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Real Estate Prices & Overview

Westside / Natural Bridges median real estate price is $1,478,280, which is more expensive than 87.1% of the neighborhoods in California and 97.4% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.

The average rental price in Westside / Natural Bridges is currently $5,325, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 93.6% of the neighborhoods in California.

Westside / Natural Bridges is a suburban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Santa Cruz, California. This is a coastal neighborhood (i.e., is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet).

Westside / Natural Bridges real estate is primarily made up of small (studio to two bedroom) to medium sized (three or four bedroom) single-family homes and apartment complexes/high-rise apartments. Most of the residential real estate is occupied by a mixture of owners and renters. Many of the residences in the Westside / Natural Bridges neighborhood are established but not old, having been built between 1970 and 1999. A number of residences were also built between 1940 and 1969.

Westside / Natural Bridges has a 11.8% vacancy rate, which is well above average compared to other U.S. neighborhoods (higher than 68.7% of American neighborhoods). A relatively large percentage of housing here is seasonally occupied (6.2%), which can occur in some markets dominated by colleges or vacation homes. If you live here year round, you will find many of the homes or apartments are empty for all or a portion of the year.

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

Westside / Natural Bridges is a neighborhood that is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet. Many times, such places have amenities that bring locals and visitors to the waterfront for recreational activities or to check out the scenery. In some densely populated areas that are less financially well-off, the neighborhood waterfront can be relatively industrial and less open to recreation. In addition to being coastal, Westside / Natural Bridges 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.

People

An extraordinary 14.6% of the residents of the Westside / Natural Bridges neighborhood are currently enrolled in college. This is such a large part of life in this neighborhood that the neighborhood changes a great deal with the change of semesters and is far quieter during the summer when many students are away.

In addition, if you're planning where to retire, the Westside / Natural Bridges neighborhood in Santa Cruz is a great option to consider. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive retirement dream area analysis, it's peaceful and quiet, has above average safety ratings compared to other neighborhoods in CA, offers a wide range of housing options, and has already attracted an enviable mix of college educated seniors. This neighborhood ranks as better for retirement living than 85.7% of the neighborhoods in California. If you are considering retiring to California, this is a good neighborhood to look at.

Modes of Transportation

If your dream is to be able to ride your bike to work each day, look no further than this unique neighborhood. With 2.9% of residents in the Westside / Natural Bridges neighborhood commuting on a bicycle to and from work daily, this neighborhood has more bicycle commuters than 95.6% of all neighborhoods in the U.S., according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis.

Also, a unique way of commuting is simply not to. And in the Westside / Natural Bridges neighborhood, analysis shows that 27.4% of the residents work from home, avoiding a commute altogether. This may not seem like a large number, but it is a higher proportion of people working from home than is found in 95.2% of the neighborhoods in the United States. One thing NeighborhoodScout's research reveals is that the wealthier and/or more isolated the neighborhood, the greater the proportion of residents who choose to work from home.

Diversity

Did you know that the Westside / Natural Bridges neighborhood has more Brazilian and Croatian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 1.1% of this neighborhood's residents have Brazilian ancestry and 0.9% have Croatian ancestry.

Westside / Natural Bridges is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 0.6% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Japanese at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 95.3% 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 Westside / Natural Bridges neighborhood in Santa Cruz are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 76.4% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 8.9% 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 53.5% 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 Westside / Natural Bridges neighborhood, 56.7% 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 17.1% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (15.8%), and 10.5% 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 Westside / Natural Bridges neighborhood is English, spoken by 79.0% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.

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 Westside / Natural Bridges neighborhood in Santa Cruz, CA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as English (18.9%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (13.0%), and residents who report Italian roots (11.3%), and some of the residents are also of Irish ancestry (9.3%), along with some Mexican ancestry residents (9.2%), among others. In addition, 11.9% 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 Westside / Natural Bridges neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (57.3% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.

Here most residents (64.5%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. 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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