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Real Estate Prices & Overview

Downtown median real estate price is $157,538, which is less expensive than 81.8% of Pennsylvania neighborhoods and 86.6% of all U.S. neighborhoods.

The average rental price in Downtown is currently $855, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 99.1% of Pennsylvania neighborhoods.

Downtown is an urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Downtown 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 renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Downtown neighborhood are established but not old, having been built between 1970 and 1999. A number of residences were also built before 1940.

Home and apartment vacancy rates are 8.7% in Downtown. NeighborhoodScout analysis shows that this rate is lower than 44.5% of the neighborhoods in the nation, approximately near the middle range for vacancies.

Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics

When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.

People

The Downtown neighborhood stands out for having an average per capita income lower than 99.7% of the neighborhoods in the United States. Also of note is NeighborhoodScout's research finding that the Downtown 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 Downtown community truly stands out from the rest in this regard.

In addition, one of the most interesting things about the Downtown neighborhood is that it has a greater concentration of residents who live alone than most all neighborhoods in America. With 79.8% 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 99.9% of the neighborhoods in America.

Also, neighborhoodScout's exclusive research revealed that 94.8% of the adult residents in the Downtown neighborhood do not have a 4-year college degree, which is a lower rate of college graduated adults than found in 97.0% of the neighborhoods in America.

Real Estate

Renter-occupied real estate is dominant in the Downtown neighborhood. The percentage of rental real estate here, according to exclusive NeighborhoodScout analysis, is 96.8%, which is higher than 98.4% of the neighborhoods in America. If you were to buy and live in the property you bought here, you would be almost alone in doing so.

In addition, the Downtown 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 92.3% 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 Downtown neighborhood is that it is almost entirely dominated by large apartment buildings, such as apartment complexes or high-rise apartments. 78.0% 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 96.4% of all neighborhoods in America.

Occupations

From major sales accounts to fast-food workers, sales and service employees are often the backbone of the local economy. In the Downtown neighborhood, they truly stand out. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis identifies this neighborhood as having a higher percentage of sales and service workers than 97.6% of all American neighborhoods.

Modes of Transportation

More people in Downtown choose to walk to work each day (14.5%) 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.

Length of Commute

Whether walking, biking, riding, or driving, the length of one's commute is an important factor for one's quality of life. The Downtown neighborhood stands out for its commute length, according to NeighborhoodScout's analysis. Residents of the Downtown neighborhood have the pleasure of having one of the shortest commutes to work of any neighborhood in America. 60.2% of the residents have a commute time from home to work (one way) of less than fifteen minutes. This is a higher proportion of residents enjoying a short trip to work than NeighborhoodScout found in 96.1% of U.S. neighborhoods. Less time commuting means more time for other things in life.

Car Ownership

American households most often have a car, and regularly they have two or three. But households in the Downtown neighborhood buck this trend. 19.6% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 95.1% of U.S. neighborhoods.

Diversity

Did you know that the Downtown neighborhood has more Czechoslovakian and German ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 0.6% of this neighborhood's residents have Czechoslovakian ancestry and 35.9% have German ancestry.

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 Downtown neighborhood in Altoona are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 99.7% of U.S. neighborhoods. 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.

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 Downtown neighborhood, 42.2% of the working population is employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 23.9% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (22.4%), and 11.5% in executive, management, and professional occupations.

Languages

The most common language spoken in the Downtown neighborhood is English, spoken by 100.0% of households. Some people also speak Polish (3.4%).

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 Downtown neighborhood in Altoona, PA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (35.9%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (18.1%), and residents who report English roots (10.4%), and some of the residents are also of Mexican ancestry (4.3%), along with some Italian ancestry residents (3.5%), among others.

Getting to Work

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 neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (60.2% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.

Here most residents (65.2%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also hop out the door and walk to work to get to work (14.5%) and 11.5% 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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