Columbia College Chicago / Downtown median real estate price is $544,172, which is more expensive than 85.1% of the neighborhoods in Illinois and 69.4% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Columbia College Chicago / Downtown is currently $3,878, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 97.1% of the neighborhoods in Illinois.
Columbia College Chicago / Downtown is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Chicago, Illinois.
Columbia College Chicago / Downtown 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 occupied by a mixture of owners and renters. Many of the residences in the Columbia College Chicago / Downtown neighborhood are newer, built in 2000 or more recently. A number of residences were also built before 1940.
Columbia College Chicago / Downtown has a 10.9% vacancy rate, which is well above average compared to other U.S. neighborhoods (higher than 65.5% 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.
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 Chicago, the Columbia College Chicago / Downtown neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
Real Estate
One of the really unique and interesting things about the look and setting of the Columbia College Chicago / Downtown neighborhood is that it is almost entirely dominated by large apartment buildings, such as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments. 98.2% 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 99.7% of all neighborhoods in America.
In addition, the Columbia College Chicago / Downtown 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 91.8% 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, if you like crowded places, then you will probably enjoy the the Columbia College Chicago / Downtown neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive data analysis, this neighborhood is more densely populated than 96.5% of neighborhoods in the U.S., with 27,194 people per square mile living here.
People
The rate of college educated adults in the Columbia College Chicago / Downtown neighborhood is a unique characteristic of the neighborhood. 89.2% of adults here have received at least a 4-year bachelor's degree, compared to the average neighborhood in America, which has 34.3% of the adults with a bachelor's degree. The rate here is higher than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.6% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
In addition, 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: 52.8%. This is a higher percent living alone than we found in 96.9% 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.
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 Columbia College Chicago / Downtown neighborhood has a highly unusual pattern of car ownership. 41.4% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.2% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Modes of Transportation
More people in Columbia College Chicago / Downtown choose to walk to work each day (17.2%) 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.
Also, a unique way of commuting is simply not to. And in the Columbia College Chicago / Downtown neighborhood, analysis shows that 29.1% 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 96.4% 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.
Finally, if you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 12.2% of the Columbia College Chicago / Downtown neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 95.7% of America's neighborhoods.
Occupations
The Columbia College Chicago / Downtown neighborhood has a higher proportion of its residents employed as executives, managers and professionals than 97.6% of the neighborhoods in America. In fact, 74.5% of the employed people here make a living as an executive, a manager, or other professional. With such a high concentration, this truly shapes the character of this neighborhood, and to a large degree defines what this neighborhood is about.
Diversity
Did you know that the Columbia College Chicago / Downtown neighborhood has more Eastern European and Croatian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 2.7% of this neighborhood's residents have Eastern European ancestry and 0.9% have Croatian ancestry.
Columbia College Chicago / Downtown is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 1.0% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Persian at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 97.5% of the neighborhoods in America.
Migration / Stability
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 Columbia College Chicago / Downtown neighborhood, a greater proportion of the residents living here today did not live here five years ago than is found in 96.4% of U.S. Neighborhoods. This neighborhood, more than almost any other in America, has new residents from other areas.
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 Columbia College Chicago / Downtown neighborhood in Chicago are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 80.9% of the neighborhoods in America. With 23.4% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 73.6% 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 Columbia College Chicago / Downtown neighborhood, 74.5% 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 16.5% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (6.7%), and 3.6% 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 Columbia College Chicago / Downtown neighborhood is English, spoken by 74.4% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.
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 Columbia College Chicago / Downtown neighborhood in Chicago, IL, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Asian (18.6%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (14.4%), and residents who report Irish roots (9.2%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (7.0%), along with some Italian ancestry residents (6.4%), among others. In addition, 23.6% 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 Columbia College Chicago / Downtown neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (43.8% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (25.1%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also hop out the door and walk to work to get to work (17.2%) and 12.2% of residents also take the train 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.
