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.
Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk median real estate price is $457,244, which is more expensive than 49.5% of the neighborhoods in Virginia and 56.6% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk is currently $2,876, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 74.2% of the neighborhoods in Virginia.
Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk is a suburban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Chesapeake, Virginia.
Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk real estate is primarily made up of small (studio to two bedroom) to medium sized (three or four bedroom) single-family homes and townhomes. Most of the residential real estate is owner occupied. Many of the residences in the Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk 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.
In Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk, the current vacancy rate is 1.8%, which is a lower rate of vacancies than 87.5% of all neighborhoods in the U.S. This means that the housing supply in Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk is very tight compared to the demand for property here.
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 Chesapeake, the Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
People
Of note is NeighborhoodScout's research finding that the Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk neighborhood has some of the lowest rates of children living in poverty of any neighborhood in the United States. In a nation where approximately 1 in 4 children are living in poverty, the Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk community truly stands out from the rest in this regard.
In addition, neighborhoodScout's analysis shows that the Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk neighborhood has a greater concentration of residents currently enrolled in college than 98.0% of the neighborhoods in the U.S. With 22.9% of the population here attending college, this is very much a college-focused neighborhood.
Also, with a nice mix of college students, safety from crime, and decent walkability, the Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk neighborhood rates highly as a college student friendly place to live, and one that college students and their parents may want to consider. NeighborhoodScout's analysis shows that it rates more highly for a good place for college students to live than 85.6% of the neighborhoods in VA. This often also means that the area has certain amenities and services geared towards college students, from undergraduates to graduate students.
Real Estate
Many people dream of living along a street lined with row houses or other attached homes. Such places do often have an abundance of charm. If you are one of these people, the Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk neighborhood could be your paradise. With 40.2% of the homes and real estate here classified as rowhouses or other attached homes, this neighborhood brims with opportunity to find the right place for you. Only 1.9% of U.S. neighborhoods have more row houses than this neighborhood, making it one of the most interesting things about this special neighborhood.
In addition, most neighborhoods are composed of a mixture of ages of homes, but the Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk stands out as rather unique in having nearly all of its residential real estate built in one time period, namely between 1970 and 1999, generally considered to be established, but not old housing. What you'll sense when you look around or drive the streets of this neighborhood is that many of the residences look the same because of this similarity of age. In fact, 80.9% of the residential real estate here was built in this one time period.
Migration / Stability
Some neighborhoods have more internal cohesiveness than others. While other neighborhoods feel like a collection of strangers who just happen to live near each other. Sometimes this comes down to not only the personalities of the people in a place, but how long people have been together in that neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research has revealed some interesting things about the rootedness of people in the Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk neighborhood. In the Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk neighborhood, a greater proportion of the residents living here today did not live here five years ago than is found in 98.2% of U.S. Neighborhoods. This neighborhood, more than almost any other in America, has new residents from other areas.
Diversity
Did you know that the Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk neighborhood has more Cuban ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 2.5% of this neighborhood's residents have Cuban ancestry.
Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 2.6% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Russian at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.1% of the neighborhoods in America.
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 Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk neighborhood in Chesapeake are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 68.9% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 100.0% of America'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 Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk neighborhood, 55.2% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional 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 18.8% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (16.6%), and 9.7% in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions.
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 Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk neighborhood is English, spoken by 93.5% of households. Other important languages spoken here include French and Russian.
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 Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk neighborhood in Chesapeake, VA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (15.4%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (10.3%), and residents who report Irish roots (9.0%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (7.9%), along with some Sub-Saharan African ancestry residents (7.3%), 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 Oak Bridge Forest / Watch Island at River Walk neighborhood spend between 30 and 45 minutes commuting one-way to work (39.7% of working residents), which is at or a bit above the average length of a commute across all U.S. neighborhoods.
Here most residents (80.9%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. 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.
