Near Westside median real estate price is $119,819, which is less expensive than 88.0% of Illinois neighborhoods and 92.2% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
The average rental price in Near Westside is currently $1,265, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 79.6% of Illinois neighborhoods.
Near Westside is an urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Decatur, Illinois.
Near Westside 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 Near Westside 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 Near Westside. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 31.0%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 95.1% 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.
Near Westside has the amazing distinction of housing more same sex couples living together than 98.8% of neighborhoods in the U.S. If you are seeking such a neighborhood, NeighborhoodScout's analysis shows that this is one place that you should consider.
In addition, an extraordinary 19.7% of the residents of the Near Westside 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.
Vacant homes and apartments are a significant characteristic of this neighborhood. In fact, with 31.0% of the residential real estate vacant, the Near Westside neighborhood claims the distinction of having a higher vacancy rate than 95.1% of the neighborhoods in America. This can either be because much of the property is seasonally occupied, like in many vacation areas, or that much of the real estate is more permanently abandoned.
Significantly, 0.8% 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 96.8% 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 Near Westside neighborhood in Decatur are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 84.5% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 28.3% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 79.4% 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 Near Westside neighborhood, 34.5% of the working population is employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 32.7% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (21.7%), and 11.1% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
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 Near Westside neighborhood is English, spoken by 95.7% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Italian.
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 Near Westside neighborhood in Decatur, IL, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (17.8%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (9.5%), and residents who report Irish roots (6.5%), and some of the residents are also of Sub-Saharan African ancestry (2.9%), along with some Polish ancestry residents (2.4%), among others.
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 Near Westside neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (53.4% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (69.7%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also ride the bus to get to work (8.6%) and 7.9% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work 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.