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Real Estate Prices & Overview

Waterfront median real estate price is $1,533,587, which is more expensive than 94.0% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts and 96.7% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.

The average rental price in Waterfront is currently $5,047, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 93.4% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts.

Waterfront is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Boston, Massachusetts. This is a coastal neighborhood (i.e., is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet).

Waterfront 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 single-family homes. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Waterfront neighborhood are established but not old, having been built between 1970 and 1999. A number of residences were also built between 1940 and 1969.

Home and apartment vacancy rates are 7.6% in Waterfront. NeighborhoodScout analysis shows that this rate is lower than 48.0% of the neighborhoods in the nation, approximately near the middle range for vacancies.

Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics

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 Boston, the Waterfront neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.

Real Estate

If you like crowded places, then you will probably enjoy the the Waterfront neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive data analysis, this neighborhood is more densely populated than 95.7% of neighborhoods in the U.S., with 23,264 people per square mile living here. Do you like a coastal setting? If so, this neighborhood may be to your liking. The Waterfront neighborhood is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet. Often such coastal places have amenities and recreational activities on the waterfront that are attractive to residents and visitors alike. In addition to being coastal, Waterfront is a very nautical neighborhood, meaning that it is somewhat historic, walkable, densely populated and on the water. This gives the neighborhood a very nautical feel, with some seaside and shipping feel, which some may really enjoy the sights and sounds of.

In addition, the real estate in the Waterfront neighborhood really stands out in the way it looks for a unique reason: this neighborhood has a higher proportion of apartment complexes or high-rise apartments than nearly every neighborhood in the country. Most neighborhoods are a mixture of real estate and housing types, but here it is almost entirely dominated by big apartment buildings and complexes. In fact, 95.6% of the real estate here is classified as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments, which is more than is found in 99.1% of American neighborhoods.

Furthermore, the Waterfront 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 85.3% 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.

People

In a nation where 1 out of every 4 children lives in poverty, the Waterfront neighborhood stands out as being ranked among the lowest 0.0% of neighborhoods affected by this global issue.

In addition, some neighborhoods have residents that are more educated than others. But in this neighborhood there is a dramatic difference. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that 50.2% of the adults here have earned a Masters degree, medical degree, Ph.D. or law degree. This is a higher rate of people with a graduate degree than is found in 99.1% of U.S. neighborhoods, where the average American neighborhood has 14.1% of its adults with a graduate degree. If you are highly educated, you may have much in common with many of your neighbors here.

Also, think about the people you know personally. How many of them would purchase box seats to opening night at the symphony? How many of them regularly attend gallery openings, or are the first to reserve tickets to opening night at the ballet? If they're like most of us, they don't do any of these things. But if you're among an exclusive crowd of wealthy and refined patrons of the arts, then you'll feel right at home in the Waterfront neighborhood: a neighborhood in which more "urban sophisticates" live than 98.9% of neighborhoods across the U.S. Here, your neighbors are defined as having urbane tastes in literature, music, live theatre and the arts. They are wealthy, educated, travel in style, and live a big city lifestyle whether or not they live in or near a big city.

Modes of Transportation

In the Waterfront 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 34.7% of residents here. This is a higher proportion of walking commuters than we found in 99.4% of American neighborhoods. Get ready to put on your walking shoes if you move here!

Occupations

Executives, managers and professionals make up 76.6% of the workforce in the Waterfront neighborhood which, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, is a higher proportion of such high-level people than is found in 97.9% of the neighborhoods in America. For this reason, this neighborhood really stands out as unique.

Diversity

Did you know that the Waterfront neighborhood has more Eastern European and Yugoslav ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 4.7% of this neighborhood's residents have Eastern European ancestry and 0.5% have Yugoslav ancestry.

Waterfront is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 6.9% 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 96.5% of the neighborhoods in America.

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 Waterfront neighborhood in Boston are wealthy, making it among the 15% highest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 89.2% 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.

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 Waterfront neighborhood, 76.6% 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 20.9% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions (8.0%), and 2.5% 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 Waterfront neighborhood is English, spoken by 80.4% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and French.

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 Waterfront neighborhood in Boston, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (21.6%). There are also a number of people of Italian ancestry (16.1%), and residents who report English roots (14.3%), and some of the residents are also of Asian ancestry (12.6%), along with some Polish ancestry residents (8.1%), among others. In addition, 28.0% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.

Getting to Work

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 Waterfront neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (37.5% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.

Here most residents (34.7%) 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 (26.3%) . 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.

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