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.
W Prien Lake Rd / Lake St median real estate price is $261,883, which is more expensive than 63.9% of the neighborhoods in Louisiana and 30.9% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in W Prien Lake Rd / Lake St is currently $1,189, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 68.8% of Louisiana neighborhoods.
W Prien Lake Rd / Lake St is a suburban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
W Prien Lake Rd / Lake St real estate is primarily made up of small (studio to two bedroom) to medium sized (three or four bedroom) single-family homes and apartment complexes/high-rise apartments. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the W Prien Lake Rd / Lake St neighborhood are older, well-established, built between 1940 and 1969. A number of residences were also built between 2000 and the present.
Vacant apartments or homes are a major fact of life in W Prien Lake Rd / Lake St. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 32.7%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 96.1% 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 Lake Charles, the W Prien Lake Rd / Lake St neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
People
The W Prien Lake Rd / Lake St neighborhood stands out for having an average per capita income lower than 95.1% of the neighborhoods in the United States. In a nation where 1 out of every 4 children lives in poverty, the W Prien Lake Rd / Lake St neighborhood also stands out as being ranked among the lowest 0.0% of neighborhoods affected by this global issue.
In addition, astoundingly, the W Prien Lake Rd / Lake St neighborhood has one of the highest concentrations of divorcees living here than of any neighborhood, a higher concentration than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.2% of U.S. neighborhoods. This may be because people living here divorce more often than others, or that divorced people move here after they become divorced. If you are divorced, you will be in good company in this particular Lake Charles neighborhood.
Length of Commute
Regardless of the means by which residents commute, this neighborhood has a length of commute that is notable. Residents of the W Prien Lake Rd / Lake St neighborhood have the pleasure of having one of the shortest commutes to work of any neighborhood in America. 65.3% of the residents have a commute time from home to work (one way) of less than fifteen minutes. This is a higher proportion of residents enjoying a short trip to work than NeighborhoodScout found in 97.6% of U.S. neighborhoods. Less time commuting means more time for other things in life.
Real Estate
Vacant homes and apartments are a significant characteristic of this neighborhood. In fact, with 32.7% of the residential real estate vacant, the W Prien Lake Rd / Lake St neighborhood claims the distinction of having a higher vacancy rate than 96.1% of the neighborhoods in America. This can either be because much of the property is seasonally occupied, like in many vacation areas, or that much of the real estate is more permanently abandoned.
Diversity
Did you know that the W Prien Lake Rd / Lake St neighborhood has more French and Scots-Irish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 13.5% of this neighborhood's residents have French ancestry and 3.3% have Scots-Irish 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 W Prien Lake Rd / Lake St neighborhood in Lake Charles are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 95.1% of U.S. neighborhoods. 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 W Prien Lake Rd / Lake St neighborhood, 28.3% of the working population is employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 27.4% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (23.1%), and 21.2% in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants.
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 W Prien Lake Rd / Lake St neighborhood is English, spoken by 94.4% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Tagalog (the first language of the Philippine region).
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 W Prien Lake Rd / Lake St neighborhood in Lake Charles, LA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as French (13.5%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (11.5%), and residents who report English roots (10.3%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (6.5%), along with some Sub-Saharan African ancestry residents (3.8%), among others.
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 W Prien Lake Rd / Lake St neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (65.3% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (84.3%) 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.
