Moving to Portland area, advice please (Milwaukie, Clackamas: rental, house, transfer)

[kpepper]

Hi,

Thanks for reading this post! I am hoping that we can get some advice about neighborhoods in and around Portland.

My family and I are looking to move to Portland from California (SF bay area). We are looking to rent a 3+ bedroom house with some yard. Our budget is $2,800 or less. My husband works from home but would need decent access to PDX as he travels a fair amount. We have two young kids so want a good elementary school and really would like a neighborhood with a bit of downtown and something with a sense of community. Otherwise, we are open to either living in Portland or in the suburbs but not rural. I would really like to be in the city but am not sure if it is manageable in our budget or if the schools will meet our expectations. Schools in California aren't great, but we happen to be in a charter that is one of the better ones around here.

If anyone could offer advice, I would really appreciate it!

[Nell Plotts]

Since your husband works from home perhaps you should also consider Clark County in Washington. Washington has no income tax and if you locate convenient to the I-205 bridge across the Columbia a drive to PDX is a slam dunk. There is a Vancouver, WA forum.

[EnricoV]

Vancouver is a good choice. Though I'd say that a lot of the nicer areas, are not near the town center. So I'm not sure it'd have that small-community feel. It's very much a car-driven suburb. And it will necessitate driving to the airport.

In the other direction, something in Clackamas County (Milwaukie, Happy Valley, Clackamas) would have good access to the airport. MAX runs as far as Clackamas Town Center, and you can transfer at Rockwood to the airport line. Meaning you don't have to drive to the airport. The downside is, you're not looking at anywhere close to the MAX line being somewhere you'd want to live. So it would require a drive to the MAX station.

In Portland itself, I'd suggest around the Hollywood district. Again, you've got easy access to MAX there. Yards probably won't be as big in this area as in Clackamas County or Vancouver. Portland has great neighborhood associations, and you're going to find a good "community" feel in almost every one of them.

But you have a generous budget, so you should be able to find something that suits your needs.

[bler144]

Agree, that's a very generous budget. Stock is tight, but executive luxury homes are often in the 2200-2800 range if you're looking at Happy Valley or Vancouver. [edit - here's a typical $2300 rental in Happy Valley] It's finding anything decent under $1500-1800 that's the problem, particularly in the city proper.

PDX is a relatively accessible airport (it's vastly better than O'Hare/Logan/LAX), and I wouldn't worry too much about making the trip by car. Afternoon rush is the only time it's a big deal at all, provided you don't opt to live way over on the west side. And parking really isn't too expensive, though if you lived close most of the time it would be fairly easy to drop him off. The MAX line is convenient, but only if you happen to live pretty near it.

Hollywood (or neighboring Laurelhurst or Beaumont if you can find something open) would be good choices on that budget and if you prefer city. South Tabor perhaps up towards Glencoe Elementary.

Really pretty much anything east of the river is fine for getting to PDX nearly 24 hours a day, and your budget is ample. Your challenges will be schools and finding open rental stock.

[kpepper]

Thank you everyone! That gives us a great place to start.