Upper West Side median real estate price is $1,771,478, which is more expensive than 72.6% of the neighborhoods in New York and 82.8% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Upper West Side is currently $6,076, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 97.0% of the neighborhoods in New York.
Upper West Side is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in New York, New York.
Upper West Side 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 Upper West Side 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 1940 and 1969.
Vacant apartments or homes are a major fact of life in Upper West Side. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 19.8%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 86.5% of all U.S. neighborhoods. A relatively large percentage of housing here is seasonally occupied (10.2%). This can occur in vacation areas, and occasionally it is also found in neighborhoods that are primarily filled with college students, as some apartments could be vacant when school is not in session. If you live here year round, you may find that a number of buildings in your neighborhood are actually empty.
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 New York, the Upper West Side neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
Real Estate
What you'll find when you visit or move to this neighborhood is one of the most crowded neighborhoods in all of America. With an incredible 122,677 people per square mile, it is more densely populated than 99.8% of America's neighborhoods. Being a walkable neighborhood can help increase property values for the simple reason that people enjoy it and value it. To put it plainly, despite our love affair with the automobile, American's enjoy taking to the streets, sidewalks, paths, and courtyards of a place to get a coffee, relax, and take in the sights and sounds. And, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive and first quantitative walkable score index, the Upper West Side neighborhood is one of the most walkable neighborhoods in America.
In addition, one of the really unique and interesting things about the look and setting of the Upper West Side neighborhood is that it is almost entirely dominated by large apartment buildings, such as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments. 93.6% of the residential real estate here is classified as such. This puts this neighborhood on the map as having a higher proportion of large apartment buildings than 98.7% of all neighborhoods in America.
Furthermore, the Upper West Side 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 81.7% 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.
Also of note, 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 Upper West Side neighborhood stands out on a national scale for the sheer concentration of historic residences it contains: 70.8% of the residential real estate here was built from 1939 or earlier, some much earlier. This is a greater concentration of historic homes than 98.7% of the neighborhoods in the United States.
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 Upper West Side neighborhood has a highly unusual pattern of car ownership. 73.7% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.7% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Modes of Transportation
In the Upper West Side neighborhood, 47.0% of people ride the train 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 train ridership than in 99.2% of the neighborhoods in America.
Also, a unique way of commuting is simply not to. And in the Upper West Side neighborhood, analysis shows that 29.4% 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 96.6% 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.
People
If you're a regular supporter of the arts and enjoy outings to the theatre, weekend boutique-ing, or even a finely aged wine with dinner, than you're in good company with the people of the Upper West Side neighborhood. This neighborhood is uniquely immersed with more "urban sophisticates" than 99.2% of neighborhoods across the country. The people here truly stand out as a class among their own. They are an exclusive community characterized by refined tastes, cultural inclinations, and the means to live well. Urban sophisticates live a big city lifestyle, whether or not they live in or near a big city. They are educated executives or managers by week, and serial patrons of the arts by weekend. If this lifestyle pertains to you, than you'll certainly feel right at home in the Upper West Side neighborhood. In addition to being an excellent choice for urban sophisticates, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for young, single professionals.
In addition, the first thing that you'll notice if you moved to this neighborhood is that an astounding 3.1% of the households are same sex couples. According to NeighborhoodScout's analysis, this is a higher proportion of same sex households than in 99.1% of the neighborhoods in America. This is one indicator that this neighborhood is likely a gay-friendly neighborhood. So if you are looking for such a neighborhood, the Upper West Side neighborhood should definitely be on your list of places to consider.
Also, 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 84.7% of the adults living in the Upper West Side neighborhood have earned at least a bachelor's degree. This is a higher rate than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.0% of U.S. neighborhoods. In this way, this neighborhood truly stands out.
Finally, wealth makes most things in life easier, and a few things harder. If you are wealthy and enjoy keeping up with the Jones', this neighborhood will interest you. In fact, according to NeighborhoodScout's research, the Upper West Side neighborhood is wealthier than 95.7% of the neighborhoods in the United States. Residents here are truly in a unique situation even when compared to other Americans, based on the sheer amount of wealth concentrated here. Even in times of economic downturn, residents of this neighborhood, as a group, suffered less and recovered more quickly. This is indeed a stand-out characteristic of this neighborhood.
Occupations
Executives, managers and professionals make up 73.0% of the workforce in the Upper West Side neighborhood which, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, is a higher proportion of such high-level people than is found in 96.9% of the neighborhoods in America. For this reason, this neighborhood really stands out as unique.
Diversity
Did you know that the Upper West Side neighborhood has more Austrian and Russian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 1.9% of this neighborhood's residents have Austrian ancestry and 5.7% have Russian ancestry.
Upper West Side is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 4.0% 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 99.0% of the neighborhoods in America.
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 Upper West Side neighborhood in New York are wealthy, making it among the 15% highest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 95.7% of the neighborhoods in America. With 18.7% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 66.7% 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 Upper West Side neighborhood, 73.0% 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 16.0% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (9.0%), and 4.1% in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions.
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 Upper West Side neighborhood is English, spoken by 75.1% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Portuguese, French and Chinese.
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 Upper West Side neighborhood in New York, NY, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Italian (13.0%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (11.9%), and residents who report German roots (11.2%), and some of the residents are also of Asian ancestry (8.7%), along with some Polish ancestry residents (6.5%), among others. In addition, 21.6% 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 Upper West Side neighborhood spend between 30 and 45 minutes commuting one-way to work (36.9% of working residents), which is at or a bit above the average length of a commute across all U.S. neighborhoods.
Here most residents (47.0%) take the train to get to work. In addition, quite a number also drive alone in a private automobile to get to work (9.3%) and 6.2% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work for their daily commute. This neighborhood is distinguished by the high number of residents who take the train to work each day, which can be a very good way to get to work at a lower cost and with less pollution.
