Milwaukee, WI (Washington Park)

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 Milwaukee, the Washington Park neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.

People

Single parenting is hard. But you don't have to tell the Washington Park neighborhood about it; they already know. 33.7% of this neighborhood's households are run by single mothers, which is a higher concentration than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.8% of American neighborhoods. Further NeighborhoodScout research showed strong statistical correlations among high rates of children living in single parent households, and neighborhood crime, particularly violent crime, neighborhood poverty, and, importantly, the percentage of low weight births and rates of infant mortality.

In addition, the Washington Park neighborhood is unique for having just 5.4% of adults here having earned a bachelor's degree. This is a lower rate of college graduates than NeighborhoodScout found in 97.1% of America's neighborhoods.

Real Estate

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 Washington Park 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, 46.0% of the real estate here are small 2, 3, or 4 unit apartment buildings, which is a higher proportion than found in 98.0% of America's neighborhoods.

In addition, despite all of the residential real estate here in the Washington Park neighborhood, NeighborhoodScout has discovered that much of it is vacant. In resort or second-home vacation areas, this naturally occurs because homes and apartments are seasonally occupied, and empty for a portion of the year. In non-vacation or resort areas, however, this can be an indicator of property abandonment or a weak real estate market. The vacancy rate here is 30.7%, which is higher than 95.4% of all U.S. neighborhoods.

Furthermore, if you find historic homes and neighborhoods attractive, you love the details, the history, and the charm, then you are sure to be interested in this neighborhood. With 63.2% of the residential real estate in the Washington Park neighborhood built no later than 1939, and some built considerably earlier, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of historic residences than 97.4% of all neighborhoods in America. In this regard, this neighborhood truly stands out as special.

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 NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis shows that the Washington Park neighborhood has a highly unusual pattern of car ownership. 20.8% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 95.4% of U.S. neighborhoods.