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.
Median real estate price in the City Center of Port Lavaca is $140,755, which is less expensive than 85.4% of Texas neighborhoods and 89.7% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
The average rental price in Port Lavaca City Center is currently $1,461, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 72.0% of Texas neighborhoods.
Port Lavaca City Center is a suburban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Port Lavaca, Texas. This is a coastal neighborhood (i.e., is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet).
Real estate in the City Center of Port Lavaca, TX is primarily made up of medium sized (three or four bedroom) to small (studio to two bedroom) single-family homes and mobile homes. Most of the residential real estate is occupied by a mixture of owners and renters. Many of the residences in the City Center neighborhood are older, well-established, built between 1940 and 1969. A number of residences were also built between 1970 and 1999.
Port Lavaca City Center has a 13.8% vacancy rate, which is well above average compared to other U.S. neighborhoods (higher than 76.0% 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 Port Lavaca, the City Center neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
Real Estate
Do you like a coastal setting? If so, this neighborhood may be to your liking. The Port Lavaca City Center neighborhood is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet. Often such coastal places have amenities and recreational activities on the waterfront that are attractive to residents and visitors alike. In addition to being coastal, Port Lavaca City Center is a very nautical neighborhood, meaning that it is somewhat historic, walkable, densely populated and on the water. This gives the neighborhood a very nautical feel, with some seaside and shipping feel, which some may really enjoy the sights and sounds of.
People
NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research revealed that 93.8% of the adult residents in the Port Lavaca City Center neighborhood do not have a 4-year college degree, which is a lower rate of college graduated adults than found in 96.4% of the neighborhoods in America.
In addition, there is an especially high percentage of incarcerated people (1.6%) living in the Port Lavaca City Center neighborhood.
Diversity
Did you know that the Port Lavaca City Center neighborhood has more Mexican ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 69.2% of this neighborhood's residents have Mexican ancestry.
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 City Center neighborhood in Port Lavaca are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 78.6% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 20.0% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 69.6% 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 Port Lavaca City Center neighborhood, 34.2% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 24.9% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (23.0%), and 16.0% in executive, management, and professional occupations.
Languages
The most common language spoken in the Port Lavaca City Center neighborhood is English, spoken by 59.3% of households. Some people also speak Spanish (40.1%).
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 City Center neighborhood in Port Lavaca, TX, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Mexican (69.2%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (5.8%), and residents who report Irish roots (2.9%), and some of the residents are also of Puerto Rican ancestry (1.3%).
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 Port Lavaca City Center neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (49.3% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (83.9%) 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 (8.9%) . 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.
