Moving to Beaverton, Oregon (Hillsboro, Tualatin: middle-class, apartment, rentals)

[emersonheights]

Our Family is looking to move to Beaverton Oregon next Spring. We have read that there good and bad parts of Beaverton. I am not sure if that is true or not. We were hoping to find out which parts are safer than others in Beaverton?

[davefr]

Originally Posted by emersonheights

Our Family is looking to move to Beaverton Oregon next Spring. We have read that there good and bad parts of Beaverton. I am not sure if that is true or not. We were hoping to find out which parts are safer than others in Beaverton?

I wouldn't say there's a real bad part of Beaverton. However if it were me I'd avoid the stretch along Farmington Rd, the stretch North of Allen, and the section North of Jenkins across from Tek.

The section East of 217, along Hart Rd. and along Murray towards Scholl Ferry Rd., and Cedar Mill are the nicest.

When you come here it'll be pretty obvious where the good parts are. (just avoid the slum apartment neighborhoods and trailer parks.)

[HonuMan]

I agree with davefr overall, but definitely check out the various neighborhoods once you get here. Although there are stretches of Farmington Road that you'd probably want to avoid, I live in a very safe and pleasant neighborhood off Farmington. When I shopped for a house 10 years ago, I was amazed at how different the characters of two close-to-each-other neighborhoods can be. You can drive through one where the houses are badly in need of painting, nobody takes pride in how their yards look, and old car parts and other trash are stacked alongside houses -- and then go half a mile to a comparable neighborhood, of the same age and in the same price range, where the houses are well kept up, the yards are nicely landscaped, and there is no trash. Malcolm Gladwell discusses this phenomenon in his book The Tipping Point: a neighborhood starts to take on certain characteristic, perhaps by chance, and then, past a certain point, it only attracts newcomers who enjoy those charactertistics and want to help perpetuate them.

[mdvaden]

Originally Posted by emersonheights

Our Family is looking to move to Beaverton Oregon next Spring. We have read that there good and bad parts of Beaverton. I am not sure if that is true or not. We were hoping to find out which parts are safer than others in Beaverton?

I've lived here in Beaverton most years since 1963, when the population was maybe just 7000. It's a good place. We pretty much plan to retire here. A lot is a available, and overall it's a pretty decent city, with the ocean and mountains nearby.

There are several areas I would not live near, like Allen Blvd., much of Farmington Rd, along Tualatin Hy., and across Cedar Hills Blvd. from the mall. But there are dozens of good neighborhoods, and more.

Personally, without going upper-class housing, I think that almost the whole area around Greenway Blvd. and Brockman St. is one of the largest single regions of decent homes and schools.

[PDX_LAX]

Are you looking for middle class? Upper middle class? What kind of price range are looking for?

I have lived in a middle class neighborhood off Farmington rd (Beaverton-Hillsdale HWY) called Royal Woodlands and I think it's pretty darn safe. I jog late at night several times per week and I have never felt unsafe once.

One area I would suggest avoiding is the area close in-downtown around the Beaverton Library, but overall B-town is safe.

[juggler]

Originally Posted by mdvaden

Personally, without going upper-class housing, I think that almost the whole area around Greenway Blvd. and Brockman St. is one of the largest single regions of decent homes and schools.

We've lived just south of Brockman (near Hiteon Elem, if you know where that is) for about 6 years. It is an extremely safe area, friendly neighbors, nice older (but not too old) houses that are not all cookie cutter. Lots of large mature trees and plenty of parks. As you said, the schools are good as well. We love it, and plan to stay here a while.

[hamellr]

The apartment area across from Cedar Hills Mall is the highest concentration of Police calls in the city of Beaverton. Most of those are domestic dispute calls though.

[whitlee07]

My favorite is of off Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy/91st Avenue - quiet neighborhood, low crime, good schools.

[emersonheights]

davefr -Thank you this is great info

[emersonheights]

PDX_LAX

Are you looking for middle class? Upper middle class? What kind of price range are looking for?

Middle-Class, I am not sure how it compares to the prices in Minnesota. We live in a 1987's style house in a middle class neighborhood now and it average home cost is 250,000-305,000. Do you know of any areas that would be in that price range? We would most likely rent at first though.

So is Farmington Road bad all the way to Hillsboro or does it get better? We were looking at some rentals north of Baseline road and near Baseline? Is that a good area? Also is Southwest Bearverton a better area? We have seen a bunch of newer rentals in that Area, it looks like it is 3 miles Southwest of the Cedar Crossings Area.