Alberta St and Mississippi St. (Portland, Sandy: coop, houses, neighborhoods)

[Supernova7]

Originally Posted by oldtintype

Old Town is smack in the middle of the majority of homeless shelters and substance abuse centers. With that comes a lot of stuff from pee everywhere to dealing, tons of people hanging out, tons of petty theft,etc. It's also right by the Greyhound station. It's not a neighborhood that feels like a neighborhood. It's very transitional in every sense of the word.

I'd go for the PSU/dowtown area as then you can go to school at Cascade or Sylvania (since the free shuttle from PSU goes to each campus), you're near everything and public transport is excellent. Then when you go to PSU you don't have to move. There are tons of studios in the $600 or less range in the PSU/downtown/Goose Hollow areas. It's not hard to hop on Max or a bus to other areas of Portland to shop and visit.

Good info...Just to get a rough idea (how far is PSU/Downtown from Old Town? I thought they were right next to each other, if not PSU being a part of Old Town district? Based on the info and the fact that Portland is not a large city I see Goose Hollow, PSU/Downtown and Old Town all connected like in a triangular pattern. Meaning you can walk in to the other neighborhood within (10) minutes. Is that correct?

Old Town doesn't bother me in the least and you're right it's only "transitional" to learn the city and get a feel for neighborhoods, but still it would save me a lot of time to get in the right one from the get go.
Petty theft, prostitutes, smoking joints don't bother me.

Rape, Assault, Murder/Attempted murder, robbery and gangs bother me. The other stuff is no problem.

[oldtintype]

Walking from PSU to old town would take about 20 minutes.

[Supernova7]

Originally Posted by oldtintype

Walking from PSU to old town would take about 20 minutes.

That's not bad at all. I enjoy walking and 20 min won't be a problem. How long a walk fromg Goose to PSU? Since PSU offers "free shuttle" to the Community Colleges, how long to Cascade from PSU by transit?

[Supernova7]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

I love the area around PSU - Goose Hollow and the Park Blocks, but I doubt you'll fnd anything in your price range there.

I wouldn't dismiss Hawthorne or Belmont, though, without visiting - yes, there is an upscale contingent, but there is also a semi-boho group, too, and it has a fairly good vibe (and a great cheap theater, The Baghdad, a McMenamins that serves beer and food). A lot of "sweat shop free" stores and vegetarian and vegan places and brew pubs mixed with upscale shoe and $50 t-shirt places. Several good used clothes stores, too. My favorite theaters are Cinema 21 (in NW on 21st) and the Fox Towers (downtown, next to Pioneer Square) - you can see stuff that will never make the local metroplex. Not necessarily cheap, though.

Old Town/Chinatown is by the missions and soup kitchens - it forms the eastern edge of the Pearl, though, so you might find some nice bargains there, especially if you are not intimidated by aggressive panhandling (and I used to go down there to get a bus home after night class and that was about the worst I ever saw - panhandling. I wasn't always comfortable, but then I wasn't usually really afraid, either). There is a dim sum place (can't remember the name, but I think it's 2 blocks west of the Chinese Garden) to die for - the servers wheel little trolleys of various dim sum around, and you point and pick by the plate - great stuff.

Gang activity in Portland isn't the same as other places - yes, there are serious gangs (imported for California, mostly) but here in Portland it isn't the same kind of "turf warfare," it's more control of the I-5 drug trade, from Canada to Mexico. We do have gang-related shootings and drive-bys, but they aren't a daily (or even weekly or monthly) occurrence.

Isn't there a cheap Theater in Old Town/China Town? You know $3 a show.
I'm a very vintage type person and love historic/old things.
Pan Handling doesn't bother me in the least. The question is which area would offer the most resources based on my needs (specified in earlier posts)
Old Town or Alberta St/Mississippi in NoPo? I imagine i'll be working downtown (white collar) job...lol

I'm so thankful for everyone's help in giving such clear and honest info, it helps me get a "feel" for what to expect.

[oldtintype]

There really isn't anything in Old Town unless you like boarded up buildings, antique stores or high priced stores moving east from the Pearl. There are a few food places and bars, that's about it. It's not really a very interesting place to live right now. I'm not sure why you're interested in it.

[Supernova7]

It seems like it's an area with "real city" feel in a small city like Portland. I like the idea of having many resourses within one area (walking distance) It doesn't appear dangerous at all and I'm not bothered by Panhandlers. Old Town is rightnext to Goose Hollow anyways so it can't be that bad, right?
I would imagine the rents are very reasonably priced in Old Town due to the proximity of Greyhound, Soup Kitchens and Homeless shelters? Honestly, it sounds like an interesting area. Anyone have pictures?

[jojo4]

There is a pub theater within walking distance - the Mission theater.
A couple of used clothing store across Burnside.

Old town is definitely "up and coming."
I was down there a couple of times recently and was pleasantly surprised. There is an arcade, comic book shop, restaurants, music store, modern art museum (gallery?), artist lofts.

The new MAX tracks are done and new line will start in 2009 that goes directly to PSU every 5 minutes (supposedly.) New Mercy Corp. head quarter going in and also the College of Oriental medicine is moving there.


A lot of good things happening in old town. I don't go there at night though.

I'd say if you want to go to school at PSU, around PSU and old town would be the cheapest area. There are definitely a lot more choices of rentals near PSU. I don't think there are a lot of rental in old town, but the one I've seen looks budget priced.
If you want to go to Cascade, definitely look North.

[jojo4]

Just go to

Welcome to Flickr - Photo Sharing

and search for portland oldtown
or search for portland chinatown

There are not a lot of pictures of homeless people there though. anyway, you can get an idea.

[Supernova7]

Originally Posted by jojo4

Just go to

Welcome to Flickr - Photo Sharing

and search for portland oldtown
or search for portland chinatown

There are not a lot of pictures of homeless people there though. anyway, you can get an idea.

Thank you very much jojo~!

[oldtintype]

Originally Posted by Supernova7

It seems like it's an area with "real city" feel in a small city like Portland. I like the idea of having many resourses within one area (walking distance) It doesn't appear dangerous at all and I'm not bothered by Panhandlers. Old Town is rightnext to Goose Hollow anyways so it can't be that bad, right?
I would imagine the rents are very reasonably priced in Old Town due to the proximity of Greyhound, Soup Kitchens and Homeless shelters? Honestly, it sounds like an interesting area. Anyone have pictures?

It's not next to Goose Hollow, it's next to the Pearl. I think one of the largest concentration of drugs in Portland is right on the Burnside edge of Old Town and something like one of the highest amounts of heroin on the west coast. That about sums it up right now. Give it five years and it will be just like the Pearl.