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Real Estate Prices & Overview

Penn's Common / Southeast Reading median real estate price is $164,514, which is less expensive than 80.2% of Pennsylvania neighborhoods and 85.4% of all U.S. neighborhoods.

The average rental price in Penn's Common / Southeast Reading is currently $1,273, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 79.4% of Pennsylvania neighborhoods.

Penn's Common / Southeast Reading is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Penn's Common / Southeast Reading 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 townhomes. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Penn's Common / Southeast Reading 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 Penn's Common / Southeast Reading. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 17.8%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 83.5% 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.

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 Reading, the Penn's Common / Southeast Reading neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.

Occupations

NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research identifies the Penn's Common / Southeast Reading neighborhood as having one of the highest concentrations of people employed in manufacturing or as laborers of any neighborhood in America. In fact, despite the loss of manufacturing jobs nationally, this neighborhood has 62.8% of its working residents employed in such fields, which is a higher proportion than 99.9% of American neighborhoods.

Furthermore, each year, fewer and fewer Americans make their living as farmers, foresters, or fishers. But the Penn's Common / Southeast Reading neighborhood truly stands out among U.S. neighborhoods. According to exclusive NeighborhoodScout analysis, this neighborhood has a greater proportion of farmers, foresters, or fishers than 97.2% of all American neighborhoods. This is truly a unique cultural characteristic of this neighborhood.

People

The Penn's Common / Southeast Reading neighborhood stands out for having an average per capita income lower than 99.5% of the neighborhoods in the United States. The Penn's Common / Southeast Reading neighborhood also has a greater percentage of children living in poverty (66.7%) than found in 98.1% of all U.S. neighborhoods. Children living in poverty is one of the challenges facing America, and the world, and in this neighborhood in particular, the problem can be considered acute.

In addition, penn's Common / Southeast Reading has the amazing distinction of housing more same sex couples living together than 98.8% of neighborhoods in the U.S. If you are seeking such a neighborhood, NeighborhoodScout's analysis shows that this is one place that you should consider.

Also, the Penn's Common / Southeast Reading neighborhood stands out within Pennsylvania for its college student friendly environment. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that this neighborhood is home to a number of college students, is relatively walkable, and above average in safety. In combination, this makes it stand out for a good place for college students to consider. Because a number of college students live here, this neighborhood may be close to a college campus and offer certain amenities nearby geared towards the student body. While it's not an environment for everyone, ambitious scholars can enjoy seasonal excitement between semesters and school breaks, and parents can rest easy knowing that the area has an above average safety rating. For each of these reasons, the neighborhood is rated among the top 5.5% of college-friendly places to live in PA.

Real Estate

The Penn's Common / Southeast Reading neighborhood is very densely populated compared to most U.S. neighborhoods. In fact, with 40,606 persons per square mile in the neighborhood, it is more packed with people than 98.0% 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 Penn's Common / Southeast Reading neighborhood is among the top 5% of American neighborhoods in terms of walkability.

In addition, if you love row houses and attached homes, you will probably really like the Penn's Common / Southeast Reading neighborhood. The ambiance, the charm, of row houses is something special. And in sheer abundance of row houses, this neighborhood truly stands out. The real estate here has a higher proportion of row houses and attached homes than nearly any neighborhood in America. In fact, 34.5% of the residential real estate here is classified as row houses and attached homes.

Furthermore, 85.4% of the real estate in the Penn's Common / Southeast Reading neighborhood is occupied by renters, which is nearly the highest rate of renter occupancy of any neighborhood in America.

Modes of Transportation

More people ride the bus in this neighborhood each day to get to work than 97.4% of U.S. neighborhoods.

Diversity

Did you know that the Penn's Common / Southeast Reading neighborhood has more Puerto Rican and Dominican ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 31.3% of this neighborhood's residents have Puerto Rican ancestry and 5.0% have Dominican ancestry.

Penn's Common / Southeast Reading is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 12.4% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Italian at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 98.7% of the neighborhoods in America.

The Neighbors

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 Penn's Common / Southeast Reading neighborhood in Reading are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 99.5% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 66.7% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 98.1% 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 Penn's Common / Southeast Reading neighborhood, 62.8% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations, with 16.0% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (12.4%), and 5.3% in farming, forestry, or commercial fishing.

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 Penn's Common / Southeast Reading neighborhood is English, spoken by 61.9% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Italian and Polish.

Ethnicity / Ancestry

Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.

In the Penn's Common / Southeast Reading neighborhood in Reading, PA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Puerto Rican (31.3%). There are also a number of people of Mexican ancestry (14.2%), and residents who report German roots (13.6%), and some of the residents are also of Irish ancestry (10.8%), along with some Italian ancestry residents (10.8%), among others. In addition, 25.6% 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 Penn's Common / Southeast Reading neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (67.9% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.

Here most residents (66.8%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also ride the bus to get to work (15.4%) and 11.2% of residents also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors 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.


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