Relocating to Portland (Beaverton, Sandy, Beaver: 2015, apartment complexes, rentals)

[qrkid]

Hi All

My wife and I are relocating to Portland. Middle aged couple with no Kids. I will be working at either Legacy Emmanual Hospital or Providence St. Vincent.
Trying to figure out where to look for apartments to rent. Would prefer that I can use public transport.
We saw a place that looks pretty good to us but know nothing about the area.
Can anyone shed some light or have any opinions on the area around the lloyd center. Used to live in transitional areas in midtown Atlanta so not totally unfamiliar with big city living.
Thanks in advance.

[StealthRabbit]

Use the Portland police website for following crime. There are some nice areas east of Lloyd, and also north of Sandy District.

Agressive homeless and street campers are nearly everywhere since 2015.
But... a vigilant neighborhood can make it a Pita to stay living there on the streets, so these people will seek ezr spots to camp.

[Nell Plotts]

I recommend you look in the neighborhood known as Goose Hollow or close in NW. Have you looked at the transit lines serving Emmanuel and their hours of operation? If you are using transit and need to travel after dark I suggest Lyft or Uber

[texasdiver]

Emmanuel and St Vincent are not very close to each other. I'd wait to find out which hospital you are actually working at before deciding where to live. Portland traffic is horrible, especially cross-town rush hour commutes so the best advice is to live close to your work.

Emmanuel is in NE Portland and there are a lot of nice residential neighborhoods north and east of the hospital that will put you within easy walking or biking distance. I'm sure there are also lots of bus routes, I'm just not up on where to live for direct bus access to Emmanuel.

St. Vincent is in west Portland next to Beaverton. The main connecting route between Beaverton and the rest of Portland is Highway 26 which is ALWAYS completely congested during morning and afternoon rush hours and usually congested in both directions. There are lots of apartment complexes in the hills around St. Vincent and over in Beaverton. But this area is less conducive to walking. There are buses along the main highways but you'll have to do your own due diligence to make sure you have transit access to the hospital.

You would not want to live in NE Portland near Emmanual and commute to St. Vincent. Or vice versa, live in Beaverton next to St. Vincent and commute to Emmanuel. Thousands of people do it which is the problem. But there is no point in doing it on purpose if you can help it. Especially if you are commuting via transit.

[Nell Plotts]

St. Vincent provides its own bus to/from the Sunset MAX station which has service abt every 15 minutes. I live in the Goose Hollow neighborhood and have used Bus 20 or the MAX to travel to St. Vincent Hospital. The hospital also has several physician's medical offices on that campus.

Emmanuel has a level 1 trauma center, burn center and a children's hospital, that said I do not think they have good transit access. The MAX line that stops closest to Emmanuel runs less frequently. If you will be working at Emmanuel talk to their HR department to discuss transit access. I believe most Emmanuel employees park in their garages. I don't frequent Emmanuel so I can't provide good information.

If you use the MAX do not concern yourself about traffic over the west hills, it uses a tunnel and has its own right of way. Through the city center, different story. As texasdiver mentioned you want to live on the same side of the city you work. The only exception, IMHO, would be if you work at Emmanuel and drive to work from NW Portland as Vaughn Street can put you on the I405 bridge over the Willamette and an exit right at the hospital.

[CAjerseychick]

I work right near there, and my good friend works at Emmanuel, plenty of nice neighborhoods to choose from- (I live south but don't mind the 15 minute drive- no bridges of course, I am still on the east side). Know nothing about renting apartments, its been years since I have lived in one- always shared a house actually- how much were you thinking of spending for a rental/ bedrooms/ or a studio? ETC...

I 1000% agree with texasdriver, do not choose to live across a bridge from work if you can help it- most of the folks I work with who do- do because they wanted a big house, suburban lifestyle for their multiple kids- at a cheaper cost-

since that does not appear to be your situation, live close to your work, and enjoy portland!

(If you work west side, live west side, and east if thats where you end up).

[qrkid]

Thanks for all the help. Not looking for anything big. On the contrary 650 - 750 ft will do. That being said don't want to go over $1500. In looking on the net that might be tough or at least limit my choices. Parking (we will keep 1 car for wife) at places that would be good for Emmanuel have limited parking and you have to tack on an extra $150 to the rent
I liked the idea of finding out where I work 1st and then decide where to live. First world problem but I was offered a position at both hospitals so that approach is not going to help to much.

Thanks again.

[CAjerseychick]

Originally Posted by qrkid

Thanks for all the help. Not looking for anything big. On the contrary 650 - 750 ft will do. That being said don't want to go over $1500. In looking on the net that might be tough or at least limit my choices. Parking (we will keep 1 car for wife) at places that would be good for Emmanuel have limited parking and you have to tack on an extra $150 to the rent
I liked the idea of finding out where I work 1st and then decide where to live. First world problem but I was offered a position at both hospitals so that approach is not going to help to much.

Thanks again.

Hmmmm for under 1500 you could probably find a small ADU (the tiny homes being built in the neighborhoods)- I know a family that just moved to eastmoreland for about that amount and they have a 2 bedroom house and yard(a regular house too not an ADU).
If you could think about moving to the SE neighborhoods (plenty of street parking, its really nice down here, not as urban-y feeling as the close in North-East neighborhoods while still having bars, restaurants, parks, cafes etc... to go to) you might consider that- in which case wife would take public transport round the days you work and you could drive to the hospital ....
heres a blurb on the Woodstock area which I am familiar with (just not with current rentals- most folks I know have been here awhile so their $1000 monthly rental for homes with yards and plenty of parking - in these areas are not the current rate... but there is a ton of huge apartment blocks going in- 52nd and Holgate, a couple on Division, a couple on Foster, etc.)- maybe google apartment developments in Foster Powell, Woodstock, Division, etc... I see maybe 6 or 7 in stages of near completion on my way to work or around town, all east side.... (and I have been wondering, who will be living there?! Maybe You! I guess!!)

https://www.streetadvisor.com/woodst...-county-oregon

[texasdiver]

If you are childless and not worried about things like neighborhood schools then you'll probably find the older neighborhoods on the near east side next to Emmanuel to be much more interesting than the more suburban neighborhoods near St. Vincent. They are much more walkable and have a much higher density of shops and restaurants and stuff to do. You should be able to draw a 1-2 mile circle around Emmanuel and find a lot of possible apartments within that radius. Use google street view to check out the neighborhoods. There aren't really any bad areas there. Used to be, but it's all rapidly gentrifying.

If it were me, I'd chose to live near work in a nice inner NE Portland neighborhood and just bit the bullet and pay for the car parking. As opposed to living some place further away that might happen to have free parking.

[CAjerseychick]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

If you are childless and not worried about things like neighborhood schools then you'll probably find the older neighborhoods on the near east side next to Emmanuel to be much more interesting than the more suburban neighborhoods near St. Vincent. They are much more walkable and have a much higher density of shops and restaurants and stuff to do. You should be able to draw a 1-2 mile circle around Emmanuel and find a lot of possible apartments within that radius. Use google street view to check out the neighborhoods. There aren't really any bad areas there. Used to be, but it's all rapidly gentrifying.

If it were me, I'd chose to live near work in a nice inner NE Portland neighborhood and just bit the bullet and pay for the car parking. As opposed to living some place further away that might happen to have free parking.

Hey! Woodstock area is actually probably too pricey for OP to rent a house, much of NE feels too grungy to me, crowded and industrial.
I like not having a neighbor being able to look into my bathroom window!
There are so many little niches and fun neighborhoods in Portland, part of the charm I think, and we have plenty of friends off of Hawthorne, or over in St Johns and Killingsworth, or off of NE alberta street (all destination 'hoods, quaint and quirky) ... it just feels tighter there...

Maybe OP should drive around a bit, but yeah for public transport as close as possible is ideal...