Can you live in Portland with approx 1300 a month?

[Minervah]

You have to come and see for yourself regarding neighborhoods. SE is awesome. It's where I live. That's close-in SE. But like any other section of any other town there are good parts and bad. They are not close to each other however. It's really difficult to pinpoint what area will work for you without your seeing the lay of the land.

Walking through neighborhoods will give you the feel for what they are like. It will also give you the opportunity to check out "For Rent" signs. They pop up and disappear on a daily basis but in the nicer neighborhoods, not all that often. My landlord had several buildings on my block and he had three vacancies that lasted for less than a week.

The poeple who rented them were driving along, checking out the neighborhood; the right place at the right time.

[citykid503]

If its just you, you can find really nice studios for that price otherwise most apartments that cheap are either over run with gangs or white trashy

[Xander_Crews]

Colleges, when you are looking at attendance, give you a COA (Cost of attendance), which includes room and board, personal expenses, transportation expenses, etc. College do their best to put together a financial aid program that covers the entire COA, if you don't need it, or make sacrifices to keep the financial aid to a minimum, great. But if you need it to live there it can be worth the extra debt after graduation provided you make enough to pay your debt as quickly as possible after graduating.

I am not saying this is the BEST option, but it can be helpful.

[katiedaydream]

Hey, thanks everyone for getting back!

I appreciate all the input, and it does make me feel a little better to know that everything will work out in the end. Yah, I have decided to just wait until I get there before I settle. I would not mind the part time job if I am living in a nice place in a safe area! And yah, the closer I can be to OHSU, that would be nice, or at least close to the MAX.....