Porter Square median real estate price is $1,299,272, which is more expensive than 90.4% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts and 95.0% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Porter Square is currently $4,792, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 89.9% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts.
Porter Square is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Somerville, Massachusetts.
Porter Square real estate is primarily made up of small (studio to two bedroom) to medium sized (three or four bedroom) small apartment buildings and apartment complexes/high-rise apartments. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Porter Square 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.
Home and apartment vacancy rates are 6.7% in Porter Square. NeighborhoodScout analysis shows that this rate is lower than 52.8% of the neighborhoods in the nation, approximately near the middle range for vacancies.
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 Somerville, the Porter Square 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 Porter Square 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 Porter Square community truly stands out from the rest in this regard.
In addition, if you're a regular supporter of the arts and enjoy outings to the theatre, weekend boutique-ing, or even a finely aged wine with dinner, than you're in good company with the people of the Porter Square neighborhood. This neighborhood is uniquely immersed with more "urban sophisticates" than 98.6% of neighborhoods across the country. The people here truly stand out as a class among their own. They are an exclusive community characterized by refined tastes, cultural inclinations, and the means to live well. Urban sophisticates live a big city lifestyle, whether or not they live in or near a big city. They are educated executives or managers by week, and serial patrons of the arts by weekend. If this lifestyle pertains to you, than you'll certainly feel right at home in the Porter Square neighborhood. In addition to being an excellent choice for urban sophisticates, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for young, single professionals.
Also, 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 44.9% 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 98.2% 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.
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 Porter Square 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 60.8% of the real estate here is made up of such dwellings, which is higher than 99.3% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
In addition, if you like crowded places, then you will probably enjoy the the Porter Square neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive data analysis, this neighborhood is more densely populated than 96.4% of neighborhoods in the U.S., with 26,805 people per square mile living here. 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 Porter Square neighborhood is among the top 5% of American neighborhoods in terms of walkability.
Furthermore, if you find historic homes and neighborhoods attractive, you love the details, the history, and the charm, then you are sure to be interested in this neighborhood. With 55.4% of the residential real estate in the Porter Square neighborhood built no later than 1939, and some built considerably earlier, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of historic residences than 95.4% of all neighborhoods in America. In this regard, this neighborhood truly stands out as special.
Would you like to be able to ride your bike to work? If you are attracted to the idea of getting a little exercise of the two-wheeled type while reducing your carbon footprint, bicycling to work might be the answer. But which neighborhood you live in can make this either impossible, or alternatively, a great and realistic option. NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed that the Porter Square neighborhood is a fantastic option for bicycle commuters, as 7.1% of commuters here do ride their bikes to and from work on a daily basis. This is a higher amount than we found in 99.2% of the neighborhoods in America.
Also, in the Porter Square neighborhood, many people's commute means walking from the bedroom to the home office. NeighborhoodScout's analysis found that 42.4% of residents worked from home. This may not seem like a large number, but Scout's research shows that this is a higher percentage of people working from home than 98.8% of the neighborhoods in America. Often people who work from home are engaged in the creative or technological economy, such as is found in areas around Boston, and in Silicon Valley. Other times, people may be engaged in other businesses like trading stocks from home, or running a small beauty salon.
Finally, if you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 14.1% of the Porter Square neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 96.7% of America's neighborhoods.
The Porter Square neighborhood has a higher proportion of its residents employed as executives, managers and professionals than 97.5% of the neighborhoods in America. In fact, 75.6% 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.
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 Porter Square neighborhood has a highly unusual pattern of car ownership. 31.0% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 97.2% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Did you know that the Porter Square neighborhood has more Brazilian and Yugoslav ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 3.9% of this neighborhood's residents have Brazilian ancestry and 1.3% have Yugoslav ancestry.
Porter Square is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 1.3% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Portuguese at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 96.1% of the neighborhoods in America.
Some neighborhoods have more internal cohesiveness than others. While other neighborhoods feel like a collection of strangers who just happen to live near each other. Sometimes this comes down to not only the personalities of the people in a place, but how long people have been together in that neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research has revealed some interesting things about the rootedness of people in the Porter Square neighborhood. In the Porter Square neighborhood, a greater proportion of the residents living here today did not live here five years ago than is found in 95.5% 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 Porter Square neighborhood in Somerville 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 91.3% 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.
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 Porter Square neighborhood, 75.6% 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 10.5% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (7.0%), and 6.9% 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 Porter Square neighborhood is English, spoken by 71.8% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Langs. of India and Chinese.
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 Porter Square neighborhood in Somerville, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (13.4%). There are also a number of people of Italian ancestry (10.1%), and residents who report Asian roots (9.4%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (9.2%), along with some English ancestry residents (6.5%), among others. In addition, 20.5% 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 Porter Square neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (32.1% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (24.9%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also take the train to get to work (14.1%) and 7.1% of residents also bicycle 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.
