HELP!! Lookin 4 a good area to live with kids. New to Oregon

[Dave99]

You might also try driving in the other direction on 26 and head towards Mt. Hood. Check out the Sandy area.

[SalemGuy]

Ignore the person saying that Salem is full of thugs and gang-bangers. I have lived in Salem-Keizer for over 30 years (born and raised and now raising my own), so I am familiar with most parts of Salem, and though my views are biased, I would recommend neighborhoods that feed to Judson Middle and/or Sprague or South Salem High. If you are LDS (from Utah, right?), there are plenty of strong, helpful members in the South area. My neighborhood, Foxhaven (Battlecreek and Kuebler), is a quiet, safe neighborhood that is a few miles from shopping in South Salem. There are a few duplexes in my neighborhood, which are probably available right now. There are NO gangs or prison-release thugs that live in this area of town (and Portland, where I work and have lived for a short time, is certainly much more dangerous and gang-ridden than Salem--that Larry guy is totally out-of-touch with reality). Costco and WalMart are both nearby, although I recommend Fred Meyer . Feel free to PM me if I can provide additional information about living in Salem. Oh, Wilsonville and Tigard are going to be much more expensive for rent than Salem, but I would still try to live where you intend to work.

[treesap]

I grew up in a small town in Oregon. I don't believe small towns are the place to raise kids. There isn't enough to do, and it promotes drinking and other bad activities.

I'm not saying ALL small towns without exception are like this, but I know what I and my cousins experienced living in smaller towns.

I do belive a suburb is a much better choice. Portland is a wonderful city, and the suburbs are nice. Hillsboro is getting very crowded though. When I first moved to Portland in the late 80s, it was out of town and had a lot of agriculture. There has been a lot of development, and getting to Portland from there is difficult because of the traffic. You have to go through Beaverton, which is one of the larges suburbs of Portland. The good thing is that MAX light rail does go through Hillsboro.

I kind of like Vancouver myself. I live in Arizona as well right now, and I am dying to go back to God's Country (the Pacific Northwest).

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by SalemGuy

(and Portland, where I work and have lived for a short time, is certainly much more dangerous and gang-ridden than Salem--that Larry guy is totally out-of-touch with reality).

News - StatesmanJournal.com

Salem police say graffiti indicates rising gang problem | KATU - Portland, Oregon | News

A day in the life...

Update - StatesmanJournal.com

[madeInOR]

LindiLou-

I recommend checking out the SW suburbs of Portland. Ex: Tigard, Tualatin, Sherwood, Wilsonville, etc. They are all very nice areas with good schools, and good proximity to the big city.

Good Luck!

[LindiLou]

I definatly know that Salem is not for me and my kids just from staying here this last week. I also know that i dont want to live in a really small town becuase Treesap is right to an extent about the small towns. I grew up in a very small town with a max population of 300 or so. Very boring and did start drinking for fun at a young age. That was the thing to do. Fourtunatly we did not have drugs out there. I also know that if you are an invloved parent and take your kids to do activities and keep them invloved in sports there is alot less chances of them getting bored and doing those sorts of activities for fun. When I saw Beaverton and Tigard i fell in love. Yes the rent there is much higher but that does not matter to me. What matters is the school system and the environment that I have around my kids.

Thank you all so much for your advise.

Larry thanks for the articles You all seem very nice and helpful. I feel comfortable and welcome to this state.

LINDI LOU

[SalemGuy]

I'm going to avoid talking morals and stick to the topic . . . there are lots of nice areas to live in SW Portland area; my family lived in SW Beaverton for a few years, and it was nice. It was a lot more expensive than Salem (housing costs, mainly), and traffic gets pretty bad every day during the late afternoon (wherever you go), but there are lots of things to do (more so than Salem), but you also have to drive farther and longer to do these things. But like anywhere, there are good pockets and bad pockets in every city; just make sure you find a good pocket that feeds to a good school (in Beaverton, we were in a nice neighborhood that fed to a pathetic elementary school, so we moved).

[Nature Girl]

West Linn is also very nice with great schools! We just recently bought a home there and it seems prices are dropping! I also noticed a lot of rentals on townhomes when driving through there. It's a beautiful place and great for families. The only negative thing is, it's considered a "bedroom community" so you will have to drive out a little for major shopping. To me it's worth it though! You sound very adventurous! Good luck with your search, any place you end up with will be wonderful, Oregon is a great place to call home!

[goldenjupiterkitty]

Linda,

Please check out Milwaukie/Oak Grove area right outside of Portland. I raised my kids there and we loved it. If you can afford it check out the Sellwood area of Portland. It is very children friendly. They are also into the environment and have the most songbirds per capita in all the area because of all the birdhouses. Plus great natural shopping, eating, pretty neighborhoods, ect. I wish you success.
Tigard area? Skip it. Too much traffic and very hard to commute into Portland at both a.m. and p.m. rush hours.

Vicki