Boise, ID (West Downtown)

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 West Downtown neighborhood in Boise are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 93.2% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 36.6% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 87.2% 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 West Downtown neighborhood, 49.3% 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 23.7% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (14.5%), and 12.5% 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 West Downtown neighborhood is English, spoken by 89.4% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Italian, Spanish, Greek and Arabic.

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 West Downtown neighborhood in Boise, ID, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (16.7%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (12.7%), and residents who report English roots (12.3%), and some of the residents are also of Mexican ancestry (11.6%), along with some Italian ancestry residents (6.0%), among others.

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 West Downtown neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (51.0% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.

Here most residents (47.9%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also hop out the door and walk to work to get to work (12.5%) and 12.4% of residents also bicycle 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.