Waterfront West median real estate price is $1,038,383, which is more expensive than 78.1% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts and 90.1% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Waterfront West is currently $5,611, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 95.3% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts.
Waterfront West is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Boston, Massachusetts. This is a coastal neighborhood (i.e., is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet).
Waterfront 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 single-family homes. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Waterfront West neighborhood are established but not old, having been built between 1970 and 1999. A number of residences were also built between 2000 and the present.
Vacant apartments or homes are a major fact of life in Waterfront West. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 17.1%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 82.3% of all U.S. neighborhoods. In addition, most vacant housing here is vacant year round. This can sometimes be the case in neighborhoods dominated by new construction that is not yet occupied. But often neighborhoods with vacancy rates this high are places that can be plagued by a protracted vacancy problem. If you live here, you may find that a number of buildings in your neighborhood are actually empty.
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
The Waterfront West neighborhood is very densely populated compared to most U.S. neighborhoods. In fact, with 31,599 persons per square mile in the neighborhood, it is more packed with people than 97.1% of the nation's neighborhoods. Do you like a coastal setting? If so, this neighborhood may be to your liking. The Waterfront West 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, Waterfront West 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, the real estate in the Waterfront West neighborhood really stands out in the way it looks for a unique reason: this neighborhood has a higher proportion of apartment complexes or high-rise apartments than nearly every neighborhood in the country. Most neighborhoods are a mixture of real estate and housing types, but here it is almost entirely dominated by big apartment buildings and complexes. In fact, 98.8% of the real estate here is classified as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments, which is more than is found in 99.8% of American neighborhoods.
Furthermore, the Waterfront 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 96.8% 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.
Modes of Transportation
In the Waterfront West neighborhood, 3.4% of people ride a ferry to work each day. This is a very high percentage compared to most places. In fact, NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that this is a higher level of ferry ridership than in 99.7% of the neighborhoods in America.
Also, in the Waterfront West neighborhood, walking to work is a real option for many. In fact, NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research reveals walking to and from work is the chosen way to commute for 40.2% of residents here. This is a higher proportion of walking commuters than we found in 99.6% of American neighborhoods. Get ready to put on your walking shoes if you move here!
Finally, if you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 12.6% of the Waterfront West neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 95.9% of America's neighborhoods.
Occupations
Executives, managers and professionals make up 80.2% of the workforce in the Waterfront West neighborhood which, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, is a higher proportion of such high-level people than is found in 99.1% of the neighborhoods in America. For this reason, this neighborhood really stands out as unique.
Car Ownership
American households most often have a car, and regularly they have two or three. But households in the Waterfront West neighborhood buck this trend. 49.9% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.7% of U.S. neighborhoods.
People
Do you like to read, write, and learn? Are you curious about the world? If so, this neighborhood may be a good fit for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that a full 79.4% of the adults living in the Waterfront West neighborhood have earned at least a bachelor's degree. This is a higher rate than NeighborhoodScout found in 97.6% of U.S. neighborhoods. In this way, this neighborhood truly stands out.
In addition, there is an especially high percentage of incarcerated people (0.9%) living in the Waterfront West neighborhood.
Diversity
Did you know that the Waterfront West neighborhood has more Irish and Greek ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 22.8% of this neighborhood's residents have Irish ancestry and 1.9% have Greek ancestry.
Waterfront West is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 3.6% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Portuguese at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 98.8% of the neighborhoods in America.
Migration / Stability
The freedom of moving to new places versus the comfort of home. How much and how often people move not only can create diverse and worldly neighborhoods, but simultaneously it can produce a loss of intimacy with one's surroundings and a lack of connectedness to one's neighbors. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research has identified this neighborhood as unique with regard to the transience of its populace. In the Waterfront West neighborhood, a greater proportion of the residents living here today did not live here five years ago than is found in 96.1% of U.S. Neighborhoods. This neighborhood, more than almost any other in America, has new residents from other areas.
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 Waterfront West neighborhood in Boston are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 83.7% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 2.1% 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 74.7% of America'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 Waterfront West neighborhood, 80.2% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations, with 8.7% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (8.2%), and 2.9% 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 Waterfront West neighborhood is English, spoken by 65.9% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese and German/Yiddish.
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 Waterfront West neighborhood in Boston, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (22.8%). There are also a number of people of Italian ancestry (14.7%), and residents who report Asian roots (11.8%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (9.3%), along with some Polish ancestry residents (5.0%), among others. In addition, 23.6% 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 Waterfront West neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (44.6% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (40.2%) hop out the door and walk to work to get to work. In addition, quite a number also drive alone in a private automobile to get to work (15.8%) and 12.6% of residents also take the train for their daily commute. This is a special neighborhood for the number of people who walk to work. Combining exercise, low cost, and reduced pollution, plus the chance to see your neighbors, walking to work is fairly uncommon in America but likely to increase as people try to reduce their dependence on automobiles, and this neighborhood offers that opportunity today.
