West Town median real estate price is $975,072, which is more expensive than 97.9% of the neighborhoods in Illinois and 90.3% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in West Town is currently $3,046, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 85.6% of the neighborhoods in Illinois.
West Town is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Chicago, Illinois.
West Town real estate is primarily made up of small (studio to two bedroom) to medium sized (three or four bedroom) small apartment buildings and single-family homes. Most of the residential real estate is occupied by a mixture of owners and renters. Many of the residences in the West Town 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 2000 and the present.
Home and apartment vacancy rates are 8.7% in West Town. NeighborhoodScout analysis shows that this rate is lower than 44.6% of the neighborhoods in the nation, approximately near the middle range for vacancies.
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 Chicago, the West Town neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
People
In a nation where 1 out of every 4 children lives in poverty, the West Town neighborhood stands out as being ranked among the lowest 0.0% of neighborhoods affected by this global issue.
In addition, 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 West Town neighborhood: a neighborhood in which more "urban sophisticates" live than 98.2% 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.
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 West Town 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, 55.3% of the real estate here are small 2, 3, or 4 unit apartment buildings, which is a higher proportion than found in 98.9% of America's neighborhoods.
In addition, 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 West Town neighborhood is among the top 5% of American neighborhoods in terms of walkability.
Furthermore, do you watch 'This Old House' on Public Television? Do you love the idea of fixing up a Colonial or Victorian era home, complete with the charm of yesteryear? Do you like to stroll or drive streets lined with gracious older residences? If you found yourself nodding yes to any of these questions, you are going to be interested in this unique neighborhood. The West Town neighborhood stands out on a national scale for the sheer concentration of historic residences it contains: 63.9% of the residential real estate here was built from 1939 or earlier, some much earlier. This is a greater concentration of historic homes than 97.4% of the neighborhoods in the United States.
Modes of Transportation
In the West Town neighborhood, many people's commute means walking from the bedroom to the home office. NeighborhoodScout's analysis found that 30.4% 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 97.1% 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.
Also, if you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 10.4% of the West Town neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 95.2% of America's neighborhoods.
Diversity
Did you know that the West Town neighborhood has more Slovak and Croatian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 1.9% of this neighborhood's residents have Slovak ancestry and 1.0% have Croatian ancestry.
West Town is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 3.3% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Langs. of India at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 95.1% of the neighborhoods in America.
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 Town neighborhood in Chicago are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 83.8% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% 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 100.0% 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 West Town neighborhood, 68.5% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 12.8% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (12.0%), and 6.7% 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 West Town neighborhood is English, spoken by 61.7% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Langs. of India.
Ethnicity / Ancestry
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 West Town neighborhood in Chicago, IL, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Mexican (25.7%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (11.6%), and residents who report Italian roots (8.7%), and some of the residents are also of Irish ancestry (7.8%), along with some English ancestry residents (7.6%), among others. In addition, 13.6% 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 West Town neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (38.1% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (39.6%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also take the train to get to work (10.4%) and 7.4% of residents also ride the bus 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.
