How Successful Is Orenco Station? (Portland: to rent, live in, restaurants)

[jaxontwinz]

I don't know much about Orenco Station, but from what I have seen and read of it, Orenco seems like the perfect example of new urbansim, transit developments, and an example to other cities to build great developments such as this.

Being that I don't know much about it, how successful is it? It looks really good as a design, idea, etc. but is it serving its purpose? Is there a reduced amount of car traffic? Do many people use the light rail who live in Orenco? Is it very pedestrian friendly and does it have good pedestrian activity? Are the businesses successful?

Also, how many people live there, density?

Sorry for all the questions. I was intrigued by the concept of this development, that I hope is still doing well after 12 years. Anyways, I was just wondering....

[FSF]

Personally, I don't think of it as all that urban, though it may be just a bit by Oregon standards. I'm not sure how you would define success, but urban environment for me would mean a self contained area where you could walk to most of your needs within a 1/4 of a mile or so. That would include groceries, restaurants, bank, post office, and misc. other commercial stores. Orenco Station doesn't have hardly any stores to speak of, nor do I think there is sufficient demand or immediate population to support a widespread presence in new retail stores. Much of it requires a healthy walk to get to the MAX station. I would google "Orenco Station" and read about the few minute blurb on Wikipedia for starters.

[hamellr]

Reduced traffic? No. But then a lot of companies have built there/nearby after the train was put in place, which would account for traffic more then anything.

[Deezus]

Orenco Station was a convenient place to go for lunch or after work drinks/dinner when I worked down the street at Intel, so I appreciated it for that. At least there were a few decent places to eat that were a step up from the usual fast food and chain restaurants in most of the area.

If I still was working at Intel I might consider it as a short-term place to rent close to work... You've got a New Seasons there, so that's a plus as far as grocery shopping and there's a farmer's market on summer weekends. You still will have to drive for a lot of other errands, but you've got the MAX if you want to go for some drinks/food in downtown Portland and don't feel like driving.