Community Colleges in Portland (apartment, homes, neighborhood)

[Supernova7]

Hi,

I understand that Portland has 3 community colleges and I'm trying to find the one that's closest to Downtown with the shortest commute via rail/bus.
The community college should be closest to Portland State Univ.

Sylvania Campus-12000 SW59th Ave, Portland 97219
Rock Creek Campus-17705 NW Springville Rd. Portland 97229
Cascade Campus- 705 N. Killingsworth St. Portland 97217

I figure Rock Creek would be out of my reach. So I'm thinking Sylvania or Cascade? Here's what I'm looking for in a school:

1. It should be culturally diverse and "ideally" situated in the city and NOT the burbs.

2. The commute shouldn't take longer than 30 min MAX to Portland State Univ. Closer to downtown the better!

3. The school should have good rail/bus accessibility.

4.Would be nice to have a local library next to the school.

I'm considering relocating to Portland and want to start getting a better picture of the city. Thanks...

[Alexious]

Near the city? Cascade, Sylvania, and Rock Creek in that order.

Cascade campus is right on the MAX Yellow Line.

Clicky for info from TriMet (buses and the MAX)

[oldtintype]

Cascade is right next to the North Portland library. It's more diverse than any other campus but in reality, with the shuttle that goes to all three schools and then to PSU you can get from one to the other easily and quick. Sylvania is pretty suburban though.

[Supernova7]

From my personal research I understand that Sylvania is supposed to be the "main campus" while others are an extrension. I suppose that Cascade would probably be a better choice as I'm trying to stay closest to downtown and Portland State Univ? A library right next to the school is good.

Is Cascade a good school? Quality education is important to me.

How's North Portland area wise? Pretty safe or the ghetto?
How long of a commute between Cascade and PSU and Sylvania and PSU?
Thanks in advance...

[oldtintype]

You don't have to pick one you can take classes at one or all. With the shuttle you can get easily from one to the other. They're all the same quality as it's all the same system. They're campuses not individual schools. PSU to Cascade and Sylvania is about the same distance on public transportation. North Portland is an area rapidly gentrifying. It's hit or miss in terms of how safe it is but it's a vibrant, interesting area. Living close to Sylvania is boring and there's nothing there but homes and apartment buildings. There's a library branch also in walking distance from Sylvania as well. If I had to pick one area I'd chose Cascade but you could also live near PSU too and have no problem getting to either. It really depends on what you're looking for in terms of neighborhood. I wouldn't pick a campus as you may end up having to shuttle between the campuses in order to get the classes you need.

[Supernova7]

Ideally, and if money wasn't an issue, I would complete my AA at PSU, but the cost is much higher than the community colleges.I would like to keep it simple, if possible and complete all the required courses at one of the campuses. I would agree Cascade sounds like a better bet!

How long of a commute between PSU and the college via bus/rail?

I'm open to living by PSU or Cascade or even in between. I'd like a neighborhood that's vibrant, bohemian/artsy,cheap movie theater, small funky stores, eateries, used clothing/furniture stores, enthnic diversity, relative safety, generally a peaceful place to sleep and study with all of the described within a 15 min walk. Somewhere that feels like a "real city" with all the raw edges. Don't care for the suburbs or anything trendy/upscale.

A nice community/neighborhood where you can live cheap and simple!

[oldtintype]

Then you want to live near Cascade not Sylvania.
You may have to take classes at Sylvania as well--what I meant was that you may not be able to get all of your classes from one campus. That's why they offer the shuttle.

If you go to Trimet.org and do the trip planner you can plug in Cascade to PSU and it will give you specific times (same for apartment addresses to Cascade, etc).

[Supernova7]

Cascade it is then..

Now I have to decide where the better place to live would be..Cascade or PSU area? I'd like to live downtown or close to it if possible and still have the neighborhood amenities mentioned. My only fear, and it's only a guess, but I'm sensing that it will be a bit more expensive to live near downtown as opposed to North Portland?

Do busses and trains run round the clock?

[Supernova7]

Trip should be 35 minutes (reasonable) Too bad you guys don't have a community college downtown next to PSU, that would have been great, oh well...maybe in the future.

[oldtintype]

It takes about 40 minutes by public transportation to get to Cascade or Sylvania from PSU, but only about 15-20 minutes on the shuttle. So if you time it right the free shuttle is way better.

Pricing, yes North Portland is probably cheaper but you can find deals in the downtown area too, especially if you're looking for a small place. Living near PSU gives you easy access to all of the community college campuses so that's a bonus. You can also attend PCC and live in some downtown campus housing--www.chnw.org