Moving to Portland...Picking a Neighborhood. (Beaverton, Cedar Mill: for rent, houses, neighborhoods)

[patches403]

It's hard to give you neighborhood advice without knowing which hospital you would end up at since there are quite a number of hospitals here. Besides budget and school quality, another thing that will really limit your neighborhood choice is wanting a drive of no more than a half hour to work. The traffic here is terrible and getting worse all the time so a half hour commute could limit you to needing to live within as little as 4 - 5 miles of your job.

If you have never lived anywhere besides Iowa or the Midwest, Portland and the PNW would be a huge culture shock to you and your family. Life is very different here and virtually everything is a lot more expensive than what you're used to. However, I can't really blame you for wanting to leave Iowa; I wouldn't want to live there either.

[Yankeemama]

Originally Posted by WaikikiBoy

You could consider the Loydd Center area. There are plenty of rentals and a walkable area. But rent for a 2-bedroom may be above your budget.

Another thought could be a condo rental in the Johns Landing area. There are some things to walk to and not too far from OHSU. Plus an easy bus ride into downtown. I don't know the schools there but I image they are pretty decent.

The schools associated with John's Landing will be very good but condos there are expensive.

[brannan]

I'm thinking North Portland could be a good fit. A neighborhood like Arbor Lodge, Kenton, or even St Johns, although that's a little more removed from hospitals, I believe. Still totally doable. Each of these have thriving little business districts with most everything you need/want within walking distance. Also, if you can find a place close to either the Max line or the 4 bus route, then you can quickly get to other parts of town. I moved to Kenton a couple years ago sight unseen hoping to find A place to live, figuring I could move to more ideal part of town after my 6-month lease was up, but nearly instantly fell in love and chose to stay. There are plentiful parks and quite a few families. Sort of a small town vibe in some pockets of these neighborhoods, yet only 20 minutes from downtown if you catch the Max train. Good luck!

[pdxmilw]

Sellwood gets you a decent commute to Kaiser Sunnyside, since you'd be going against standard commute traffic (and possibly at off hours as well), it's got many walkable amenities and parts of it are very close to the new light rail line. There are also some decent buses. There's a hospital in Milwaukie, but I don't think it's that big.

[VelouriaPDX]

Originally Posted by melmacrn

Hello everyone and thank you for your replies.

1. I would never move there until I was hired for a job. So let's relax on this a bit. Just curious of neighborhoods w/ hospitals nearby that meet our standards.

2. The kids share a room, so 2-3 bedrooms for $1600 or less/month.

3. We can afford a visit and may make one over the summer, but just wanted some ideas first.

4. So is it just rumor that most neighborhoods are walkable w/ excellent public transportation?

5. We currently live in a high poverty, high unemployment, high crime, high pollution, low education, flat stinky Iowa town of 35,000 people. Are most area better than this picture?

I understand why you want to move here and I do think you can make it work, but you will likely have to compromise a little bit on one or two of your wish list items. $1600/mo just doesn't go as far as it used to in Portland for a 2+ bedroom rental. Add to that your other requirements and they just really don't exist here at that price. You can get everything but the excellent schools for that price. Or you can get everything but the walkable neighborhood. Etc, etc. Pet-friendly makes it even tougher. Every now and then all the stars might align and the perfect rental could surface in inner SE but you will blink and it will be gone.

As an experiment, search on Craigslist for apartments that would suit you and then cross reference the schools (Portland Public has a "find my school" feature), the crime stats (Google has a gang activity map and PortlandMaps has crime data) and walkability (walk score.) I think you'll start to see what we mean when we say that it's going to be a challenge to get absolutely everything you want.

Once you have a job offer, we can be much more helpful because we'll know where you'll be commuting to. If you ended up at Kaiser Sunnyside you could actually get most of your wish list items BUT it will not be a quaint, little neighborhood feel. It will be a busy commercial, suburban area with less "character." Just one example of the compromises you'll need to be open to.

[sloyd]

"Excellent public transportation.
Most things easy to walk to (lots of amenities).
Near a hospital.
Excellent Schools.
Apartments that allow dogs.
NOT a party area due to young children.
Did I mention a lot of things to do..within walking distance? :-)"

and one of those DeLoreans that turns into a space ship, just needs banana peels..

[Minervah]

OP, which hospitals are you applying to? If you could list them, people could describe the neighborhoods around them. Some are near the type of neighborhoods you describe and some aren't.

Keep in mind though, walkable neighborhoods with lots of things to do are usually not so family friendly but rather in "party areas" as you call them. That's because they tend to attract younger single people and young couples without kids. Most apartments are not kid friendly in the city because they don't have facilities for kids like play areas. Those that are kid friendly with facilities for kids are not in the type of neighborhoods you are describing you want. Finding an apartment that allows pets can be a challenge. People with families tend to rent houses or duplexes in quieter neighborhoods. Those usually allow pets and are best for kids.

Right now, you are making it difficult for yourself by putting so many restrictions on your criteria for a neighborhood. I would suggest that you ease up on the "must haves" because they are not very unrealistic. For now, accept what you can get if you really have your heart set on moving to Portland. That's what many transplants do. Then, as time goes by, maybe you will be able to afford what you want or as close to it as possible.

Good luck.

[bler144]

Lots of good responses. Two other tidbits to note:

1) Rents have been rising about 8-15% a year the past few years. $1600 was just doable in 2015 for a 2 BR in parts of the city (and potentially a 3BR in less walkable areas). But there's no guarantee what it will buy come summer of 2016 or 2017 if rents continue to rise as they have been.

Especially if you're restricted to places that allow dogs.

2) From talking to providers, there are a few larger employers, Kaiser in particular, known to shift staff between facilities at will. So just because you start someplace close to where you're living doesn't mean that will stick.

[melmacrn]

As long as there is a light rail or clean public transportation within walking distance, we don't necessarily need everything in walking distance. Where I live, the buses are dirty and smell awful, and are full of people I do not want my kids around (nothing like when I lived in Iowa City, visited Seattle). No we don't want Seattle, we want Portland.

I'm not 100 percent on the hospital I'll apply at yet. Still researching the areas.

I'm not worried about the cost. Nurses make double what I make and we'll be debt free with exception of student loans.

[VelouriaPDX]

Originally Posted by melmacrn

As long as there is a light rail or clean public transportation within walking distance, we don't necessarily need everything in walking distance. Where I live, the buses are dirty and smell awful, and are full of people I do not want my kids around (nothing like when I lived in Iowa City, visited Seattle). No we don't want Seattle, we want Portland.

I'm not 100 percent on the hospital I'll apply at yet. Still researching the areas.

I'm not worried about the cost. Nurses make double what I make and we'll be debt free with exception of student loans.

OK, so simply wanting "public transportation within walking distance" is worlds away from your initial list. Much more reasonable. Do you still care about schools? If you are saying you just want public transit and decent schools we can help you when you know where you will be working.

"Not worried about the cost." Does that mean you have increased your housing budget?