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.
Upper Albany median real estate price is $442,698, which is more expensive than 48.1% of the neighborhoods in Connecticut and 58.7% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Upper Albany is currently $1,122, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 99.2% of Connecticut neighborhoods.
Upper Albany is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Hartford, Connecticut.
Upper Albany real estate is primarily made up of small (studio to two bedroom) to medium sized (three or four bedroom) small apartment buildings and apartment complexes/high-rise apartments. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Upper Albany neighborhood are established but not old, having been built between 1970 and 1999. A number of residences were also built before 1940.
Vacant apartments or homes are a major fact of life in Upper Albany. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 16.2%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 81.6% of all U.S. neighborhoods. In addition, most vacant housing here is vacant year round. This can sometimes be the case in neighborhoods dominated by new construction that is not yet occupied. But often neighborhoods with vacancy rates this high are places that can be plagued by a protracted vacancy problem. If you live here, you may find that a number of buildings in your neighborhood are actually 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 Hartford, the Upper Albany neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
Modes of Transportation
More people ride the bus in this neighborhood each day to get to work than 98.9% of U.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 Upper Albany 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, 51.9% of the real estate here are small 2, 3, or 4 unit apartment buildings, which is a higher proportion than found in 98.6% of America's neighborhoods.
In addition, 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 Upper Albany neighborhood is among the top 5% of American neighborhoods in terms of walkability.
People
One of the most interesting things about the Upper Albany neighborhood is that it has a greater concentration of residents who live alone than most all neighborhoods in America. With 55.7% of the households here made up of people living alone, NeighborhoodScout's research reveals that this is a larger proportion of people living alone than in 97.8% of the neighborhoods in America.
In addition, the Upper Albany neighborhood stands out for having an average per capita income lower than 97.2% of the neighborhoods in the United States.
Also, neighborhoodScout's exclusive research revealed that 94.6% of the adult residents in the Upper Albany neighborhood do not have a 4-year college degree, which is a lower rate of college graduated adults than found in 97.0% of the neighborhoods in America.
Occupations
It used to be that most Americans lived on the farm, or otherwise made their living from the land, the forests, or the sea. With global trade and an economy increasingly based on providing services to one another, fewer people farm, fish or harvest timber now than at any time in American history. But according to NeighborhoodScout's leading analysis, the Upper Albany neighborhood stands apart from most American neighborhood due to the proportion of its residents still working in these fields. With 4.3% of the workforce so employed, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of such workers than 96.3% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Car Ownership
Most American households own a car or other vehicle. Many own two cars or perhaps three. In the United States, it is useful to have an automobile not only for commuting, but also for shopping and getting to other services one needs. But NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed that households in the Upper Albany neighborhood have a highly unusual car ownership. 21.8% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 95.6% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Diversity
Did you know that the Upper Albany neighborhood has more Jamaican and Puerto Rican ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 34.6% of this neighborhood's residents have Jamaican ancestry and 28.2% have Puerto Rican ancestry.
Upper Albany is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 2.4% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Vietnamese at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 95.4% of the neighborhoods in America.
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 Upper Albany neighborhood in Hartford are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 97.2% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 20.9% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 71.0% of U.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 Upper Albany neighborhood, 27.8% 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 manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 24.7% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (22.0%), and 21.2% in executive, management, and professional 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 Upper Albany neighborhood is English, spoken by 63.3% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Vietnamese.
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 Upper Albany neighborhood in Hartford, CT, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Jamaican (34.6%). There are also a number of people of Puerto Rican ancestry (28.2%), and residents who report Sub-Saharan African roots (6.4%), and some of the residents are also of African ancestry (4.6%), along with some Asian ancestry residents (2.3%), among others. In addition, 36.7% 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 Upper Albany neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (50.2% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (56.8%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also ride the bus to get to work (20.9%) and 20.8% of residents also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors for their daily commute. 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.
