Best areas for 30s couple wanting to start a family? Milwaukie, Tigard, Beaverton, SW hills, Woodstock, etc (Portland: city hall, HOA)

[sheisaeval]

We're relocating to Portland and are looking for an area to buy a home. Budget is 450k or less. We are both mid 30s and hoping to start a family soon. We are open to houses or townhouses as long as there is no HOA or a low HOA. Small/no yard is fine as long as there is an outdoor space and parks nearby.

The area must be:
Safe!
Good schools
Recreation like parks and libraries nearby
Quiet at night
Walkable is a plus

We are not nightlife people so we don't need a place with bars/nightlife/clubs/etc but we do like local food and businesses.

Husband will be working downtown near City Hall, and this area should be easily bikeable or a quick public transit to get there.



From a quick search, here are some potential areas, but let me know if there are any other areas to check out. Also let me know if any of the areas are not a good fit as well.

Milwaukie/Oak Grove
Beaverton
Woodstock
Tigard
Southwest (near Multonomah Village/Markham/Hillsdale)
Raleigh Hills area
Cedar Mills area

Thanks!

[Rob Allen]

Personally, I'd eliminate Milwaukie/Oak Grove and Woodstock because they're on the other side of the Willamette River from his job. Bridges are bottlenecks, avoid them if possible. Besides, the rest of the areas you mention are exactly the kind of place you're looking for. I think you could be very happy in any of them.

[Nell Plotts]

Look in the Bethany and Rock Creek area.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Rob Allen

Personally, I'd eliminate Milwaukie/Oak Grove and Woodstock because they're on the other side of the Willamette River from his job. Bridges are bottlenecks, avoid them if possible. Besides, the rest of the areas you mention are exactly the kind of place you're looking for. I think you could be very happy in any of them.

The west hills are just as much of a geographic barrier to downtown as the Willamette River. Actually more so. There are a lot more bridges and traffic lanes over the Willamette than there are roads across the west hills. You have Highway 26, Burnside, Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway, and Cornell Road and that is about it except for some very convoluted and winding surface street routes. And only Highway 26 is more than 2-lanes wide for its entire length. The first time you get stuck in traffic on Highway 26 it will disabuse you of the notion that it is easier to get to downtown Portland from Beaverton than from an east-side neighborhood like Irvington, Laurelhurst, Woodstock, or Eastmoreland simply because it is on the same side of the Willamette River.

[00lucky00]

TV Highway is a nighmare from hillsboro through beaverton! Id avoid that area. Tigard traffic, Cedar Hills traffic. Going from the west side to portland is a nightmare. Unless you take the rail.

[cornsnicker3]

Originally Posted by sheisaeval

We're relocating to Portland and are looking for an area to buy a home. Budget is 450k or less. We are both mid 30s and hoping to start a family soon. We are open to houses or townhouses as long as there is no HOA or a low HOA. Small/no yard is fine as long as there is an outdoor space and parks nearby.

The area must be:
Safe!
Good schools
Recreation like parks and libraries nearby
Quiet at night
Walkable is a plus

We are not nightlife people so we don't need a place with bars/nightlife/clubs/etc but we do like local food and businesses.

Husband will be working downtown near City Hall, and this area should be easily bikeable or a quick public transit to get there.



From a quick search, here are some potential areas, but let me know if there are any other areas to check out. Also let me know if any of the areas are not a good fit as well.

Milwaukie/Oak Grove
Beaverton
Woodstock
Tigard
Southwest (near Multonomah Village/Markham/Hillsdale)
Raleigh Hills area
Cedar Mills area

Thanks!

Your choices for actual "good" schools are pretty much the affluent parts of Beaverton, Hillsboro, and the Clackamas county suburbs like Lake Oswego, West Linn, and Happy Valley. Given that limited range of options, your $450k budgets will get your a beater house, non-descript townhouse, or nothing. To exacerbate the issue, almost all of these communities are relatively far from downtown Portland and/or inconvenient to take the MAX to work. Where I live in Happy Valley, it is about 50 minutes to drive to Tacoma station to hop on the Orange line. The Green Line is fairly inconvenient for the Southeast metro because you have to horseshoe around and it takes forever. On the west side, the Blue Line is tad better for park and ride, but is exceptionally busy and many days you have to time it so you get at least make it somewhere on the train because of how crowded it is. Here is what I would say of the following:

Milwaukie/Oak Grove - Schools hit or miss. Decent enough closeness to the Orange line. I personally wouldn't live there for schools and some parts look a tad "worn out".
Beaverton - Northern part has awful schools. Avoid area near Nike (ironic it seems). Southern part is much better, but far from transit.
Woodstock - No opinion of it specifically. I personally would avoid Portland due to atrocious property taxes, but that is me.
Tigard - Slightly better than northern Beaverton, but far from transit.
Southwest (near Multonomah Village/Markham/Hillsdale) - Same opinion as Woodstock
Raleigh Hills area - Expensive. Probably too expensive for you to get something nice
Cedar Mills area - See above.

[texasdiver]

Honestly I don't understand the mentality of moving across the country to Portland and then locating as far as possible on the outer suburban fringe to stay away from the city you just moved to.

Cost is probably the biggest reason not to live in the central area. But I have friends, for example, who live in SW Portland within a couple of blocks of Wilson HS. They are both highly educated and have been reasonably happy with the local schools. Because it's up on the hill and there are no liquor stores or mini marts nearby the basically get zero riff raff, just like the suburbs.

I also have a cousin who lives in the Woodstock area. They are also involved with and happy with the local schools. She graduated from Cleveland and how her oldest goes there. And there is also very little riff raff around.

[Nell Plotts]

Cleveland also offers an International Bacalorate program. To get credit for that program not only must the student take specific classes but must pass an exam. To the best of my knowledge that program is only offered at Oregon Episcopal School, Lincoln and Cleveland.

One nice aspect of attending Cleveland is that the student body comes from middle income households.

[StealthRabbit]

Bikeable to downtown / starting a family and working downtown... I wouldn't be moving to these areas.
Milwaukie/Oak Grove
Beaverton
Tigard
Southwest (near Multonomah Village/Markham/Hillsdale)
Raleigh Hills area
Cedar Mills area

There are plenty of options near town (without being in the hills, not all that fun / safe for biking in winter)

Walkable to work would be nice, and plenty of choices there too.

Bridges should not be a huge delay if biking (Except a very rare draw bridge event, which you can plan around.)

Oaks Park, Selwood, Westmoreland, Woodstock, Eastmoreland... or closer to town.

Hillsdale if you are trying for BUFF.

[Larry Caldwell]

For convenience, anywhere within walking distance of MAX. Take MAX downtown, hop on the streetcar, walk in the door at work. You can take your bike on the train if there is room. Stay close in for a fast trip. The Orange Line is a good bet.