Is Portland right for us? (Eugene, McMinnville: fit in, real estate, rent)

[SearchingForOurPlace]

Hi, and thanks in advance for the help. We are a family of four (kids 10 and 5), we are very liberal folks who have lived in very conservative areas our entire lives.

Our goal is to finally be the social "norm", not the exception for once.

We're visiting Vermont this summer to see if it's right for us. But Portland keeps coming up in conversation as a possible place to call home, so we've planned an October trip to visit.

We are self employed, can live anywhere while making the same amount of money (about 150,000/year), and are looking for a secluded spot. Trees, 1 acre to 100 acres, whatever it takes to feel like we have our own little piece of perfection. Can you get a secluded spot like that in the city of Portland? On realtor dot com, it appears this is possible, but it's just a bunch of pictures and text, no real world knowledge... We can afford up to $700,000 for a property.

Job market, taxes and COL aren't an issue to us. We'll pay what it takes to finally be happy in a place we fit in.

With that background, could you help with a couple of questions?

1 - Is Portland's progressive reputation exclusive to city central? Downtown? Or does it stretch to the city's outskirts and beyond? Dallas, for example, is a liberal city. But one step into the 'burbs and it gets ultra conservative. We do not want that.

2 - Is Portland full of HOA's? We want to avoid HOA's at all costs. Vermont is famous for being virtually HOA-free, which is a big draw.

We'll probably have more questions as responses roll in, and thanks!

[rhodan653]

I have only been here about two years and don't have all the answers to your questions but I can provide some generalizations. In general, finding large lot properties can be a challenge in Portland. They exist but are a bit rare (more rare than what I am used to coming from the east coast).

You have a fairly high budget and so can probably find what you are looking for but keep in mind that Portland has a strict develpment guideline (search Portland Urban Growth Boundary) that greatly limits use of land. New developments in particular are strictly regulated to achieve a certain density of housing per acre. Older properties will have larger plot sizes than newer ones. There are many developments with HOAs but also quite a few without so again you should be able to find what you want.

I lived right next door to Vermont (in NH) for many years. While both states are liberal, I think Vermont has a bit more rural/hippie liberalism that was a bit more anything goes whereas Portland is a bit more urban liberalism and much more focused on strictly controlling things like development. Vermont just does not have a metro area like Portland and so really does not face the same types of problems. The more rural areas of Oregon are predominatly conservative.

The suburbs of Portland are more moderate than the city proper. I don't think you would run into ultra-conservatism across the board anywhere but the 'burbs in general are more centered. If you picked a more rural town to live in that was away from Portland you would likely find a more conservative mind set, prior research into your choice could reduce that risk however.

Good luck!

[SearchingForOurPlace]

Is the entire area packed full of strip malls? Does it have a lot of areas that look like everything else, everywhere?

[philwithbeard]

I may have mis-read you post....

Is there any reason you specifically want Portland, over say Eugene, OR which is also liberal, home to the big university there, and much easier to find a rural place of a few acres with modest driving to stores.

Follow I-5 South from Portland down to almost to California. That is called the Willamette Valley. For the most part it is called liberal, but really more of 'don't care what your neighbors do, as long as they don't scare the dogs or kids.'

Portland is more Urban, Mass Transit, Arts, Restaurants, book stores, lots of movie theaters, Performing Arts,

You should know that the City of Portland is divided up into neighborhoods.
Neighborhood Maps and Boundaries
Each neighborhood has it's own association / community body....
The difference between a Home Owner's Association and a Neighborhood Association in Portland is the neighborhood associations are part of the City Government, i.e. the 'clean up you yard' notices have a bit more weight with the power of the city behind it.

When I lived on the East Coast, HOA's were actually land / real estate contracts and enforced only as land contracts.

Aside: Oregon is known for having broadband Internet services drop off quite quickly once you get too far from villages and urban communities. There are remote rural places in Oregon that you can only get dial-up modem speeds. If you go with the small farm rural life, double check on the availability of broadband, you may not be able to get ADSL, and cable may not reach you either.

Good Luck.

Phil

[SearchingForOurPlace]

Thanks for the info/help/advice... I guess I would have to say: We like to live in the country.. But our experience with country neighbors has not been good. It's not been bad, we just have nothing in common.. So, we want rural serenity (even if that "feel" is in a city) with educated, city type neighbors. I'm not trying to sound like a close-minded jerk, just trying my darndest to find a place we fit in and not change the place we are.

City amenities are a big draw. My wife loves theater. My daughter loves downtowns of big cities. But we all love the secluded rural life. What a conundrum, eh?

Are you saying we'd fit in better in rural Eugene?

[Rob Allen]

Not that you'd fit better, but that homes with acreage can be found closer to downtown Eugene than you can find in the Portland area. In Portland, a place outside the Urban Growth Boundary is going to be at least a half-hour from downtown, probably more. Eugene is a much smaller city in both population and area, so the countryside isn't so far away.

[John Shaft]

Super liberals looking for that $700K home. Sounds like you'd fit in just nicely in Portland with all the other "eglatarian champions of the people."

[SearchingForOurPlace]

Did I somehow personally offend you to warrant the sarcasm?

I grew up the kid of a janitor and a secretary in a midwest farming town of 1500 people.

I send money to the folks each month to keep them going.

I live in a 1300 square foot house.

We have 1 vehicle.

I'd bend over backward to help you if you were my neighbor.

I'm a good guy who busted rump for ten years, living in a trailer, living in poverty to get to where I am. All on my own.

I certainly can't pay that 700,000 in cash.

That's why Jesus made mortgages.

Did I in some way come off as a rich prick?

What warranted that snarky response?

[davefr]

$700k won't get you much "in the city" w/acreage or reasonable seclusion. You'd be better off looking at Wash. or Clackamas county.

A very large percentage of neighborhoods are HOA's. It's a double edge sword. I would choose to avoid them. You often get some retired people who are the only ones that have the time to serve on the board and they have nothing better to do then nit pick and make trouble.

Downtown Portland is ultra liberal but the outskirts get much more sane. I wouldn't classify any of the burbs as ultra conservative.

[AnotherPDXGuy]

The city of Portland itself is quickly losing large parcels. This is due to deliberate planning decisions, that are replacing these remaining parcels with housing density.

If I were looking for something that truly felt "rural", I would look in the Oregon City/Clackamas area, SE of Portland. Or you could look in Washington County to the west of Portland. You'll find these places less liberal than Portland itself, but far from "conservative" like you'd find in a real red state.

Be aware that liberal means something different here than many places. I considered myself basically a liberal when I moved here. But here I'd actually be considered somewhat right of center and some of the local liberalism drives me nuts sometimes. So you may not want to be right in the middle of things. The moderated liberalism of the suburbs might fit well. Only you know of course....

The type of "urbane-people-in-a-rural-setting" vibe may be harder to find in Oregon than Vermont I believe, because Vermont has been at it for longer, and has many more urbane people living around Vermont. You might look into wine country around McMinnville (SW of Portland) but then you're getting pretty far from the city itself.

You might be able to find something with a small farm feel in West Linn (to the S), but your neighborhood would be mostly large-lot suburban homes, not very rural in nature, more like a leafy fairly well-to-do suburb.

There is a farm-covered island called Sauvie Island to the north of the city. I think it has a few decamped urbanites there, but the overall population is quite small.

You may well want to contact a RE agent or two who specializes in such properties. Or you could come out and rent for a year while checking out the whole Willamette Valley.