Considering Portland, or just Oregon in general for new home (Beaverton: renters, crime rate)

[Love4Nature]

My fiance and I are wanting to move. Oregon is looking interesting and we would like to know a bit more about it.

He is an electrician and I have been managing restaurant/retail for about 3 years.
We are in our mid 20s and have a preschooler.
We would prefer to not be in the city, more on the outskirts.
We love the outdoors and want somewhere with alot of easy access to hiking, lakes, fishing etc.. and we love farmers markets and "downtown city" feel when we do go into town.
Can anyone give me advice and tips on Portland or anywhere you think would be good for a family like mine?

employment?
schools?
crime rate?
housing prices?
weather average would be nice too

thank you for any suggestions.

[Nell Plotts]

The IBEW pretty much has a lock on electrician positions in Portland metro although there are likely some small firms that don't participate. That union isn't so strong once you are about 25 miles from the city center. First your husband needs to figure out how he wants to work, and if course he will need to pass the OR state exam.

Job wise, union or non-union, the market appears strong in Portland metro. There is lots of construction activity and of course there is the normal repair/remodel market.

The big challenge for you is the vacancy rate (very low) driving up prices for both home buyers and renters in Portland metro. You may be smarter to look south of the city along I-5, in places like Wilsonville, to find less expensive housing.

Here is my take on our vacancy rate: there are a lot of projects underway. Those projects should absorb some of the demand for the upper third of the market. As more units are created the pricing leverage for landlords will decrease however this may take a couple years. You (and almost all of us frankly) won't be able to move to Riverdale but with a preschooler you have a couple years to find a home in a school enrollment area you like.

The weather varies. If you search the forum you will find links to crime rate statistics.

[Love4Nature]

Thank you for the input. Would you have any recommendations for cities other than Portland area? I have seen a few things about Medford?? Honestly we are just interested in Oregon, so any good city in any spot is worth looking into.

[Nell Plotts]

Your question is so unfocused it is difficult for me to respond.

Since you list schools as important go to the statewide school rating website (I don't have it at the moment but it has been posted in other threads). As strong grade schools feed into strong high schools I would look at high schools. Were I you I would make a list of the top 20, scratch off those in Portland metro and Ashland (this is based on the cost of housing). Consider the remainder enrolment areas. Involved parents make for strong schools and good communities.

[Sharlene-Michele]

Originally Posted by Love4Nature

Thank you for the input. Would you have any recommendations for cities other than Portland area? I have seen a few things about Medford?? Honestly we are just interested in Oregon, so any good city in any spot is worth looking into.

Hi Love4Nature. My husband and I are in the same boat. We've been doing quite a bit of research looking for a neighborhood with similar criteria... good schools, close to nature and still only 25-30 minutes from city life. So far we've narrowed our search to a few cities/neighborhoods surrounding Portland. I don't have any children myself, but we're hoping that will change next year.

Employment:
From my research it seems that it is a bit more difficult to get a job in OR, however, getting a job anywhere is pretty difficult. (Sorry if I was not helpful here.)

Schools:
Lake Oswego, OR & West Linn, OR seem to have the best school systems with excellent ratings, however they are definitely more upscale which means the homes are much pricier than we'd like.

Crime Rate: https://www.crimereports.com/
This site has been extremely helpful. I've learned that if you stay out of certain parts of Aloha and inner city Portland you should be fine. I may be biased since I come from a "decent/okay" neighborhood. What Oregon folk consider "bad" I consider really nice

Housing Prices:
< $275K NE & SE Oregon, Aloha, and further in the outskirts. You can find places in Hillsboro, which is a nice neighborhood... but I'd like to be a bit close to the city then that.
> $300K... much better pickings and definitely in better areas i.e. Beaverton (NW away from Aloha), Tigard (didn't really hear anything good or bad about this neighborhood), pretty much SW Portland.

Weather:
I'll let you know this weekend since I'll be visiting for the first time I hear it rains 4-6 months out of the year, but what they consider a heat wave is considered "cooler temperatures" during a heat wave where I'm from.

Good luck on your search. Check out Denver, CO & South Carolina while your at it.

[BaconCrispyPDX]

don't move without a job. Just don't. And good luck with housing in Portland proper. Better start looking in the burbs

[sloyd]

Originally Posted by BaconCrispyPDX

don't move without a job. Just don't. And good luck with housing in Portland proper. Better start looking in the burbs

I agree, secure a job first, then move

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by Sharlene-Michele

Hi Love4Nature. My husband and I are in the same boat. We've been doing quite a bit of research looking for a neighborhood with similar criteria... good schools, close to nature and still only 25-30 minutes from city life. So far we've narrowed our search to a few cities/neighborhoods surrounding Portland. I don't have any children myself, but we're hoping that will change next year.

Employment:
From my research it seems that it is a bit more difficult to get a job in OR, however, getting a job anywhere is pretty difficult. (Sorry if I was not helpful here.)

Schools:
Lake Oswego, OR & West Linn, OR seem to have the best school systems with excellent ratings, however they are definitely more upscale which means the homes are much pricier than we'd like.

Crime Rate: https://www.crimereports.com/
This site has been extremely helpful. I've learned that if you stay out of certain parts of Aloha and inner city Portland you should be fine. I may be biased since I come from a "decent/okay" neighborhood. What Oregon folk consider "bad" I consider really nice

Housing Prices:
< $275K NE & SE Oregon, Aloha, and further in the outskirts. You can find places in Hillsboro, which is a nice neighborhood... but I'd like to be a bit close to the city then that.
> $300K... much better pickings and definitely in better areas i.e. Beaverton (NW away from Aloha), Tigard (didn't really hear anything good or bad about this neighborhood), pretty much SW Portland.

Weather:
I'll let you know this weekend since I'll be visiting for the first time I hear it rains 4-6 months out of the year, but what they consider a heat wave is considered "cooler temperatures" during a heat wave where I'm from.

Good luck on your search. Check out Denver, CO & South Carolina while your at it.

What's very wrong with this picture? Your homework assignment for the weekend: correct all the errors in your post. It will help further your research. I will give you a head start, The City of Hillsboro is a suburb of Portland not a neighborhood of Portland or Oregon.

[Yankeemama]

Originally Posted by Minervah

What's very wrong with this picture? Your homework assignment for the weekend: correct all the errors in your post. It will help further your research. I will give you a head start, The City of Hillsboro is a suburb of Portland not a neighborhood of Portland or Oregon.

Thank you, Minerva, for your candor. I was going to write something but I figured I would see if someone else was going to point out that that West Linn, Lake Oswego, Beaverton, Hillsboro, and Tigard are not part of Portland proper. See how passive I have become back on the Left Coast?

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by Yankeemama

Thank you, Minerva, for your candor. I was going to write something but I figured I would see if someone else was going to point out that that West Linn, Lake Oswego, Beaverton, Hillsboro, and Tigard are not part of Portland proper. See how passive I have become back on the Left Coast?

Maybe moving towards the East has given me some more moxie. But it is helpful to know where areas are located when scouting out a new city.