Downtown South median real estate price is $1,512,145, which is more expensive than 82.2% of the neighborhoods in California and 96.3% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Downtown South is currently $2,526, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 73.7% of California neighborhoods.
Downtown South is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in San Francisco, California.
Downtown South real estate is primarily made up of small (studio to two bedroom) to large (four, five or more 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 Downtown South 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 Downtown South. The current real estate vacancy rate here is 16.0%. This is higher than the rate of vacancies in 80.2% 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.
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.
People
One of the most interesting things about the Downtown South neighborhood is that it has a greater concentration of residents who live alone than most all neighborhoods in America. With 72.5% of the households here made up of people living alone, NeighborhoodScout's research reveals that this is a larger proportion of people living alone than in 99.8% of the neighborhoods in America.
Real Estate
What you'll find when you visit or move to this neighborhood is one of the most crowded neighborhoods in all of America. With an incredible 80,367 people per square mile, it is more densely populated than 99.4% of America'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 Downtown South neighborhood is among the top 5% of American neighborhoods in terms of walkability.
In addition, the Downtown South 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 97.8% 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, the real estate in the Downtown South 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, 97.0% of the real estate here is classified as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments, which is more than is found in 99.4% of American neighborhoods.
Also of note, 100.0% of the real estate in the Downtown South neighborhood is occupied by renters, which is nearly the highest rate of renter occupancy of any neighborhood in America.
Finally, 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 Downtown South neighborhood stands out on a national scale for the sheer concentration of historic residences it contains: 69.3% of the residential real estate here was built from 1939 or earlier, some much earlier. This is a greater concentration of historic homes than 98.4% of the neighborhoods in the United States.
Modes of Transportation
In the Downtown South 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 46.0% of residents here. This is a higher proportion of walking commuters than we found in 99.8% of American neighborhoods. Get ready to put on your walking shoes if you move here!
Also, our research revealed that more commuters here take the bus to work (15.0% ride the bus) than 97.3% of all American neighborhoods. If you like the idea of leaving your car and home and hopping the bus to work, this might be a good neighborhood for you to consider.
Finally, 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 Downtown South neighborhood is a fantastic option for bicycle commuters, as 3.7% of commuters here do ride their bikes to and from work on a daily basis. This is a higher amount than we found in 97.0% of the neighborhoods in America.
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 Downtown South neighborhood has a highly unusual pattern of car ownership. 74.0% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.7% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Diversity
Did you know that the Downtown South neighborhood has more Portuguese and Croatian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 4.3% of this neighborhood's residents have Portuguese ancestry and 1.2% have Croatian ancestry.
Downtown South is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 0.8% 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 96.9% 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 Downtown South neighborhood, a greater proportion of the residents living here today did not live here five years ago than is found in 96.5% of U.S. Neighborhoods. This neighborhood, more than almost any other in America, has new residents from other areas.
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 Downtown South neighborhood in San Francisco are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 86.9% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 36.6% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 86.8% of U.S. neighborhoods.
A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
In the Downtown South neighborhood, 44.8% 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 33.8% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (11.6%), and 9.8% 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 Downtown South neighborhood is English, spoken by 59.7% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Chinese, French and Arabic.
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 Downtown South neighborhood in San Francisco, CA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Asian (27.3%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (10.6%), and residents who report Mexican roots (9.6%), and some of the residents are also of Irish ancestry (5.9%), along with some English ancestry residents (4.4%), among others. In addition, 36.5% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.
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 Downtown South neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (36.1% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (46.0%) hop out the door and walk to work to get to work. In addition, quite a number also ride the bus to get to work (15.0%) and 9.1% of residents also take the train for their daily commute. 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.
