Florida To Tigard, OR... Is it really as nice as they say ???? (Portland: cul-de-sac)

[skygrace1@hotmail.com]

My wife, daughter (8), and I are considering moving to Tigard. We are Hair Stylists by trade so need a busy area to make $ in. I have found the Washington Square Mall, and they have salons there.
We are running from Hurricanes, heat and crime,Rednecks, and basically an ugly enviornment.We are up for the rain and cold, not worried about that.
Basically Tigard seems like a nice town to raise our daughter in. We would rent at first then buy "down the road". We're planning a visit to see for ourselves, but would like ANY input ...

[catnipmouse]

I lived in Tigard from 1988 - 1996. In those earlier years Tigard was still a nice small town yet had all the shopping a city person could ever want. And you are just a hop over the hills to Portland if you need to go. As the years passed Tigard grew rapidly and now the traffic through town on hwy. 99 at rush hour is horrendous! So are housing prices. But still if you like city and still farmland closeby to drive around and oo and ahh at, Tigard will be a nice choice for you. There are beautiful housing developments there. But if you are looking for still decent shopping and a town that is growing, while you are just renting, take a look around the Woodburn area. I really like that area. Albany too, is quite nice. And if you don't have to be in Tigard I find Eugene/Springfield to be a really neat area! OH, and Wilsonville is really nice too. That's just south of Tigard off the 1-5 freeway. That town has grown like wildfire over the last decade!

[Nature Girl]

We just recently moved to Tigard from Northern California and really like it. My husband's family is all up here so we were very familiar with the area before coming up. We do like it here, although we have noticed it pretty congested and expensive for what you get. It's a safe and beautiful city but a little too crowded for our taste. The public schools are OK, but a couple are not very good, so really look into that before finding your rental. We have a 7 year old daughter and she goes to a good school so if you would like some additional information on where to rent, I can give you my advise. Feel free to email me if you have some more questions! Good luck.

[yayakats]

We are also looking to move from Florida to Oregon. I would love to hear any advice on renting in the Portland area. As well as, any information on Vancouver, Washington.

[JakeDog]

"We are also looking to move from Florida to Oregon. I would love to hear any advice on renting in the Portland area."

If you are looking to rent an apartment, I would suggest downtown Portland- it's very safe and will provide you with a good opportunity to get to know the place and decide where you eventually want to settle. I can't recommend Tigard b/c I don't like subburbs, but it's an ok place to raise a family. Seems like there are lots of areas that are better than Tigard in the greater metropolitan area, but Tigard does have relatively cheap housing.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by JakeDog

I can't recommend Tigard b/c I don't like subburbs,

You + Me = Only 2 on City-Data that see potential in urban living over the "OOOHHH/AHHHH" factors of cul-de-sacs! YUCK! I'm currently helping a spattering of people on the PA forum move to the Scranton area, and ALL want information on housing developments, shopping malls, etc. BLECH! I must say that I'd love to visit Downtown Portland someday; a city that promotes a pedestrian and/or bicyclist lifestyle sounds ideal to me vs. Scranton, where everyone has three cars, won't stop for people in crosswalks, runs bicyclists off the roads, and clogs our highways at rush-hour! Is Downtown Portland as "hip" and "progressive" as I've heard it to be? (Coming from a relatively "backwater" area!) LOL! Thanks!

[JakeDog]

"Is Downtown Portland as "hip" and "progressive" as I've heard it to be? (Coming from a relatively "backwater" area!) LOL! Thanks!"

Yes- it may not feel like a big city, but it feels more like a city than any other city of comprable size in the country. It is very safe, clean, etc. You can walk to everything, great parks. Unless you have a need for a large yard, I can't see any reason to not live in downtown Portland if you live in Portland. Also downtown is in one of the best school districts too.

[bqtchef]

I grew up their up until i hit my upper 30's. I lived in Beaverton, Aloha, Portland, Tigard, Wilsonville, West Linn, Tigard, Milwaukie, Oregon City, Tualatin, and a few others. The everyday traffic not just rush hour is horrendous I headed to Northen Cal. in 98 and i visit twice a year to Oregon and the mount of people there just pisses me off. I would suggest that u look into Newberg it's about25 minutes out from Tigard or 30 minutes away from WS mall (going over the mountain)

[Nature Girl]

We are looking at Newberg as well. Also Sherwood, McMinnville and Wilsonville. I've been told these are the more "desireable" places to live right now. In my opinion I would say better than Beaverton, Tigard, or Tualatin from what we've seen so far anyway. Does anyone know which of the cities listed is the more conservitive minded?

[Deserter]

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

You + Me = Only 2 on City-Data that see potential in urban living over the "OOOHHH/AHHHH" factors of cul-de-sacs! YUCK! I'm currently helping a spattering of people on the PA forum move to the Scranton area, and ALL want information on housing developments, shopping malls, etc. BLECH! I must say that I'd love to visit Downtown Portland someday; a city that promotes a pedestrian and/or bicyclist lifestyle sounds ideal to me vs. Scranton, where everyone has three cars, won't stop for people in crosswalks, runs bicyclists off the roads, and clogs our highways at rush-hour! Is Downtown Portland as "hip" and "progressive" as I've heard it to be? (Coming from a relatively "backwater" area!) LOL! Thanks!

Add another to that tally. We've been considering moving to Eugene, but then realized that the type of housing and lifestyle we were looking for is actually more available in Portland. We want to live in a townhouse with little outside space to maintain. We'd like a neighborhood where we can walk to local restaurants and stores. We'd like for those places to NOT be McDonalds & Walmarts. We're thinking of the Sellwood neighborhood. Anyone have any recommendations?