Neighborhood advice for family with dogs, not kids (Portland, Milwaukie: apartment, renter)

[TheEditorJ]

Fiancee and I are moving to Portland in January. We currently live in Virginia, so this will be a huge move for us and I'm trying to do as much research as possible prior to visiting in October, so we don't waste time looking at the wrong neighborhoods. I've read through quite a few posts here on the different neighborhoods, but most posters were asking in regards to schools, kids, etc...
We are looking to rent a small house with a yard (we have 2 dogs) for $1200 or less (preferably less) that is close to things like farmers markets and great little restaurants and far from things like suburbia....or a meth lab. We are in our late 20s/early 30s, no kids (and no plans for any), outdoorsy, hippie types. I telecommute so I can live anywhere. Fiancee is currently a bar manager at a fine dining restaurant and will be looking for something along those lines in Portland so if I could also get some advice on what part of town he would be most likely to find high-end restaurants, that would be wonderful. Housing suggestions that correspond to those areas would be amazing.
Thank you all in advance!

[Yankeemama]

I don't think you will find a house fir that price in Portland proper but maybe in suburbs like Clackamas County. Portland is extremely dog friendly, BTW.

[malwestern]

I would start with looking at houses in "close in" SE Portland (Sellwood, Westmoreland, Hawthorne, Belmont). All of those neighborhoods are very dog and pedestrian friendly. I am sure you can find something to fit your budget, but it may be on the smaller side. Check Craigslist for listings in the different areas and you can get an idea of what is out there!

Great restaurants and bars are located all over Portland, but I think the highest concentration of them (aside from downtown/Pearl District) are on the east side of the Willamette River. Your fiancee will find no shortage of places to look for work, but as you probably know unemployment is very high in Oregon and it may take him a while to find the perfect job.

Best of luck to you both!

[philwithbeard]

High end restaurants in Portland are downtown, but the greater portion of restaurants are more of the Middle-of-the-Road type of foodie places. Wages for food workers in Portland are low, since for every job opening the applications come in by the bushel basket load; read in a street newspaper that some high end restaurants won't post on Craigslist-dot-com anymore for that reason; only by word of mouth or slush pile of unsolicited resumes (and they still have hundreds of resumes to go through.)

Take a browse through this link:
“Restaurant Guide 2009” | Willamette Week | October 21st, 2009
or this link:
Portland Monthly Magazine / Eat & Drink / Eat & Drink Articles / Detail

Either way, consider using mass transit to get to work. The problem is finding a small bungalow (small single story, no basement, very small yard) in your price range. It can be done, but because of supply / demand, you won't be all that close to a bus line, and no way near a light rail stop. There are places in SE Portland that will be in your price range, but let's just call them more for the "Experienced" Portland renter who knows and understands the neighborhoods. This is true for SE Powell, or SE Division further east from SE 60th street maybe to SE Holgate. Double-fisted drinking, C&W music, cowboy hat country; safe, but maybe not so much your car's radio.

I would urge you to look near Reed College in Woodstock area, or anywhere near NE Sandy out to no further than NE 60th. NE Broadway would be nice, but I doubt there would be any single detached in your price range near Lloyd's Center or the Sullivan's Gulch neighborhood.

Don't rule out a duplex.

HTH
Phil

[daisy326]

You're not going to find much for $1200 in downtown Portland. Like PP said - I would look in SE but dont expect to get much for that amount of money. Gotta disagree with Phil on the wages servers recieve. Oregon's minimum wage is fairly high and server's recieve that plus tips. Obviously you will be competing more for the better serving jobs but just applying via Craigslist will get you nowhere. You need to get into these restaurants in person and show your stuff. When I waited tables I made over $3500 a month so I did pretty well. There are a handful of places downtown where the bartender's and cocktailers make close to 6 figures

[TheEditorJ]

Thank you all so much for your feedback. It looks like there may be an apartment in my future, rather than a house.
I am tempted by the idea of Vancouver - no income tax sounds lovely. I understand there is bad traffic at rush hour across the bridge though - is it in both directions? Does it really feel like it's part of Portland metro or is it substantially different? Rentals seems cheaper there.
Thank you all again for your help!

[TalkingShoes]

Originally Posted by TheEditorJ

I am tempted by the idea of Vancouver - no income tax sounds lovely.

You are still subject to Oregon income tax earned while working in Oregon regardless of where you sleep at night. So income tax cannot be a factor in your decision unless you plan to work in Washington state.

[mobilemindstationaryreality]

Originally Posted by TheEditorJ

Thank you all so much for your feedback. It looks like there may be an apartment in my future, rather than a house.
I am tempted by the idea of Vancouver - no income tax sounds lovely. I understand there is bad traffic at rush hour across the bridge though - is it in both directions? Does it really feel like it's part of Portland metro or is it substantially different? Rentals seems cheaper there.
Thank you all again for your help!

I'll be honest with you, and I think my opinion is a little less biased coming from a former Washingtonian, now Portlander who lives past 60th Ave (thank you Philwithbeard) and has been here a few years. Some of my closest friends live on the other side of the river, one in West Vancouver and one on the other side of town in the Orchards area. They are mostly friends from college who grew up in the Seattle area but couldn't afford to live near the city up there so they moved down to the Portland area. I know that they want to live in Portland but the costs scare them and Vancouver offered a place close by. The income tax is really a great burden on those who aren't used to it and for us native Washingtonians, it's a real difference to have an extra $6 a day taken out of your check to go to Oregon. So my friends settled there and have jobs.

But I gotta say it is a pain in the butt to hang out sometimes. We have to coordinate to make traffic work for us and sometimes there's no solution because of construction or anything else. Whenever I'm in Vancouver I feel like I'm in a big suburb but the area also feels a bit more disconnected from the rest of the Portland metro area. Portland pretty much controls Oregon (that's another argument) whereas Vancouver and Clark County remain separate politics wise. It's just a noticeable thing with me. I have told myself that if I did get a permanent job (I've been a temp for years) I would move to wherever that job would be. I'm one to recommend you live close to your work so you won't have a large carbon footprint in getting to and from work everyday.

So yes rentals are cheaper up there but you aren't getting the experience. I almost moved to Milwaukie years ago because it was close to Portland and cheaper but I later realized I wouldn't be getting the experience I wanted. My friends come to Portland a lot from Vancouver for little things here and there but they have told me repeatedly they would love to live in Portland if they could. So much more to experience.

You should really come up and see for yourself first. But there are neighborhoods that just seem to work for certain people. From what you're describing I don't think any outlying neighborhoods and suburbs would be what you want. Come out and have a look!

[TheEditorJ]

Oh to find Utopia where it has all the conveniences of the big city and none of the expense...
TalkingShoes - I actually telecommute to my job in DC so I would be taxed based on what state I lived in. We only pay 5.75% income tax in VA and I was a bit taken aback to realize Oregon was 9...and even more shocked to realize that by crossing a river, it could be zero. With the increase in cost of living, losing an additional 3.25% of my salary is not exactly ideal. But I made the mistake of living in the DC suburbs to save money and I always regretted it because I never made it back into the city to experience anything. Also, if I wanted to live in the burbs, I could just stay here. I doubt our Wal-Mart/TGI Fridays/Applebees/McDonalds are any different, except that they are currently baking in 104 degree heat.
Thank you all for your great advice!

[mickie8]

Originally Posted by TheEditorJ

I actually telecommute to my job in DC so I would be taxed based on what state I lived in. We only pay 5.75% income tax in VA and I was a bit taken aback to realize Oregon was 9...and even more shocked to realize that by crossing a river, it could be zero.

or would you continue to pay the DC income tax? i'm confused by this, my husband will be telecommuting but i'll need to find work there. i was wondering if he'll continue to pay pennsylvania income tax since that's where his office is located or if his salary would be taxed based on where we live. he'll still be an employee, not freelance. any info would be great.