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Real Estate Prices & Overview

Riverside median real estate price is $2,161,269, which is more expensive than 97.1% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts and 98.3% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.

The average rental price in Riverside is currently $5,298, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 94.8% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts.

Riverside is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Riverside 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 small apartment buildings. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Riverside neighborhood are older, well-established, built between 1940 and 1969. A number of residences were also built between 2000 and the present.

Riverside has a 16.0% vacancy rate, which is well above average compared to other U.S. neighborhoods (higher than 80.0% 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

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 Cambridge, the Riverside neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.

People

If knowledge is power, then imagine the cumulative power of one neighborhood where many of the adults have earned an advanced degree, such as a Masters, law degree, medical degree, or even a Ph.D. This is certainly the case in the Riverside neighborhood, where 55.7% have earned an advanced degree. Compare that to the average neighborhood in America, where just 13.4% of adults have completed a post-graduate degree, and you can see why this neighborhood is a stand out. In fact, this neighborhood has a higher rate of adults with an advanced degree than 99.6% of the neighborhoods in America.

In addition, the Riverside neighborhood stands out within Massachusetts for its college student friendly environment. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that this neighborhood is home to a number of college students, is relatively walkable, and above average in safety. In combination, this makes it stand out for a good place for college students to consider. Because a number of college students live here, this neighborhood may be close to a college campus and offer certain amenities nearby geared towards the student body. While it's not an environment for everyone, ambitious scholars can enjoy seasonal excitement between semesters and school breaks, and parents can rest easy knowing that the area has an above average safety rating. For each of these reasons, the neighborhood is rated among the top 7.3% of college-friendly places to live in MA. In addition to being an excellent choice for college students, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for young, single professionals.

Modes of Transportation

In the Riverside 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 39.7% 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!

Also, in the Riverside neighborhood, many people's commute means walking from the bedroom to the home office. NeighborhoodScout's analysis found that 29.8% 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 96.8% 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.

Car Ownership

We Americans love our cars. Not only are they a necessity for most Americans due to the shape of our neighborhoods and the distances between where we live, work, shop, and go to school, but we also fancy them. As a result, most households in America have one, two, or three cars. But NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis shows that the Riverside neighborhood has a highly unusual pattern of car ownership. 47.2% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.6% of U.S. neighborhoods.

Real Estate

The Riverside neighborhood is very densely populated compared to most U.S. neighborhoods. In fact, with 49,197 persons per square mile in the neighborhood, it is more packed with people than 98.4% of the nation's neighborhoods. 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 Riverside neighborhood is among the top 5% of American neighborhoods in terms of walkability.

In addition, 95.5% of the real estate in the Riverside neighborhood is occupied by renters, which is nearly the highest rate of renter occupancy of any neighborhood in America.

Occupations

The Riverside neighborhood has a higher proportion of its residents employed as executives, managers and professionals than 98.1% of the neighborhoods in America. In fact, 76.2% of the employed people here make a living as an executive, a manager, or other professional. With such a high concentration, this truly shapes the character of this neighborhood, and to a large degree defines what this neighborhood is about.

Migration / Stability

Some neighborhoods have more internal cohesiveness than others. While other neighborhoods feel like a collection of strangers who just happen to live near each other. Sometimes this comes down to not only the personalities of the people in a place, but how long people have been together in that neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research has revealed some interesting things about the rootedness of people in the Riverside neighborhood. In the Riverside neighborhood, a greater proportion of the residents living here today did not live here five years ago than is found in 97.3% of U.S. Neighborhoods. This neighborhood, more than almost any other in America, has new residents from other areas.

Diversity

Did you know that the Riverside neighborhood has more Eastern European and Brazilian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 2.0% of this neighborhood's residents have Eastern European ancestry and 1.0% have Brazilian ancestry.

Riverside is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 13.6% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Chinese at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 98.6% of the neighborhoods in America.

The Neighbors

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 Riverside neighborhood in Cambridge are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 41.6% of the neighborhoods in America. With 14.0% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 58.2% of U.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 Riverside neighborhood, 76.2% 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 12.0% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (8.3%), and 3.6% 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 Riverside neighborhood is English, spoken by 55.7% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese, Spanish, Korean and Arabic.

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 Riverside neighborhood in Cambridge, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Asian (27.1%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (6.4%), and residents who report Irish roots (4.7%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (4.4%), along with some English ancestry residents (3.6%), among others. In addition, 35.0% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.

Getting to Work

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 Riverside neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (38.8% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.

Here most residents (39.7%) 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 (14.9%) and 6.4% 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.


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