Back Bay Northwest median real estate price is $1,687,767, which is more expensive than 95.2% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts and 97.3% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Back Bay Northwest is currently $5,281, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 94.2% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts.
Back Bay Northwest is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Boston, Massachusetts.
Back Bay Northwest 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 Back Bay Northwest 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 1940 and 1969.
Back Bay Northwest has a 10.0% vacancy rate, which is well above average compared to other U.S. neighborhoods (higher than 61.5% of American neighborhoods). A relatively large percentage of housing here is seasonally occupied (5.4%), which can occur in some markets dominated by colleges or vacation homes. If you live here year round, you will find many of the homes or apartments are empty for all or a portion of the year.
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 Back Bay Northwest neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
People
Of note is NeighborhoodScout's research finding that the Back Bay Northwest 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 Back Bay Northwest community truly stands out from the rest in this regard.
In addition, the rate of college educated adults in the Back Bay Northwest neighborhood is a unique characteristic of the neighborhood. 92.2% 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 99.9% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
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 Back Bay Northwest neighborhood: a neighborhood in which more "urban sophisticates" live than 97.8% 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. In addition to being an excellent choice for urban sophisticates, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for young, single professionals.
Real Estate
The Back Bay Northwest neighborhood is very densely populated compared to most U.S. neighborhoods. In fact, with 50,503 persons per square mile in the neighborhood, it is more packed with people than 98.5% of the nation's neighborhoods. Being a walkable neighborhood can help increase property values for the simple reason that people enjoy it and value it. To put it plainly, despite our love affair with the automobile, American's enjoy taking to the streets, sidewalks, paths, and courtyards of a place to get a coffee, relax, and take in the sights and sounds. And, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive and first quantitative walkable score index, the Back Bay Northwest neighborhood is one of the most walkable neighborhoods in America.
In addition, the Back Bay Northwest 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 86.3% 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.
Furthermore, one of the really unique and interesting things about the look and setting of the Back Bay Northwest neighborhood is that it is almost entirely dominated by large apartment buildings, such as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments. 77.2% 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 96.3% of all neighborhoods in America.
Also of note, 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 Back Bay Northwest neighborhood stands out on a national scale for the sheer concentration of historic residences it contains: 88.9% of the residential real estate here was built from 1939 or earlier, some much earlier. This is a greater concentration of historic homes than 99.9% of the neighborhoods in the United States.
Modes of Transportation
More people in Back Bay Northwest choose to walk to work each day (33.7%) 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, if your dream is to be able to ride your bike to work each day, look no further than this unique neighborhood. With 4.1% of residents in the Back Bay Northwest neighborhood commuting on a bicycle to and from work daily, this neighborhood has more bicycle commuters than 97.4% of all neighborhoods in the U.S., according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis.
Finally, in the Back Bay Northwest neighborhood, 17.9% of people ride the train to work each day. This is a very high percentage compared to most places. In fact, NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that this is a higher level of train ridership than in 96.9% of the neighborhoods in America.
Occupations
The Back Bay Northwest neighborhood has a higher proportion of its residents employed as executives, managers and professionals than 98.2% of the neighborhoods in America. In fact, 76.4% 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.
Car Ownership
Most American households own a car or other vehicle. Many own two cars or perhaps three. In the United States, it is useful to have an automobile not only for commuting, but also for shopping and getting to other services one needs. But NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed that households in the Back Bay Northwest neighborhood have a highly unusual car ownership. 36.6% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 97.8% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Diversity
Did you know that the Back Bay Northwest neighborhood has more Russian and Belgian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 7.3% of this neighborhood's residents have Russian ancestry and 0.8% have Belgian ancestry.
Back Bay Northwest is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 1.7% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak German/Yiddish at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 95.5% of the neighborhoods in America.
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 Back Bay Northwest 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 93.2% 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.
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 Back Bay Northwest neighborhood, 76.4% 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 14.1% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (7.4%), and 2.2% 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 Back Bay Northwest neighborhood is English, spoken by 79.8% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Polish and French.
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 Back Bay Northwest neighborhood in Boston, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (19.9%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (11.8%), and residents who report German roots (10.2%), and some of the residents are also of Asian ancestry (8.1%), along with some Italian ancestry residents (8.0%), among others. In addition, 18.4% 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 Back Bay Northwest neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (38.6% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (33.7%) hop out the door and walk to work to get to work. In addition, quite a number also take the train to get to work (17.9%) and 16.2% of residents also drive alone in a private automobile 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.
