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.
Pratt-Willert median real estate price is $188,741, which is less expensive than 86.8% of New York neighborhoods and 79.6% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
The average rental price in Pratt-Willert is currently $596, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 100.0% of New York neighborhoods.
Pratt-Willert is an urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Buffalo, New York.
Pratt-Willert 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 townhomes. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Pratt-Willert neighborhood are established but not old, having been built between 1970 and 1999. A number of residences were also built between 2000 and the present.
Vacant apartments or homes are a major fact of life in Pratt-Willert. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 47.0%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 98.4% 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 Buffalo, the Pratt-Willert neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
People
One of the unique characteristics of the Pratt-Willert neighborhood revealed by analysis is that the per capita income of residents here is lower than that found in 100.0% of the neighborhoods in America. The Pratt-Willert neighborhood also has a greater percentage of children living in poverty (86.8%) than found in 99.6% 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: 60.3%. This is a higher percent living alone than we found in 98.9% 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.
Also, the Pratt-Willert neighborhood is unique for having just 1.4% of adults here having earned a bachelor's degree. This is a lower rate of college graduates than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.7% of America's neighborhoods.
Occupations
There are more people living in the Pratt-Willert neighborhood employed as sales and service workers (43.1%) than almost any neighborhood in the country. From fast-food service workers to major sales accounts, sales and service workers make up the largest proportion of our national employment picture. But despite that size and importance nationally, this neighborhood still stands out as unique due to the dominance of people living here who work in such occupations.
Modes of Transportation
Our research revealed that more commuters here take the bus to work (22.9% ride the bus) than 99.1% 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.
Real Estate
Renter-occupied real estate is dominant in the Pratt-Willert neighborhood. The percentage of rental real estate here, according to exclusive NeighborhoodScout analysis, is 88.0%, which is higher than 96.2% 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. Despite all of the residential real estate here in the Pratt-Willert neighborhood, NeighborhoodScout has discovered that much of it is vacant. In resort or second-home vacation areas, this naturally occurs because homes and apartments are seasonally occupied, and empty for a portion of the year. In non-vacation or resort areas, however, this can be an indicator of property abandonment or a weak real estate market. The vacancy rate here is 47.0%, which is higher than 98.4% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
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 Pratt-Willert neighborhood has a highly unusual pattern of car ownership. 44.0% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.4% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Diversity
Did you know that the Pratt-Willert neighborhood has more Puerto Rican and African ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 24.1% of this neighborhood's residents have Puerto Rican ancestry and 9.8% have African 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 Pratt-Willert neighborhood in Buffalo 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 86.8% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 99.6% 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 Pratt-Willert neighborhood, 56.9% 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 clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations, with 37.6% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions (11.9%), and 5.5% in executive, management, and professional occupations.
Languages
The most common language spoken in the Pratt-Willert neighborhood is English, spoken by 81.0% of households. Some people also speak Spanish (17.8%).
Ethnicity / Ancestry
Boston's Beacon Hill blue-blood streets, Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish enclaves, Los Angeles' Persian neighborhoods. Each has its own culture derived primarily from the ancestries and culture of the residents who call these neighborhoods home. Likewise, each neighborhood in America has its own culture – some more unique than others – based on lifestyle, occupations, the types of households – and importantly – on the ethnicities and ancestries of the people who live in the neighborhood. Understanding where people came from, who their grandparents or great-grandparents were, can help you understand how a neighborhood is today.
In the Pratt-Willert neighborhood in Buffalo, NY, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Puerto Rican (24.1%). There are also a number of people of Sub-Saharan African ancestry (9.8%), and residents who report African roots (9.8%), and some of the residents are also of Native American ancestry (1.1%), along with some Arab ancestry residents (1.1%), among others.
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 Pratt-Willert neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (64.0% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (38.5%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also ride the bus to get to work (22.9%) and 13.8% 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.
