What do we mean by a neighborhood?
NeighborhoodScout® 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. NeighborhoodScout 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.
Audubon Ave / W 178th St median real estate price is $1,208,114, which is more expensive than 81.9% of the neighborhoods in New York and 94.0% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Audubon Ave / W 178th St is currently $2,892, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 53.3% of New York neighborhoods.
Audubon Ave / W 178th St is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in New York, New York.
Audubon Ave / W 178th St 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 Audubon Ave / W 178th St 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 1940 and 1969.
Home and apartment vacancy rates are 7.2% in Audubon Ave / W 178th St. NeighborhoodScout analysis shows that this rate is lower than 52.5% of the neighborhoods in the nation, approximately near the middle range for vacancies.
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 New York, the Audubon Ave / W 178th St neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
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 177,941 people per square mile, it is more densely populated than 100.0% 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 Audubon Ave / W 178th St neighborhood is among the top 5% of American neighborhoods in terms of walkability.
In addition, the real estate in the Audubon Ave / W 178th St 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, 98.0% of the real estate here is classified as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments, which is more than is found in 99.6% of American neighborhoods.
Furthermore, 96.6% of the real estate in the Audubon Ave / W 178th St neighborhood is occupied by renters, which is nearly the highest rate of renter occupancy of any neighborhood in America.
Also of note, do you watch 'This Old House' on Public Television? Do you love the idea of fixing up a Colonial or Victorian era home, complete with the charm of yesteryear? Do you like to stroll or drive streets lined with gracious older residences? If you found yourself nodding yes to any of these questions, you are going to be interested in this unique neighborhood. The Audubon Ave / W 178th St neighborhood stands out on a national scale for the sheer concentration of historic residences it contains: 62.2% of the residential real estate here was built from 1939 or earlier, some much earlier. This is a greater concentration of historic homes than 97.0% of the neighborhoods in the United States.
Car Ownership
Most American households own a car or other vehicle. Many own two cars or perhaps three. In the United States, it is useful to have an automobile not only for commuting, but also for shopping and getting to other services one needs. But NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed that households in the Audubon Ave / W 178th St neighborhood have a highly unusual car ownership. 76.8% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.8% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Modes of Transportation
If you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 51.0% of the Audubon Ave / W 178th St 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, more people ride the bus in this neighborhood each day to get to work than 96.7% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Finally, more people in Audubon Ave / W 178th St choose to walk to work each day (11.4%) than almost any neighborhood in America. If you are attracted to the idea of being able to walk to work, this neighborhood could be a good choice.
Diversity
Did you know that the Audubon Ave / W 178th St neighborhood has more Dominican ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 68.8% of this neighborhood's residents have Dominican ancestry.
Audubon Ave / W 178th St is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 81.4% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Spanish at home. This is a higher percentage than 98.7% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
Migration / Stability
The freedom of moving to new places versus the comfort of home. How much and how often people move not only can create diverse and worldly neighborhoods, but simultaneously it can produce a loss of intimacy with one's surroundings and a lack of connectedness to one's neighbors. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research has identified this neighborhood as unique with regard to the transience of its populace. What is interesting to note, is that the Audubon Ave / W 178th St neighborhood has a greater percentage of residents born in another country (51.5%) than are found in 98.0% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
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 Audubon Ave / W 178th St neighborhood in New York are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 80.7% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 41.4% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 89.9% of U.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 Audubon Ave / W 178th St neighborhood, 31.7% 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 30.5% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (21.9%), and 15.9% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
Languages
The most common language spoken in the Audubon Ave / W 178th St neighborhood is Spanish, spoken by 81.4% of households. Some people also speak English (17.4%).
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 Audubon Ave / W 178th St neighborhood in New York, NY, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Dominican (68.8%). There are also a number of people of South American ancestry (3.1%), and residents who report Irish roots (2.9%), and some of the residents are also of Mexican ancestry (2.2%), along with some Asian ancestry residents (1.8%), among others. In addition, 51.5% 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 Audubon Ave / W 178th St neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (31.1% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.
Here most residents (51.0%) take the train to get to work. In addition, quite a number also ride the bus to get to work (13.4%) and 12.4% of residents also drive alone in a private automobile 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.
