By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — Downtown’s schools, parks and playgrounds could get even more crowded, a new report says.
Today, 55,000 people live south of Chambers Street, more than double the population on 9/11 and a 14 percent increase since 2007, a Downtown Alliance survey found. And with more families moving in, along with people expecting to have children within the next few years, that number is expected to grow.
“People are here and they’re here to stay,” said Liz Berger, president of the Downtown Alliance business improvement district.
The Downtown Alliance’s survey also found that despite Wall Street’s woes, the FIRE industries (finance, insurance, real estate) are still the top employers among downtown residents, with 29 percent working in those fields.
The economic downturn did put a dent in salaries, though. The median household income fell from $163,000 in 2007 to $143,000 last year. And the percentage of households making less than $60,000 increased from 10 percent in 2007 to 15 percent last year.
Berger found several indications that lower Manhattan’s residents are settling down. Nearly half of the residents own condos, up from 40 percent three years ago, and 88 percent intend to stay downtown for at least the next three years.
The neighborhood is also family-oriented — there are more families and couples than singles or people living with roommates. Twenty-three percent of the households have children under 18, and the Alliance predicts that number will grow: 40 percent of the childless households with people under age 45 said they would likely have children within three years.
Julie Menin, chairperson of Community Board 1, said this growth highlights the need for more schools, grocery stores and other basic services.
“It’s almost like we’re a victim of our own success,” she said. “[The population boom] is putting a lot of pressure on our infrastructure downtown.”
Still, lower Manhattan’s residents are pleased to live here. Eighty-seven percent said quality of life was the reason they chose to live downtown, up from 69 percent three years ago.
PKS Research Partners conducted the survey last fall for the Downtown Alliance using 6,000 mailed questionnaires, focus groups and interviews with residential brokers. The results refer only to those who responded.
