Transfer from Phx to Milwaukie,OR. Advice please! (Portland, West Linn: fit in, sales)

[jae_lynn04]

My husband is getting a promotion but we have to relocate from Mesa, AZ to Milwaukie, OR. His company is flying both of us there to check things out and find housing. I have never been to Oregon and I have never moved out of state. I am kinda starting to panic! We are both mid-30's. We have 3 kids under the age of 13 and 2 dogs. We are planning on renting out our home here as we have a good mortgage. Since we will only have a weekend, what areas should we look at to rent? The zip code for his job is 97267. The schools in AZ are horrible. However, our kids go to the best public school in the state and one of our kiddos has a learning disability. His team is amazing and it will be hard to replace them. What are the schools like? My son is also a drummer in a band. Is there a music scene? Our oldest son is pretty close to getting his Eagle Scout and I am worried about finding a troop. I think we will only take one car and buy a car there. Is that a good idea? I don't even know the questions to ask! Seriously thank you in advance for replying and helping me make good choices for my family.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

It's going to be a culture shock, Oregon is NOTHING like Arizona (I hope you like green and wet), but there are some pretty nice neighborhoods in and around Milwaukie, especially in your zip code, which is actually a little south of Milwaukie.

//www.city-data.com/city/Milwaukie-Oregon.html

As far as scouts go, you might contact the Cascade Pacific Council to help you find a Troop.

https://www.cpcbsa.org/

There are a lot of good troops, top notch OA chapters, and some excellent camps in this area!

[rmrgdr]

Grew up in Milwaukie, a nondescript Portland suburb. When I visit it doesn't SEEM much different than 1975! In high School we called it Mayberry RFD. I grew up in Ardenwald, I will ALWAYS have very fond memories!

[jamesblazen]

You're not going to like Portland for many reasons. Horrible schools, horrible weather, radical far left politics. Whatever raise your husband is getting isn't worth it.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

I don't know how well you yourself will transfer. It depends upon how adaptable you are, but your kids are going to love Oregon. It's a much better place for kids than Arizona is.

Get the kids outdoors. Let them hike and camp and fish, and maybe take up snowboarding as they get older. Do a couple of trips to the coast every summer. The ocean isn't swimmable, but there is beautiful scenery, tide pooling, agate collecting, photography, fishing, and crabbing.

Buying a car in Oregon has its benefits. There is no sales tax and that makes the total price more reasonable.

Oregon schools are plenty adequate for children who have parents who pay attention to what their kids are doing in school and make sure they do and understand their homework.

[jamesblazen]

Your kids will love 8-9 months of cold, dark and wet per year. They won't want to go outside and they will be in the house all day getting on your nerves.

[crisw]

Moderator cut: snip

I live in the 97267 zip, in Jennings Lodge. It's a nice place to live; close enough to Portland to take advantage of what it has to offer, but in a different county (Clackamas) so taxes and housing costs are lower.

In addition to this area, you may want to look at West Linn- just across the river from 97267- which I know has a reputation for excellent schools. It's pricier, though- not sure what your budget is- COL here is probably higher than AZ.

[Nell Plotts]

Housing costs will be much higher than AZ so hang on to your wallet. Renting with 2 dogs will be a challenge. You may find more housing options in the town of Canby to the south.

[WaikikiBoy]

I think you should look to rent in the Happy Valley area (east of I-205 and along Sunnyside Road area). It is just a little north of the zip code you provided. It is a very nice, clean suburb area with very good public schools. Not too far from your husbands work in one direction, and not too far from Portland proper in the other direction. Plus some very good public schools. There are also quite a few apartment complexes in the area as well as single family homes that you could likely find to rent.

That would be one place I would recommend you look into since you only have a short amount of time.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

My opinion: when people have a job transfer, they will be moving here. It is better to tell them the positive things that they can look forward to with maybe a little help about how to fit in.

The big warnings are 1) that it is difficult to get a good living wage job, which does not apply to the OP since her family is coming with a job transfer, and 2) that it rains a lot. Since her family is arriving rain or not, there is little point to warn about the rain, but maybe better to give some advice about how to deal with the rain.