Downtown median real estate price is $232,190, which is less expensive than 98.4% of Massachusetts neighborhoods and 72.8% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
The average rental price in Downtown is currently $4,550, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 83.2% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts.
Downtown is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Boston, Massachusetts.
Downtown real estate is primarily made up of small (studio to two bedroom) to medium sized (three or four bedroom) apartment complexes/high-rise apartments and townhomes. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Downtown neighborhood are established but not old, having been built between 1970 and 1999. A number of residences were also built between 1940 and 1969.
Home and apartment vacancy rates are 9.2% in Downtown. NeighborhoodScout analysis shows that this rate is lower than 41.9% of the neighborhoods in the nation, approximately near the middle range for vacancies.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
People
One of the unique characteristics of the Downtown neighborhood revealed by analysis is that the per capita income of residents here is lower than that found in 98.5% of the neighborhoods in America. Also of note, 95.7% of the children in this area live in poverty; an extraordinarily high percentage compared to other neighborhoods in the nation. In a nation where approximately one in four children grows up in poverty, this neighborhood stands out for the depth of the problem manifested here.
In addition, the types of households in a neighborhood can tell a lot about the character and lifestyle of those living here. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood, above nearly every neighborhood in America, has a greater percentage of its residents living alone: 59.3%. This is a higher percent living alone than we found in 98.7% of all U.S. neighborhoods. Often residents who live alone are new arrivals to an area who are single, and often senior citizens who have lost a spouse.
Also, if knowledge is power, then imagine the cumulative power of one neighborhood where many of the adults have earned an advanced degree, such as a Masters, law degree, medical degree, or even a Ph.D. This is certainly the case in the Downtown neighborhood, where 35.5% have earned an advanced degree. Compare that to the average neighborhood in America, where just 13.4% of adults have completed a post-graduate degree, and you can see why this neighborhood is a stand out. In fact, this neighborhood has a higher rate of adults with an advanced degree than 95.2% of the neighborhoods in America.
Modes of Transportation
Our research shows that more people carpool to work here in the Downtown (29.3%) than in 98.7% of the neighborhoods in America.
Also, in the Downtown neighborhood, 29.4% of people ride the train to work each day. This is a very high percentage compared to most places. In fact, NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that this is a higher level of train ridership than in 98.1% of the neighborhoods in America.
Car Ownership
American households most often have a car, and regularly they have two or three. But households in the Downtown neighborhood buck this trend. 42.2% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.3% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Real Estate
Renter-occupied real estate is dominant in the Downtown neighborhood. The percentage of rental real estate here, according to exclusive NeighborhoodScout analysis, is 95.5%, which is higher than 98.1% of the neighborhoods in America. If you were to buy and live in the property you bought here, you would be almost alone in doing so.
In addition, the Downtown neighborhood is very unique in that it has one of the highest proportions of one, two, or no bedroom real estate of any neighborhood in America. Most neighborhoods have a mixture of home or apartment sizes from small to large, but here the concentration of studios and other small living spaces is at near-record heights. With 90.7% of the real estate here of this small size, this most assuredly is a notable feature that makes this neighborhood unique, along with just a handful of other neighborhoods in the U.S. that share this characteristic.
Furthermore, the real estate in the Downtown neighborhood really stands out in the way it looks for a unique reason: this neighborhood has a higher proportion of apartment complexes or high-rise apartments than nearly every neighborhood in the country. Most neighborhoods are a mixture of real estate and housing types, but here it is almost entirely dominated by big apartment buildings and complexes. In fact, 82.3% of the real estate here is classified as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments, which is more than is found in 97.0% of American neighborhoods.
Diversity
Did you know that the Downtown neighborhood has more West Indian and Puerto Rican ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 2.1% of this neighborhood's residents have West Indian ancestry and 15.4% have Puerto Rican ancestry.
Downtown is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 23.5% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Chinese at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.4% of the neighborhoods in America.
Migration / Stability
The freedom of moving to new places versus the comfort of home. How much and how often people move not only can create diverse and worldly neighborhoods, but simultaneously it can produce a loss of intimacy with one's surroundings and a lack of connectedness to one's neighbors. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research has identified this neighborhood as unique with regard to the transience of its populace. What is interesting to note, is that the Downtown neighborhood has a greater percentage of residents born in another country (48.7%) than are found in 97.3% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.
The neighbors in the Downtown neighborhood in Boston are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 98.5% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 95.7% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 99.8% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the Downtown neighborhood, 53.0% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 22.6% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (21.5%), and 3.0% in manufacturing and laborer occupations.
Languages
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the Downtown neighborhood is English, spoken by 45.8% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese, Spanish, French and Vietnamese.
Ethnicity / Ancestry
Boston's Beacon Hill blue-blood streets, Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish enclaves, Los Angeles' Persian neighborhoods. Each has its own culture derived primarily from the ancestries and culture of the residents who call these neighborhoods home. Likewise, each neighborhood in America has its own culture – some more unique than others – based on lifestyle, occupations, the types of households – and importantly – on the ethnicities and ancestries of the people who live in the neighborhood. Understanding where people came from, who their grandparents or great-grandparents were, can help you understand how a neighborhood is today.
In the Downtown neighborhood in Boston, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Asian (37.9%). There are also a number of people of Puerto Rican ancestry (15.4%), and residents who report French roots (4.7%), and some of the residents are also of Irish ancestry (4.2%), along with some Dominican ancestry residents (3.5%), among others. In addition, 48.7% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in Downtown neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (37.7% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.
Here most residents (29.4%) take the train to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (29.3%) and 10.6% of residents also drive alone in a private automobile for their daily commute. This neighborhood is distinguished by the high number of residents who take the train to work each day, which can be a very good way to get to work at a lower cost and with less pollution.
