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.
Old Town Chinatown median real estate price is $366,151, which is more expensive than 25.1% of the neighborhoods in Oregon and 45.4% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Old Town Chinatown is currently $1,474, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 81.7% of Oregon neighborhoods.
Old Town Chinatown is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Portland, Oregon.
Old Town Chinatown 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 single-family homes. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Old Town Chinatown 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 Old Town Chinatown. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 16.8%. 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 Portland, the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
People
The Old Town Chinatown neighborhood stands out for having an average per capita income lower than 97.9% of the neighborhoods in the United States. The Old Town Chinatown neighborhood also has a greater percentage of children living in poverty (100.0%) than found in 99.8% of all U.S. neighborhoods. Children living in poverty is one of the challenges facing America, and the world, and in this neighborhood in particular, the problem can be considered acute.
In addition, the types of households in a neighborhood can tell a lot about the character and lifestyle of those living here. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood, above nearly every neighborhood in America, has a greater percentage of its residents living alone: 59.4%. This is a higher percent living alone than we found in 98.7% of all U.S. neighborhoods. Often residents who live alone are new arrivals to an area who are single, and often senior citizens who have lost a spouse.
Real Estate
The Old Town Chinatown neighborhood is very unique in that it has one of the highest proportions of one, two, or no bedroom real estate of any neighborhood in America. Most neighborhoods have a mixture of home or apartment sizes from small to large, but here the concentration of studios and other small living spaces is at near-record heights. With 94.1% of the real estate here of this small size, this most assuredly is a notable feature that makes this neighborhood unique, along with just a handful of other neighborhoods in the U.S. that share this characteristic.
In addition, one of the really unique and interesting things about the look and setting of the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood is that it is almost entirely dominated by large apartment buildings, such as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments. 92.0% of the residential real estate here is classified as such. This puts this neighborhood on the map as having a higher proportion of large apartment buildings than 98.5% of all neighborhoods in America.
Furthermore, 86.5% of the real estate in the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood is occupied by renters, which is nearly the highest rate of renter occupancy of any neighborhood in America.
Also of note, if you like crowded places, then you will probably enjoy the the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive data analysis, this neighborhood is more densely populated than 95.7% of neighborhoods in the U.S., with 23,395 people per square mile living here.
Modes of Transportation
More people in Old Town Chinatown choose to walk to work each day (16.8%) than almost any neighborhood in America. If you are attracted to the idea of being able to walk to work, this neighborhood could be a good choice.
Also, if you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 12.7% of the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 95.9% of America'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 Old Town Chinatown neighborhood have a highly unusual car ownership. 27.6% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 96.8% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Diversity
Did you know that the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood has more Welsh and Norwegian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 3.1% of this neighborhood's residents have Welsh ancestry and 8.0% have Norwegian 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 Old Town Chinatown neighborhood in Portland are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 97.9% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 100.0% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 99.8% of U.S. neighborhoods.
What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.
In the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood, 30.5% 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 28.1% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (27.1%), and 14.3% in manufacturing and laborer occupations.
Languages
The most common language spoken in the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood is English, spoken by 83.3% of households. Some people also speak Arabic (2.1%).
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 Old Town Chinatown neighborhood in Portland, OR, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (12.8%). There are also a number of people of Norwegian ancestry (8.0%), and residents who report Irish roots (7.5%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (5.1%), along with some Mexican ancestry residents (5.0%), among others. In addition, 12.9% 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 Old Town Chinatown neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (39.9% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (32.8%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also hop out the door and walk to work to get to work (16.8%) and 13.7% 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.
