Bad Neighborhoods in Portland area. (Milwaukie, Burns: low income, where to stay, apartments)

[wordofhermouth]

I am a college student and a friend and I are relocating to the Portland area. I have visited but I didn't go on the outskirts of the city because I was hoping to live in the city. That is going to have to be a work in progress. So for now I was wondering if anyone had any advice and where to stay away from and also any recommendations for a good walkable neighborhood for a couple of college students. (plus dog-friendly)

Right now we are looking at the Southeast area 97202, Milwaukie St. I guess its considered Sellwood....is that a safe area?

[Todd.LA]

Sellwood / Westmoreland are totally safe. If anything, as a college student, you might find the area a bit too sedate and family-oriented (Sellwood, after all, is known for its antique stores...). Milwaukie & Bybee is the center of Westmoreland, with a number of shops and restaurants, and roughly around Tacoma & 13th is the center of Sellwood, with most of the commercial businesses. Which school will you and your friend be attending?

[wordofhermouth]

PSU.....is there a better area for college students that isnt downtown? We'd love to live downtown but are finding it impossible to find a place that will let us and our four pets stay.

[subsound]

2 pets is almost always the max apartments will let you have, usually small pets but some large. There are places downtown that will let you have that, but when I went looking the prices were between $700 and $900 a bedroom. You might have a chance at something lower in a low income apartment like Sitka, but there's a very long waiting list.

[Todd.LA]

Because PSU is downtown, your transit options to get to school are great (most buses in Portland are a designed on a hub and spoke system, where downtown is the hub). Most of Portland is open to you by a reasonable bus commute. Finding a place that allows four pets may be a challenge though. As far as exciting neighborhoods go, the central eastside is probably a bit more happening than Sellwood.

[PDXKompressor]

SE is definitely the place to be for younger folks. Hawthorne/Belmont areas and great with tons of other students, lots of cafes and trendy shops featuring known designers and goods made by skilled locals as well. Also, you can't go wrong living anywhere near Uncle Paul's produce stand on Hawthorne, one of the most underrated places to buy fresh fruits and veggies in the city.
You are very close to downtown from here and could even walk it if not opposed to a long but lovely walk. Good luck and enjoy yourself!

[sofia76]

There are not really any whole neighborhoods you need to stay away from in Portland. There is more crime on Burnside than in Ladd's Addition, but you don't have to fear for your personal safety walking down Burnside, even at night by yourself.

If you're going to PSU, you just need to live off a busline. I would suggest living off of the #8, #12, #9 ... there are others but those come immediately to mind; they run very frequently - like every 12 minutes most days during the day and they also run late into the night. The #8 goes up into NE Portland, through the Lloyd Center area. #12 goes down Barbur Blvd into SW Portland. #9 runs in two directions - SE and NE.

With four dogs ... that is tough. You're going to need a house with a yard very likely. I would look around Division, Powell, Foster ... perhaps the Brooklyn neighborhood. These are all in SE. Sellwood is nice but not as easy to get to without a car as other areas of SE. You could also look into N Portland, near Interstate (the max) and the #4 and other buslines. Possibly the Mississippi and Alberta areas ... not sure how dog friendly they are, but lots of young people and mostly houses. Another possibility is somewhere near Rose City ... like between NE 50th and 100th, but within the early alphabets (Burnside, Couch, Davis, Everett, Glisan, etc.). Hope that makes sense.

Oh, and another place might be the Mt Scott or Mt Tabor areas. Mt Scott is up past Belmont/Hawthorne. And Mt. Tabor is up by 82nd. Both of these areas are off of major buslines and have older rentals that might be more open to pets.

Good luck!

p.s. Don't bother with St John's area if you don't have a car.