Heading towards Portland (Beaverton, Lake Oswego, McMinnville: apartments, to rent, condo)

[Zetekk]

Hello,
I might be moving to portland by the end of the year and going to School at PSU. Im looking for a good safe area to start a family and that has good access to the MAX light rail (walking distance). Im in the navy right now so im financially secured. My rent range would be up to 1400 a month and im lookin for a townhome, house or condo. Also i've read reports of crime on the MAX light rail and would like to avoind those areas. any info/help will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time.

[BlueSkyGal]

If you are looking at renting in the Portland area, I don't think you will have any trouble within your price range (rents have dropped & many apts. etc are offering 'move-in deals' currently). Some of the MAX stops have been magnets for crime (although I believe the occurance is fairly low statistically). I would check the school district info. before making your final decision -- many are woefully underfunded in this state. If I had young children (mine are grown), I think I would avoid Multnomah County -- due to problems w/educational funding. (If you don't have children yet, this is a non-issue) -- Clackamas County seems much more stable at this time, and is only minutes from Portland (you couldn't walk to a MAX stop yet, although it is being expanded right now). If you 'must' move to Multnomah County, you will want to get specific crime stat's, etc., as some areas have really deteriorated in the last several years -- I would advocate for Clackamas County if it is do-able for you. Hope you get the info. you need to make your decision -- Wish I could have been of more assistance -- Best of luck !

[Rob Allen]

You might want to look at places near the MAX stations in Washington County. Orenco Station is a particularly successful development area around a MAX station, and there's a lot of new housing near the Elmonica and Beaverton Creek stations also.

[Zetekk]

Thanks Blueskygal and rob allen, The wife and I dont have any kids atm. I did research and Orenco Station looks really good. A condo is out of the question, next would be a townhouse but lookin for a house to rent in the mean time. I guess the last 2 things im worried about is safe around the station area or area in general and is the area alight with military peeps who move there.

[subsound]

The Beaverton Creek/Elmonica areas are pretty nice IMHO...if they accepted big dogs on the second floor in the apartments around there I would sign.

A majority of problems happen within the city/fareless, and the apartments around them are at least a block or two away. There are some farther away, but still in a bike range too.

[davefr]

Originally Posted by BlueSkyGal

I would check the school district info. before making your final decision -- many are woefully underfunded in this state.

Yes, I'd check the schools but the problem isn't the funding. It's the management. Oregon funds schools adequately but the money isn't spent wisely.

Too much is spent on indirect staffing and the teacher's union fights any attempts to improve the efficiency of the system.

There little correlation between spending and performance.

[BlueSkyGal]

Sounds like you've narrowed in on a very nice area ! Most of the safety issues w/the Max seem to happen late at night, or other 'off' hours. There is a small 'Tri-Met Police' presence on the Maxline that tries to keep it safe (and for the most part it is). I agree that the residences "right-off" the Maxline may be problematic, but the housing is so dense in these areas that finding a nice townhouse (nearby) should not be difficult. I'm not sure about the acceptance of 'military folks' in that area -- I think Portlanders are pretty accepting of everyone; that is one of the great things about this area -- we are diverse !! I think you would feel welcome anywhere !

[Lilly12103]

My husband is an OIF vet (Marines) and we have stumbled upon a few other vets here and there, but the military community in Portland is close to nil. Only twice has somebody been openly hostile to hubby for wearing USMC paraphanelia, and both times it was bums screaming at him. Don't expect people to be aggressive or unwelcoming to you, but also don't expect your wife to have support during deployment or to find a good bar to hang out with other vets. Coming from the midwest this was a hard adjustment to lose that entire sense of community we once had (not to mention the great deals at the comissary!).

[Zetekk]

Should find out within the next 8 weeks if im heading out there but the chances are looking really good. Is PSU a good school up there, what other choices of schools are available in portland.

[Rob Allen]

PSU is the big public university here, and it's pretty good. What are you planning to study? Every school has its strong points. PSU isn't very well-known outside the Northwest. Better-known schools like University of Oregon and Oregon State are several hours away. All of the private colleges in Oregon have some religious influence or history. The ones that come to mind in the Portland metro area:

University of Portland (Catholic, North Portland)
Concordia University (Lutheran, Northeast Portland)
Pacific University (historically Congregationalist, Forest Grove)
George Fox University (Quaker, Newberg)
Marylhurst University (Catholic, Lake Oswego)
Reed College (founded by Unitarians, Southeast Portland)
Lewis & Clark College (historically Presbyterian, Southwest Portland)
Warner Pacific College (Church of God (Anderson, Indiana), Southeast Portland)
Linfield College (Baptist, McMinnville)

There's also a community college, and specialist/grad schools like Oregon Health & Science University, Western States Chiropractic College, National College of Natural Medicine, Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Oregon College of Art & Craft, Art Institute of Portland, and Western Culinary Institute.