NW Portland good for a family? (Beaverton, Beaver: co-op, house, neighborhoods)

[newpdx]

We're new to Portland, and we had fallen in love with the Eastmoreland/Sellwood area and were house hunting there. But we recently found a wonderful house right near Chapman school in NW (off of NW 23rd and Thurman streets).

Obviously, it's a different crowd in NW. We love the fact that it's easy walking distance to so much, and a streetcar ride to much else, and we've heard really good things about the schools there. But we're worried that it's not the most family-friendly place around and that we'll be the very rare few with small kids. We're not so worried about it being more urban or crowded, we just want to see other families out and about occasionally!

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Any feedback would be much appreciated!

[oldtintype]

I think Sellwood is more family friendly, but the area around Chapman has tons of families as well--I think you're more likely to meet them through school or at library storytimes, etc. Sellwood you're more likely to meet them on the street.

[Nell Plotts]

I grew up in NW Portland and raised my family in the neighborhood, so did my brother. It is a GREAT family neighborhood. Chapman, Cathedral and the school at Congreation Shaarie Torah are excellant, Lincoln can't be beat. Most parents have high expections for their children, they network like crazy and tell each other when there is something that should be said (one told us that our daughter had a lead foot, we yanked her chain hard). Friendly House has lots of youth programs, including a co-op pre-school.

The neighborhood used to be economically diverse, maybe now not so much. The advantage of children knowing peers from different income levels is that they learn that both brats and nice kids come from all types of homes.

Oh, the house I was raised in was one block off Thurman (moved up the hill later). Let me know if you want to exchange PMs.

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

Oh, the house I was raised in was one block off Thurman (moved up the hill later). Let me know if you want to exchange PMs.

When I first moved to Portland I lived on Upshur (one block off of Thurman). LOVED that area!!

Now to the OP, I lived in Westmoreland w/ my 2 kids and hubby until Summer 07 when we moved out of state. We were in NW Portland near Chapman alot! Westmoreland/ Sellwood is a very family friendly area. And I highly recommend it. But you will also find a lot of families in NW near Chapman Park. That place always had a ton of kids playing in that park. I don't think a family could go wrong with either neighborhood.

[Nell Plotts]

Originally Posted by PDXmom

When I first moved to Portland I lived on Upshur (one block off of Thurman). LOVED that area!!

That's MY street, parents purchased the house in about 1946, it was in the family for 60 years. With that info you probably know my maiden name and the names of other family members.

[PDX_Home_Inspector]

Both are great places to live - but you might think about a few years down the line when your kids want to ride their bike to a friends house, throw a football, go to the pool - we live very close in Raleigh Park area where there are parks, libraries, pools and schools close enough to walk to with young kids and safe all the time. IT is in unincorporated Washington county so you don't have to pay Portland taxes. You can't go to Lincoln either but Beaverton schools are also good. I just came from a meeting to arrange a neighborhood party for the graduating seniors who were in the fifth grade together at the local grade school- and we could only identify three families who had moved out of the neighborhood - lots of parents who are concerned about their kids, their schools and the neighborhood. You might check out the ballfields in the neighborhoods you are considering on Sat mornings to talk to other parents in the neighborhood with small children - (they are all playing T-ball now) I am a native (Actually went to Chapman for kindergarten too many years ago to mention) and love it here. Send me a PM if you want. Good luck!

[Nell Plotts]

What PDX_Home_Inspector says is quite true.

I attended Friendly House PreSchool (the Kindergarten right after WWII), Chapman and Lincoln, as did my children. My husband graduated from Grant, so the neighborhood isn't really incestuous .

There are few urban neighborhoods with that kind of stability. When I was growing up NW was not 'classy' by any means, but we had a wonderful mix of professors, immigrants, folks scraping by, and those who were doing quite well up on the hill. The diversity enriched us all.