Neighborhood analysis should begin with a tour of the area.  The property manager should assess seven major factors in the neighborhood.

1-Boundaries: A neighborhood usually is defined as an area within which common characteristics of population and land use prevail.  There is no predetermined size for a neighborhood.  In rural areas, a neighborhood may encompass ten square miles, while a city neighborhood might include only fife square blocks.  Rivers, lakes, railroad tracks, parks or major arterial throughways may help delineate the confines of a neighborhood, or a neighborhood may have traditional, culturally recognized boundaries.  In the absence of any obvious boundaries, the manager must determine how much land is under common use and shares a similar population.

2-Land Usage: While establishing a neighborhood boundaries, the property manager should take note of growth-restricting features such as rivers, parks, highways and railroad tracks.  Zoning variances and restrictions should also be noted because zoning may encourage or inhibit expansion or the variety of uses available for particular property.

3-Transportation: Whether the property is an apartment building, warehouse, office complex or shopping center, transportation facilities are crucial.  Close proximity to public transportation is a must for apartment dwellers in large cities, and for employees in office buildings.  Access to and from major streets, traffic patterns and the traffic count in a neighborhood are of concern to commercial ventures such as strip centers or shopping malls.  Industrial enterprises must have access to transportation facilities to distribute their goods, so railheads, major highways and airports are important to industrial tenants.