St. John's Neighborhood (Portland, Burns: apartments, loft, condos)

[jeanettethierry]

What is this neighborhood like?

[scone]

Sort of up and coming (I'm not even sure what I mean by that). The are used to revolves around the university. Now it's somewhat more "young professional" types. There's a certain amount of night life, too-- a good McMenamin's (with movies), some music venues. Also a music festival under the bridge. The St. John's bridge, is of course the pride and joy of the area. I believe it was designed by the same firm that did the Golden Gate. It is one of the most beautiful bridges I have ever seen.

St. Johns has it's own newspaper, and it's online: the St. Johns Sentinel. I'd post the link but I'm not sure it's allowed.

However, it's not perfect. There is some crime, but the perennial nuisance issue up there is airport noise. And housing prices have been rising. That's either good or bad, depending on your point of view.

[no one special]

St Johns? Um, no.... my hubby would not want me to have a job over there. You can drive through it and be there safely for the most part but I would probably worry about my car and such if I had to go there everyday. Plus.... have you looked on the map? It doesn't have much access to the rest of Portland. Airport noise, yes, very much. I would not like to live there. Go South more if you need to be on the East side. Much more south.

[oldtintype]

Downtown St Johns is nice. It's like it's own little town/city. There's a library, cafes, little restaurants, a movie theater, etc. It's not a perfect area, the outskirts still have some problems and higher crime but there are beautiful views of the river, lots of really nice old houses and a great number of really nice people. The only thing that would prevent me from living there would be the neighborhood schools and that it's fairly far from downtown. Otherwise it's a great place to buy for a lower price. If you want to live IN Portland but be away from the main part of the city it's also a good option.

[jeanettethierry]

How close is Cathedral Park. I was told that St. John's is up and coming but still a neighborhood in transition.

I'm contemplating purchasing a home in St. John or NW 23rd area. I just wanted to get a sense of the best value and safety as a single woman.

[no one special]

I would lean closer to 23rd. Note: Burnside is not great. All the streets go alphabetical to the North from there. All the number streets cross the name streets. 23rd is good. I wouldn't go much lower than that if it were me. They go lower toward the river. Any street after Everett should be good in that area as well.

Up and coming...yeah, I guess so. It has been built up some. It is a much more urban life style near 23rd. Me- I'm a suburb gal.

Pretty much anywhere in Portland is safe for the most part. There are streets I probably wouldn't walk down at night alone, such as Burnside in the downtown area but for the most part Portland is not that bad. Really, it is just a matter of cleanliness than violence.

[oldtintype]

They're very different areas. They also have very different costs home wise. What exactly are you looking for, where will you work, etc. That will make a big difference in where you end up.

Noonespecial--how long has it been since you've really walked around the NW 23rd area? With the Pearl expanding almost all areas of NW are nice. Above NW 23rd is very suburban like and below gets a bit more city like but I'd hardly call below NW 23rd not nice. Burnside is only bad when you get closer to Old Town or below the North Park blocks.

[roneb]

It's interesting that no one special says that St. John's is not a neighborhood that her hubby would want her to be in, but then goes on to state that Burnside (by her preferred 23rd Ave neighborhood) is where she wouldn't walk alone at night.

St. John's is definitely improving and has it's own unique neighborhood feel. Personally, I'd prefer it to the 23rd Ave area. It feels more "real" and less trendy/hip/yuppie. That said, the areas surrounding the core of St. John's have had a long history of crime problems and I'd be more concerned about being out alone at night there if I was a woman.

[oldtintype]

I worked for a year in the St Johns neighborhood and it's up there with Sellwood in terms of a really good community feel and dedicated neighborhood people, but obviously it's very different than Sellwood just the same. I lived near the NW 23rd area for three years and there is zero community. It's a very different setting--much more impersonal. We looked at some places in St Johns when we moved recently and we really considered living there since our son has a lottery spot in a school we like, but in the end it was the distance from things downtown that kept us from living there. Places close to the strip or over towards the university tend to be the safest areas. When you go north from the strip that's where the majority of the crime tends to be, or along Lombard towards Interstate. To the OP--have you looked into Kenton? That's another up and coming area and it's right on the light rail. St Johns is turning into a very nice community but it's not for those who can't navigate a neighborhood in flux or don't want to be part of that.

To people who have negative opinions about St Johns but haven't been there recently...visit--it's really changed a lot. The park is beautiful as well and the bridge is stunning. Homes right above Cathedral park feel like they're in an old beach community or some secluded coastal setting. It's kind of funky and unique but there are also lots of new condos going up in the area as it gets more in demand. In five years it will probably be another yuppie haven as it's sort of headed that way anyway with the loft apartments that have gone up.

Another things that's nice is that if you live close to the strip pretty much everything you need from a library, grocery store, the park, post office, restaurants, video store, etc. is all in walking distance. It's very walkable.

[jeanettethierry]

I will probably be working downtown.