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Real Estate Prices & Overview

Making a Difference West median real estate price is $272,845, which is more expensive than 44.7% of the neighborhoods in Illinois and 32.9% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.

The average rental price in Making a Difference West is currently $2,080, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 41.7% of Illinois neighborhoods.

Making a Difference West is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Aurora, Illinois.

Making a Difference West real estate is primarily made up of medium sized (three or four bedroom) to small (studio to two bedroom) single-family homes and small apartment buildings. Most of the residential real estate is occupied by a mixture of owners and renters. Many of the residences in the Making a Difference West 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.

Making a Difference West has a 11.1% vacancy rate, which is well above average compared to other U.S. neighborhoods (higher than 68.4% of American neighborhoods). Most vacant housing here is vacant year round. This could either signal that there is a weak demand for real estate in the neighborhood or that large amount of new housing has been built and not yet occupied. Either way, if you live here, you may find many of the homes or apartments are empty.

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.

Modes of Transportation

In the Making a Difference West neighborhood, carpooling is still a popular way to get to and from work. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that 30.9% of commuters carpool here, which is more than in 98.9% of all U.S. neighborhoods.

Occupations

More people work in manufacturing and as laborers here in the Making a Difference West neighborhood than in 97.9% of the neighborhoods in America. Despite the loss of manufacturing jobs across the nation, this neighborhood remains a place where, compared to other parts of the country, you will find many laborers and manufacturers.

Real Estate

Corner bodegas, stores on the first floor and apartments above, former grand Victorian residences converted into apartments, three-deckers built shoulder-to-shoulder, duplexes. Such building types define the real estate of neighborhoods dominated by small 2, 3, and 4 unit apartment buildings. Many are in older core neighborhoods of Eastern and Midwestern cities, or historic town centers in their hinterlands. If you wax romantic about the look and feel of such neighborhoods, with fresh pizza, falafel and an independent florist at the corner, then you might find the Making a Difference West neighborhood worth a close look. This neighborhood is an absolutely outstanding example of the dominance of small 2, 3, and 4 unit apartment buildings compared to neighborhoods across the nation, as they make up a substantial portion of this neighborhood's real estate stock. In fact, no less than 39.5% of the real estate here is made up of such dwellings, which is higher than 97.1% of all U.S. neighborhoods.

In addition, 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 Making a Difference West neighborhood is one of the most walkable neighborhoods in America.

Furthermore, 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 Making a Difference West neighborhood stands out on a national scale for the sheer concentration of historic residences it contains: 55.7% of the residential real estate here was built from 1939 or earlier, some much earlier. This is a greater concentration of historic homes than 95.5% of the neighborhoods in the United States.

Diversity

Did you know that the Making a Difference West neighborhood has more Mexican ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 81.1% of this neighborhood's residents have Mexican ancestry.

Making a Difference West is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 75.5% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Spanish at home. This is a higher percentage than 98.2% of all U.S. neighborhoods.

The Neighbors

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 Making a Difference West neighborhood in Aurora are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 54.2% of the neighborhoods in America. With 23.7% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 75.2% of U.S. neighborhoods.

What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.

In the Making a Difference West neighborhood, 45.9% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer 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 23.8% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (16.1%), and 14.3% in executive, management, and professional occupations.

Languages

The most common language spoken in the Making a Difference West neighborhood is Spanish, spoken by 75.5% of households. Some people also speak English (24.5%).

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 Making a Difference West neighborhood in Aurora, IL, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Mexican (81.1%). There are also a number of people of South American ancestry (5.9%), and residents who report Puerto Rican roots (5.3%). In addition, 40.5% 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 Making a Difference West neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (59.0% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.

Here most residents (65.6%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (30.9%) . 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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