StreetAdvisor Blog

What do you love about your San Francisco Bay area neighborhood?

In my last post I wrote about exploring the San Francisco Bay area. StreetAdvisor is receiving lots of reviews in the area, and these are some of the comments StreetAdvisor community members are making about what they love about their neighborhoods.

At College Terrace, Palo Alto, California (Overall Score 72.00), swtbabydoll126 says:

College Terrance got its name because its right next to Stanford University. My friend goes to school at Stanford, and rents a house here in this neighborhood with a few roommates. I have stayed over night before with her, and there isn't a problem at all with the noise level.

At Crocker Highland, Oakland, California (Overall Score 83.95), mwg says:

We moved here in 1992 based on it's easy access to I-580 in order to commute to Silicon Valley. At the time, there wasn't much to do in the shopping district and we didn't have kids. But now! The area has been so revitalized!!! This neighborhood has a very strong and active community involved in improving the area. There is now an incredible Farmers Market at Splashpad, right off the freeway, every Saturday.

At East End, Alameda, California (Overall Score 78.55), Alchemist says:

The banks of the San Leandro Channel provide for great fishing and catching the cool breezes that can't be found in the middle of the East End.

At Central East Castro Valley, Castro Valley, California (Overall Score 90.00), urbantrend says:

Central East Castro Valley is a trendy and modern neighborhood in the Castro Valley area. The apartments sort of resemble modern and upscale Euro style apartments with a touch of sophistication.

At Temescal, Oakland, California (Neighborhood Rank in Oakland #2, Overall Score 64.09), idonttwitter says:

If you want to hang out in the newest areas of Oakland then you need to head over to Temescal. Temescal offers easy access to the Groove Shafter Freeway (24) which makes it quick and easy to come or go. Telegraph Ave is the best street in the Temescal area in my opinion. The street is lined with new shops that are bursting at their seams with retail goods.

At Hayward Park, San Mateo, California (Neighborhood Rank in San Mateo #3, Overall Score 55.57), andrewlglass says:

I lived in Hayward Park for about 2 years, but decided to move back to the city life. I have to say that if you want to raise a family, this place wouldn’t be a bad choice. It is quiet, mostly friendly people and lots to do outdoors. One of the things I loved the most about Hayward Park is that the grocery stores are very environmentally friendly. Instead of using countless numbers of grocery bags from the store, they allow you to bring your own bags.

At South Shore | Shoreline, Alameda, California (Overall Score 81.96), Gooberthemighty says:

Some people who have lived in Alameda gripe about South Shore because of the construction and traffic, but what you're really getting is small town living with nice, suburban amenities. You can walk on the beach or go windsurfing, or just enjoy a picnic at the Crab Cove park.

There's obviously lots to like about neighborhoods in the Bay area. What do you love about where you live? Log in to StreetAdvisor today and tell us about it!

Exploring the San Francisco Bay area

There's more to the Bay area in California than San Francisco itself. While landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge capture the hearts of tourists, for current and potential California residents the issue of finding an affordable and enjoyable place to live is probably more important.

Despite its fame as a city, San Francisco itself does not score very highly as a city (San Francisco, California, City Rank in California #60, Overall Score 65.14).

San Francisco is ranked similarly to smaller cities in the Bay area like Sunnyvale, California (Overall Score 65.45) and Redwood City, California (City Rank in California #61, Overall Score 63.41).

Scores and ranks for the neighborhoods in these areas are starting to fill out. For example, the third best neighborhood in Redwood City is Oakwood, Redwood City, California Neighborhood Rank in Redwood City #3, Overall Score 63.28).

Scores are lower in the area immediately south of San Francisco, such as San Mateo, California (City Rank in California #77, Overall Score 49.19), Daly City, California City Rank in California #81, Overall Score 45.34) and South San Francisco, California (City Rank in California #83, Overall Score 41.27).

In the east the scores are mixed. San Leandro, California (City Rank in California #79, Overall Score 47.55) is at the low end and Oakland, California (City Rank in California #78, Overall Score 54.78) is not much better. The high end is dominated by Alameda, California (City Rank in California #4, Overall Score 84.07).

Scores are generally higher in southern part of the Bay area, also known as Silicon Valley. Mountain View, California (City Rank in California #30, Overall Score 74.52) scores the highest, followed by Santa Clara, California (City Rank in California #49, Overall Score 68.66) and Palo Alto, California (City Rank in California #51, Overall Score 67.40).

What do you think of these scores and ranks? How does your neighborhood or city rank? Contribute your own reviews, comments, forum topics and lists to StreetAdvisor today and influence the scores and ranks of these places.

How does your neighborhood rate in StreetAdvisor?

Just as the scores of different cities vary considerably in StreetAdvisor, so too do the scores and ranks of the neighborhoods within cities. The difference in scores between the top 5 neighborhoods of different cities also varies a lot. Consider these examples.

Denver, Colorado (City Rank in Colorado #6, Overall Score 66.99)

Best neighborhoods in Denver:

First: Washington Park, Denver, Colorado (Neighborhood Rank in Denver #1, Overall Score 90.00)

Fifth: Cory Merrill, Denver, Colorado (Neighborhood Rank in Denver #5, Overall Score 81.45)

Phoenix, Arizona (City Rank in Arizona #5, Overall Score 68.19)

Best neighborhoods in Phoenix:

First: East Phoenix, Phoenix, Arizona (Neighborhood Rank in Phoenix #1, Overall Score 72.98)

Fifth: Central Phoenix, Phoenix, Arizona (Neighborhood Rank in Phoenix #5, Overall Score 68.40)

Atlanta, Georgia (City Rank in Georgia #10, Overall Score 65.83)

Best neighborhoods in Atlanta:

First: Virginia Highland, Atlanta, Georgia (Neighborhood Rank in Atlanta #1, Overall Score 79.20)

Fifth: Downtown, Atlanta, Georgia (Neighborhood Rank in Atlanta #5, Overall Score 66.78)

Austin, Texas (City Rank inTexas #5, Overall Score 71.06)

Best neighborhoods in Austin:

First: Zilker, Austin, Texas (Neighborhood Rank in Austin #1, Overall Score 92.50)

Fifth: West Austin | Tarrytown, Austin, Texas (Neighborhood Rank in Austin #5, Overall Score 76.68)

In each of these examples, even the fifth best neighborhood scores better than the city as a whole.

How does your neighborhood rate in your city? Is the score of your neighborhood higher than the score for your city?

If so, you probably live in one of the better parts of town. If not, you probably are not. But regardless of the score or rank of your neighborhood, are you happy where you're living? Log into StreetAdvisor.com today and tell us about it.

The StreetAdvisor guide to the 5 boroughs of New York City

In StreetAdvisor we classify the 5 boroughs of New York City as cities. In descending order, the 5 boroughs hold the following ranks among cities in the state of New York.

New York (Manhattan), New York (City Rank in New York #12, Overall Score 63.30) is the highest ranked borough in NYC.

The top neighborhood in Manhattan is the Meatpacking District, New York, New York (Neighborhood Rank in New York #1, Overall Score 87.75).

The second highest ranked borough in NYC is Staten Island, New York (City Rank in New York #16, Overall Score 60.69).

The best neighborhood in Staten Island according to StreetAdvisor community members is Huguenot, Staten Island, New York (Neighborhood Rank in Staten Island #1,Overall Score 85.49).

Next is Brooklyn, New York (City Rank in New York #18, Overall Score 58.65).

Brooklyn's best neighborhood is Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, New York (Neighborhood Rank in Brooklyn #1, Overall Score 79.51).

Queens, New York (City Rank in New York #22, Overall Score 54.18) does not score quite as well as Brooklyn.

However, the best neighborhood in Queens scores almost as well as the best neighborhood in Brooklyn: Neponsit | Belle Harbor, Queens, New York (Neighborhood Rank in Queens #1, Overall Score 78.00).

The lowest ranked borough is The Bronx, New York (City Rank in New York #31, Overall Score 43.47).

The best neighborhood in The Bronx is Country Club, Bronx, New York (Neighborhood Rank in Bronx #1, Overall Score 69.71), which would not even place it in the top five neighborhoods in most of the other boroughs.

As you can see, there is huge diversity in the borough and neighborhood scores in New York City. How does your neighborhood rate? What do you think of the different ranks of the boroughs? Log into StreetAdvisor.com today and let the world know.

The StreetAdvisor guide to Boston neighborhoods

While the top ranked StreetAdvisor neighborhoods in other cities regularly score in the high 70s and even the low 80s, the top ranked neighborhood in Boston only scores 73. Why so low? Perhaps the residents of Boston, Massachusetts (City Rank in Massachusetts #3, Overall Score 68.07) are fussy or difficult to please.

The top neighborhood is Fenway | Kenmore, Boston, Massachusetts (Neighborhood Rank in Boston #1, Overall Score 73.15).

Second is Central Boston, Boston, Massachusetts (Neighborhood Rank in Boston #2, Overall Score 69.82).

Third is South End, Boston, Massachusetts (Neighborhood Rank in Boston #3, Overall Score 69.27).

Forth is South Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts (Neighborhood Rank in Boston #4, Overall Score 66.62).

Fifth is Back Bay | Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts Neighborhood Rank in Boston #5, Overall Score 66.46).

What do you think of these rankings? I think these rankings are a bit tough and some Bostonians should show their city some love. Log in to StreetAdvisor.com today and tell us what you think about Boston.

The StreetAdvisor guide to the neighborhoods of Los Angeles

Los Angeles (City Rank in California #63, Overall Score 62.02) is an amazing city, or rather a collection of cities in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area.

Los Angeles is receiving lots of street and neighborhood reviews in StreetAdvisor, and the scores and ranks for the neighborhoods are filling out. These are the top five neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

The top neighborhood is Beverly Crest, Los Angeles, California (Neighborhood Rank in Los Angeles #1, Overall Score 81.87).

The second is Rancho Park, Los Angeles, California (Neighborhood Rank in Los Angeles #2, Overall Score 78.91).

Third is Century City, Los Angeles, California (Neighborhood Rank in Los Angeles #3, Overall Score 78.70).

Forth is Elysian Park, Los Angeles, California (Neighborhood Rank in Los Angeles #4, Overall Score 76.50).

Fifth is Sawtelle, Los Angeles, California (Neighborhood Rank in Los Angeles #5, Overall Score 75.15).

If living in LA proper is not your scene, perhaps you prefer somewhere by the water or in the suburbs. The rankings of the cities in the LA area vary considerably.

Pasadena, California (City Rank in California #4, Overall Score 84.32) ranks much better than most LA neighborhoods. Glendale, California (City Rank in California #23, Overall Score 75.86) also ranks well and so does Santa Monica, California (City Rank in California #34,Overall Score 73.36).

What do you think of these rankings? Where does your neighborhood rate? Log in to StreetAdvisor.com today to find out!

The StreetAdvisor guide to Manhattan neighborhoods

With so many streets in New York City already reviewed by StreetAdvisor community members, it is not surprising to discover that almost all of the 43 neighborhoods in Manhattan not only have a score but also a rank.

In fact, even most of the smaller neighborhoods already have both a score and a rank. For example, look at the Meatpacking District, New York, New York (Neighborhood Rank in New York #1, Overall Score 87.75).

The scores and ranks for Manhattan neighborhoods continue to rise and fall as new street and neighborhood reviews are submitted. Here’s sample of some recent developments.

Larger neighborhoods like Chelsea, New York, New York (Neighborhood Rank in New York #21, Overall Score 67.28) feature many street and neighborhood reviews.

Kips Bay, New York, New York (Neighborhood Rank in New York #18 Overall Score 68.32) is rising in the rankings and Midtown, New York, New York (Neighborhood Rank in New York #5, Overall Score 77.94) scores highly.

The most northern neighborhood in Manhattan, Inwood, New York, New York, has the lowest score and rank (Neighborhood Rank in New York #42, Overall Score 38.09).

The Upper East Side, New York, New York (Neighborhood Rank in New York #12 Overall Score 74.07) scores slightly better than the Upper West Side, New York, New York (Neighborhood Rank in New York #15 Overall Score 70.77).

If you think the score or rank for a street or neighborhood is not accurate, write a review and explain why. Give your review a more realistic score.

To make it easy to find all the neighborhoods, we've made a complete list of Manhattan neighborhoods using StreetAdvisor's new Local Lists feature.

You get to influence the score and rank of every street and neighborhood by sharing your opinions about places on StreetAdvisor. Log in to StreetAdvisor.com today and start finding out more about your favorite places.

The StreetAdvisor guide to San Francisco neighborhoods

Since StreetAdvisor introduced over 12,000 neighborhoods to its US maps recently, the site has received many neighborhood reviews. It's been fascinating to watch the scores building and to see the rankings of neighborhoods in different cities rising and falling.

Each time you write a street or neighborhood review in StreetAdvisor, you contribute to its overall score and rank.

Furthermore, all the scores of the streets that have been reviewed within a neighborhood contribute to the score and rank for that neighborhood.

A particularly positive or negative review of a street or neighborhood can make a drastic impact on a neighborhood's rank.

When we introduced neighborhoods a month ago, Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco was ranked as the second best neighborhood in the city. Now it's only ranked the fifth best neighborhood, with Lincoln Park, Sea Cliff and Saint Francis Wood rising to the top.

Like tennis rankings, the time a neighborhood spends at the top of the rank table in its city may be brief, before a negative review reduces its score and rank, or because another place starts to receive more positive reviews and its score and rank begin to rise.

If you think the score or rank for a street or neighborhood is not accurate, write a review and explain why. Give your review a more realistic score. Maybe you think Central Waterfront has been judged too poorly by previous reviewers, or that Bernal Heights is boring and its score is too generous.

StreetAdvisor's guides to the neighborhoods of San Francisco are your guides. You write them and you control them.

You get to influence the score and rank of every street and neighborhood by sharing your opinions about places on StreetAdvisor. Log in to StreetAdvisor.com today and start finding out more about your favorite places.

StreetAdvisor has all the statistics on your town

StreetAdvisor has been working hard to develop cool new features, such as mashing in Flickr and Panoramio photos to our street, neighborhood and city pages. We have also been developing some great new content, such as including over 12,000 neighborhoods throughout the US into the site. We have used all scores generated by street and city reviews in the site to generate rankings, so you can see how your street and neighborhood rate against other places.

The latest content set we have added is demographic data for every state and about 500 of the biggest cities and towns across the US. We've got an amazing amount of data! It comes from 2000 and 2007 Census Bureau data, 2005 and 2007 FBI crime data, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and various local government websites.

For example, look at Dallas, Texas (City Rank in Texas #12, Overall Score 63.78). Click on the new Demographics tab for Dallas, Texas and you will find a page of data all about Dallas. The population is 1,240,499, 74.2% were born in their state of residence and 69.9% of people have a high school education.

Compare this information to that for the much smaller town of Tyler, Texas, where the Demographics tab shows that the population is 96,451 and 83.5% of people have a high school education.

In Tyler, Texas 12% of residents are foreign born, whereas in Mobile, Alabama only 3.3% of the population is foreign born. There's a lot of information to explore and consider. We think this information may make a big difference in your decision-making about where to live. The next time your lease is up and you decide to shift neighborhoods, or you get an amazing job in a new city and have to move somewhere you don't know, you'll find this demographic data incredibly helpful.

StreetAdvisor ranks your street, neighborhood and city

When StreetAdvisor recently added over 12,000 neighborhoods in the US, we also added a new feature world-wide: rankings. Rankings are now included at every level in StreetAdvisor's extensive local content. 

Users will discover that their street is ranked against other streets in their neighborhood (US only) and / or their city. Neighborhoods are ranked against each other in cities, and cities are ranked against each other in states.

Street rank

A good example of street rank is Jessie Street, Austin, Texas (Street Rank in Austin #4, Overall Score, 90.00). The rank number is above the score in the scorecard at the top of every page.

Neighborhood rank

Jessie St is in the neighborhood of Zilker (Neighborhood Rank in Austin #1, Overall Score 92.50), which is the top ranked neighborhood in Austin, Texas (City Rank in Texas #4, Overall Score 71.06).

Neighborhood and city pages display a box on the right hand side containing (up to) the top 5 neighborhoods in the city (subject to availability).

City rank

Two examples from Australia show how rankings work on city (suburb) pages. City scores are calculated from the scores of all the streets and neighborhoods (US only) within them.

Albert Park, Victoria (City Rank in Victoria #92, Overall Score 70.46). The top 5 cities in the state of Victoria are ranked in the state page.

Chippendale, New South Wales (City Rank in New South Wales #30, Overall Score 50.32). The top 5 cities in the state of New South Wales are ranked in the state page.

Rankings provide a quick and easy way to show exactly how good your street is, and how it ranks against the competition. How does your street rank? Visit StreetAdvisor.com today to find out! Once you're there, log in and write a review of your street, your neighborhood or your city.