Cal to Port (Portland, Eugene, Corvallis: transfer to, neighborhood, best school)

[bohanarrow]

Hello,
my husband and I have a young family and are looking for a good place to raise our kids. He has to find a new job (in computers) so everything is in a large city. Is Portland a good place to raise kids? are there smaller towns with a good, (easy) commute and good schools?
Thanks

[Eugguy]

I think the Portland area is a fine place to raise kids. It's a pretty city and is very safe. But, I think the ideal might be Eugene, which is just two hours south of Portland on the 5 freeway. Look into it.

[Steve97415]

Assuming your premise to be correct (and I have my doubts) -- that your husband's career confines you to a large metropolitan area, then you won't do much better than Portland. Those who actually live there can steer you toward the parts of the city that best serve your needs. There ARE parts of Portland you want to avoid.
Corvallis is a university town of some 50,000 about 100 miles south of Portland that has a number of computer-based industries (Hewlett-Packard is also there, but the future outlook for them is not bright). Corvallis also has one of the best school systems in the state, so you might look into it.
If you're determined to go with the big city though, you can't lose with Portland.

[Nea1]

trust me you can lose with Portland, lost all then left.
Dont do Eugene, corvallis is better
Seattle even better

[PDXmom]

I have 2 young children (oldest in 1st grade in a PPS school) and Portland is a great place to raise kids. Tons of activities (OMSI, CM2, Community Center Programs, Parks, hiking and biking trails in the city, THE BEST LIBRARY system in the country!!!). You'll hear alot of not so good about PPS schools. However, there are GREAT schools within Portland. And PPS has a very liberal transfer policy that allows your children to transfer to other schools within PPS. Plus many PPS schools have VERY committed parent volunteers and seasoned teachers whom make the schools GREAT!

We live in the Sellwood/Moreland neighborhood and I LOVE that my kids and I can walk to parks, the library, shops, the store, post office, etc. And all the neighbors know each other. Our neighborhood has many young families too!