Current Portlander looking for amenity laden neighborhood (Sunnyside, Burns: fit in, real estate)

[WeebleWobble]

Hello fellow Portlanders. I am a 6 year transplant to this wonderful city but have recently been looking for the perfect neighborhood to relocate. I figured that it may be worth giving the forum a shot and hearing what all you dialed in residents have to say.

Here’s the skinny:
I currently have a house within the Montavilla neighborhood (81st/Stark’ish area). My girlfriend and I have been interested in moving for over a year but are having a hard time finding a suitable replacement for the area we have grown to love.

We are both 30 years old, car free, lead extremely active lifestyles (mainly gardening, cycling and running, cycling as a form of transportation when it’s not winter or heavy downpours), work around Metro Portland and are dependent on TriMet. We support local restaurants, cafes, shops and the farmers markets around town, but mainly the strip less than ¼ of a mile away from our residence as we enjoy being able to walk to establishments rather than have to drive, cycle or take a bus. We love Montavilla and the neighborhood it is quickly becoming. It is friendly, non-phony, non-pretentious, family oriented, down to earth, locally supported, located somewhat near hot spots on streets like Belmont/Hawthorne/Division/Burnside/Stark and easy to get to the highway or a straight shot downtown when we ZipCar it. There are many options for cycling paths of all kinds near us, which is very important.

Why do we want to move? Despite the incredible community that is building within Montavilla, we have both wanted to live closer in like we used to. 60th street seems to be about as far west as we want to go. Is it such a big deal to be 20+ blocks more out? Well, yes. After 60th, the commutes seem to drag those last 20+ blocks.
Another reason for moving is that the house we currently live in, although wonderful, has many, many shortcomings. It’s a genuine starter home and it is time to graduate even with the enormous improvements I’ve made to it in the last 5 years.
Lastly, 82nd street. This street brings trash galore (Paper & garbage/pimps/prostitutes/creepy John’s/drugs/people blasting through test driving used cars from the lots/Cops running sirens day and night) plus it doesn’t offer much other than a very congested and stressful street on which to brave driving at any time of the day or night. In short, we hate the Mason Dixon line of Portland (82nd street).

What are we looking for? To start, it has to be on the east side of the river. It can’t go past 60th(ish) on the west and can’t go past Powell on the south. As for the North, we haven’t set much of a boundary. Most important is location. It has to be a setting very much like Montavilla (many locally run shop, coffee, pizza, a beer theater and farmers market would be nice, restaurants, grocery, a WalkScore of 75+, see above for more) with little pretension. It needs to be close to at least one major TriMet line that can get us into downtown. This new spot would ideally be priced around $300K or less.

Please keep in mind that we are looking for a home, not just a house. We want place that we plan on sticking around for at least 5 years, but more realistically 10+. When I first purchased my current house, I knew it was a starter home and therefore always had a moving expiration date for living in it. Sad but true.

The house itself is something we can work with. Finding the right neighborhood, closer in, is more important to us.

My girlfriend and I have a few places where we feel could possibly work.
- Sunnyside (nothing past 39th/Chavez Blvd)
- Overlook park (nothing north of Killingsworth)
- Woodlawn, mainly around Dekum St. (nothing past MLK to the east)

So, there ya have it. A big mess of opinions and preferences.

I’d love to hear thoughts and I can certainly elaborate on anything that I have failed to make clear.

Thanks everyone!

[philwithbeard]

Catch the #8 bus near the Lloyd Center, and ride it up north on NE 15th street on the East side of Irvington district or the far West side of the Eliot Should be some nice homes north of NE Broadway. Might not be the most inexpensive per sq ft around, but the real estate value will hold up quite well over time.

Reed College area and Woodstock is of course nice, and I am sure you have looked there in the past. Hard not to look at homes there.

I visited a home in the SE 30's between SE Belmont and SE Stark, and thought the homes were very nice and very well built. However, the homeowner's complaint is the heavy bicycle traffic congestion makes street parking a frustrating challenge. YMMV.

[WeebleWobble]

Phil, thank you for the post!

Funny you mention the #8, that's the line I ride every day.

The N/NE of Broadway you mention sounds a little like Sullivan's Gulch area, which I have looked at in the past.

Reed/Woodstock are is nice, however, I feel like they are segregated off into their own little worlds, similar in feel to St. John's.

I can see the area between Belmont/Stark having well built houses. I can also see parking being a huge issue, especially the closer toward Hawthorne you get. Also, I have noticed that most of the homes also don't have garages in that area plus, many are filled with kitschy, art types whose houses usually reflect that. That's not an issue for me, just stating what I've seen. This is certainly an area we are considering even with the high concentration of people/hipsters. The walkability and access to downtown and business we currently visit is hard for us to ignore, although, the prices are home prices are typically very high. Then again, if we plan to be in it for the long run, buying high now will hopefully mean a tidy profit in the future (as long as our housing market doesn't flop completely).

[jaimebslp]

Sullivan's Gulch is just south of Broadway, bordered by Lloyd Center on the west and Fred Meyer on the East. Check out the area north of Fremont, south of Alberta, east of Michigan, and West of 15th. You'll have easy access to Mississippi, Alberta, Fremont, Lloyd, Whole Foods, New Seasons. Biking and bussing are very easy at all hours in that district.

[Nell Plotts]

I second the Overlook neighborhood.

You might look east of 43rd, south of Clay. Lots of older well kept homes.

[Minervah]

You mentioned Sunnyside but if you go just a few more blocks east and south you will be in the Buckman neighborhood which eveyone thinks is Sunnyside (the part around Hawthorne Blvd) but is cheaper. You still have the advantage of being walking distance from all the Hawthorne shops.

[WeebleWobble]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Overlook does catch my eye. Lots of potential here. I may have to do a little more research.

Buckman has its charm too, although I'm finding that it is a bit out of my price range. But, you are right, lots of walking potential.

This weekend, we checked out a place just blocks off the main drag in St. John's. Although we've been up there before and the house was within walking distance to shops and transportation, one cannot shake the feeling at to just how far away from the main hub of Portland you are. For the right person, however, this is a fantastic area.

Keep the comments coming!

[hamellr]

I'd second the Belmont/Hawthorne area. Lots of nice houses between 50th and 39th, easy access to stores and transportation.

[portlandapd]

It sounds like you would work well in North Portland. Close to downtown, good public transport, good shops and restaurants. Since you say you are car free and you want a home, I suggest you check out Daybreak Co-housing (www.daybreakcohousing.org). We are working to keep our environmental footprint small: we encourage bike use, car-sharing (to cut down on number of vehicles people have). Most importantly, community is central. Daybreak is definitely a home to us. It is like living with extended family. And lots of hidden savings. We have socials regularly. Look on the webpage for the next one. Hope to meet you someday.

[WeebleWobble]

Thanks everyone, lots of great info. We are starting to narrow and really hone our search!

Portlandapd, I agree, NoPo does have some pockets worth investigating, however, I don't believe Daybreak would work for us as we need space for gardens (herb/veggie/fruit trees espaliered, etc), a chicken coop and other elements such as a possible graywater setup as well. However, I could see the community being extremely valuable for many Portlanders striving for a reduced footprint!