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.
Downtown Paterson North median real estate price is $561,468, which is more expensive than 48.8% of the neighborhoods in New Jersey and 71.8% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Downtown Paterson North is currently $1,954, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 94.9% of New Jersey neighborhoods.
Downtown Paterson North is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Paterson, New Jersey.
Downtown Paterson North 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 renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Downtown Paterson North neighborhood are relatively historic, built no later than 1939, and in some cases, quite a bit earlier. A number of residences were also built between 1970 and 1999.
Real estate vacancies in Downtown Paterson North are 4.0%, which is lower than one will find in 73.7% of American neighborhoods. Demand for real estate in Downtown Paterson North 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
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
One of the unique characteristics of the Downtown Paterson North neighborhood revealed by analysis is that the per capita income of residents here is lower than that found in 99.4% of the neighborhoods in America. Also of note, 72.6% of the children in this area live in poverty; an extraordinarily high percentage compared to other neighborhoods in the nation. In a nation where approximately one in four children grows up in poverty, this neighborhood stands out for the depth of the problem manifested here.
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: 54.5%. This is a higher percent living alone than we found in 97.5% 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.
Modes of Transportation
Our research revealed that more commuters here take the bus to work (26.2% ride the bus) than 99.4% of all American neighborhoods. If you like the idea of leaving your car and home and hopping the bus to work, this might be a good neighborhood for you to consider.
Also, more people in Downtown Paterson North choose to walk to work each day (12.3%) 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.
Real Estate
Renter-occupied real estate is dominant in the Downtown Paterson North neighborhood. The percentage of rental real estate here, according to exclusive NeighborhoodScout analysis, is 96.0%, which is higher than 98.2% 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.
In addition, one of the really unique and interesting things about the look and setting of the Downtown Paterson North neighborhood is that it is almost entirely dominated by large apartment buildings, such as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments. 85.0% 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 97.4% of all neighborhoods in America.
Furthermore, the Downtown Paterson North 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 88.4% 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.
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 Downtown Paterson North neighborhood have a highly unusual car ownership. 30.1% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 97.2% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Occupations
From major sales accounts to fast-food workers, sales and service employees are often the backbone of the local economy. In the Downtown Paterson North neighborhood, they truly stand out. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis identifies this neighborhood as having a higher percentage of sales and service workers than 97.1% of all American neighborhoods.
Diversity
Did you know that the Downtown Paterson North neighborhood has more Dominican and South American ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 18.5% of this neighborhood's residents have Dominican ancestry and 16.8% have South American 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 Downtown Paterson North neighborhood in Paterson are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 99.4% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 72.6% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 98.8% 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 Downtown Paterson North neighborhood, 41.2% 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 31.8% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in executive, management, and professional occupations (14.1%), and 13.0% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
Languages
The most common language spoken in the Downtown Paterson North neighborhood is English, spoken by 53.7% of households. Some people also speak Spanish (43.8%).
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 Downtown Paterson North neighborhood in Paterson, NJ, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Dominican (18.5%). There are also a number of people of South American ancestry (16.8%), and residents who report Puerto Rican roots (11.4%), and some of the residents are also of Sub-Saharan African ancestry (8.2%), along with some African ancestry residents (8.2%), among others. In addition, 30.1% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.
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 Downtown Paterson North neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (49.4% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (55.7%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also ride the bus to get to work (26.2%) and 12.3% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work 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.
