Parking, Commuting to OHSU (Portland, Beaverton: apartments, rentals, houses)

[mmdo]

I am considering working at OHSU but have been concerned about the commuting issues. Seems OHSU has limited parking for employees. One poster to this forum suggested that the aerial tram was only good for a 9-5 job. My hours will be longer. What about parking at the base of the tram? Mass transit to the tram?

What neighborhood nearby can you rent a family house in say $1200-1400 range that has easy commute in light of these concerns? Thanks.

[davemess10]

There is some parking at the base of the tram. I know someone I work with who parks there once a week (to go to a soccer game after work), it's $9/day, I think. I'm not sure what the long-term rates are, but I imagine they are just as expensive as on the hill.
The tram is right on the streetcar line, so that is the main way to access it via public transport.
There are a number of buses that run up to the hill, many of them are express buses, so will run at the normal "rush" hours. The #8 is the regular but though, that just runs to downtown, where you can then hook up to any other bus line.

OHSU deeply discounts TriMet passes, so it makes busing a good incentive.
They also pay incentives for biking to school, $50 for 30 days worth of commuting (and you only have to be biking for some portion of the commute, so you can use the tram and/or buses with your bike).

close by neighborhoods are lair hill (which will be much more attractive as a location when the finish a pedestrian bridge and elevator over I-5 to the base of the tram later (I think early next year)), hillsdale, the south waterfront (which has no houses), and goose hollow. None of these neighborhoods will have rental houses in that price range. Almost no area of Portland will have a house for rent in that price range though. House rentals are fairly expensive here. Tigard and Beaverton might be options though with a pretty easy commute.

[EnricoV]

You might try John's Landing. I think you could find a house there for that price, and you'd be near the tram (it's just to the south, along the river).

[khyron]

Originally Posted by davemess10

There are a number of buses that run up to the hill, many of them are express buses, so will run at the normal "rush" hours. The #8 is the regular but though, that just runs to downtown, where you can then hook up to any other bus line.

OHSU deeply discounts TriMet passes, so it makes busing a good incentive.
They also pay incentives for biking to school, $50 for 30 days worth of commuting (and you only have to be biking for some portion of the commute, so you can use the tram and/or buses with your bike).

I'll second all this, and also add (just in case you're not yet aware) that your OHSU employee ID also functions as a tram pass and a streetcar pass. So on top of getting TriMet passes for a deep discount, you get those for FREE.

Originally Posted by davemess10

close by neighborhoods are lair hill (which will be much more attractive as a location when the finish a pedestrian bridge and elevator over I-5 to the base of the tram later (I think early next year)), hillsdale, the south waterfront (which has no houses), and goose hollow. None of these neighborhoods will have rental houses in that price range. Almost no area of Portland will have a house for rent in that price range though. House rentals are fairly expensive here. Tigard and Beaverton might be options though with a pretty easy commute.

I think the moment that the Gibbs bridge is complete, Lair Hill is going to start becoming very popular with the 9-5 crowd from OHSU. For those who can't use the tram though, living along the #8 route (or anywhere that is a simple transfer away from it) is probably preferable.

Also, that statement about housing is pretty accurate...one would be quite hard pressed to find an entire home for rent for that price range near the downtown core of any American metro area that doesn't have a badly depressed economy (and Portland may have some problems, but it's certainly not in the rust belt or the deep south). Within the "close in" areas of Portland, that price range would more aptly be applied to more luxurious 2BR apartments or more modest 3BR ones.