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Old 02-09-2019, 02:00 PM
 
6 posts, read 5,091 times
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Hello!

I have gotten a job offer in Portland, OR and am looking at relocating my family (me, my partner, our 4yo, and 2 cats) in June/July. My preschooler is freshly 4, so they will be starting preschool in the Fall. My partner is finishing up a software engineering degree (online, so it's mobile, but it will be another year) and is doing the stay-at-home parent thing. I have been offered a job at a little less than 50/year which is about economically equitable (with cost of living increases), to what I'm making now but comes with far more advancement opportunities than I have currently. The job I will have does not base me at a main office - It's mainly a lot of individual work sites in Clackmas and Multnomah County. I'm going out to visit at the end of the month and will be shown around by a good friend, but their wife's a doc at OHSU, so I'm gonna have to run their recommendations through a tax bracket filter, lol. So I'm looking for advice.

What are your recommendations about neighborhoods and/or the communities surrounding Portland? I've heard good things about Beaverton? And NW Portland, I think? Since I'm going to be on-site most of the time, I'll be driving anyway so I'm more focused on finding a family-friendly community that is walkable/bike-friendly and/or has good public transportation for my Housespouse and kiddo (and me when I'm home - Less Driving on days off is better).

Any recommendations on schools and/or school districts? We'll be looking into reasonably-priced or public school programs. (Here in Florida there is free V-Pre-K but I don't think that's the case in Oregon?) My preschooler doesn't have any special needs that we know of, and she loves playing outside in parks and playgrounds.

We love doing community stuff. I'm active in theater, we're both big into boardgames and RPGs. We like going to festivals and farmers' markets, kiddo's into gymnastics and storytimes like crazy. We do a lot at our local libraries right now.

Any other tidbits or advice for someone looking at moving to the area?



Thanks for your help!! This is my first original thread, so let me know if you need any other information.
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Old 02-09-2019, 03:00 PM
 
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$50K a year won't go far in Portland...at all.
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Old 02-09-2019, 05:37 PM
 
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Thank you so much for the helpful advice! :-)

Do you have any additional helpful input? Perhaps a forum for communities outside Portland proper, as I indicated interest in above?
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Old 02-09-2019, 09:22 PM
 
Location: WA
5,379 posts, read 7,657,752 times
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NW Portland is very pricy and urban, or upscale view houses in the hills. Beaverton is very car-centric and not very walkable for a stay-home parent, especially if you are sharing a car. SW Portland is also very hilly with lots of upscale view places and suburban style houses on curvy wooded streets that aren't that walkable. Generally speaking the west side is going to be more expensive.

Your best best will be on the east side, basically anywhere between the Willamette River and 82nd Ave. The further east you go the more modest the neighborhoods become. You basically have to go east until you find what you can afford. Any addresses with a N, NE, or SE directional.

There are pockets of walkable neighborhoods all over the older sections of Portland, way too many to list here. You just have to explore. The city is changing rapidly and places that were sketchy 5 years ago are rapidly gentrifying. You can push further out to the suburbs but they are mostly going to be car-centric suburban type places like those you find anywhere else in the US.
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Old 02-10-2019, 04:04 AM
 
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Oregon City has some very walkable areas and is a lot less expensive than inner Portland. Oregon City is the original state capitol so it does have some historical sites and a more established core than most other Portland suburbs. Considering your job will also be in Clackamas County that might be an option. I know OC has ambitions to convert its industrial waterfront into an upscale area so I think it is an up-and-coming area. The school district is a suburban/rural split. Right across the river from OC is West Linn which is in a different, and I believe wealthier, school district.
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Old 02-10-2019, 07:24 AM
 
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Thank you very much, Texasdiver and Pavlov's Dog! I'll look into Eastern Portland, and Oregon City when I come out to visit!

I'm still figuring out if this is a viable thing for the family to do, and I had no real guidance on not-HYPER-expensive areas. (The oldest friend I have out there lives solidly on one of those hilly houses in the NW. I wasn't sure if an alternative existed, lol.) I really appreciate your assistance 😀👍
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Old 02-10-2019, 11:28 AM
 
Location: WA
5,379 posts, read 7,657,752 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mythosjunkie View Post
Thank you very much, Texasdiver and Pavlov's Dog! I'll look into Eastern Portland, and Oregon City when I come out to visit!

I'm still figuring out if this is a viable thing for the family to do, and I had no real guidance on not-HYPER-expensive areas. (The oldest friend I have out there lives solidly on one of those hilly houses in the NW. I wasn't sure if an alternative existed, lol.) I really appreciate your assistance 😀👍
It's not so much that the west side is rich and the east side is poor.

Rather, the west side is extremely hilly and the east side is mostly flat. So the west side has a lot more narrow and winding roads with view houses whereas the east side has a more traditional street grid with walkable business districts interspaced between older residential areas. Some of the very nicest and most upscale neighborhoods in Portland are on the east side (Eastmoreland, Laurelhurst, etc.) as are most of the more downscale areas.

And I'm guessing that at least 3/4 of the population lives on the east side of the river so there is a lot more options on that side. Also don't overlook North Portland. The Willamette River curves west so there is a quadrant of Portland on the north side that is technically on the east side of the river but at that point it is really north of the river. There are some nice modest areas up there that could be in your price range. It is a more isolated part of the city though and will make it somewhat tougher to commute to the rest of the metro area compared to a more central NE or SE location.

Oregon City is kind of far out on the edge of the metro area. There are a lot of closer options. Basically there are viable nice neighborhoods in every quadrant of the city so when you figure out where you are going to be working (or your commuting triangle if it is multiple locations) then I'd look for something convenient to that regardless of what side of the city it is on. There is no point in deliberately taking on a commute across the entire metro area when you don't have to. A diagonal commute across the whole Portland metro could be a 1.5 hour project twice a day.
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Old 02-11-2019, 12:17 PM
 
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,660 posts, read 57,778,624 times
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Based on your budget.
I would suggest Jennings Lodge area to Estacada / Damascus (including Strawberry lane / Happy Valley)

Try to get gigs off-shift / or flexible hours. Diagonal commute in Portland is often painfully slow. But in general, Portland traffic is very mild.

If often in Clackamas County... I would look to Jennings Lodge / Happy Valley.

For NW centric, your options are limited (and may include Vancouver, which is no longer much cheaper)

Personally... if NW based, I would rent in Ft Vancouver Historical trust. (will need to get on wait list). Very walkable, library, community center and Clark College (with a nice Early Childhood program / events. ~ 7- 10 min NW Portland (non rush hour). Income tax free for those days working from home.
https://www.historictrustproperties.org/

Last edited by StealthRabbit; 02-11-2019 at 12:28 PM..
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Old 02-13-2019, 02:19 PM
 
Location: WA
5,379 posts, read 7,657,752 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StealthRabbit View Post
Based on your budget.
I would suggest Jennings Lodge area to Estacada / Damascus (including Strawberry lane / Happy Valley)

Try to get gigs off-shift / or flexible hours. Diagonal commute in Portland is often painfully slow. But in general, Portland traffic is very mild.

If often in Clackamas County... I would look to Jennings Lodge / Happy Valley.

For NW centric, your options are limited (and may include Vancouver, which is no longer much cheaper)

Personally... if NW based, I would rent in Ft Vancouver Historical trust. (will need to get on wait list). Very walkable, library, community center and Clark College (with a nice Early Childhood program / events. ~ 7- 10 min NW Portland (non rush hour). Income tax free for those days working from home.
https://www.historictrustproperties.org/
The OP is looking for walkable and bike friendly neighborhoods with good transit. None of the places you list come remotely close to meeting that criteria. They are all rural or car-centric suburbia except for the central Vancouver location.

Honestly the only places in the metro area that will meet the OP's criteria are in Portland proper west of 82nd Ave where you will find older walkable neighborhoods but even then you have to pick and choose. And maybe a few close-in older towns like Milwaukie.

There are a few suburban areas on the outer edges of the metro area that have followed more of a new urbanism walkable design. But they are pretty upscale and pricey and most likely well out of the OP's price range. For example, Orenco Station in Hillsboro: Orenco Station - Home and Villebois in Wilsonville: Villebois Wilsonville Oregon l New Homes for Sale l Creating Community The rest of the metro area pretty much has the same cookie cutter suburbs (and same builders) as you find everywhere else in the US like suburban Texas.
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Old 02-17-2019, 07:25 AM
 
810 posts, read 847,953 times
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I live in WA county/Beaverton School district which is good. I can recommend a pre school called Young learners. We had our daughter go there and they were wonderful. Personally I would live outside of Portland. it is getting pretty expensive in all the burbs. But use forrent.com to look for apartments and maybe craigslist.

We live off of 1185th and my husband commutes to downtown by taking a bus to the light rail.
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