Neighborhoods are like Girlfriends

It’s true!  Think about it.  They have their own shapes, sizes, cultures, attitudes, styles and most importantly, personalities.  Any first time home buyer when looking for that perfect neighborhood has the same choices to make as the uninitiated single guy in search of the perfect companion.  Let’s take Seattle for example, should I go with…  

•  Party girl – Wild, late-night parties, stiff drinks, loud music.  Populated with 20 some year olds who have no clue when to stop.  Short walk away from the college campus which you can never reach since most likely you’ll get pulled into a bar on the way.  Your house is a bit run-down and cramped, but whatever, you’re never there anyway.  Life will never be boring… or productive… 
• Uptown Girl - Ridiculously large mansions, shiny new Mercedes and Porches, and waterfronts with beautiful sunset views.  This might be what you’ve always wanted, but could never afford.  The only thing keeping yourself from feeling out of your league, and perhaps a bit jealous, is telling yourself over and over again how high maintenance they may be. 
• Gourmet Girl - Restaurants abundant, up-scale grocery stores and coffee shops on every corner.  It’s just a short trip down the elevator from your condo to get to the classiest, most adventuresome restaurants anywhere around.  You’ll probably bump into someone you know from your condo building picking up a bottle of wine at the gourmet store around the corner.  And if you’re feeling slightly more exotic that day, you can even walk three blocks to that new restaurant that just opened, but be warned it’ll take an hour or two to get seated. City life at its best.  
• Girl Next Door - 3 beds, 2 baths, 2000 square feet.  Not exactly luxurious, but definitely not shabby. You’d definitely introduce her to mom.  Maybe it’s the feeling of comfort, or the diverse cultures and neighbors, or occasional run down house among many standard houses that gives this place some flavor.  It just feels real… it feels like home.

I’m probably the worst guy to ask for girl advice, but if you ask me about how to pick out that perfect neighborhood, I’d have a thing or two to say.  Our recently launched revamped neighborhood pages are a great place to start. We’ve worked hard to compile all the  data you’ll find on these pages, which will give you a good ‘flavor’ of these cities and neighborhoods.  Let’s check out Seattle for example.  Just a quick glance at these charts gives a good sense of The Emerald City:

• Seattle has consistently been ~$170k above the average US Zindex. 
• If I were to drive around neighborhoods in the area, I’d find that a majority (76.1%) of the homes are single family versus Condos (17.9%). 
• It’s a great place for both couples (41.4%) and for singles (41.8%). 
  If I drill down even more, I’d find that the average commute time is 26.6 mins (Seattle’s traffic is crazy!)
• Only 18.7% of the population is single and female versus 23.0% single males… maybe it’s time to move!

Girls?  Well… let’s just say Zillow doesn’t have much to offer there except for that “single female” stat I pointed out.  But neighborhoods?  We’re all over it.  Go on.  Try it.  You’ll like it.  And if you’re still unsure about what girl is right for you—engage in a conversation via Neighborhood Discussions to get to know her even better.  Perhaps you’ll find that dream long-term relationship you’ve been looking for.