Commute Options (Salem & Hillsboro) (Portland, Aloha: renting, insurance, home)

[St.Nick]

Hello there, I didn't see a topic quite like this so here we are.

Summary / tl;dr at the bottom.

I currently live in Salem with family but I've gotten a nice job opportunity in Hillsboro worth more than twice my current job. Like, I simply need to sign the paperwork opportunity. The position is only guaranteed for a few months however and the trouble is getting there. I dislike driving and don't own a car as I find driving stressful (haven't had a huge need of one until now either).

The way I see it my options are to get a car and deal with it and its expenses, move to Hillsboro, or find a valid public transportation / carpool / vanpool option.

For a car I'd need something guaranteed reliable so likely a newer car and that's expansive. I could probably swing it though. Moving for a position that's only guaranteed for a couple months seems a little much, plus it's pricey as well and I may still need to get a car depending on where I find a place.

Google says public transport could take up to 3, sometimes 4 hours. I would actually be content with that if I could get there at a decent time and actually have a ride home, but the hours simply don't work out.

So carpooling + public transport are probably my ideal bet. I've seen two carpooling services that could get me to downtown Portland around 7:00am-7:30am, but my job would still be an hour from there using buses. And if you figure I'll probably work until 5:00pm-7:00pm, and then add an additional hour to get back downtown, I'm trying to find a ride at 8:00pm-9:00pm at night to get back into Salem. I wasn't seeing anything directly from / to Hillsboro itself at all.

So you can see my difficulties.

I'm not too familiar with long distance commuting services and I'm googling blindly, so basically any service you know of would be of help to me.

tl;dr

If anyone knows about some commuting services in the region I'd really appreciate you sharing them so I can see if they'll work for my situation. Or if you can think of some different options or have insights about buying a car and driving, temporarily moving to Hillsboro, or various other ways of getting there and back on a regular M-F morning to afternoon workday from Salem.

[Silverfall]

Why don't you Amtrack it from downtown Salem to downtown PDX and hop on the max out to Hillsboro. Maybe you can bike the rest of the way or walk from there?

[St.Nick]

Hi, thanks for the response.

Amtrack + public transit could potentially work, catching the first 6:42am train to get me to work by 9:15-9:30. And get me home, catching the last Amtrack bus back and getting home at 11:00pm or so.

Not great but it could work.

However from a thread around a year ago, another user and yourself say the Amtrack is often canceled and not something that could be used with regularity (posts #7 and #8).

http://www.city-data.com/forum/salem...hillsboro.html

Are you aware if that's changed?

[jjpop]

What about one of the Valley Van Pool vans that go between Salem and Portland? Catch one to somewhere close to the MAX line, then take the MAX to Hillsboro? Might be more reliable than Amtrak.

[hamellr]

You'd be better off finding a short term roommate situation in Hillsboro.

[St.Nick]

Originally Posted by jjpop

What about one of the Valley Van Pool vans that go between Salem and Portland? Catch one to somewhere close to the MAX line, then take the MAX to Hillsboro? Might be more reliable than Amtrak.

Some of those routes look very promising, particularly the early morning ones. Using those plus the Max and bus, I could get to work by 8:30am-9:00am. Not bad at all. I think I'd still have to get the Amtrak going home, but even then if I could start earlier and leave earlier then I should be home by 9:00pm-9:30pm.

Thanks. I'll definitely keep those in mind.

Originally Posted by hamellr

You'd be better off finding a short term roommate situation in Hillsboro.

That might be best, yeah. I dealt with my fair share of roommates in college and I'd prefer not to again, but I will start keeping an eye out for listings.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by St.Nick

Hi, thanks for the response.

Amtrack + public transit could potentially work, catching the first 6:42am train to get me to work by 9:15-9:30. And get me home, catching the last Amtrack bus back and getting home at 11:00pm or so.

Not great but it could work.

However from a thread around a year ago, another user and yourself say the Amtrack is often canceled and not something that could be used with regularity (posts #7 and #8).

http://www.city-data.com/forum/salem...hillsboro.html

Are you aware if that's changed?

I have no idea if what Steve said in that thread is accurate about it being cancelled. You could use it regularly but it would be expensive and it eats your day.

[St.Nick]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

I have no idea if what Steve said in that thread is accurate about it being cancelled. You could use it regularly but it would be expensive and it eats your day.

Ah, alright. It is pricey, but in the short term it would be cheaper than buying a car and everything associated with that (insurance, gas, etc). Since I know the position is only guaranteed for a few months, that's okay. If it turns into something longer then I'd have to re-evaluate of course.

Time-wise, for most of my college experience I had a 3 hour daily commute via bus (total; round trip), so at least that's not new for me.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by hamellr

You'd be better off finding a short term roommate situation in Hillsboro.

I'd agree - I'd try and find a home owner renting a room for $450/mo or so. Making multiple transfers every day will drive you nuts.

Stay in Hboro/Aloha/Forest Grove/Rock Creek during the week and back to Salem on weekends at least for a few months until you have more certainty about whether it's a permanent move.

If you were driving I'd recommend checking out 219 as a route to Hillsboro. Not really a time-saver, but it's likely to be much more pleasant than dealing with traffic on 217/26.

[St.Nick]

Originally Posted by bler144

Stay in Hboro/Aloha/Forest Grove/Rock Creek during the week and back to Salem on weekends at least for a few months until you have more certainty about whether it's a permanent move.

If you were driving I'd recommend checking out 219 as a route to Hillsboro. Not really a time-saver, but it's likely to be much more pleasant than dealing with traffic on 217/26.

I may end up doing this. Turns out my hours will start at 7am, so that limits my options on public transit.

And thank's for the route suggestion. I'll do a test drive one of these days to see the difference.