What is a Neighborhood?

Neighborhoods can be a tricky topic to navigate. While neighborhood names carry real marketing and search value, there’s no central, verified source to draw from. Municipal boundaries don’t always define neighborhoods, and many names that are currently being used are historic or loosely defined. 

In some instances, Homeowner's Associations (such as Marvin Beach in Norwalk, which is comprised of 9 streets) can constitute a neighborhood. Additionally, entire zip codes (East Norwalk, Rowayton) can consitute a neighborhood. However, these examples do not apply across the board (not all HOAs or zip codes comprise their own neighborhood). The combination of these factors creates the potential for inconsistent use, consumer confusion and possible fair housing concerns.

In connectMLS, the term neighborhood refers to the specific area or community where a property is located. When adding a new listing, the Neighborhood field is required and cannot be left empty. Neighborhoods that are dictated by HOAs and zip codes will be enforced by SmartMLS.

If you do not know the correct neighborhood for the property you are listing, or it does not fall within any of the neighborhoods in the drop-down list, you should select N/A (each city has a N/A option in its Neighborhood list).