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.
University Park Southwest median real estate price is $909,440, which is more expensive than 55.1% of the neighborhoods in California and 88.7% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in University Park Southwest is currently $2,131, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 84.8% of California neighborhoods.
University Park Southwest is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Los Angeles, California.
University Park 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 University Park Southwest neighborhood are established but not old, having been built between 1970 and 1999. A number of residences were also built before 1940.
University Park Southwest has a 11.2% vacancy rate, which is well above average compared to other U.S. neighborhoods (higher than 66.7% of American neighborhoods). Most vacant housing here is vacant year round. This could either signal that there is a weak demand for real estate in the neighborhood or that large amount of new housing has been built and not yet occupied. Either way, if you live here, you may find many of the homes or apartments are empty.
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 Los Angeles, the University Park Southwest neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
People
NeighborhoodScout's analysis shows that the University Park Southwest neighborhood has a greater concentration of residents currently enrolled in college than 99.3% of the neighborhoods in the U.S. With 55.9% of the population here attending college, this is very much a college-focused neighborhood.
In addition, one of the unique characteristics of the University Park Southwest neighborhood revealed by analysis is that the per capita income of residents here is lower than that found in 97.3% of the neighborhoods in America.
Modes of Transportation
If your dream is to be able to ride your bike to work each day, look no further than this unique neighborhood. With 7.9% of residents in the University Park Southwest neighborhood commuting on a bicycle to and from work daily, this neighborhood has more bicycle commuters than 99.3% of all neighborhoods in the U.S., according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis.
Also, in the University Park Southwest neighborhood, walking to work is a real option for many. In fact, NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research reveals walking to and from work is the chosen way to commute for 32.4% of residents here. This is a higher proportion of walking commuters than we found in 99.2% of American neighborhoods. Get ready to put on your walking shoes if you move here!
Real Estate
96.0% of the real estate in the University Park Southwest neighborhood is occupied by renters, which is nearly the highest rate of renter occupancy of any neighborhood in America.
In addition, the University Park Southwest neighborhood is very densely populated compared to most U.S. neighborhoods. In fact, with 31,059 persons per square mile in the neighborhood, it is more packed with people than 97.1% of the nation's neighborhoods. Being a walkable neighborhood can help increase property values for the simple reason that people enjoy it and value it. To put it plainly, despite our love affair with the automobile, American's enjoy taking to the streets, sidewalks, paths, and courtyards of a place to get a coffee, relax, and take in the sights and sounds. And, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive and first quantitative walkable score index, the University Park Southwest neighborhood is one of the most walkable neighborhoods in America.
Diversity
Did you know that the University Park Southwest neighborhood has more Greek and Asian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 2.9% of this neighborhood's residents have Greek ancestry and 25.7% have Asian ancestry.
University Park Southwest is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 8.4% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Korean at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.5% of the neighborhoods in America.
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. In the University Park Southwest neighborhood, a greater proportion of the residents living here today did not live here five years ago than is found in 97.8% of U.S. Neighborhoods. This neighborhood, more than almost any other in America, has new residents from other areas.
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 University Park Southwest neighborhood in Los Angeles are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 97.3% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 36.4% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 86.7% of U.S. neighborhoods.
A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
In the University Park Southwest neighborhood, 37.0% of the working population is employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 31.3% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (20.8%), and 10.1% 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 University Park Southwest neighborhood is English, spoken by 50.8% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Korean, Chinese and Langs. of India.
Ethnicity / Ancestry
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the University Park Southwest neighborhood in Los Angeles, CA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Asian (25.7%). There are also a number of people of Mexican ancestry (15.9%), and residents who report German roots (7.8%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (4.8%), along with some Greek ancestry residents (2.9%), among others. In addition, 31.2% 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 University Park Southwest neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (43.6% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (32.4%) hop out the door and walk to work to get to work. In addition, quite a number also drive alone in a private automobile to get to work (27.7%) and 7.9% of residents also bicycle for their daily commute. This is a special neighborhood for the number of people who walk to work. Combining exercise, low cost, and reduced pollution, plus the chance to see your neighbors, walking to work is fairly uncommon in America but likely to increase as people try to reduce their dependence on automobiles, and this neighborhood offers that opportunity today.
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.
