Thoughts on Brentwood-Darlington (Portland: 2015, rentals, felony)

[futureot]

My husband and I are looking to buy a house. We are a young couple and are planning on having a family soon. We are looking in the area of Brentwood-Darlington that is close to Woodstock. Would this be a safe area?

[Nell Plotts]

That is not my stomping ground so I looked to see what elementary school served that area: Meriwether Lewis. That school appears very popular on Great Schools but were I you I would do further research on academics (which I expect to be fine). Here is the enrollment area: http://www.pps.k12.or.us/schools-c/map/2013/Lewis.pdf

A lot can change with high schools by the time your children are ready but personally I prefer Cleveland with its International Baccalaureate program over Franklin (the other HS enrollment area nearby).

Safety is not an issue.

[bler144]

I haven't lived there, but it seems safe enough to me having looked at rentals and houses there. You can always look up a specific address on:

CrimeMapper

[oldtintype]

I don't think Lewis covers Brentwood Darlington very far in. Anyway, the area has been depressed for a long time, it's not far from "felony flats," etc. but I know a lot of young families have been buying there so if you're in it for the long hall it's probably a good place to buy. But go in knowing that Brentwood-Darlington hasn't had the improvements that Woodstock has had yet.

[Nell Plotts]

Yes, I would stay to the west in that neighborhood, in the Lewis enrollment area.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Anyway, the area has been depressed for a long time, it's not far from "felony flats," etc.

Brentwood Darlington was known as the "Felony Flats" area not to long ago, when that neighborhood was known as "Errol Heights".

Twenty years ago it was a pretty shady area, but it has come a long way in the last five to ten years.
You will have decent areas and not so decent areas, so the neighborhood can vary widely from street to street.
With the way the Woodstock area is exploding, B-D can't be far behind.

IT IS a lower income area, and the housing and demographics reflect that.
It is generally not a "middle class" area, but it's a big neighborhood.
The Crimemapper idea is a good one.


BTW, several of my kids went to Lewis, and it is a very good elementary school.
I believe Lane Middle School serves B-D, but if you can, I would try for Sellwood Middle School.
Lane has a rough rep.
Pay attention to the school boundaries.

[oldtintype]

School boundaries are under review right now and will be completely changed for the 2015-2016 year so...it's not possible to know what boundaries will be after this coming year. One thing you can look at is the density index of schools. As an example, I know that Kelly is over crowded (that's somewhere in the area) so boundaries for that school may change as an example. BIG changes will be coming over the next year boundary wise.

[futureot]

Yeah, the house I am looking at says Lewis elementary. Where could I found a density index of schools?

[oldtintype]

The PPS website has all the data.
Portland Public Schools 2012-2013 Enrollment Profiles

Lewis looks fairly stable but you never know.

If you want to see an extreme example of over crowding/school growth look at Kelly and compare it to Lewis. Kelly's enrollment has jumped drastically and their projected enrollment has as well. Lewis is fairly consistent.

BTW, this is district wide boundary changes, something that hasn't been done in forever so it's going to be huge changes across the board and no one knows exactly what that will look like. They're having meetings that they advertise on the PPS website. If I were going to buy a house I'd be attending the meetings to find out what may be changing in the area I was considering....

[futureot]

I wish we had that kind of time. The house already had an offer on it, when I got to it.