Polk Gulch median real estate price is $963,273, which is more expensive than 54.4% of the neighborhoods in California and 84.1% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Polk Gulch is currently $3,569, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 62.6% of the neighborhoods in California.
Polk Gulch is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in San Francisco, California.
Polk Gulch 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 single-family homes. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Polk Gulch 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 Polk Gulch. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 28.0%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 94.6% 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 Polk Gulch neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
Of note is NeighborhoodScout's research finding that the Polk Gulch neighborhood has some of the lowest rates of children living in poverty of any neighborhood in the United States. In a nation where approximately 1 in 4 children are living in poverty, the Polk Gulch community truly stands out from the rest in this regard.
In addition, one of the most interesting things about the Polk Gulch neighborhood is that it has a greater concentration of residents who live alone than most all neighborhoods in America. With 53.3% of the households here made up of people living alone, NeighborhoodScout's research reveals that this is a larger proportion of people living alone than in 96.8% of the neighborhoods in America.
In the Polk Gulch 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 44.0% of residents here. This is a higher proportion of walking commuters than we found in 99.7% of American neighborhoods. Get ready to put on your walking shoes if you move here!
Also, in the Polk Gulch neighborhood, 9.2% 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 95.4% of the neighborhoods in America.
The Polk Gulch neighborhood is very densely populated compared to most U.S. neighborhoods. In fact, with 51,598 persons per square mile in the neighborhood, it is more packed with people than 98.5% 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 Polk Gulch neighborhood is among the top 5% of American neighborhoods in terms of walkability.
In addition, one of the really unique and interesting things about the look and setting of the Polk Gulch neighborhood is that it is almost entirely dominated by large apartment buildings, such as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments. 95.0% 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 99.0% of all neighborhoods in America.
Furthermore, the Polk Gulch 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 93.4% 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, 91.7% of the real estate in the Polk Gulch neighborhood is occupied by renters, which is nearly the highest rate of renter occupancy of any neighborhood in America.
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 Polk Gulch neighborhood has a highly unusual pattern of car ownership. 53.3% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.8% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Did you know that the Polk Gulch neighborhood has more Iranian and Portuguese ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 4.5% of this neighborhood's residents have Iranian ancestry and 3.1% have Portuguese ancestry.
Polk Gulch is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 15.9% 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 98.8% of the neighborhoods in America.
The freedom of moving to new places versus the comfort of home. How much and how often people move not only can create diverse and worldly neighborhoods, but simultaneously it can produce a loss of intimacy with one's surroundings and a lack of connectedness to one's neighbors. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research has identified this neighborhood as unique with regard to the transience of its populace. In the Polk Gulch neighborhood, a greater proportion of the residents living here today did not live here five years ago than is found in 97.5% of U.S. Neighborhoods. This neighborhood, more than almost any other in America, has new residents from other areas. What is also interesting to note, is that the Polk Gulch neighborhood has a greater percentage of residents born in another country (43.0%) than are found in 95.1% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
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 Polk Gulch neighborhood in San Francisco are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 75.0% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% 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 100.0% of America'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 Polk Gulch neighborhood, 59.7% 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 30.1% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (7.5%), and 2.7% 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 Polk Gulch neighborhood is English, spoken by 55.0% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Spanish.
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 Polk Gulch neighborhood in San Francisco, CA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Asian (33.0%). There are also a number of people of Mexican ancestry (14.8%), and residents who report English roots (10.4%), and some of the residents are also of Irish ancestry (9.6%), along with some German ancestry residents (5.8%), among others. In addition, 43.0% 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 Polk Gulch neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (40.5% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (44.0%) 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 (11.1%) and 9.2% 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.
