Beaverton? What to expect? (Portland, Cedar Hills: apartment complexes, rent, condo)

[Ultracorp]

Hello,

I am a 23 year old guy, and I have a possible employment opportunity in Beaverton. I have never been to Oregon so I really have no clue what it's like.

How good are outdoor recreation activities? I love hiking and my stereotype of Oregon is that it has beautiful forests. Is that the case?

Also, can anyone give me a ballpark figure of what rent would be for a small apartment in a decent area? Are there any parts of town that are really not good to live in?

Weather wise, I am originally from WI so I can handle pretty much anything...but is the weather halfway decent as in not too cold during winter?

Finally, is there any nightlife? A good place to enjoy a beer? Or how about live music?



Thanks for any help you can give me

[hamellr]

Rent is anywhere between $500 for run down studio apartment in a bad area to $1300 for nice 3 bedroom condo. Beaverton is pretty spread out and covers a lot of area, even more so when you add in unincorporated areas. But, you should be able to find something within walking distance of Max (the lightrail system with links to downtown) in the $700-$800 range.

Areas to stay away from (living wise, other wise they're fine) is around Hall and Cedar Hills (largest crime area, but mostly domestic abuse and petty theft.) And along Milikan Parkway. There are other pockets here and there but it's mostly one or two apartment complexes

There is no real night life in Beaverton itself. You'll need to go into Portland to find anything decent. There are a few places for good beer and drinks, but Beaverton tends to close about 10-11 since it's more of a working family Suburb.

[backdrifter]

You're right, Oregon does have beautiful forests. And recreational opportunities in the great outdoors are second to none.

But yes, you can find studios for $500, but it would be more like 600-700 for a decent one, unless you get lucky.

There are no bad parts of Beaverton. In fact, it is the safest medium-to-large city in the entire Northwest.

Weather-wise you'll be fine. Lots of Wisconsinites out here praising the weather.

Nightlife, etc, as stated, you will have to go into Portland. Just be wary that, among Portlanders, there is a stigma to people (particularly amongst people our age) who live in Beaverton and come into Portland for the nightlife. (To many young Portlanders, Beaverton is to Portland as Orange County is to L.A.) There was an article in the Mercury or in Willamette Week that mentioned something to the effect of the douchey bros from Beaverton with their vodka-guzzling girlfriends ruining the atmosphere of downtown nightlife. Disclaimer: that's not how I feel about it, but just throwing it out there.

[Ultracorp]

Thanks a lot for the info guys, it sounds like a fairly decent place to live. I am giving it a small advantage over the other job available in WA I suppose. I'll just remain aloof about the whole Beaverton Vs Portland deal...

[Larry Caldwell]

Oregon is the land of microbrews. I would be astonished if there weren't several good brew pubs in Beaverton. I worked at OHSU years ago, and the Hillsdale Pub was a favorite watering hole. It's on the Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway, or at least it was back in the '90s.

[JMPepper]

Congrats on the opportunity. We recently moved here from Wisconsin. This area is excellent for outdoor recreation. The area has skiing on Mt. Hood, beautiful beaches a couple hours away, beautiful forested parks, waterfalls... the scenery is gorgeous. Beaverton has a high quality recreation department.

It doesn't get very cold here in winter. This past winter it rarely seemed to get colder than the 40s during the day. It rains frequently in winter, but it's not usually a heavy rain all day. It's often a light rain all day or light rains and then sun breaking through. I've had no problem with it at all. Others get a little down after several days of it.

The Beaverton police have a Web site with mapped crime report info.

Good luck!