How is the area around NE 223rd Ave/ NE Glisan St - Gresham OR (Portland: low income)

[texas-to-oregon]

Great forum Got lots of info already. We are relocating in a few weeks to OR. I can't seem to figure out where to live. Son is 15 and should attend highest rated public school with great music program.
Looking in the $ 400k for a house - rent first to make sure that's the area we like. I like a close knit neighborhood, no cookie cutter homes ( I am from Austin, TX where subdivisions look all the same and I HATE that), low crime - houses in the range of $ 300k and up.
Should be fast drive to NE 223rd AVE/NE Glisan St. I DO NOT KNOW THIS AREA - just from the address on map.

I read that Sam Barlow High School is rated 9 out of 10.

Any recommendations where to live and where to rent a house first? I heard so many different opinions about Gresham.

Thank you so much

[hamellr]

It's an OK area. You're near the edge of Parkrose which used to be considered the "bad" (meaning mostly drug busts and car prowlings,) part of town and hasn't really gotten better due to mostly low income families living there. But the area you're looking at is far enough away that there shouldn't be too many problems. On the other hand you're also close to Troutdale/Fairview which have managed to reinvent themselves for the better. You're also near the edge of the Urban Growth Boundary, depending on your outlook that is either a good or a bad thing, although most native Oregonians think it's a good thing.

Keep in mind that it's very suburban. It can be a couple of miles to basics, and further to get to after school activities. You're also a good clip from Downtown Portland, about 30 minutes even without traffic, so you'll be more reluctant to go there. You've got easy access to the Gorge though, and fairly close to Mt. Hood if you're into skiing.

That specific area was built up mostly in the late 60's, early 70's. There have been small pockets of redevelopment in to "medium density residential" (which is what you're seeing in Austin,) but for the most part still has a lot of unique older homes. I don't know how close knit it is any more, but when I lived there back in the early 90's it was a bit too much for my tastes. Older couples who's children had moved out tended to be pretty nosy, but I chalk a lot of that up to them not liking to see the neighborhood demographics shift younger and the loss of long time neighbors. That did cause some friction in "don't park in front of my house," or "don't paint your house that color."

Barlow was a good school back then, the music program goes through waves, I hear it's on the upswing right now. The teachers did recently go on strike though, they tend to do that every five years or so and threaten it more often.

I think a lot of people give Gresham a bad reputation that it does not deserve. Yes it's dealt with huge amounts of growth, the roads around Division/Burnside/Stark have more traffic on them then they were designed to handle. Yes there is a huge Mexican population there, but it's not like you're going to find dead bodies on your porch and drug dealers on every corner. I lived in various parts of Gresham for about eight years and never had issues of any sort - other then bad neighbors.

The other downside is that you're at the end of the Columbia River Gorge. Expect to be dealing with heavy winds especially in the Winter. Luckily there are a lot of older trees in that neighborhood, but that can cause problems in down limbs.

I highly suggest the apartments off of Eastman Parkway. It's not in the neighborhood you're looking at, rather it's in downtown Gresham. But they're central enough that you can explore Gresham, SE/NE Portland, Troutdale/Fairview and out further like Happy Valley, Damascus, Boring and Sandy.

[Nell Plotts]

I don't know the area well at all and have no idea of your son's music focus but here are a few potentially useful links:

From the Oregon School Activities Assoiation annual competition in 2011:
6A Band Division

1st - West Salem High School, Directed by Todd Zimbelman - 336 points.
2nd - David Douglas High School (Portland), Directed by Jennifer Brooks-Muller - 317 points.
3rd - Reynolds High School (Troutdale), Directed by Ben Brooks - 316 points.
4th - South Salem High School, Directed by Mary Lou Boderman - 314 points.
5th - West Linn High School, Directed by Kevin Egan - 311 points.

The Portland Youth Philharmonic | David Hattner, Conductor & Music Director

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