Info about Southwest Portland?!?!? (Beaverton, Hillsboro: sales, apartments, for rent)

[ocmovefromchicago]

Hi Everyone,

I am possibly relocating from San Francisco and am looking at an apartment in Portland at SW 45th & Multnomah.

Does anyone know anything about this area? I obviously would go up and see before I made the committment, but just trying to weed the bad ones out now. Any info is appreciated.

THanks much!

[oldtintype]

I don't know if that's in Multnomah Village or not but if it is, you'll like it. I can't remember off the top of my head where it stops and starts.

[ozymango]

My dad lives near the Village, off of 17th Drive, very nice neighborhood (prices have appreciated at an obscene rate the past few years, yikes), and I'm trying to visualize 45th and Multnomah .. I think that's on the way to Garden Home, where you've got pockets of forest and pockets of house and apartments ...

Anyway, it's a nice area, geographically speaking (trees and what-not), and pretty close in to downtown PDX (maybe ten minutes by car, down Barbur).

A lot depends on where you live in SF now, if you like it there, and what you're coming to PDX for. If it's just a place to live, and you like a somewhat laidback area, then I think the Village is lovely. But if you're looking for a more urban lifestyle, you're just a bit farther out from downtown, if you're looking at taking public transit just right in that area it can be problematic just because of the layout of the roads (you'd have to walk several blocks to get to the most frequent buses).

If you work downtown it'd be a short trip, if you're moving as part of a job I'd definitely see where your employer is gonna put you because that'd seriously impact my choice of living areas. I work downtown but ride my bicycle to work, it's very important for me to be able to ride my bike so I prefer to live on the SE side of town (sun at my back on the ride to work, sun at my back on the ride home). If I worked in Beaverton I would very likely move to Beaverton (just west of PDX) because getting from here to there can be problematic on a bicycle (fewer bike lanes, fewer ways to get from there to here).

And if they move you to Hillsboro, you might consider the Southwest Hills area (like around Bethany or Murray road in Beaverton) or even farther east, again depending on your commute options. The light rail can be a great way to get around, but I find it works much better west of the river (too many stops on the east side, unless you're past 100th and needing to get to the airport, then it's pretty quick).

Anyway, don't mean to drone on (too much!), but just wanted to throw some ideas out there and see if anything helps!

[ocmovefromchicago]

Thanks so much - that is very very helpful. I appreciate you responding. I live in the Marina right now in SF but am looking for something a little more low key. I don't want to be around hustle and bustle all the time, but still within a good neighborhood to walk around in with shops, and all that other fun stuff. I am transferring with my job (deloitte) which is in the Bancorp Tower 111 S. W. Fifth Avenue. My main concern is that I dont want to be an area that is sketchy. Since I am new to the area, I am willing to live somewhere and then learn the area better but just don't want to go in intially to a really bad spot.

Thanks for your help!

[ozymango]

You're very welcome! A quick look on portland.craigslist.com turned up a house for rent very close to 45th and Multnomah, the pictures are pretty much the kind of landscape you'll see around there:

Near Multnomah Village, Hillsdale, Gabriel Park, OHSU (http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/853791291.html - broken link)

This is NOT my listing, just one in the area, so no sales attempts here! :-)

Turns out there's also some new condos in the area, this is very close to Gabriel Park. I love Gabriel Park, it's huge, lots of green space, lots of dogs but well behaved dogs (PDXers love their dogs, so if you're dog averse be warned right now!). I've heard stories of "don't go in Gabriel Park after dark," but I'll leave it to others to let you know if that's really an issue or not. It's lovely in the daytime, anyway.

All that being said, 45th and Multnomah is just on the edge of the Village, meaning you're close but not close-close. Which may give you the best of both worlds, or you may go, "that's four blocks too far" when you're sitting in your flat. ;-) So definitely try to check out the area before you commit to where you want to live, see how it works for you. But it's definitely a good place to live, very safe and very popular.

Oh, here's a link to Multnomah Village's site, give you some idea of the neighborhood:

Multnomah Village - Home

Maybe I'll see you at the next Multnomah Days Celebration! :-)

[EnricoV]

Have you checked it out on Google maps? If you select the street view, you can walk the neighborhood. It looks really residential. Nothing much in the way of shops. A gas station, and a mini-strip mall (with pizza, a cleaners, and a convenience store) at the corner of Multnomah & 45th. Gabriel Park is just north of there. It's a big park, with softball, soccer fields, etc.

Bus #1 stops near there, and would take you into downtown.