Nice areas to raise a family near Portland? (Beaverton, Hillsboro: rental, how much)

[travveller]

We're moving to the Portland area in mid-May. My husband will be working remotely, but may need to travel to the office (in Beaverton) occasionally for meetings (but probably not more than once a month.) I'd say that anywhere within an hours travel would be good.

Can you help me by recommending nice towns outside the city to raise a family? We're looking for something with a cute downtown (some restaurants, coffee shops, bookstore, etc.) and access to the outdoors (we love hiking and kayaking.) We need good schools and don't want to be too rural, but also want to avoid hoity-toity areas. Pet-friendly is a bonus! (We also want to be fairly close to a Unitarian Universalist church or fellowship, but that's rather obscure, and something I can research myself once I get some idea of the town personalities.)

I appreciate any suggestions. (And yes, we've been to Oregon, but mostly as tourists. We've visited Portland, Ashland, Bend, and the coast, but don't really know the communities.)

[Optiicurve31]

Sandy near Mt. Hood is a nice well-run town in a beautiful area with good schools. Forest Grove might work well too.

[crisw]

Are you renting or buying? What's your budget? You'll quickly learn that answers to those questions are crucial for an accurate answer

There are UU congregations in downtown, West Hills and Hillsboro. All of the neighborhoods near West Hills are nice, and may fit your definition of "rural"- maybe take a look at Metzger, or any of the other surrounding neighborhoods?

[travveller]

We plan to rent for at least a year, to get a good feel for the place, with a budget of about $1500 a month for at least a 2 bd/ 2ba. When we first get there, we'll probably do a corporate rental for a month, so we can look at some towns and neighborhoods. We'll have a bit of flexibility until school starts.

[texasdiver]

Silverton fits your definition if you only need to get to Beaverton about once a month. Here's a promo video [vimeo]109982819[/vimeo]
https://vimeo.com/109982819 Google maps says it 38 miles and a 50 minute drive but with traffic it would be more. My wife and I almost moved to Silverton a few years ago. Perhaps the prettiest and quaintest town within an hour of Portland I can think of and right tucked in the mountains with lots of trails and parks around. As long as you aren't trying to commute daily it would be good.

Camas Washington on the other side of the river is supposed to have excellent schools and is popular.

There are plenty of closer-in suburbs that will get increasingly expensive the closer you get to Portland, especially the ones with top schools like Lake Oswego and West Lynn. It depends on how much your buget will allow.

[Harpaint]

We have attended the UU Church in Hillsboro. It has a medium size congregation and is quite nice. The Portland congregation is quite large and has 2 services. I know it is very active, but we've never attended there.

[JonathanLB]

I would avoid Forest Grove unless you are ok with dying of boredom. My girlfriend's mom grew up there and I have never seen a more mediocre, dumpy little town with absolutely nothing going on whatsoever. I don't see how someone would want to live there unless you really intend never to leave your home for any reason and badly want a 5 bedroom house for your minions for $200,000 and don't care if it's in Nowheresville.

[patches403]

How about Newberg or McMinnville? Since he'll be driving to Beaverton, I would stay away from the east side of the Metro area unless you want to be closer to skiing and other sports that require snow. Newberg and McMinnville are close enough for an easy drive into Portland but far enough out you don't feel like you live in a suburb and are more affordable than towns closer in. They have more of a small town feel, are surrounded by Oregon's lovely wine country, and are an hour or less to the coast if you enjoy beach activities.

[Roz7]

what grades for school? We love living in Portland proper but if you need good public schools, that changes things a bit. Multnomah Village gives you a cute downtown, easy access to I5 (Portland) or 26 (Beaverton) and I believe has good schools. Lake Oswego has great schools and a cute downtown but can be expensive, may be hoity toity but everyone in Oregon wears fleece to not too much of that around. Sherwood has lots of families and activities but more of a suburb than cute downtown area. Corvallis is further south but cute with lots to do and quick coast access.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by Harpaint

We have attended the UU Church in Hillsboro.

I'm curious if we ever crossed paths IRL, as I attended there for a time as well. Though probably not.

Nice little church/community though.