Get the most from Portland (Beaverton, Hillsboro: apartment complexes, to rent, condo)

[nycarrival]

Hello,

We are moving to Portland from Seattle with two small kids - ages 6 and 7. Can you perhaps recommend some good areas for us?

Some background:

1. I will be working in Hillsboro and would like to bike to work if possible
2. We need to have access to the best of Portland and the outdoor without too much driving
3. Need good schools but not those posh ones. Really need school that fosters creativity as opposed to having to check out somebody's new BMW or Tesla bringing kids to school. Down to earth with people that want to talk to you. Really, really communitiy feel.
4. Safe area, again, without the need to be looked down by someone that only wants to show you how much he is making.

Thanks for your help!

[Leisesturm]

Hmmm. Hmmmm. <Leisesturm is typing> ok... just my opinions here... in other words, very much 'for what its worth'...: 1. Hillsboro is a big city, if you want to bike to work it would be helpful if you gave us a better idea of where your worksite is other than 'Hillsboro'. Personally I would ideally want it around 3 miles or less. 5mi. tops, although when I lived in (west) Hillsboro I bike commuted to Forest Grove daily (8 miles) and that was reasonable because of the semi-rural nature of that kind of bike commute. If you don't want to give out that information you can try this: center a 3 mi. (and 5mi.) diameter circle around your worksite. You can look for a home anywhere in that circle.

2. I have no idea what the 'best of Portland' means to you. Is that concerts at Arlene Schnitger? The Art Museum? Timbers games?? Or is it Farmer's Markets, Craft Fairs or Fast Pitch Women's Softball? The first set of activities will require driving in to Downtown or an interminable MAX ride. The second set of activities can be done either with a short bike ride or mass transit. The "outdoors" is also a very broad category. The coast and/or Mt. Hood require a car. Forest Park does not.

3. The best schools will require a lot of extra-curricular and other kinds of hand-holding by you to fill in the D.O.E. blanks. Others know much more about individual schools than I do but I submit that it is possible to work with just about all of them if you are willing to do the support work. I don't think Hillsboro has terribly snooty schools. Even the most likely suspect (Tanasbourne) is likely to be far more down to earth than might be guessed by looking at the Census Data. Do I need to add that what you hope to get out of a "community" school experience in 2016 is highly dependent on what you are willing to put in. Everything I see and hear informs an opinion that Americans everywhere (so Hillsboro won't be any exception) are pulling inwards, but can be coaxed from their defensive fire positions by witness of an enthusiastic newcomer with a young family that want to get something going.

4. I don't know... if I had a choice about it, I think I would choose to live in and among high net-worth show offs that totally look down on me. If I had safety uppermost in mind that is. Seriously, the safety thing is overrated. All areas of Hillsboro are safe! All areas of Hillboro, however, are not equally attractive. 3rd and Grant in west Hillsboro is quite run-down looking but is very safe. Streets of Tanasbourne is very attractive and upwardly mobile but a CrimeMapper report will show that it is full of petty and property crime. The questions as I see them are: do you want to live in a complex with an institution style fitness center/pool/common area? Do you want to rent a house with yard in a residential side street or rent in a small complex with no amenities of its own but proximity to a community aquatic center/gym or park? I know Hillsboro very well. Give me an address, and I can probably tell you what its like, and what of interest is around it. HTH.

[Yankeemama]

I have heard mixed info on the schools in Hillsboro. I moved to Beaverton from Portland, where we were at a school which sounds like it would be a snobby school. Our kids' schools in Beaverton are mixed where a kid in a run down apartment gets the same quality education that a kid who gets dropped off by a Hummer. About cars here in WA County... IMO, compare to Portland, where the Subaru rules, in Beaverton people either drive a mini- van, a subcompact, or a BMW type car. People love luxury cars here. My neighborhood in Portland was more expensive but had few luxury cars driving around. Here, I see three - seven on a few small streets.

Back to schools, PPS- highly inequitable,
BSD- equitable, Hillsboro- I don't have a lot of info but I have met some very involved parents who are happy with their own kids'individusl schools.
Do your research from district websites and make calls to the district in August. District staff tend to be helpful.

Portland tends to be more like Seattle but the west side burbs have their own flavor. I find Beaverton different from Hillsboro and closer to SW Portland, which was a big draw for us. We go to the city often enough that we want to be close. Hillsboro is not far when you drive 26 but that freeway is my nightmare so I never drive it. 217 is crazy everyday, too! If you decide to live close to work and don't get out of Hillsboro much then you need to realize that Hillsboro has less businesses in terms of activities and entertainment for the kids. I am talking about really quality businesses like Sky High, Farber Swim, Children Of The Sea, Pump It Up, and our rec centers in Beaverton. We love the movie theaters here, too! We chose our hood because we can get to the places we need to within 15 minutes of our house. We love going to the movies and we can get to a movie pretty quickly from Cedar Hills to Bridgeport Village. I have an older child so our priorities may be different. My son is younger but loves the activities out this way. I DO think there is a ton of sports and activities for active kids in Hillsboro or close by. Tanasbourne is great and has a new beautiful Kaiser, BTW. The coast is about an hour from you which is a huge plus.��

[Rob Allen]

Go to your workplace, get on your bike and ride around. The chances are excellent that nos. 2, 3 & 4 on your list will be satisfied by any available living spaces that you see.

[AnotherPDXGuy]

If you really want to bike to work, you really should live in Hillsboro, or the west side of Beaverton. Beaverton has good suburban schools, but crowded is my understanding.

Many people consider the "best of" Portland to be the more urban stuff in Portland itself - restaurants, breweries, bars in particular. You can't really be too close to that, and bike to Hillsboro. Unless you like long rides.

If you want to live in Portland city, you might find some place to bike to the MAX train, and take the train over to Hillsboro. That is roughly 45 min. to one hour on the train each way.

Portland will not have as much peacocking with conspicuous consumption as in Seattle, but it is getting worse and worse by the month.

[VelouriaPDX]

I'd go with the nicer parts of Beaverton (either Bethany or S Beaverton) or if my budget were substantial, NW Portland alphabet district. Living in Portland proper will make biking to work in Hillsboro basically impossible. You can take your bike on the MAX train but that is not appreciated by other riders during heavy commuting times.

[bler144]

Hillsboro is a pretty big piece of turf. Touches Tanasbourne in the east, and what remains of farmland in a number of other directions.

100,000 population on 25 square miles, give or take.

Agree with Rob's general approach. Personally with how busy Cornell is at rush I wouldn't be psyched to bike from Tanasbourne to downtown Hillsboro - heat and fumes in the summer, hoping to be seen and not hit in the winter drizzle and darkness, but physically one could certainly do it. [So where you're going on your bike, I would say, matters]

There are some established residential neighborhoods, especially in/around downtown, and some to the south but there's also a lot of "newer" condo development. A number of the apartment complexes have had high turnover for years, for a variety of reasons but the steady spikes in cost are certainly part of it.

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Originally Posted by nycarrival

Hello,

We are moving to Portland from Seattle with two small kids - ages 6 and 7. Can you perhaps recommend some good areas for us?

Some background:

1. I will be working in Hillsboro and would like to bike to work if possible
2. We need to have access to the best of Portland and the outdoor without too much driving
3. Need good schools but not those posh ones. Really need school that fosters creativity as opposed to having to check out somebody's new BMW or Tesla bringing kids to school. Down to earth with people that want to talk to you. Really, really communitiy feel.
4. Safe area, again, without the need to be looked down by someone that only wants to show you how much he is making.

Thanks for your help!

You really don't want much, do you?