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.
Riverside On The Potomac / Whispering Falls median real estate price is $302,699, which is more expensive than 82.8% of the neighborhoods in West Virginia and 38.6% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Riverside On The Potomac / Whispering Falls is currently $2,015, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 97.0% of the neighborhoods in West Virginia.
Riverside On The Potomac / Whispering Falls is a rural neighborhood (based on population density) located in Falling Waters, West Virginia.
Riverside On The Potomac / Whispering Falls 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 owner occupied. Many of the residences in the Riverside On The Potomac / Whispering Falls neighborhood are newer, built in 2000 or more recently. A number of residences were also built between 1970 and 1999.
Real estate vacancies in Riverside On The Potomac / Whispering Falls are 4.2%, which is lower than one will find in 70.6% of American neighborhoods. Demand for real estate in Riverside On The Potomac / Whispering Falls is above average for the U.S., and may signal some demand for either price increases or new construction of residential product for this neighborhood.
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 Falling Waters, the Riverside On The Potomac / Whispering Falls neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
Real Estate
If you love row houses and attached homes, you will probably really like the Riverside On The Potomac / Whispering Falls neighborhood. The ambiance, the charm, of row houses is something special. And in sheer abundance of row houses, this neighborhood truly stands out. The real estate here has a higher proportion of row houses and attached homes than nearly any neighborhood in America. In fact, 39.7% of the residential real estate here is classified as row houses and attached homes.
In addition, homes built from 2000 through today make up a higher proportion of the Riverside On The Potomac / Whispering Falls neighborhood's real estate landscape than 95.6% of the neighborhoods in America. When you are driving around this neighborhood, you'll notice right away that it is one of the newest built of any, with the smell of fresh paint, and the look of young landscaping nearly everywhere you look. In fact, 70.3% of the residential real estate here is classified as newer.
People
Single parenting is hard. But you don't have to tell the Riverside On The Potomac / Whispering Falls neighborhood about it; they already know. 17.4% of this neighborhood's households are run by single mothers, which is a higher concentration than NeighborhoodScout found in 95.2% 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 Riverside On The Potomac / Whispering Falls neighborhood is considered a solid choice for executive lifestyles. NeighborhoodScout's analysis ranks it as better than 90.7% of West Virginia neighborhoods for executive living, based on the wealthy, educated professionals, executives, and managers who choose to reside here, the spacious homes that are prominent features of the real estate in the neighborhood, and the high real estate appreciation rates found here relative to other neighborhoods in the state. In addition to being an excellent choice for highly educated executives, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for first-time home buyers.
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 Riverside On The Potomac / Whispering Falls neighborhood in Falling Waters are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 61.0% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 3.0% 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 71.1% 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 Riverside On The Potomac / Whispering Falls neighborhood, 32.0% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 30.8% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (20.7%), and 16.4% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
Languages
The most common language spoken in the Riverside On The Potomac / Whispering Falls neighborhood is English, spoken by 90.7% of households. Some people also speak Spanish (6.5%).
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 Riverside On The Potomac / Whispering Falls neighborhood in Falling Waters, WV, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (20.2%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (13.6%), and residents who report Irish roots (12.1%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (4.1%), along with some Puerto Rican ancestry residents (3.2%), among others.
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 Riverside On The Potomac / Whispering Falls neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (51.1% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (76.5%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (13.9%) . 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.
