Are you considering purchasing an apartment in Paris’ 19th arrondissement?
Need some insight before diving in? Quality of life, neighborhood specifics, housing distribution, and guidance from your apartment hunter…
This guide provides everything you need to know about this area.
This area is in full transition. Your Paris apartment hunter recommends the Buttes Chaumont area, particularly to the north, and the banks of the “Canal de l’Ourcq”.
With the lowest median per capita income of the 20 Paris arrondissements, the 19th arrondissement offers modest households a rare housing opportunity in Paris. It’s also an area in full transition, attracting young executives as well. The charming alleyways of the Botzaris arrondissement, the lively shopping arrondissement around Pyrénées-Jourdain, the very select Butte Bergeyre and the area around the Canal de l’Ourcq are all a haven for bobos. Home ownership is rare (28% of residents own their own home) and 2/3 of the buildings are recent or modern.
Two huge green spaces are a major attraction for families. Parc de la Villette offers playgrounds and paths for jogging and cycling. The Buttes-Chaumont park is an invitation to stroll and relax, with paths winding around its lake and valleys, and superb views. Cultural life is not to be outdone, with the choice to make it accessible to all: the “Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie and the Cité de la Musique” make it easy for visitors to learn about and enjoy their exhibitions.
186 250 residents
€19 750 of median income, the lowest in Paris
28% homeownership, the lowest rate in Paris along with Paris 13
70% of buildings constructed after 1946, the highest percentage and twice the Paris average
28%
are homeowners
61%
are under 45 years old
50%
have lived here for nine years or less
50%
are families
Construction Years
Number of Rooms
This arrondissement mainly encompassed 2 villages before they were annexed to Paris in 1860 with Thiers’ enceinte: Belleville and La Villette. Named “Savies” in the 7th century, the Merovingian kings owned a villa in Belleville before the Capetians ceded land to monasteries. A former vineyard, Belleville saw the arrival of workshops and factories in the 19th century. Rue de Belleville (at the corner of the 10th and 11th arrondissements, bordering the 20th arrondissement) was the main thoroughfare of the commune. A Gallo-Roman village existed in antiquity in the Villette area, on the Roman road leading to Flanders. The monks of the Saint-Lazare brotherhood ruled this village, which was dedicated to agriculture (wheat and vines), until the 18th century.
The Parc des Buttes Chaumont was inaugurated in 1867, on the site of former gypsum and millstone quarries. Prior to its conversion into a landscaped park, the site was afflicted with a sinister reputation, with the Montfaucon gallows at the foot of the mound in use until the 18th century. The execution site was replaced by an open-air rubbish dump. The Villette abattoirs were also built in 1867 to replace the existing Parisian slaughterhouses. They were located on the site of today’s Parc de la Villette. In 1991, the Parc de la Villette was created. Major facilities designed to revitalize the arrondissement were integrated: the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, the Cité de la Musique, the Grande Halle de la Villette, the Zenith and the Philharmonie.
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