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.
Hillside median real estate price is $519,474, which is more expensive than 39.3% of the neighborhoods in New York and 53.5% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Hillside is currently $3,516, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 68.1% of the neighborhoods in New York.
Hillside is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Queens, New York.
Hillside 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 Hillside neighborhood are older, well-established, built between 1940 and 1969. A number of residences were also built before 1940.
Hillside has a 10.6% vacancy rate, which is well above average compared to other U.S. neighborhoods (higher than 64.2% 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 Queens, the Hillside 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 85,146 people per square mile, it is more densely populated than 99.4% of America's neighborhoods.
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 Hillside 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, 31.9% of the real estate here are small 2, 3, or 4 unit apartment buildings, which is a higher proportion than found in 95.3% of America's neighborhoods.
Modes of Transportation
Our research revealed that more commuters here take the bus to work (23.6% ride the bus) than 99.1% of all American neighborhoods. If you like the idea of leaving your car and home and hopping the bus to work, this might be a good neighborhood for you to consider.
Also, if you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 38.5% of the Hillside neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 98.7% of America's neighborhoods.
Car Ownership
American households most often have a car, and regularly they have two or three. But households in the Hillside neighborhood buck this trend. 42.7% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.3% of U.S. neighborhoods.
People
With a nice mix of college students, safety from crime, and decent walkability, the Hillside neighborhood rates highly as a college student friendly place to live, and one that college students and their parents may want to consider. NeighborhoodScout's analysis shows that it rates more highly for a good place for college students to live than 88.1% of the neighborhoods in NY. This often also means that the area has certain amenities and services geared towards college students, from undergraduates to graduate students.
Migration / Stability
Some neighborhoods have more internal cohesiveness than others. While other neighborhoods feel like a collection of strangers who just happen to live near each other. Sometimes this comes down to not only the personalities of the people in a place, but how long people have been together in that neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research has revealed some interesting things about the rootedness of people in the Hillside neighborhood. What is interesting to note, is that the Hillside neighborhood has a greater percentage of residents born in another country (58.3%) than are found in 99.0% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
Diversity
Did you know that the Hillside neighborhood has more Asian and Jamaican ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 42.9% of this neighborhood's residents have Asian ancestry and 4.2% have Jamaican ancestry.
Hillside is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 2.1% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Urdu, which is the national language of Pakistan, at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 98.9% 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 Hillside neighborhood in Queens are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 71.8% of U.S. neighborhoods. In addition, 7.5% 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 57.4% of America'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 Hillside neighborhood, 33.8% 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 27.9% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (22.6%), and 15.7% 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 Hillside neighborhood is English, spoken by 39.1% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Langs. of India, French and Urdu (the national language of Pakistan).
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 Hillside neighborhood in Queens, NY, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Asian (42.9%). There are also a number of people of South American ancestry (6.9%), and residents who report Jamaican roots (4.2%), and some of the residents are also of Dominican ancestry (2.9%), along with some Haitian ancestry residents (2.5%), among others. In addition, 58.3% 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 Hillside neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (54.7% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.
Here most residents (38.5%) take the train to get to work. In addition, quite a number also ride the bus to get to work (23.6%) and 20.3% 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.
