Unsafe Rental Areas? (Portland, Hillsboro, Lake Oswego: apartments, loft, high crime)

[JIer]

Hi! We're getting close to moving time and are checking out apartments online. We want to stay in SE/SW Portland to make easier commutes to Hillsboro and Lake Oswego. Are there any areas that you would NOT recommend? We're late 20s/early 30s with a 9 month old and pets, so somewhere family friendly and safe is key for us getting to know the area before we buy. Just want to make sure there's nowhere we should be avoiding!

Thanks!

[Minervah]

If you are looking for an easy commute to Hillsboro and Lake Oswego I would NOT recommend living in the SE area. There is no reason to because both Hillsboro and LKO are both great places to live.

SW is where you would want to be.

[JIer]

No SE because of commuting or safety, or both?

[Minervah]

There are many nice places SE. I live there and I love it. There are great neigbhorhoods in SE. I was referring to commuting. SE is across the river from both Hillsboro and Lake Oswego. And far from both. Your commute time would be pretty long and traffic would be a pain at times. And you did say "easy commute."

For a young family, Lake Oswego and Hillsboro both have good family oriented neighborhoods, good schools and more choices of homes to rent. The chances also of your finding a pet friendly place would be greater as well. And if you are working in either one or both, I would consider living in one of those places to be a bonus.

[AndyAMG]

Multnomah Village will have the vibe you are looking for. That is in the far SW corner of Portland, and there will be no pesky Sellwood or Ross Island bridge to contend with. I drive past that way every day and I can tell you starting about 7 am it becomes a bumper to bumper 10mph crawl on both bridges. you'd be looking at an hour to Hillsboro at rush hour morning or evening.

[Minervah]

Multnomah Village is a great place and it is nearer to both suburbs mentioned. I don't know what "vibe" the OP may be looking for but it would be similar to living on the SE part of town without the nightmare commute. It's a safe area.

[christiner81]

i can't think of any unsafe areas in the SW. Agree with other posters, SE to hillsboro would suck for commuting.

[lolligrump]

We live in SE. (Milwaukie). I work in Lake Oswego and my husband works in Hillsboro. It takes me 25 minutes leaving the house at 6:35, and about 30 minutes leaving again at 3:30 to head back home - Both ways over the Sellwood Bridge. Husband gets to work leaving at 5:45AM within 35-40 minutes. Coming home at 4PM seems to take him an hour or so. We really like where we are renting, but will most likely move to the SW area to shorten my husband's commute. There are websites out there to check out the areas of high crime. Good luck!

[JIer]

For renting, we're mainly looking for somewhere safe and an ok commute while we explore. Just glancing briefly I'm kinda bummed about the housing on the SW side, so far it's not really what we were hoping for (early 1900s arts & crafts/bungalow), but for renting it won't really matter. Seems a little more sprawly but of course I can't tell for sure just by a 5 min zillow search! Regardless, it sounds like SW would be best to start. Thank you all for your feedback!

[AndyAMG]

What is the definition of an arts and crafts bungalow? 800 sq ft 2 br, 1 bath, porch in front, looks like a block with a door and 2 windows and a triangle roof with a loft up there. If thats the definition that can be found in multnomah village.