Trulia: Best-Kept Secret Neighborhoods Across America

House hunters typically don't venture too far from where they live today. Most people look for homes for sale or rentals across town, not across the country. However, more than one-third of searches are to homes at least 100 miles away. And as anyone who's had to move knows, finding the best place to live isn't easy -- especially if you're moving to an unfamiliar place.

Using the same analysis behind our Metro Movers report -- a forward-looking housing report that starts with where people are today and offers insights on where they want to live tomorrow -- we found that out-of-towners tend to look in name-brand neighborhoods such as Tribeca in New York, Beverly Hills in Los Angeles, Miami Beach in Miami, Pacific Heights in San Francisco and Georgetown in Washington, D.C.

But if you're moving to a new city, maybe you want to find the neighborhoods that locals know but aren't nationally famous. (Or maybe you're a local trying to avoid the transplants and carpetbaggers.) These are what we call a city's "best-kept secret" neighborhoods. They're not secrets to most local house hunters, but outsiders looking to move in typically overlook them.

To find out which neighborhoods are the locals' best-kept secrets, I looked at the zip codes within a city where locals account for more search activity than other similarly priced neighborhoods where out-of-towners tend to search. In general, pricier neighborhoods that are more famous tend to get more attention from non-locals. But many of our best-kept secret neighborhoods are pricey, too: many have been recently gentrified or redeveloped, while some have been quietly upscale for decades.

Using this methodology, here's our list of America's best-kept secret neighborhoods.

U.S. City	Best-Kept Secret Neighborhood	Zip Code
New York	Hunters Point (Long Island City, Queens)	11101
Los Angeles	La Brea / Hancock Park	90036
Chicago	West Town / Wicker Park	60622
San Francisco	Diamond Heights / Glen Park	94131
Miami	Key Biscayne	33149
Washington DC	Logan Circle	20005
Boston	Fort Point / Seaport District	02210
Houston	Spring Branch East	77055
Dallas	Greenway Parks	75209
Seattle	Sunset Hill / North Beach	98117
Philadelphia	Bella Vista / Southwark	19147
Atlanta	Virginia-Highland	30306

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Comments

[ditto head]

11:51 AM on 02/13/2012

Wicker Park a secret?

Come on Wicker was the at the center of the 90's slacker scene and now is little more that Linclon Park West. If you want a secret nieghborhoopd in Chicago try Pilson or Logan Square.

[Jill1975]

09:08 PM on 02/09/2012

800 s burnside is not in hancock Park , it is in the miracle mile . The miracle mile is somewhat overpriced with many houses on small lots under 2000 sq ft costing 1.2 million .Many of the residents are orthodox jews and they often cram these houses with eight children .

[JScott]

10:54 AM on 02/10/2012

If they want to be more precise-It's Windsor Square (identified by the WS on the streelamps)-extremely pricey neighborhood and underground utilities. Yer right tho the 'other' parts are what's generically called the Wilshire or Miracle Mile district-go to the LA times website for neighborhoods (altho it's in no way 'official')

[Ariana Avitia]

05:35 PM on 03/04/2012

Underground utilities?

[Ariana Avitia]

05:35 PM on 03/04/2012

Miracle mile is overpriced and not that safe.

[VA Jill]

02:15 PM on 02/09/2012

Real estate agents often "steer" out-of-town buyers away from these neighborhoods for various reasons. My parents were done this way by a Knoxville, TN agent who steered them away from a neighborhood that would have been much more convenient to my dad's work, not to mention other things, than where they wound up. They were pretty sure later that it was because the neighborhood was culturally diverse and on the non-PC side of town for a university professor.

[JacksonHts]

05:15 PM on 02/09/2012

Real estate agents are bottom feeders who sell trendiness and have no concern about neighborhoods other than how they can make money off them.

[JScott]

10:57 AM on 02/10/2012

Probably true, I remember watching I think the 'Today' show with a so called RE expert and she flat out said 'everyone wants the house with the picket fence' EXCUSE ME!!!!!!!!! I don't, and I don't have one. It's this same logic that makes 'granite countertops', 'crown moldings', stanless steel appliances, and sq. ft in the 3000's like it's mandatory. and ya know what THEY ARE WRONG!!!!!!!!!!

[RahmCorpShill]

11:48 AM on 02/10/2012

If you think that's bad in Illinois real estate developers collude with politicians using Illinois land trusts to come up with scams to rip off the public exchanging zoning permits for donations and worse.

[bob3443]

02:46 AM on 02/12/2012

If what you say is true about the RE steering your parents away from a specific neighborhood they should have reported it immediately to the local realtor board. REs can and do lose their licences for doing such things. Realtors have among the highest standards for professional behavior of any licenced trade in the nation.

[VA Jill]

12:00 PM on 02/12/2012

True, but my parents were moving to an unfamiliar city and needed to find a house ASAP. They did not know abut the neighborhood thing until later. Oh, it was also 1970, if that makes a difference (it should, if you know history). And realtors may have high standards, but that doesn't mean all follow them. Many don't (this from experience).

[mlanzi300]

12:42 AM on 04/10/2012

did you say "highest standards for professional behavior"

is that what they print in the pamphlets at the realtor conventions

they are salesmen, and they behave just like other salesmen

ya know car, insurance, door to door, and snake oil salesmen

I have met a couple of honorable and decent salesmen, but I stress COUPLE

I state all of this from first hand experience.