Looking to rent in Portland starting in June 16

[pete6423]

@JasonF: You say you also work in Hillsboro but never lived there. What other areas would you consider instead that are still convenient in terms of commute (Max) but get me better quality housing for about the same price? Thanks everyone!

[AndyAMG]

You should do whatever you want to do and do your own research. People can tell you what they know but it may not be the right thing for you to base your decision on.

It sounds like your main goal is meeting someone. Honestly, I have never met someone who has married or found a meaningful relationship just by walking around in a urban area where there is night life or going to bars. These days that kind of thing is done through social media and dating sites/apps. By all accounts Portland is bad for singles used to normal singles scenes; there are many threads on this. So I would look for what you are wanting without that in mind.

Apartments are first come first serve. Fair Housing laws demand it. The market is so hot its become like a job interview. There are many highly qualified candidates waiting in line for apartments to come open months in advance. Have all your ducks lined up employment offer or transfer paper work in hand and then you just have to do what everyone else does and pay 40-70 dollars and wait in line. Even that won't guarantee anything. You have to be super proactive in this market. My wife has had a call and app fee from an interested party within 3 minutes of posting an ad on Craigslist. They never go an hour before they have an interested party. They have one hot property that now has 18 people waiting on one unit. This property is on the MAX line in a not so great neighborhood. However they have two apartments not in desirable neighbor hoods or near max lines that are losing tenants. In Portland it's LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION and the locations you are interested in are hot. You may honestly want to look in a less desirable area and drive.

Everyone moves here with the same intentions then ends up doing something totally different.

It's like a broken record. "I want a place that's walkable, in a trendy neighborhood, with great night life, access to mass transit, good for singles in their 20s, for $1000-1500 dollars."

3 months later. "I moved to Portland. I live in a large complex in Beaverton in a 2/1 that costs $1100 mo, has a meh walk score, one dive bar and large shopping complex and I drive my car to work every day because tri met is not as good as everyone told me it was." Those who do realize their dream usually cry uncle and move to the burbs after their rent increases 30% in 2 years.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by AndyAMG

3 months later. "I moved to Portland. I live in a large complex in Beaverton in a 2/1 that costs $1100 mo, has a meh walk score, one dive bar and large shopping complex and I drive my car to work every day because tri met is not as good as everyone told me it was." Those who do realize their dream usually cry uncle and move to the burbs after their rent increases 30% in 2 years.

Lol. Hard to dispute that.

Even $1100 in Beaverton for a 2/1 is harder and harder to come by.

[NWGirl74]

Originally Posted by AndyAMG

It sounds like your main goal is meeting someone. Honestly, I have never met someone who has married or found a meaningful relationship just by walking around in a urban area where there is night life or going to bars. These days that kind of thing is done through social media and dating sites/apps. By all accounts Portland is bad for singles used to normal singles scenes; there are many threads on this. So I would look for what you are wanting without that in mind.

As a single person, I can confirm there is a lot of truth in the above paragraph, especially the bolded part. And if you aren't photogenic, you are not likely to have luck with online dating.

This area seems to like dating in theory a lot more than in practice.

[iuecon99]

Originally Posted by NWGirl74

Affordability if you don't want a shared living situation.

As for meeting people, join the 20's/30's Awesome Stuff Meetup Group. They tend to have events on the west side. Several other groups are also west side specific, but will likely be a much older target audience than what you are looking for.

20's/30's is pretty prolific indeed- though I've noticed a larger number of people in their 40's and 50's going to their events lately (nothing wrong with that, just noting it).

[Hockeygirl063]

rent here is getting totally out of control. it's disturbing but I guess that's what happens. We have lived in the same place for 10 years they built a shopping center across the street and it SUCKS more cars on the road people do not pay attention. They try parking their cars here because they di not build enough spaces ( a parking structure).

My hubby commutes from Beaverton to downtown every day and he enjoys it. He takes one of the express busses but in the past he has also taken the MAX.

If you work in Hillsboro and live in Goose Hollow the commute may not be too bad because most people are coming into the city in the morning. But I am not sure as it seems no matter when you drive traffic can be horrible.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by Hockeygirl063

If you work in Hillsboro and live in Goose Hollow the commute may not be too bad because most people are coming into the city in the morning. But I am not sure as it seems no matter when you drive traffic can be horrible.

I don't think there's actually all that much spread between in-bound and out-bound commuters, but I can't easily find the data broken up.

I did find this neat little map:

http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TDATA/...w_Map_2014.pdf

I wonder if, in the next addition, they'll add another tier to better differentiate the purples.

[bler144]

Played with the google maps traffic flows a bit, and they show that in the morning (8 am) the eastbound lanes are more congested, generally slow all the way back to 217. Which is consistent with your point.

However if you shift to the 4pm window, it's again the eastbound lanes that are clogged on average. So the issue seems to be that whichever way you're going, you have to be eastbound at some point.

I've made the argument before that the real problem on 26 is engineering and the design of the N/S merges onto 405, and that seems to be the case if one assumes google's data holds value. Though if you're going downtown, the center lane for that purpose is usually the best of the three, assuming you don't have a-holes trying to bypass several miles of backup and then slowing/stopping to sneak in a late merge.

[Oregon_Native32]

Quick tip...IF you can... I would look to buy.. or lease-option to own.

Rent in Portland is steep right now and it won't change for the better anytime soon.
You would be saving yourself a lot of money if you invested your money into actually owning a home!


WELCOME !

[NWGirl74]

Originally Posted by iuecon99

20's/30's is pretty prolific indeed- though I've noticed a larger number of people in their 40's and 50's going to their events lately (nothing wrong with that, just noting it).

I know several organizers in the 20's/30's group cross-post their events to other groups which don't have age restrictions. That's likely why you are seeing that. I've noticed that for all the members that are in the 20's/30's group, RSVPs for events are miniscule and this area has a standard 50% no show rate. So they cross-post in hopes of a bigger turnout/better event. (I've been a Meetup organizer for almost 8 years).