Old Town West median real estate price is $1,013,419, which is more expensive than 90.7% of the neighborhoods in Virginia and 89.6% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.
The average rental price in Old Town West is currently $3,560, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. The average rental cost in this neighborhood is higher than 90.6% of the neighborhoods in Virginia.
Old Town West is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Alexandria, Virginia.
Old Town West real estate is primarily made up of small (studio to two bedroom) to medium sized (three or four bedroom) townhomes and apartment complexes/high-rise apartments. Most of the residential real estate is occupied by a mixture of owners and renters. Many of the residences in the Old Town West 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.
Old Town West has a 15.5% vacancy rate, which is well above average compared to other U.S. neighborhoods (higher than 79.0% of American neighborhoods). Most vacant housing here is vacant year round. This could either signal that there is a weak demand for real estate in the neighborhood or that large amount of new housing has been built and not yet occupied. Either way, if you live here, you may find many of the homes or apartments are empty.
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 Alexandria, the Old Town West neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
People
If knowledge is power, then imagine the cumulative power of one neighborhood where many of the adults have earned an advanced degree, such as a Masters, law degree, medical degree, or even a Ph.D. This is certainly the case in the Old Town West neighborhood, where 52.4% have earned an advanced degree. Compare that to the average neighborhood in America, where just 13.4% of adults have completed a post-graduate degree, and you can see why this neighborhood is a stand out. In fact, this neighborhood has a higher rate of adults with an advanced degree than 99.4% of the neighborhoods in America.
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 Old Town West neighborhood. This neighborhood is uniquely immersed with more "urban sophisticates" than 98.3% 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 Old Town West neighborhood. In addition to being an excellent choice for urban sophisticates, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for college students.
Also, wealth makes most things in life easier, and a few things harder. If you are wealthy and enjoy keeping up with the Jones', this neighborhood will interest you. In fact, according to NeighborhoodScout's research, the Old Town West neighborhood is wealthier than 95.0% of the neighborhoods in the United States. Residents here are truly in a unique situation even when compared to other Americans, based on the sheer amount of wealth concentrated here. Even in times of economic downturn, residents of this neighborhood, as a group, suffered less and recovered more quickly. This is indeed a stand-out characteristic of this neighborhood.
Real Estate
Many people dream of living along a street lined with row houses or other attached homes. Such places do often have an abundance of charm. If you are one of these people, the Old Town West neighborhood could be your paradise. With 51.0% of the homes and real estate here classified as rowhouses or other attached homes, this neighborhood brims with opportunity to find the right place for you. Only 1.1% of U.S. neighborhoods have more row houses than this neighborhood, making it one of the most interesting things about this special neighborhood.
In addition, 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 Old Town West neighborhood is among the top 5% of American neighborhoods in terms of walkability.
Occupations
The Old Town West neighborhood has a higher proportion of its residents employed as executives, managers and professionals than 98.8% of the neighborhoods in America. In fact, 78.8% 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.
Furthermore, the government often provides some of the more stable jobs in the economy. From local, to state, to federal government workers, the government can also be a major employer. What NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed, is that the Old Town West neighborhood in particular stands out when compared nationally for the proportion of its working residents who are employed by the government. At 18.6% of its workforce, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of government workers than 98.6% of U.S. neighborhoods.
In addition, the Old Town West neighborhood stands out nationally for having a greater proportion of its residents active in the military than 98.5% of other U.S. neighborhoods. If you come here, you will notice military people active in their jobs, going to and from work, and in plain clothes out and about the neighborhood.
Modes of Transportation
In the Old Town West neighborhood, many people's commute means walking from the bedroom to the home office. NeighborhoodScout's analysis found that 34.9% 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.
Also, in the Old Town West neighborhood, 20.8% 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 97.3% of the neighborhoods in America.
Diversity
Did you know that the Old Town West neighborhood has more Ukrainian and Scottish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 2.8% of this neighborhood's residents have Ukrainian ancestry and 6.3% have Scottish ancestry.
Old Town West is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 0.9% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Russian at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 95.1% 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 Old Town West neighborhood in Alexandria 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 95.0% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 7.1% 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 58.3% 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 Old Town West neighborhood, 78.8% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions, with 18.6% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (12.7%), and 6.0% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
Languages
The most common language spoken in the Old Town West neighborhood is English, spoken by 88.8% of households. Some people also speak Spanish (4.0%).
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 Old Town West neighborhood in Alexandria, VA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as English (22.1%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (16.5%), and residents who report German roots (14.0%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (7.3%), along with some Sub-Saharan African ancestry residents (6.6%), among others.
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 Old Town West neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (36.6% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (35.8%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also take the train to get to work (20.8%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.
