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Real Estate Prices & Overview

Lower West Side median real estate price is $386,121, which is more expensive than 73.6% of the neighborhoods in Illinois and 56.3% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.

The average rental price in Lower West Side is currently $2,112, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 64.6% of the neighborhoods in Illinois.

Lower West Side is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Chicago, Illinois.

Lower West Side real estate is primarily made up of small (studio to two bedroom) to medium sized (three or four bedroom) small apartment buildings and apartment complexes/high-rise apartments. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Lower West Side 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.

Lower West Side has a 11.9% vacancy rate, which is well above average compared to other U.S. neighborhoods (higher than 69.0% of American neighborhoods). Most vacant housing here is vacant year round. This could either signal that there is a weak demand for real estate in the neighborhood or that large amount of new housing has been built and not yet occupied. Either way, if you live here, you may find many of the homes or apartments are empty.

Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics

The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.

Real Estate

Three-deckers, duplexes, old Victorian homes cut up into apartments. Independent stores on the corner selling pizza. These are some of the hallmarks of neighborhoods with lots of small 2, 3, and 4 unit apartment buildings. The Lower West Side neighborhood really stands out in this regard, however, as it is dominated by such small apartment buildings more than nearly any other neighborhood in America. This is a stunning visual and lifestyle example of this type of neighborhood. In fact, 64.0% of the real estate here are small 2, 3, or 4 unit apartment buildings, which is a higher proportion than found in 99.5% of America's neighborhoods.

In addition, if you like crowded places, then you will probably enjoy the the Lower West Side neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive data analysis, this neighborhood is more densely populated than 96.5% of neighborhoods in the U.S., with 27,512 people per square mile living here. Being a walkable neighborhood can help increase property values for the simple reason that people enjoy it and value it. To put it plainly, despite our love affair with the automobile, American's enjoy taking to the streets, sidewalks, paths, and courtyards of a place to get a coffee, relax, and take in the sights and sounds. And, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive and first quantitative walkable score index, the Lower West Side neighborhood is one of the most walkable neighborhoods in America.

Furthermore, renter-occupied real estate is dominant in the Lower West Side neighborhood. The percentage of rental real estate here, according to exclusive NeighborhoodScout analysis, is 83.9%, which is higher than 95.0% 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.

Modes of Transportation

Would you like to be able to ride your bike to work? If you are attracted to the idea of getting a little exercise of the two-wheeled type while reducing your carbon footprint, bicycling to work might be the answer. But which neighborhood you live in can make this either impossible, or alternatively, a great and realistic option. NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed that the Lower West Side neighborhood is a fantastic option for bicycle commuters, as 5.5% of commuters here do ride their bikes to and from work on a daily basis. This is a higher amount than we found in 98.5% of the neighborhoods in America.

Also, our research revealed that more commuters here take the bus to work (16.8% ride the bus) than 97.8% of all American neighborhoods. If you like the idea of leaving your car and home and hopping the bus to work, this might be a good neighborhood for you to consider.

Finally, if you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 17.3% of the Lower West Side neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 96.9% of America's neighborhoods.

Car Ownership

American households most often have a car, and regularly they have two or three. But households in the Lower West Side neighborhood buck this trend. 34.2% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 97.6% of U.S. neighborhoods.

Diversity

Did you know that the Lower West Side neighborhood has more Lithuanian and Finnish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 2.1% of this neighborhood's residents have Lithuanian ancestry and 2.1% have Finnish ancestry.

Lower West Side is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 5.4% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Korean at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.0% of the neighborhoods in America.

The Neighbors

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 Lower West Side neighborhood in Chicago are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 62.5% of U.S. neighborhoods. In addition, 4.8% 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 65.2% 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 Lower West Side neighborhood, 49.4% 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 24.9% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (18.8%), and 7.0% 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 Lower West Side neighborhood is Spanish, spoken by 59.2% of households. Other important languages spoken here include English, Korean and Polish.

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 Lower West Side neighborhood in Chicago, IL, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Mexican (47.9%). There are also a number of people of Asian ancestry (9.4%), and residents who report German roots (4.1%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (3.0%), along with some Lithuanian ancestry residents (2.1%), among others. In addition, 41.7% 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 Lower West Side neighborhood spend between 30 and 45 minutes commuting one-way to work (40.5% of working residents), which is at or a bit above the average length of a commute across all U.S. neighborhoods.

Here most residents (24.9%) 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 (19.2%) and 17.3% of residents also take the train for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.


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