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.
Shadow Creek / Legacy Cove median real estate price is $466,773, which is more expensive than 91.5% of the neighborhoods in Alabama and 65.0% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Shadow Creek / Legacy Cove is currently $2,470, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 93.9% of the neighborhoods in Alabama.
Shadow Creek / Legacy Cove is a rural neighborhood (based on population density) located in Huntsville, Alabama.
Shadow Creek / Legacy Cove real estate is primarily made up of medium sized (three or four bedroom) to large (four, five or more bedroom) single-family homes and townhomes. Most of the residential real estate is occupied by a mixture of owners and renters. Many of the residences in the Shadow Creek / Legacy Cove neighborhood are newer, built in 2000 or more recently. A number of residences were also built between 1970 and 1999.
Shadow Creek / Legacy Cove has a 10.1% vacancy rate, which is well above average compared to other U.S. neighborhoods (higher than 62.1% 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
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
People
If you come to know the people here, you will recognize that you're in the company of one of the wealthiest communities in the nation. In fact, a mere 3.5% of America's neighborhoods are wealthier than the Shadow Creek / Legacy Cove neighborhood. Real estate here is exceedingly well-maintained, and similarly, tends to maintain its value over time. The cars driven are mostly luxury brands like Mercedes, Audi, BMW, and Lexus. If the public schools aren't up to snuff, the residents of this neighborhood preferentially send their children to private preparatory schools. Vacation to Disney? Yes, but equally popular are summers in Europe. As one would expect in a considerably wealthy neighborhood such as this, Shadow Creek / Legacy Cove also has one of the lowest ratings of child poverty in the nation.
In addition, a majority of the adults in the Shadow Creek / Legacy Cove neighborhood are wealthy and educated executives. They own stately homes that tend to maintain high real estate appreciation rates. Their upper-level careers keep them busy, but allow them to live comfortably. If you're an executive and want to keep similar company, consider settling in this neighborhood, rated as an executive lifestyle "best choice" neighborhood for Alabama by NeighborhoodScout's analysis, which rated it as better for executive lifestyles than 99.9% of the neighborhoods in Alabama. In addition to being an excellent choice for highly educated executives, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for active retirees and urban sophisticates.
Also, do you like to read, write, and learn? Are you curious about the world? If so, this neighborhood may be a good fit for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that a full 73.1% of the adults living in the Shadow Creek / Legacy Cove neighborhood have earned at least a bachelor's degree. This is a higher rate than NeighborhoodScout found in 95.3% of U.S. neighborhoods. In this way, this neighborhood truly stands out.
Occupations
Executives, managers and professionals make up 76.1% of the workforce in the Shadow Creek / Legacy Cove neighborhood which, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, is a higher proportion of such high-level people than is found in 98.1% of the neighborhoods in America. For this reason, this neighborhood really stands out as unique.
Furthermore, the government often provides some of the more stable jobs in the economy. From local, to state, to federal government workers, the government can also be a major employer. What NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed, is that the Shadow Creek / Legacy Cove neighborhood in particular stands out when compared nationally for the proportion of its working residents who are employed by the government. At 13.0% of its workforce, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of government workers than 95.5% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Real Estate
If you like the look and ambience of new homes and newly built neighborhoods, you will love the Shadow Creek / Legacy Cove neighborhood. A whopping 81.4% of the homes and other residential real estate here were built after 1999, which is a higher proportion of new homes then you will find in 97.6% of the neighborhoods in the U.S. Everything here just feels new. In fact, the concentration of newer homes here is so great that they completely dominate the landscape. In most neighborhoods, there is a mixture of ages of residential real estate, but here it is almost completely built during one time frame: 2000 through today.
Modes of Transportation
Our research reveals that 89.1% of commuters who live in the Shadow Creek / Legacy Cove neighborhood get to work each day by driving alone in their automobiles, which is a higher proportion than 95.2% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Diversity
Did you know that the Shadow Creek / Legacy Cove neighborhood has more Sub-Saharan African and Scottish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 11.8% of this neighborhood's residents have Sub-Saharan African ancestry and 5.0% have Scottish ancestry.
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 Shadow Creek / Legacy Cove neighborhood in Huntsville are wealthy, making it among the 15% highest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 96.5% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% 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 100.0% 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 Shadow Creek / Legacy Cove neighborhood, 76.1% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions, with 13.0% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (12.9%), and 8.4% in manufacturing and laborer occupations.
Languages
The most common language spoken in the Shadow Creek / Legacy Cove neighborhood is English, spoken by 93.1% of households. Some people also speak Spanish (3.8%).
Ethnicity / Ancestry
Boston's Beacon Hill blue-blood streets, Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish enclaves, Los Angeles' Persian neighborhoods. Each has its own culture derived primarily from the ancestries and culture of the residents who call these neighborhoods home. Likewise, each neighborhood in America has its own culture – some more unique than others – based on lifestyle, occupations, the types of households – and importantly – on the ethnicities and ancestries of the people who live in the neighborhood. Understanding where people came from, who their grandparents or great-grandparents were, can help you understand how a neighborhood is today.
In the Shadow Creek / Legacy Cove neighborhood in Huntsville, AL, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (13.6%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (12.7%), and residents who report Sub-Saharan African roots (11.8%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (7.5%), along with some Irish ancestry residents (6.7%), among others.
Getting to Work
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in Shadow Creek / Legacy Cove neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (63.6% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (89.1%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.
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.
