curious about several towns surrounding Portland (Gresham, Hillsboro: 2015, rental market, condo)

[khyron]

My wife and I are working out plans for a move from the east coast to the Portland area in about a year, and while we are pursuing various career opportunities close-in to the city (where we'd like most to live) we are also researching various "backup plans." These would involve possibly working and living a little further out at first, just to get ourselves out there and start networking and seeking more permanent jobs and housing (a process which could take a few years, which we're fine with).

So far, we've identified potential alternative career opportunities within following communities and towns all of which fall within a hundred miles or so:

Milwaukie, OR
Tualatin, OR
Clackamas, OR
Vancouver, WA
Gresham, OR
Oregon City, OR
Hillsboro, OR
Forest Grove, OR
Newberg, OR
Longview, WA
Seaside, OR

Now obviously, some of these are much further out than others, and some would be "commutable" while others (especially the shore) would involve living out by work and traveling into the city on days off and weekends, etc. and we're aware of that. What we don't really know much about is what these various places are like?

If "backup plans" become necessary, of course we'll make further exploratory trips out to these places both for interviews and more research (we've already made a couple exploratory expeditions to PDX and seen a lot of the city itself). However in advance of such endeavors, I'd love to hear any random feedback that locals have on these areas?

For example, I've heard that bridge construction is going to complicate Vancouver/Portland travel for the next several years...that's the sort of random detail that might not be apparent from afar. These are the kinds of things I'd like to hear about, as well as just general impressions of these places from folks who've lived around PDX for a while.

[Nell Plotts]

I agree that if you need to cross the Columbia River with any regularity living on the WA side would not be my choice until the new bridge is finished.

First, scratch Seaside off your list.. it isn't really commutable.

Much depends on your target employment market. Hillsboro and environs is where many technology businesses are located, for example.

[khyron]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

First, scratch Seaside off your list.. it isn't really commutable.

Much depends on your target employment market. Hillsboro and environs is where many technology businesses are located, for example.

I might not have been clear above, but if employment was in Seaside, then we'd almost certainly live there (or Astoria, or someplace else on the shore). We would never commute that far, for environmental reasons as well as financial and time management ones.

I'm not really asking about "getting jobs" in these places, I'm more curious about what people think of them and what it's like living there. We've got a good handle on the job hunting side of things.

[pathrunner]

That's a lot of towns to handle in one post.... have you narrowed down your desires/interests yet?

Gresham you need to stay far NE, far E, or South. There are some lovely areas of Gresham, others not so good. It depends what kind of community you want. Each of those towns has its older section and newer section, like most towns and cities. You'd be able to find pretty much any kind of residence or neighborhood, generally speaking.

Generally speaking (again), the coast is often clear while we inland have the weather pattern, meaning it hits there first and moves east making it kind of nice to escape to the coast when it's nasty inland. If you said where you're most likely to find employment or what type of housing and community you want, that would help.

[khyron]

Originally Posted by pathrunner

That's a lot of towns to handle in one post.... have you narrowed down your desires/interests yet?

Yeah, I know it's a little random but I figured posting multiple times for all those localities at once would be really rude and annoying. Besides this way people can comment comparing and contrasting multiple communities, perhaps?

Originally Posted by pathrunner

If you said where you're most likely to find employment or what type of housing and community you want, that would help.

Well, again I suppose I could have been more clear...but the above list is a list of places we're likely to find employment if not within the close-in parts of the city's quadrants. As far as what sort of community we'd want, we'd be pretty flexible in that regard, as we'd only be renting for a few years while lining up a strategy to live and work close-in (we're definitely urbanites at heart, absolutely no desire whatsoever for lawns, SUVs, or giant houses). I threw in Seaside because it's about as far as we'd want to consider, but it is an option jobwise, and because long term it's always possible we might want to have a beach house or a condo somewhere by the shore anyway.

[Sarcastic_Twit]

Unless price is an issue, if you are looking for urban living, you would be hard pressed to strike out in Portland proper. None of the places you mentioned are going to be as trendy, urban, hip, artsy, or liberal as Portland itself. And if employment isn't an issue, your backup plan b, c, and d, are really more like plan x, y, and z.

As far as your list goes, each city has its own section, the old part, the new part, the wealthier part, the poorer part, the downtown part, the rural part, etc etc. So it's virtually impossible to compare one city to another since they are identical in many ways. A 4000 sq ft Mcmansion in Happy Valley is going to compare equally to one in Gresham, one in Forest Grove, one in Vancouver. Same with a 1000 sq ft condo.

Most people have some immutable factor in their city shopping, usually employment, which changes the equation entirely. If you have a job on the west side of town, few people are going to recommend living on the east side.

You will need additional requirement in order to even make comparisons. The only city that jumps out on your list is Orenco Station in Hillsboro, as a no-car, no-lawn, urban place to live.

[khyron]

Originally Posted by Sarcastic_Twit

Unless price is an issue, if you are looking for urban living, you would be hard pressed to strike out in Portland proper. None of the places you mentioned are going to be as trendy, urban, hip, artsy, or liberal as Portland itself.

We understand that, that's why these are strictly backup plans. Our long term goal is to live and work in the city, and I'm just researching other options while we patiently wait to hear back about some potential close-in opportunities.

Originally Posted by Sarcastic_Twit

As far as your list goes, each city has its own section, the old part, the new part, the wealthier part, the poorer part, the downtown part, the rural part, etc etc. So it's virtually impossible to compare one city to another since they are identical in many ways.

I'm not expecting anyone to do some sort of comparative analysis on this entire list, I'm just looking for bits of feedback about these areas. For example it's helpful to know about Orenco Station and that it's located on a MAX line, or about weather patterns near the shore, etc. It would even be helpful if people just wanted to give shouts out to their favorite restaurants, grocery stores, movie theaters, museums, libraries, or other points of interest in any of these spots. There's no need for anyone to do any hard analysis here...I promise this isn't some tricky word problem that I'm purposefully trying to make hard by holding back information.

[philwithbeard]

About Milwaukie,

I think around about 2013, Milwaukie community center (aka, village downtown) will be getting a MAX Orange line stop. The construction for the bridge across the Willamette has been started.

Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project: Route and Stations

From my perspective, when this Orange line is up and running, property values from Milwaukee thru Sellwood should rise simply 'cause Milwaukie and Sellwood will become an easier and faster commute to PSU and Downtown. Plus the Orange line will have a stop at the bottom of the Tram going up to Pill Hill. This will also add a broader potential rental market. Downtown Milwaukie could be in for a round of 'gentrification' and all that come 2014 or maybe 2015.

[khyron]

Originally Posted by philwithbeard

About Milwaukie,

I think around about 2013, Milwaukie community center (aka, village downtown) will be getting a MAX Orange line stop. The construction for the bridge across the Willamette has been started.

Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project: Route and Stations

From my perspective, when this Orange line is up and running, property values from Milwaukee thru Sellwood should rise simply 'cause Milwaukie and Sellwood will become an easier and faster commute to PSU and Downtown. Plus the Orange line will have a stop at the bottom of the Tram going up to Pill Hill. This will also add a broader potential rental market. Downtown Milwaukie could be in for a round of 'gentrification' and all that come 2014 or maybe 2015.

That's very exciting news, I had not previously heard that the new river crossing was a done deal with ground already broken...I thought it was still theoretical! If I remember reading the plans correctly, isn't that bridge also supposed to eventually close the eastern streetcar expansion into a complete loop by bringing the streetcar back around to the tram as well?

[philwithbeard]

Originally Posted by khyron

That's very exciting news, I had not previously heard that the new river crossing was a done deal with ground already broken...I thought it was still theoretical! If I remember reading the plans correctly, isn't that bridge also supposed to eventually close the eastern streetcar expansion into a complete loop by bringing the streetcar back around to the tram as well?

Yes, the streetcar expansion loop is well underway on the east side of the Willamette River. I cannot find the link right now, but some of the streetcar track laying in the roads is getting a financial boost from the Federal Government's Stimulus "shovel ready" projects. The big push is to get the Science Museum connected by Streetcar up to loop around the Lloyd Center (MAX Connections), and maybe on over across the Broadway Bridge.

http://www.portlandstreetcar.org/pdf...0906_lores.pdf

I may have incorrectly given the impression the construction the Multi-transit bridge has begun. I believe that is incorrect at this time. The only documentation I can find is the pre-construction soil testing and clearing of the ground for the heavy bridge foundation which as not fully begun yet.

It appears the bridge work that is going on is on the Broadway bridge, the North side of the loop: (construction update for June 13, 2010)
Portland Streetcar

this would be my bad.