Clackamas info? (Portland, Lake Oswego, Oregon City: housing, rent, income)

[aplwh]

Hi All!

We are moving to Oregon and have narrowed it down to several areas: Lake Oswego, West Linn, Oregon City and now possibly Clackmas.

Can anyone shed some light on the atmosphere and schools in these cities?

Thanks a mil.

A

[live4kidz]

We lived in Clackamas Oregon for about 3 yrs. 20 yrs. ago and Love it. Still do. Sunnyside Road - major E/W arterial - is crowded, but they have recently made some modifications to the roads (building new ones and widening others) that have made it easier to navigate by auto in this community. They are remodeling and adding on to the Clackamas Town Center, which is a nice mall that has almost anything you'd want for shopping. Across from that is the Clackamas Promenade which has additinoal restaurants, stores like Target and Mervyns, Dress Barn, many other stores that are chain stores and provide for a diverse selection of goods. West Linn (I live 5 min. away in Gladstone) and Lake Oswego are both very expensive in terms of housing, but the schools and the low crime rate, solidarity of those communities are very attractive to many newcomers, especially those moving from an even higher price tag housing and living area, such as most areas of Califorina.

Oregon City is the very first city established in Oregon. I love this area - we are just 2 miles from Oregon City. Willamette Falls, that stretch along the river, is just so beautiful. Oregon City is a nice community with all the historic homes and also new develops, the Clackamas Community College, and lots of shops - mostly strip malls and little mom and pop businesses.
I love the feel of the community of Clackamas and live about 6 minutes from there now. Housing is more affordable than in West Linn and Lake Oswego. . .and is, by and large, a 'newer' community than Oregon City.
Good luck and hoping that others will jump in and provide more info for you.

[DocOregon]

Of the 4 areas you mentioned, Lake Oswego and West Linn have the highest household incomes and the highest per capita incomes. They also have the lowest crime rates, and their high schools have the lowest drop-out rates. On statewide standardized tests, their 10th graders score better than 10th graders in both Clackamas and Oregon City. For more information about test scores and crime, see the following web sites:

http://www.ode.state.or.us/data/reports/toc.aspx

http://www.oregon.gov/OSP/CJIS/annual_reports.shtml

The shopping is pretty much the same no matter where you are because nothing is really that far away. There are several large, indoor malls and a quite a few shopping centers all around the southern metro area.

Median home prices in each of the communities for the most recent 3 months were:

Lake Oswego = $440,000
West Linn = $380,000
Clackamas = $340,000
Oregon City = $257,400

I hope that helps. Best of luck!

[aplwh]

Any appreciable difference in terms of what the community feel is like in these cities? More conservative, less tolerant, etc?

We're in NY, Long Island, now and one town to the next can be quit different if you live there. It's all the same when you're just driving by or shopping there.

Thanks for the input!!

[DocOregon]

I have spent a good deal of time in all of those communities, and they are all nice places to live. Oregonians throughout the Portland metro area tend to be pretty tolerant and helpful toward their neighbors. All four of these areas are no exception. Geographically speaking, each of these areas is pretty large (though I don't know how they compare to Long Island). Consequently, each area has pockets of run-down homes (though these pockets tend to be smaller and less frequent in Lake Oswego and West Linn).

I hope that answers your question more fully.