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Real Estate Prices & Overview

Downtown West median real estate price is $860,420, which is more expensive than 83.1% of the neighborhoods in New Jersey and 87.3% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.

The average rental price in Downtown West is currently $4,301, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 87.4% of the neighborhoods in New Jersey.

Downtown West is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Downtown West 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 small apartment buildings. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Downtown West neighborhood are relatively historic, built no later than 1939, and in some cases, quite a bit earlier. A number of residences were also built between 1970 and 1999.

Home and apartment vacancy rates are 8.8% in Downtown West. NeighborhoodScout analysis shows that this rate is lower than 43.9% of the neighborhoods in the nation, approximately near the middle range for vacancies.

Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics

Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in Jersey City, the Downtown West neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.

Real Estate

What you'll find when you visit or move to this neighborhood is one of the most crowded neighborhoods in all of America. With an incredible 65,408 people per square mile, it is more densely populated than 99.0% of America's neighborhoods. Even if you drive or take transit to your place of employment, many people enjoy being able to walk in their neighborhood. What many people don't realize is that most of America's premier vacation locations are also very walkable. The Downtown West neighborhood is among the top 5% of American neighborhoods in terms of walkability.

In addition, the Downtown West 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 85.8% 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, corner bodegas, stores on the first floor and apartments above, former grand Victorian residences converted into apartments, three-deckers built shoulder-to-shoulder, duplexes. Such building types define the real estate of neighborhoods dominated by small 2, 3, and 4 unit apartment buildings. Many are in older core neighborhoods of Eastern and Midwestern cities, or historic town centers in their hinterlands. If you wax romantic about the look and feel of such neighborhoods, with fresh pizza, falafel and an independent florist at the corner, then you might find the Downtown West neighborhood worth a close look. This neighborhood is an absolutely outstanding example of the dominance of small 2, 3, and 4 unit apartment buildings compared to neighborhoods across the nation, as they make up a substantial portion of this neighborhood's real estate stock. In fact, no less than 31.7% of the real estate here is made up of such dwellings, which is higher than 95.2% of all U.S. neighborhoods.

Also of note, if you find historic homes and neighborhoods attractive, you love the details, the history, and the charm, then you are sure to be interested in this neighborhood. With 80.3% of the residential real estate in the Downtown West neighborhood built no later than 1939, and some built considerably earlier, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of historic residences than 99.6% of all neighborhoods in America. In this regard, this neighborhood truly stands out as special.

Modes of Transportation

If you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 36.0% of the Downtown West neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 98.6% of America's neighborhoods.

Also, in the Downtown West neighborhood, many people's commute means walking from the bedroom to the home office. NeighborhoodScout's analysis found that 33.6% of residents worked from home. This may not seem like a large number, but Scout's research shows that this is a higher percentage of people working from home than 98.4% of the neighborhoods in America. Often people who work from home are engaged in the creative or technological economy, such as is found in areas around Boston, and in Silicon Valley. Other times, people may be engaged in other businesses like trading stocks from home, or running a small beauty salon.

People

Think about the people you know personally. How many of them would purchase box seats to opening night at the symphony? How many of them regularly attend gallery openings, or are the first to reserve tickets to opening night at the ballet? If they're like most of us, they don't do any of these things. But if you're among an exclusive crowd of wealthy and refined patrons of the arts, then you'll feel right at home in the Downtown West neighborhood: a neighborhood in which more "urban sophisticates" live than 97.1% of neighborhoods across the U.S. Here, your neighbors are defined as having urbane tastes in literature, music, live theatre and the arts. They are wealthy, educated, travel in style, and live a big city lifestyle whether or not they live in or near a big city.

Car Ownership

Most American households own a car or other vehicle. Many own two cars or perhaps three. In the United States, it is useful to have an automobile not only for commuting, but also for shopping and getting to other services one needs. But NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed that households in the Downtown West neighborhood have a highly unusual car ownership. 25.3% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 96.4% of U.S. neighborhoods.

Diversity

Did you know that the Downtown West neighborhood has more Greek and Puerto Rican ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 3.2% of this neighborhood's residents have Greek ancestry and 14.5% have Puerto Rican ancestry.

Downtown West is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 1.1% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Urdu, which is the national language of Pakistan, at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 97.6% of the neighborhoods in America.

The Neighbors

How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.

The neighbors in the Downtown West neighborhood in Jersey City are wealthy, making it among the 15% highest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 91.1% of the neighborhoods in America. With 25.2% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 75.8% of U.S. neighborhoods.

A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.

In the Downtown West neighborhood, 68.7% 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 20.4% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (5.6%), and 5.3% in clerical, assistant, and tech support 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 West neighborhood is English, spoken by 60.2% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Chinese and Polish.

Ethnicity / Ancestry

Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.

In the Downtown West neighborhood in Jersey City, NJ, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Puerto Rican (14.5%). There are also a number of people of Italian ancestry (10.4%), and residents who report Asian roots (9.9%), and some of the residents are also of South American ancestry (9.5%), along with some German ancestry residents (8.9%), among others. In addition, 21.9% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.

Getting to Work

Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in Downtown West neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (37.8% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.

Here most residents (36.0%) take the train to get to work. In addition, quite a number also drive alone in a private automobile to get to work (15.9%) and 9.1% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work 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.


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