hawthorne? (Portland, Sunnyside: real estate, apartment, to rent)

[wildwolf]

My wife and I are moving to portland and would like to live some where like the hawthorne district. We like to have non-chain restuarants, bars, and shops in walking distance. We love farmers markets and gallery's. I am a teacher and my wife is an artist. We are in our early 30's starting a family and would love to be in an area with similar people. Thanks Chris

[Clear2land]

Hi Chris:

The very best answer to your question might come from a realtor. They know their areas very well especially if they are 30 something. They might be able to offer you some choice in areas as based on a range of prices. If you intend to rent, they can point out choices within your budget range.

Dan

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by wildwolf

My wife and I are moving to portland and would like to live some where like the hawthorne district. We like to have non-chain restuarants, bars, and shops in walking distance. We love farmers markets and gallery's. I am a teacher and my wife is an artist. We are in our early 30's starting a family and would love to be in an area with similar people. Thanks Chris

You just described my neighborhood.... Westmoreland / Sellwood. Our neighborhood wonderful non chain rests... usually run by the owners. Hip shops and gallerys and this past summer we got our own Farmers Market. This is a very safe, walkable, friendly neighborhood. We are very family friendly too (lots of young families but also lots of folks w/ dogs instead of kids and folks with both)! We have 2 parks, a wonderful library with FABULOUS Children's Librians, and the Sellwood Community Center offers tons of classes for children from about 6 months through teen years.

We also have alot of artist living in Sellwood. PM me if you have specific questions.
Good luck!

[Pippa]

I like Hawthorne better than Sellwood. They both are homey and alternative and clean and green and great places to raise kids for sure. A 1000 sq ft bungalow goes for over 250,000 now, in those neighborhoods.

[Brett]

I used to live in Hawthorne but it got to be to Urban for me: the noise around bar closing, etc... It isnt bad by urban standards but I am not an Urban person... I just live in an Urban area. I moved further out SE and I am much happier and I can easily bike to Hawthorne/Belmont.

[PDXsailor]

Hawthorne is not much of a "family area". It is a great place to live in your 20's and 30's as long as you don't have kids. Some more "Family friendly" areas would be Sellwood, and Woodstock. The Hawthorne and Belmont district also is a horrible place to live in if you park on the street. Hard to find parking much of the time. You also have people walking up and down the street all night talking, and homeless going through your garbage.

[Brett]

It isnt that bad. I lived in the Hawthorne neighborhood, and the Sunnyside neighborhood, and while I would not reccomend living close to the Bar area around 50th, there are plenty of quiet streets where families live. The Richmond Elementary school get high marks, and the Environmental School at Sunnyside is also well regarded.

As to homeless people going through your garbage, one that isnt true- they go through your recycling, and secondly I see the same thing in Sellwood all the time. Get a real estate agent who knows the neighborhood and walk around after dark to see what the nightlife looks like.

I wouldnt want to live close to: Bar of the Gods (50th and Hawthorne) or The Egyptian club. (37th and Hawthorne) or right next to 33rd and Belmont due to the high level of nightime traffic.

Parking? a problem? try living in Boston or NYC. I drive in that area a lot and rarely have to walk more than a block to my destination. But I would suggest getting a place with off street paking for your house- it is no fun to have to go looking for your car in the morning when your partner can not remember where she parked it the night before!

I live in the Creston Neighbor hood, and I like it, along with East Tabor (spendy) south Tabor and Clinton. If you like to bike these are all great neighborhoods. Be sure to check out the local eateries on Division: Lauros, Pix Patissere, The Hedge House, along with the Bay Leaf and the Kalga cafe/

In short SE is a great place to raise a family I have been happy here for the last decade.

[PDXsailor]

Some would consider downtown "family friendly", but I would not want to live down there, let alone raise my daughter there. Everybody has there own opinion of what is "family friendly", and I personally don't think those areas are.

We lived in the Belmont district throughout the 90's before buying a house near the Woodstock District. Saw the whole area really change when Zupan's came in, but it was great to get munchies after the bars closed at 2:30am And yes, we had homeless go through our garbage and pick out food!!!!! AND go through the recycling. It probably depends on where your garbage is stored, but it was rather gross. Of course it was also a dumpter at an apartment building.

Whenever I go back to shop in that area, it amazes me how many people in the area smoke, the increased traffic, and the crowds of people. It beats living in downtown (which I have also done), but there are quieter and cleaner neighborhoods around in SE Portland.

[Brett]

YMMV- I lived off Hawthorne and never saw someone go through my garbage, liked all my neighbors and our street was (and still is) well kept, I drive down all the time. I wish I could afford a house on Yammhil or Salomon by Belmont... but yes I wouldnt live right by the shopping areas.

But yes everyone has to make up their own mind, I would say come and visit with a good real estate agent and look around. I love mine and would gladly refer her to anyone who was interested.

BTW: I wouldn't live downtown either, but I like having a yard too.

[checar]

Tabor.

You can walk to Hawthorne/Belmont but you don't have to put up with the hip partying kids, the people that like to use your front yard as a place to "chill", the noise, etc.

I like Hawthorne and almost bought there. Man am I glad I didn't. I've seen some disturbing problems that people in the Hawthorne seem to deal with on a daily or weekly basis. Drunk homeless guys hanging out right in front of your house, non-stop walking traffic (depends on the block), parking issues, noise, party houses, loud people walking by at 2 AM, litter from the night before...the list goes on.

That's all stuff I don't need to deal with when I'm out playing with my kid.

In Tabor (west side) you can walk down there or take a 3 minute bike ride. I have not had anyone pick through my trash or recycling since moving here. The neighbors chat about new additions to the garden and know each other's cats' names.
It's mellow and family friendly.
It's clean and neat.
It's super quiet.
Only 10 or 15 minutes to downtown and close enough to the 84 and 205.

Also, you have to watch out for "band houses" in Portland if the noise would bother you.