How To Find Your Perfect Neighborhood (2024 Guide)
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Taking time to determine what you’re looking for in a community and researching a neighborhood before moving will help you avoid buyer’s remorse. Affordability, safety, and school systems are all major consideration factors. In this article, we’ll offer strategies for finding your ideal neighborhood and share our moving company recommendations when you’re finally ready to make the leap.
1. Make a List
Make a list of what’s important to you in a new neighborhood. Divide this list into two columns: must-haves (things you can’t live without) and would-likes (things you’d like to have but aren’t deal-breakers). Then, sort each list by priority, putting the most important considerations at the top.
Some of these factors, such as crime rates and property taxes, are obvious. Others may not occur to you until you start researching. Here’s a list to get you started:
- Amenities within walking distance
- Architectural style of other houses
- Commute time
- Demographics
- Distance to grocery stores and restaurants
- Distance to highways and airports
- Exercise options (gyms, running trails, public pools, etc.)
- Homeowners’ associations and fees
- Local home values and housing market
- Nightlife
- Pet amenities (dog parks, walking trails, etc.)
- Public transportation options
- School options
- Traffic
- Homeowners’ associations and fees
- Local home values and housing market
- Nightlife
- Pet amenities (dog parks, walking trails, etc.)
- Public transportation options
- School options
- Traffic
Remember to think about the future and the present. For example, if you plan to have children after your move, keep factors such as good schools on the list.
2. Search Online
Multiple online resources exist to help you evaluate the neighborhoods you’re interested in. For example, BestNeighborhood.org ranks areas by desirability, as determined by housing prices, income levels, education, and internet services. You can also view the geographic area’s political and demographic makeup. AreaVibes.com has similar information, plus an overall livability score.
NeighborhoodScout.com provides financial data on local real estate markets and information on what makes each neighborhood unique. The site also has detailed breakdowns of economics, demographics, crime rates, local schools, and predicted trends, but you must pay for a detailed report. Paying gives you access to a search tool that filters neighborhoods across the state or country based on your criteria.
3. Check Affordability
A neighborhood’s affordability is about more than just property values. Grocery prices, sales and property taxes, transportation expenses, and more contribute to the local cost of living. A good place to start gathering affordability data is the Housing and Transportation Affordability Index. You can pull up a fact sheet for your chosen ZIP code to see what percent of residents’ income generally goes to mortgage, rent, and transit. This resource also provides data on annual transportation costs, job access, and neighborhood compactness and walkability.
If you’re looking at neighborhoods in different cities or want to compare the cost of living where you are to your future home, CNN’s cost of living calculator can help. It shows you how much more or less groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, and health care are likely to cost. If you want hard dollar amounts, MIT’s Living Wage Calculator shows you data by state, county, or metropolitan area. You’ll learn the minimum costs necessary for different family sizes, which can help you identify the best cities to buy a starter home.
4. Amenities
You can look at your top choices in Google Maps. You’ll understand the general layout, distance to work or other destinations, and features such as highways, shopping centers, and public parks. The “take a walk” feature may also be helpful to see what the neighborhood actually looks like.
Here’s where your priority list comes in handy. Some questions to consider include:
- How important is it for you to have green space around you?
- Will you mind if the scenery is mostly concrete?
- Do you want the convenience of living near major highways, or will you dislike the noise and possible danger of speeding cars?
- How important are ample parking, good sidewalks, and attractive architecture?
- How far are you willing to travel to grocery stores and restaurants?
5. Research Schools
Considering local schools is paramount when looking for the best place to buy a house for your family. Good school districts tend to be in safer neighborhoods with more stable home values and higher resale prices. Performing in-depth research will help you determine whether the school district is ideal for your family.
Luckily, there are plenty of school-specific online resources, such as:
- Greatschools.org lets you search by location, schooling level, and type. It ranks public schools by test scores, student progress, college readiness, and equity for disadvantaged groups.
- National Center for Education Statistics provides information regarding enrollment statistics and student-to-teacher ratios.
- Niche.com lets you filter by school type, academic programs, religion status, and more.
- Your state’s Department of Education (DOE) website often has school rankings and other statistics.
Once you’ve narrowed your choices, you can contact schools directly for more information. You’ll first receive promotional material from the school, which will direct you to specific programs or specialties. This can also give you an idea of the school’s culture and whether it’s right for your children.
6. Safety and Comfort
Most of the general neighborhood livability resources will give you some idea of the local crime rates, but there are plenty of specific resources for looking at crime statistics. The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is one of the largest crime databases reported by local law enforcement agencies. You can search by state and law enforcement body to look at all crimes, hate crimes, property crimes, and more.
SpotCrime.com and CrimeMapping.com limit their website to recent crimes, arrests, and locations. If you sign up at these sites, they’ll send you alerts when new crimes are reported.
Do a location search at the Department of Justice’s National Sex Offender Public Website for more information. Take this information in context. Many different crimes fall under the category of sex offenses.
7. Consider the Commute
Use Google Maps to visualize your daily commute. Request directions at different times of day to learn about typical traffic patterns and when your commute time may increase or decrease. Also, check out the traffic to popular areas such as shopping or entertainment centers.
If you’d like information on walking, biking, or using public transportation, search for neighborhoods on WalkScore.com. This site provides scores out of 100 based on accessibility without a car.
8. Visit the Area
All the online resources are no substitute for visiting a neighborhood and getting the lay of the land. You’ll often spot features or quirks that websites miss.
Visit at different times of the day to get a sense of the full scope of living there. Consider taking the following steps:
- Visit at rush hour to see how far traffic backs up and whether any parts of the commute become particularly difficult.
- Visit during a rainstorm to see how good the drainage is and whether flooding is a problem.
- Visit during evenings and weekends to see the neighborhood’s social life.
- Visit later at night to see the lighting conditions, noise level, and perceived safety.
- Walk the neighborhood to gain a better understanding of just how walkable the area is.
You should also look for potential warning signs such as graffiti, vacant houses, and poor road conditions. These may not be deal-breakers, but you want as much intel as possible for your family.
9. Talk to the Locals
Take a few minutes to talk to people who actually live there. Your future neighbors will have the best take on the neighborhood’s pros and cons. Ask them what they wished they’d known before they moved there or what they’d change if they could. Your opinion may ultimately differ from theirs, but one conversation can reveal information unavailable elsewhere.
Our Conclusion
Take the time to explore several potential neighborhoods. You should do this whether moving cross-country on a budget or switching ZIP codes in your current state. Your surroundings can make more of a difference than you might think, and you may prevent some unfavorable surprises in your new location. We recommend listing your priorities first and then examining neighborhoods based on what they offer.
FAQ About Finding the Perfect Neighborhood
What are the best neighborhoods to live in?
The best neighborhood to live in depends heavily on your priorities. Safety and affordability are important for everyone, but factors such as school quality and noise level depend on you.
How do I choose a community to live in?
You can choose a new community to live in by starting with online research. This will help you narrow down your choices based on your priorities. Then, visit your top choices at different times to get a sense of what they’re like.
What makes a perfect neighborhood?
The specifics of your perfect neighborhood depend on what’s important to you, but generally speaking, low crime rates, high affordability, low cost of living, and access to amenities are good signs.
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