Choosing where to “settle down” can be a daunting task. How are the schools? What’s the crime rate? How high are the taxes? Lucky for me, I suppose, is that I am not too interested in settling down anywhere – I kinda like moving every couple of years. But for many people, the idea of buying a home and getting settled for the long term is definitely a big goal on the To-Do list. If you haven’t already found your perfect place, you may want to check out the website NeighborhoodScout.com which lets you search neighborhoods across the U.S., using criteria like housing appreciate rates, crime scores, and school ratings. For example, I searched for my favorite place I have ever lived, Santa Monica, CA, and here is some of what the report came back with:
– Santa Monica is a larger medium-sized coastal city (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of California. With a population of 84,084 people and 19 constituent neighborhoods, Santa Monica is the 76th largest community in California.
– Of important note, Santa Monica is also a city of artists. Santa Monica has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Santa Monica’s character.
– One thing that you will notice about Santa Monica is that there is a good-sized population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters. Many singles consider Santa Monica a good place to live without being in a really big city, with opportunities for friendships and fun with others like themselves.
– Santa Monica is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Santa Monica home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Santa Monica is White, followed by Asian. Santa Monica also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 13.50% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Santa Monica include English, German, Irish, Russian, Italian, Iranian, and Polish. Santa Monica also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 24.85%.
– Population 84,084
– Number of homes & apartments 47,863
– Home Ownership:
–27.75% Owner Occupied
–65.22% Renter Occupied
–7.03% Vacant
– Median Home Value $1,138,229
– Median Rental Price $1,542
And while I would have to pay a fee to get the full data report, just this info alone gave me a feel for what kind of place Santa Monica is – even if I had never been/lived there. It would be very easy to look up potential places to live for free, just to get a general idea of what kind of community it is. But for the fee, you get full data information along with Scout Reports – reports they have done like America’s 5 Best Elementary, Middle and High Schools;
Affordable Neighborhoods with Great Schools; Most Dangerous Cities; Safest Cities; Best Public Schools. Pretty cool info, if you are a family looking for a new place to settle down.
