I Need to Get Focused! (Portland, Beaverton: section 8, cheap apartments, rentals)

[nomrahj]

Moving to Portland in September for school and a part-time job in downtown. My fiance will join me in about 3-6 months. I have a trip planned the first week of August to find a place to live in advance of my actual move but I need to get my apartment search focused! Looking for a 1 bedroom apartment, around 500 sq ft, between $750-900/month (depending on the utilities included) that could be pet friendly (but not a deal-breaker since I don't currently have a pet). I do have a car, but I'd prefer an area with a decent leve of walkability/bikeability (shops, taverns, entertainment) and access to public transportation into the downtown area. The northwest seems price prohibitive for what I can pay, so I've been looking at the other three areas: SW, NE, SE but with only 2 days to find a place, I'd prefer to be more focused.

So, how far "out" of the city would be too far to go? I've been told to avoid the Rose Quarter/Lloyd District areas and Powell beyond 90th but is the area around I205 (say between 82nd and 96th) also to be avoided? I've also heard that lots of places aren't advertised & driving around looking for "for rent" signs is a decent search strategy too.

TIA for any suggestions/recommendations.

[sezzam]

Try the Tansasbourne area in Beaverton/Hillsboro.

[Leisesturm]

Our doctor lives in a 2 bedroom apt in a complex near John Allen and Cornell in East Hillsboro. That's pretty close to the Tanasbourne area previously mentioned. There is a pool and fitness center and the property abuts a wetlands preserve with miles of hiking trails right out the back door. $700/mo. That's $100/mo less than we pay for our rented 2br house in West Hillsboro. I don't know if a part time job is going to cut it with the manager of a complex like that. Or anywhere for that matter. Doesn't your school have information resources as to housing options for students? FWIW and because you didn't ask... I strongly advise young people to avoid unnecessary stresses like long term long distance relationships. 3 to 6 months apart just because you've put a ring on it and presumably locked in the interest rate, is foolish and unwise. Like any gamble it could pay off big ... or not. Why risk it?

H

[SETabor]

Where are you going to school? If you're going to be working downtown and going to school downtown, I would try and stick to a more downtown presence or at least a non-transfer trimet route.

Some of the housing between 82nd and 96th is okay, some not so much. You can look at portlandmaps.com and see the crime maps for any address in the city.

[nomrahj]

Aren't you a ray of sunshine there Leisesturm! I'm several years removed from the college scene, so I'm far from being a young snot, and my personal relationships and financial situations is quite solid, thank you.

SETabor: school is downtown, work will be downtown as well. A direct Trimet route is highly preferred, even if I need to bike or walk to a stop - that's why I was looking at the area around I205 - the train is close and there appear to be some reasonably priced housing options.

[skiffrace]

Moving to Portland in September for school and a part-time job in downtown

If you need to get to downtown often, but your budget is only $700 to $900, living not far from Max would serve you well.
Portland has decent buses too, but (from perspective of a long-term bus commuter), they are not as good as Max, the main reason being that they share the super-congested roads with cars.
I fondly (NOT) remember many charming evenings I stood in the 40 degree rain on the corner of 2nd and Columbia, waiting for the 45 to show up.
As you probably know, driving to downtown is not a good option - bad traffic and expensive parking.
Living within walking distance to Max is good (say 1 mile or less), but you don't want to live right next to Max. There have been widely reported Max-related crime issues, allegedly caused by Max being the easy getaway vehicle for criminals.
Under no circumstances live in the area where I-84 and I-205 intersect! High concentration of cheap(often section 8) housing + Max + mostly rundown neighborhood = crime.
Tannasbourne is good, as are most places on the west side, maybe except Aloha (which is not too bad, but there are better options)
As for the east side, it's a bit of a hit and miss affair - there are peaceful and affluent enclaves on the east side near drug and crime infested areas.

[oldtintype]

What kind of place are you looking for? If you're looking to be close in with easy access to downtown, American Property Management always has cheap rentals (in your price range), especially in inner SE and NE. However, all of their buildings are ugly 1970s buildings and they haven't done much in the way of updating. They screen pretty well and so tenants are OK, but again, you're living in an ugly 1970s building (in a fantastic neighborhood most of the time which always struck me as odd). We did that for a while to live really close in and have cheap rent. Another plus is they take out of state people and have short leases. A negative is they do very little to make the places updated. And they are cheap and their mentality is cheap (as in 1970s formica is attractive what are you talking about? Yellow fridge? Why update?). The buildings are for the most part in great walkable areas near Hawthorne, NE 28th and Burnside, etc. If they bothered to stop being cheap and would update they could charge a lot more but they instead don't. So just depends what you're looking for. For us at the time being in a really walkable area 24 blocks from downtown was worth it. Now it's not. Just another option.

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by nomrahj

Aren't you a ray of sunshine there Leisesturm! I'm several years removed from the college scene, so I'm far from being a young snot, and my personal relationships and financial situations is quite solid, thank you.

Read your own post again and tell me you don't sound like you are 19 years old. If you have it all together I'm very happy for you. You might say that next time and people won't make the mistake of trying to give you well meant advice.

[oldtintype]

And I should add that as someone who likes to be close to downtown and really likes lots of things to walk to and a walkable neighborhood, I would rather go back to the crappy 70s place (which I truly never ever want to do) than live over by 205 or outer SE. It's not walkable (or at least not walker friendly) and there's way more crime. Montavilla is good but it's a very small area. The rest....well, if you're wanting to bike and walk you should just move on. And ironically there are lots of nice places near Lloyd Center--Sullivan's Gulch and Irvington for example, so don't totally rule out that either (don't know who gave you that advice). You can also find some cheap apartments near Hollywood (also on the Max line). The closer in the better for walking/biking/school downtown. There are some inexpensive places in SW to be had too so don't rule that out either.

[kyled]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

Read your own post again and tell me you don't sound like you are 19 years old. If you have it all together I'm very happy for you. You might say that next time and people won't make the mistake of trying to give you well meant advice.

Nothing the OP said made me think he/she was of any age...and personally if I were the OP I'd be offended too. It read like you don't think their engagement is of any worth...anyone would get offended by that. Besides, this isn't the 50s anymore...just because you're away from someone doesn't mean you're apart. You can speak to anyone face to face all over the world with just your phone.