72.1% of the employed people here make a living as an executive, a manager, or other professional. With such a high concentration, this truly shapes the character of this neighborhood, and to a large degree defines what this neighborhood is about.
Diversity
Did you know that the Willow Springs / Crystal Springs neighborhood has more Iranian and Asian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 2.3% of this neighborhood's residents have Iranian ancestry and 36.7% have Asian ancestry.
Willow Springs / Crystal Springs is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 3.7% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Persian at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.7% 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 Willow Springs / Crystal Springs neighborhood in Fairfax are wealthy, making it among the 15% highest income neighborhoods in America. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 98.6% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 1.7% 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 75.8% 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 Willow Springs / Crystal Springs neighborhood, 72.1% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions, with 14.1% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (12.4%), and 8.4% in manufacturing and laborer occupations.
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 Willow Springs / Crystal Springs neighborhood is English, spoken by 66.9% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Vietnamese, Korean, Spanish 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 Willow Springs / Crystal Springs neighborhood in Fairfax, VA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Asian (36.7%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (9.8%), and residents who report German roots (9.7%), and some of the residents are also of Irish ancestry (8.3%), along with some South American ancestry residents (5.8%), among others. In addition, 31.3% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.
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 Willow Springs / Crystal Springs neighborhood spend between 30 and 45 minutes commuting one-way to work (37.4% of working residents), which is at or a bit above the average length of a commute across all U.S. neighborhoods.
Here most residents (65.9%) 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 (5.8%) . 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.
