Considering moving from Walnut Creek (Portland, Gresham: condo, crime, house prices)

[bayarearosie]

Hi,
I posted this on Oregon and it was suggested that I post on Portland:

We (family of 5) are considering moving from Walnut Creek to Oregon. I have done some searches and found West Linn to be a very nice place to live. Would very much like to hear of other people who have moved to this area. Gymnastics competition (level 8) is very important to one daughter and ballet dancing is important to another.
My husband and I are both retired (early) and have 3 children (14,13,9). Older two need special ed classes.
Any input would be appreciated.

[oldtintype]

What do they need SPED for? There are some districts better than others depending on the issue. I went to high school for a bit in Walnut Creek but mostly lived in SF. Are you looking for something similar to Northgate or (can't remember the name of the other WC HS)? We lived near Treat and Bancroft in a condo there. Most of the kids I went to school with lived in the homes by Mt. Diablo. Walnut Creek has changed a lot since I lived there in terms of restaurants, arts, etc. What kind of environment are you looking for exactly?

[mc0624]

Hi,

We are planning a move to Portland as well (from Sacto) and West Linn is a consideration also. Twilighter posted on my thread with some personal insight on the West Linn HS. You may find it useful.

Wilson High School?

[bayarearosie]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. My older two girls were adopted from Russia and have special education needs that resulted from FAS. They are both in public schools (one in middle and the other going into high school). They just have 1 class outside of mainstream classes that help them with reading/math. One reads at a 5th grade level and the other does not understand numbers at all...can do basic, but that is it.
We are looking for a community that is close, that will welcome us, and that my daughters can take pride in belonging.
Honestly, we don't dislike our current area. Weather is good, schools are really good, our home is good....but we also feel that there is a large amount of people that are 'better than anyone' attitude.

[skiffrace]

West Linn seems very nice, any other suggestions for suburb living in Oregon?

Any suburb west of the Willamette river should be a good match. Starting with Lake Oswego, West Linn, Stafford, Sherwood, Tualatin and Tigard, and finally Beaverton.
All of them are either safe or super-safe, and have schools that are good or excellent.
The main difference would be in house prices, and they are positively correlated with the quality of the schools.
The areas with excellent schools (ex. Lake Oswego) have the highest prices.
Areas with just good schools (ex. Beaverton) have lower prices.

Still, Beaverton is a sure bet for a family. The combination of schools, safety and yet reasonable house prices is hard to match anywhere in PDX area.

You probably don't want to bother with any east-side suburbs (ex. Gresham, Happy Valley) - their schools are nothing to write home about.

Ditto about Portland itself. While there are pockets of excellence within the city, much if it is, well, see my comment about east-side suburbs.

[Yankeemama]

Originally Posted by bayarearosie

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. My older two girls were adopted from Russia and have special education needs that resulted from FAS. They are both in public schools (one in middle and the other going into high school). They just have 1 class outside of mainstream classes that help them with reading/math. One reads at a 5th grade level and the other does not understand numbers at all...can do basic, but that is it.
We are looking for a community that is close, that will welcome us, and that my daughters can take pride in belonging.
Honestly, we don't dislike our current area. Weather is good, schools are really good, our home is good....but we also feel that there is a large amount of people that are 'better than anyone' attitude.

There are plenty of people in this area that have the"better than anyone attitude". Some people hide this attitude better than others but it is everywhere, in every community. I wish I could give you insight on West Linn but I only know people in Portland and Beaverton since my family moved here over three and half years ago. There are good schools in both districts.

[Minervah]

I used to work with a young man who was a part of an active Russian community in Hillsboro, a suburb west of Portland. Maybe they could give you some insight for your daughters' continuing education and socialization.

Northwest Russian American Community Center Profile - Hillsboro, OR 97124-6219 - Single Location 25056638

[oldtintype]

Of the areas mentioned, the Tigard school district is the most inclusive.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

It depends on your lifestyle and how you want to feel about your neighborhood.

If you want to feel like you are still in California, please check out the places mentioned above.
Sprawling suburbs, lots of strip malls, not walkable, you'll feel anonymous, definately need a car to get anywhere without a big time consuming hassle, etc..

What I mean is, it's still the Portland area, but those places are different from the east side in feel and appearance.
If you want a more typical Portland experience, PLEASE do not discount the eastside.

No matter how some posters on here feel about it, there are some wonderful eastside neighborhoods and the vibe is just completely different than the west side.
I guess it must scare some folks.

Check out Sellwood, East and West Moreland, Woodstock, Mt Tabor, Montavilla, Laurelhurst, etc..
The east side neighborhood that the childrens book author Beverly Cleary grew up in has some absolutely wonderful homes and parks.

The east side of the city is not the crime infested side of the city as some really biased posters on here would like to make you think!

I will say that the farther east you go, the more lower income and "sketchy" neighborhoods you will find.

[oldtintype]

The east side has some of the nicest areas in Portland. It boggles my mind that people try to claim its unsafe or bad. Totally not true at all. I sometimes wonder if people claiming this have crossed the river in the last 10-20 years.