La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes median real estate price is $1,429,036, which is more expensive than 80.1% of the neighborhoods in California and 95.8% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes is currently $3,808, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 70.7% of the neighborhoods in California.
La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes is a rural neighborhood (based on population density) located in Watsonville, California. This is a coastal neighborhood (i.e., is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet).
La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes real estate is primarily made up of medium sized (three or four bedroom) to small (studio to two bedroom) single-family homes and townhomes. Most of the residential real estate is occupied by a mixture of owners and renters. Many of the residences in the La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood are established but not old, having been built between 1970 and 1999. A number of residences were also built between 1940 and 1969.
Vacant apartments or homes are a major fact of life in La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 34.7%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 96.3% of all U.S. neighborhoods. A relatively large percentage of housing here is seasonally occupied (30.7%). This can occur in vacation areas, and occasionally it is also found in neighborhoods that are primarily filled with college students, as some apartments could be vacant when school is not in session. If you live here year round, you may find that a number of buildings in your neighborhood are actually empty.
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.
Do you like a coastal setting? If so, this neighborhood may be to your liking. The La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet. Often such coastal places have amenities and recreational activities on the waterfront that are attractive to residents and visitors alike. In addition to being coastal, La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes is a very nautical neighborhood, meaning that it is somewhat historic, walkable, densely populated and on the water. This gives the neighborhood a very nautical feel, with some seaside and shipping feel, which some may really enjoy the sights and sounds of.
In addition, vacant homes and apartments are a significant characteristic of this neighborhood. In fact, with 34.7% of the residential real estate vacant, the La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood claims the distinction of having a higher vacancy rate than 96.3% of the neighborhoods in America. This can either be because much of the property is seasonally occupied, like in many vacation areas, or that much of the real estate is more permanently abandoned.
Each year, fewer and fewer Americans make their living as farmers, foresters, or fishers. But the La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood truly stands out among U.S. neighborhoods. According to exclusive NeighborhoodScout analysis, this neighborhood has a greater proportion of farmers, foresters, or fishers than 99.5% of all American neighborhoods. This is truly a unique cultural characteristic of this neighborhood.
If you are planning to retire in California, this neighborhood should be on your must-see list. For many reasons, La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes may be considered a retiree's dream neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis and metrics, it's peaceful and quiet, has above average safety from crime compared to other neighborhoods in California, while also offering a diverse range of housing options. This, along with the vibrant mix of very educated seniors and other age groups who choose to live here, makes the neighborhood more retiree-friendly than 97.4% of neighborhoods in CA. If a California retirement is in your future, this neighborhood should be one of the places you visit.
In addition, of particular note, 2.7% of the people in the La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood currently reside in a correction facility, held due to punishment for a crime.
Did you know that the La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood has more English and Croatian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 25.1% of this neighborhood's residents have English ancestry and 1.0% have Croatian ancestry.
La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 1.1% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Greek at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 97.4% of the neighborhoods in America.
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 La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood in Watsonville are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 80.8% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 2.0% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 75.1% of America'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 La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood, 34.3% 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 22.4% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in farming, forestry, or commercial fishing (16.8%), and 16.6% in manufacturing and laborer occupations.
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 La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood is English, spoken by 66.9% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Italian and Polish.
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood in Watsonville, CA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Mexican (33.4%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (25.1%), and residents who report Irish roots (13.9%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (11.1%), along with some Scottish ancestry residents (4.6%), among others. In addition, 19.6% 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 La Selva Beach / Pajaro Dunes neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (39.4% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (71.9%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (16.2%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.