St. Helens, Oregon (Portland, Hillsboro: best towns, sex offenders, low crime) - (OR) - City-Data Forum

Stonecoldharbours · 04-03-2007, 06:40 PM

Can anyone tell me bout this area and what it is like to live there? Is it safe to live in the town of St. Helens? Is it low crime? Getting rough? Are the schools ok? We are leaning towards this area now, and a few others and I wanted to get some info on the area, I appreciate your help and have a great nite! PGHPANATIVE

small town · 05-13-2007, 11:33 AM

is st. helens safe. It is safer than some cities but not as safe as i would like. We of course need more police, as we do not have full time coverage. There are people who live here that have problems with drugs and we seem to have more than our share of sex offenders. I think the reason for that is they can hide here better. As a single women who lives along except for a big dog I would call it safe.

kristinkay · 02-24-2008, 07:37 PM

I lived in St. Helens for almost all of my life, which has really only been about 21 years but I want to try and answer some of your questions. I'm currently in California, but missing Oregon like crazy. In the 20 years I lived there, I never felt unsafe. In fact, in the area I lived, locking our house and car doors wasn't something we needed to constantly worry about, unlike here in California where in the first month my boyfriend and I were here his motorcycle got stolen. Anywhere you go there is obviously going to be some crime, and I don't have actual statistics, but living in the small town, big crime is something rarely heard of. Drugs are becoming more popular in our town, but it's really all about the environment you set for yourself and/or kids. I would say the schools are average. One thing I definitely like about them is that since it is such a small town, you get more connection and one on one with the teachers and other staff in the schools. It's something I have missed since going to college. Growing up, there isn't a lot for kids to do around the town, but the drive to Hillsboro or Portland isn't far (30-45 min). This is especially nice as it's convenient for kids to commute to a community college without the expenses of having to relocate to a new town or going to a state college/university. It's definitely nice to be able to go run around town doing errands and see familiar faces. Really the only downside is not having a lot of activities to do, because that's when kids or even adults seem to run into drug problems. I know that it's common for kids to experiment growing up, but especially more so when there isn't a lot to do around your town. But like I said, it all kind of depends on the environment you help to create and the kids or your own friends and influences, which is probably the same as anywhere else you would go.

Tammee266 · 02-27-2008, 12:32 PM

I am about 40 grew up in St. Helens and now that I live outside of Seattle I beg my husband for us to move back. I raised my kids there and they did very well at McBride Elementary. My oldest son even had the same 2nd grade teacher I had when I was in Second grade. People are generally very kind and Yes you can leave your windows and doors open for the most part with no problems. I miss HOME. Other post is correct though if you have children they may go in the wrong direct with out good guidance from you. There is a nice LARGE community pool, movie theater and that is about it. However lots to do as far as hiking, camping, trail walks and water sports.

BLAZER PROPHET · 02-27-2008, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by small town

is st. helens safe. It is safer than some cities but not as safe as i would like. We of course need more police, as we do not have full time coverage. There are people who live here that have problems with drugs and we seem to have more than our share of sex offenders. I think the reason for that is they can hide here better. As a single women who lives along except for a big dog I would call it safe.

I would agree with this. St Helens is a sort of backward part of the area. Sort of like the Ozarks are to Little Rock as is St Helens to Portland.

princesscaffeine · 06-23-2008, 11:44 AM

I moved to St. Helens a few years ago from California and while it does have good points it also has bad points.
Some of the good things are that it's fairly safe. There's not a lot of crime and the crime that there is seems to be mostly property and drug related.
The housing is cheap. After growing up with California housing prices this area was amazing.
It's a great place to walk, bike and relax. The city is small enough that you can literally walk anywhere.
Some of the people are really nice and don't care where you're from.

Some of the bad points are that there is no hospital in town. You have to drive to Portland which is about 25 miles away. It doesn't seem like a big deal unless it's 2 in the morning and raining and you're sick. Also finding a MD in this town has been hard. Not enough doctors.
While there isn't a lot of crime there are also no cops on the street between 10pm amd 10am because of funding.
The smell. There is a paper mill downtown on the river that sometimes makes the whole town smell heavily like brussel sprouts.
Job availablity. There are not a lot of jobs to be had in the city area. A lot fo people commute to Portland or Hillsboro and the jobs that are here tend to go to locals not imports.
Some people here just don't like people from California.
Walmart is the biggest store in town, it's also one of the very few stores in town. So to shop for clothes you really have to go to Portland.

sanders321 · 08-31-2008, 01:50 AM

I lived here for almost all my life, and iv seen my shar of it. Theres lots of drugs and crime compared to the past years i lived here. Its just who you hang out with and what you get your self into. Its pertty safe compared to portland, but i wouldent keep my doors unlocked. I went down the wong roard here and know people can be crazy. The schools are good just have to have the right friends or you can mess up esay. I changed my life around but seen alot of my friends go prison or end up realy bad drug addiction. St.helens dose all and all have a good cumuity.

steven1234567 · 05-15-2009, 06:53 AM

i am only 16 but i can tell you that st helens is one of the best towns i have ever lived in i live in michigan now ya its far away but still here somethings you need to know first off as long as ive been there i have never seen a cop well ecept for highway thirty heading twords scapoose though also i dont know if you have kids or not but there is a couple things for them to do like there is a gymnastics gym and there are some bating gages a little down the road from the gymnastics place and i am not sure if they have it anymore but there is a summer program called reach i was counsler for when i lived there um also the schools a great but there kinda mixed up i kinda for got how it goes i think it mcbride till like 6 grade lewis and clark for 7th and 8th and i am not sure from there but my sisters have been sucessful there and as long as ive lived there there hasnt really been all that much crime but as the previous post said there is some drugs going around the high school but if you find an area that dosent please let me know

Tara0325 · 08-10-2009, 08:01 PM

Thank you for the info, I am not the one who posted the question but we are looking at a house in the area, how are the schools? Is there a movie theatre in town?

Theflameyouseek · 12-15-2010, 04:25 PM

Yes, there is a movie theatre in town. The over all crime rate is OK compared to other cities. We have alot of small business..mostly family businesses that people overlook when they are shopping. People forget them when searching for shopping. The drug abuse/addiction rate is high here. LOTS of tweakers! Ewwww! But, they are easy to steer clear of. The schools are pretty good though. On top of safety! The town is small enough that you can walk to just about anywhere. Portland is just a hop skip and a jump to all the big name shopping you want. People overall are friendly. I am 30 and have seen alot of changes here since I was 7!