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.
Astoria North median real estate price is $1,483,487, which is more expensive than 88.6% of the neighborhoods in New York and 96.5% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Astoria North is currently $3,942, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 73.4% of the neighborhoods in New York.
Astoria North is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Queens, New York. This is a coastal neighborhood (i.e., is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet).
Astoria North 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 Astoria North neighborhood are older, well-established, built between 1940 and 1969. A number of residences were also built before 1940.
Home and apartment vacancy rates are 7.5% in Astoria North. NeighborhoodScout analysis shows that this rate is lower than 50.9% of the neighborhoods in the nation, approximately near the middle range for vacancies.
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 NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
Real Estate
The Astoria North neighborhood is very densely populated compared to most U.S. neighborhoods. In fact, with 42,914 persons per square mile in the neighborhood, it is more packed with people than 98.1% of the nation'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 Astoria North neighborhood is among the top 5% of American neighborhoods in terms of walkability. Do you like a coastal setting? If so, this neighborhood may be to your liking. The Astoria North neighborhood is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet. Often such coastal places have amenities and recreational activities on the waterfront that are attractive to residents and visitors alike. In addition to being coastal, Astoria North 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.
In addition, three-deckers, duplexes, old Victorian homes cut up into apartments. Independent stores on the corner selling pizza. These are some of the hallmarks of neighborhoods with lots of small 2, 3, and 4 unit apartment buildings. The Astoria North neighborhood really stands out in this regard, however, as it is dominated by such small apartment buildings more than nearly any other neighborhood in America. This is a stunning visual and lifestyle example of this type of neighborhood. In fact, 36.0% of the real estate here are small 2, 3, or 4 unit apartment buildings, which is a higher proportion than found in 96.2% of America's neighborhoods.
Furthermore, the Astoria North neighborhood is very unique in that it has one of the highest proportions of one, two, or no bedroom real estate of any neighborhood in America. Most neighborhoods have a mixture of home or apartment sizes from small to large, but here the concentration of studios and other small living spaces is at near-record heights. With 84.4% of the real estate here of this small size, this most assuredly is a notable feature that makes this neighborhood unique, along with just a handful of other neighborhoods in the U.S. that share this characteristic.
Modes of Transportation
If you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 48.0% of the Astoria North neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 99.3% of America's neighborhoods.
Car Ownership
American households most often have a car, and regularly they have two or three. But households in the Astoria North neighborhood buck this trend. 33.6% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 97.5% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Diversity
Did you know that the Astoria North neighborhood has more Greek and Arab ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 7.7% of this neighborhood's residents have Greek ancestry and 15.5% have Arab ancestry.
Astoria North is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 7.8% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Greek at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 100.0% of the neighborhoods in America.
The Neighbors
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the Astoria North neighborhood in Queens are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 54.9% of the neighborhoods in America. With 25.4% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 76.1% 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 Astoria North neighborhood, 50.6% 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 22.7% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (18.1%), and 8.6% in clerical, assistant, and tech support 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 Astoria North neighborhood is English, spoken by 46.0% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Arabic, Spanish, Greek 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 Astoria North neighborhood in Queens, NY, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Arab (15.5%). There are also a number of people of South American ancestry (9.7%), and residents who report Italian roots (9.6%), and some of the residents are also of Asian ancestry (8.8%), along with some Greek ancestry residents (7.7%), among others. In addition, 35.3% 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 Astoria North neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (49.3% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.
Here most residents (48.0%) take the train to get to work. In addition, quite a number also drive alone in a private automobile to get to work (21.7%) and 11.8% of residents also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors 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.
