Oregon City, Milwaukie, Gladstone, Tualatin, etc. (Portland, Eugene: real estate, rentals, community college)

[Tory]

We will be visiting the Portland and Eugene areas later this month. My husband will soon be retiring from the Federal Govt. and we have decided to leave the suburban Washington, D.C. area and relocate. We have narrowed our search to Oregon and Kentucky. Just had a few questions about the Portland suburbs of Oregon City, Milwaukie, Gladstone, and Tualatin. How is the traffic - within these areas - and going into Portland? Freeway-type roads - or stop-light types? Crime? Shopping? Housing in the upper $200,000 - low $300,000 range? Will MAX ever reach these areas? Are there buses into Portland? Any info and general observations will be most welcome!!(One more thing - our son will be wanting to tranfer into the local Community College and then, eventually, go to Portland State. How would his commute be?) Thanks in advance for your help!!

[Ex Goldendale]

Well now, DC to Portland! HMMMMM!
You will need to look pretty hard to find quality highend housing in that range. That is the average income type housing.
OC, Mil, Glad, are all on the 99E corridor, the I-5 of many-many years ago, so there are plenty of traffic lights. There are freeways also but SUPRISE! they back up at rush hour.
Plenty of bus routes serve all three cities though they are not as numerous as in Portland. There are several frequent lines into downtown(PSU), and the TriMet light rail is expanding south to Milwaukie, and Clackamas TC area.

I would avoid Tualatin unless your pockets are deep and you don't mind traffic. I-5 is the main route to town, there are other ways but you'll need to be here to see them. When things go bad on I-5 you'll sit, but then, my last trip to DC had me stuck in a blue van for 3 hours going from Dulles to Alexandria via the mall at 4pm. Next time John Wayne! BTW I really enjoyed my visit. Our Max is not a Metro but we try. From Old Town Alexandria to the Mall I couldn't think of a better way!

If you choose to live in the 3 areas you mention you will be in Clackamas County which has it's own Community College located in Oregon City.

We live in the northern part of Milwaukie very close to the Port/Mil. border near King Rd. Housing is in your range, 2K + or - sq ft, 3 bedroom ranch w/garage. Ten min. to downtown or 30 min. on the Spring Water Corridor.(it's an old rail/street car line that has been converted to a very nice bike path.) If you want to be close to Portland w/o the tax issues and keep the city feel, old town Milwaukie or northern Milwaukie is the place. A word of warning,

Southern Pacific has a main line that runs south from Portland though Milwaukie. Crossing noise w/train horns can be a serious problem. Look around and ask a potential neighbor, not the R/E agent, before you buy! If the price seems low look for a crossing.
Good Luck and BTW if "Alexandria Harmonizers" means something to you check out "Bridge Town Sound" when you get here. You'll know how to do that, or if not go to EVG.ORG, Oregon then Portland, maybe the new retiree would like to try something fun!

Cheers

[Alexious]

Don't write off the west side either... especially if you're concerned about driving down into the city every day. I had a good friend that lived in the Burlingame / Hillsdale district (right across the river from Milwaukie, near Lewis & Clark college) and I grew to love the little drive down the Natio parkway into downtown. Can't speak to the real estate, but plenty of inexpensive rentals (for when the college bound kid wants his own place).

[Tory]

Originally Posted by Ex Goldendale

Well now, DC to Portland! HMMMMM!
You will need to look pretty hard to find quality highend housing in that range. That is the average income type housing.
OC, Mil, Glad, are all on the 99E corridor, the I-5 of many-many years ago, so there are plenty of traffic lights. There are freeways also but SUPRISE! they back up at rush hour.
Plenty of bus routes serve all three cities though they are not as numerous as in Portland. There are several frequent lines into downtown(PSU), and the TriMet light rail is expanding south to Milwaukie, and Clackamas TC area.

I would avoid Tualatin unless your pockets are deep and you don't mind traffic. I-5 is the main route to town, there are other ways but you'll need to be here to see them. When things go bad on I-5 you'll sit, but then, my last trip to DC had me stuck in a blue van for 3 hours going from Dulles to Alexandria via the mall at 4pm. Next time John Wayne! BTW I really enjoyed my visit. Our Max is not a Metro but we try. From Old Town Alexandria to the Mall I couldn't think of a better way!

If you choose to live in the 3 areas you mention you will be in Clackamas County which has it's own Community College located in Oregon City.

We live in the northern part of Milwaukie very close to the Port/Mil. border near King Rd. Housing is in your range, 2K + or - sq ft, 3 bedroom ranch w/garage. Ten min. to downtown or 30 min. on the Spring Water Corridor.(it's an old rail/street car line that has been converted to a very nice bike path.) If you want to be close to Portland w/o the tax issues and keep the city feel, old town Milwaukie or northern Milwaukie is the place. A word of warning,

Southern Pacific has a main line that runs south from Portland though Milwaukie. Crossing noise w/train horns can be a serious problem. Look around and ask a potential neighbor, not the R/E agent, before you buy! If the price seems low look for a crossing.
Good Luck and BTW if "Alexandria Harmonizers" means something to you check out "Bridge Town Sound" when you get here. You'll know how to do that, or if not go to EVG.ORG, Oregon then Portland, maybe the new retiree would like to try something fun!

Cheers

Thanks for your reply!! We were out there the end of May. Quickly realized we will have to raise the $$ figure for a house! Checked out all of the areas I mentioned in my original message. Liked them all - but I think we are leaning toward the Tigard/Tualatin area - or possibly the 97007 zip in Beaverton. I like Beaverton for its proximity to MAX. (BTW - glad you enjoyed our Metro here!) My son liked the campus of Portland Community College in Tigard. And we all loved downtown Portland!! What a beautiful city! Thanks again for your very informative post!

[Tory]

Originally Posted by Alexious

Don't write off the west side either... especially if you're concerned about driving down into the city every day. I had a good friend that lived in the Burlingame / Hillsdale district (right across the river from Milwaukie, near Lewis & Clark college) and I grew to love the little drive down the Natio parkway into downtown. Can't speak to the real estate, but plenty of inexpensive rentals (for when the college bound kid wants his own place).

Thanks for your post! We were there the end of May - liked Tigard/Tualatin and the 97007 Beaverton area the most. Loved Portland - absolutely beautiful!!