The Financial District has always been an area dedicated to commerce and trade. The history of the Financial District dates back to 1625 when a group of Dutch people settled there and deemed it the Dutch West India Company. Unsurprisingly, the Dutch West India Company was a trading company. Since then, the Financial District has been home to stock traders and the economically savvy. While Wall Street has been regarded as an area of business since the 17^th century, we are now beginning to see a major change: The Financial District is becoming a residential area. Instead of serving as a district that people simply pass through on their commute to work, today Wall Street is “home” to thousands of residents.

 “In less than a decade, the area has evolved from a place dominated by young finance workers in their first rental apartments to one filled with young couples buying their first homes and starting families.”

Surprisingly, this quote is from a 2007 article entitled “Financial District Attracts Families” by Vivian S. Toy of the New York Times. Toy goes on to claim that “the percentage of households with children under age 18 downtown grew from 19 percent in 2004 to nearly 25 percent in 2007.” In addition, the number of residential houses has also increased: in 2001, there were only about 13,000 residential houses while in 2007 there were 27,000. The gentrification of the city is evident in these statistics: over time, the Financial District has become increasingly more family-friendly. With more families, there has been a higher demand for residential homes, schools, and playgrounds within the area. It seems that the majority of these demands have been met; in fact, during our visit to Wall Street, we came across many residents shopping in new stores and even saw some teenagers on their way home from school.

One could truly see the change in demographics when examining the 2000 to 2010 Census Comparison Chart for The Financial District. In 2000, there were a total of 884 people while in 2010, the population grew to 7,135 people. Today, there are 25,547 people in the Financial District.  The ratio of men to women has also changed significantly over the last couple of years. Interestingly, in 2000, there were 529 men and only 355 women. In 2010, the number of men increased to 3,443 while the number of women highly increased to 3,692. From 2000 to 2010, one factor has remained the same: there has always been many more white people than African Americans, Asians, Chinese, Filipinos, Japanese, and others. From 2000 to 2010, the number of white people in the Financial District increased from 595 to 5,001. No other race showed such growth in total population. In fact, in 2010, every other race (with the exception of the Asian race with 1,480 people) had fewer than 500 people in their respective total populations.

These above demographics truly emphasize the increasing popularity and newfound residential-aura of Wall Street. Wall Street has long been associated with monotony; when asked about the Financial District, people visualize men in suits and ties on their way to work. They immediately imagine museums, banks, and stock markets. With the implementation of playgrounds, boutiques, and schools, the area is now livelier than ever. Now, instead of being a neighborhood of purely business, Wall Street is slowly offering the best of both worlds; it is no longer only an area dedicated to making money, but also a place for a family to live happily.