Downtown South median real estate price is $1,521,356, which is more expensive than 83.7% of the neighborhoods in California and 96.6% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Downtown South is currently $2,342, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 81.2% of California neighborhoods.
Downtown South is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in San Francisco, California.
Downtown South real estate is primarily made up of small (studio to two bedroom) to large (four, five or more 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 Downtown South 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 1970 and 1999.
Vacant apartments or homes are a major fact of life in Downtown South. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 18.1%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 85.8% 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.
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 San Francisco, the Downtown South neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
Most American households own a car or other vehicle. Many own two cars or perhaps three. In the United States, it is useful to have an automobile not only for commuting, but also for shopping and getting to other services one needs. But NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed that households in the Downtown South neighborhood have a highly unusual car ownership. 87.6% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.9% of U.S. neighborhoods.
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 80,367 people per square mile, it is more densely populated than 99.4% of America'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 Downtown South neighborhood is among the top 5% of American neighborhoods in terms of walkability.
In addition, the Downtown South 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.
Furthermore, renter-occupied real estate is dominant in the Downtown South neighborhood. The percentage of rental real estate here, according to exclusive NeighborhoodScout analysis, is 100.0%, which is higher than 99.3% of the neighborhoods in America. If you were to buy and live in the property you bought here, you would be almost alone in doing so.
Also of note, one of the really unique and interesting things about the look and setting of the Downtown South neighborhood is that it is almost entirely dominated by large apartment buildings, such as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments. 95.8% 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 99.2% of all neighborhoods in America.
Finally, 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 Downtown South neighborhood stands out on a national scale for the sheer concentration of historic residences it contains: 67.3% of the residential real estate here was built from 1939 or earlier, some much earlier. This is a greater concentration of historic homes than 98.2% of the neighborhoods in the United States.
More people ride the bus in this neighborhood each day to get to work than 99.5% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Also, more people in Downtown South choose to walk to work each day (35.2%) than almost any neighborhood in America. If you are attracted to the idea of being able to walk to work, this neighborhood could be a good choice.
Finally, if your dream is to be able to ride your bike to work each day, look no further than this unique neighborhood. With 2.8% of residents in the Downtown South neighborhood commuting on a bicycle to and from work daily, this neighborhood has more bicycle commuters than 95.5% of all neighborhoods in the U.S., according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis.
The types of households in a neighborhood can tell a lot about the character and lifestyle of those living here. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood, above nearly every neighborhood in America, has a greater percentage of its residents living alone: 65.2%. This is a higher percent living alone than we found in 99.3% of all U.S. neighborhoods. Often residents who live alone are new arrivals to an area who are single, and often senior citizens who have lost a spouse.
Did you know that the Downtown South neighborhood has more Portuguese and Iranian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 3.4% of this neighborhood's residents have Portuguese ancestry and 1.3% have Iranian ancestry.
Downtown South is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 4.1% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Tagalog, which is the first language of the Philippine region, at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 97.3% 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 Downtown South neighborhood in San Francisco are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 89.2% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 34.2% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 85.7% 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 Downtown South neighborhood, 40.8% 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 34.3% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (12.9%), and 12.0% in clerical, assistant, and tech support 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 Downtown South neighborhood is English, spoken by 63.5% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog (the first language of the Philippine region) and French.
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 Downtown South neighborhood in San Francisco, CA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Asian (30.8%). There are also a number of people of Mexican ancestry (12.3%), and residents who report German roots (7.3%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (5.6%), along with some Portuguese ancestry residents (3.4%), among others. In addition, 38.7% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.
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 Downtown South neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (32.7% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (35.2%) hop out the door and walk to work to get to work. In addition, quite a number also ride the bus to get to work (25.6%) and 5.9% of residents also drive alone in a private automobile 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.
