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.
Makiki Area Southwest median real estate price is $482,787, which is less expensive than 91.5% of Hawaii neighborhoods and 36.2% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
The average rental price in Makiki Area Southwest is currently $2,438, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 85.1% of Hawaii neighborhoods.
Makiki Area Southwest is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Makiki Area Southwest 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 small apartment buildings. Most of the residential real estate is occupied by a mixture of owners and renters. Many of the residences in the Makiki Area Southwest neighborhood are established but not old, having been built between 1970 and 1999. A number of residences were also built between 1940 and 1969.
Home and apartment vacancy rates are 7.8% in Makiki Area Southwest. NeighborhoodScout analysis shows that this rate is lower than 47.8% of the neighborhoods in the nation, approximately near the middle range for vacancies.
Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
People
The Makiki Area Southwest neighborhood has a greater percentage of children living in poverty (58.7%) than found in 96.7% 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, one of the most interesting things about the Makiki Area Southwest neighborhood is that it has a greater concentration of residents who live alone than most all neighborhoods in America. With 51.1% 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 96.0% of the neighborhoods in America.
Modes of Transportation
More people ride the bus in this neighborhood each day to get to work than 98.3% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Also, in the Makiki Area Southwest neighborhood, walking to work is a real option for many. In fact, NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research reveals walking to and from work is the chosen way to commute for 10.7% of residents here. This is a higher proportion of walking commuters than we found in 95.3% of American neighborhoods. Get ready to put on your walking shoes if you move here!
Car Ownership
We Americans love our cars. Not only are they a necessity for most Americans due to the shape of our neighborhoods and the distances between where we live, work, shop, and go to school, but we also fancy them. As a result, most households in America have one, two, or three cars. But NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis shows that the Makiki Area Southwest neighborhood has a highly unusual pattern of car ownership. 42.5% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.3% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Real Estate
One of the really unique and interesting things about the look and setting of the Makiki Area Southwest neighborhood is that it is almost entirely dominated by large apartment buildings, such as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments. 88.3% 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 97.9% of all neighborhoods in America.
In addition, renter-occupied real estate is dominant in the Makiki Area Southwest neighborhood. The percentage of rental real estate here, according to exclusive NeighborhoodScout analysis, is 88.2%, which is higher than 96.3% of the neighborhoods in America. If you were to buy and live in the property you bought here, you would be almost alone in doing so.
Furthermore, if you like crowded places, then you will probably enjoy the the Makiki Area Southwest neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive data analysis, this neighborhood is more densely populated than 95.1% of neighborhoods in the U.S., with 21,028 people per square mile living here.
Diversity
Did you know that the Makiki Area Southwest neighborhood has more Asian and British ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 46.7% of this neighborhood's residents have Asian ancestry and 2.0% have British ancestry.
Makiki Area Southwest is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 6.8% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Japanese at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.8% 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 Makiki Area Southwest neighborhood in Honolulu are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 100.0% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 58.7% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 96.7% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the Makiki Area Southwest neighborhood, 34.1% 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 32.1% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (21.9%), and 11.0% in clerical, assistant, and tech support 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 Makiki Area Southwest neighborhood is English, spoken by 50.5% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese.
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 Makiki Area Southwest neighborhood in Honolulu, HI, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Asian (46.7%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (2.8%), and residents who report French roots (2.0%), and some of the residents are also of British ancestry (2.0%), along with some English ancestry residents (1.9%), among others. In addition, 40.9% 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 Makiki Area Southwest neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (44.9% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (42.6%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also ride the bus to get to work (17.7%) and 16.7% 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.
