Two walkable L.A. neighborhoods for millenial home buyers

Image Source: rent.com

The surveys revealed that millennials want to live in walkable neighborhoods.

Millennials, also called Generation Y, are a group of young adults born from 1980 to 2000. The generation's personality is defined as culturally-diverse, upbeat, confident, liberal, and open to changes.

A survey by the Rockefeller Foundation found that 66 percent of millennials said that access to efficient transportation services is one of the top criteria they would consider when deciding where to live, while 54 percent of respondents would consider moving to another city if it had better transportation options. Another survey, conducted by the American Planning Association, found that baby boomers and millennials want many of the same things, one of them being walkable communities.

Walkscore, a website dedicated to promoting walkable neighborhoods, has compiled a list of Los Angeles neighborhoods with high walkability and easy access to public transportation. The following are two neighborhoods from the list that could pique the interest of millennial home buyers (and renters.)

Image Source: heliphoto.net

With a walk score of 93 (walker's paradise, according to Walkscore,) and a transit score of 99 (world-class public transportation,) Downtown L.A. tops the list of walkable communities in Los Angeles. The area has more than 800 dining establishments, 47 buses, two subways, and two light rail lines. Downtown L.A. is safer than other neighborhoods as well, with a lower personal property crime rate per person than the city average. This might be due to the presence of members of the Purple Patrol, a troop composed of "district safety" officers and maintenance staff who ensure that the area remains clean and safe for residents and tourists alike.

Chinatown is the second most walkable neighborhood in Los Angeles, with a walk score of 91 and a transit score of 91. Residents do not need a car to do errands, and the area has more than 130 restaurants, coffee shops, and bars. The area also has grocery stores, dry-cleaners, art galleries, schools, and a hospital. The personal crime rate is slightly higher than the national average.

Image Source: wikipedia.org

Los Angeles is known for being car-friendly, but that may soon change as more and more neighborhoods are promoting walkability over drivability and more millennials are making their needs known to the real estate world.

Jeff Yarbrough is a real estate professional and philanthropist from West Hollywood. Subscribe to this blog for more articles on California real estate market.