I do not know Portland Oregon very well. I lived there for 6 quick months several years back but never really got a chance to know the different areas of the city.
Now, the family and I are moving back.
What is a good area to live?
We are looking to buy a cheap house $125-150k.
The wife works in Beaverton and as I am a techy type person I suppose I will end up there as well.
We don’t mind commuting a little each day and considered Forest Grove as a place to live. It seems like a nice little town.
I like Forest Grove fine. Some people seem to mind the partial migrant worker population, but it makes the place less homogeneous than a lot of the Portland satillite towns. And they have the BESTEST pizza place-- Pizza Schmeetza. Glorious.
Yes, live in Vancouver, and pay Washington sales tax and Oregon income tax.
There are areas in Tigard that are nice, but I don’t know the price range. The commute, although nothing campared to Seattle or San Francisco, is still a pain. I’d recommend Tualitin–yeah, it’s pure suburbia, but there’s a lot of new building, so the market may be good, and it’s a straight shot into downtown, quick and easy, except at rush hour. For an older home with some character, try the southeast–but the commute will be a bear.
We live close-in Southeast, and it’s a great area. We have a very nice smaller 50 year old house; it’s actually pretty new for the area. Most are 1920 style homes. Unfortunately, you won’t find much in that price range - our 3bd/2ba was around 220k, and that’s fairly typical. Our property taxes are pretty high, being in the city limits. The commute isn’t too horrible to Beaverton, my husband works there and has about 30 minutes in traffic a day. (He also carpools, which is pretty common)
The SW burbs aren’t quite as expensive, and there are a lot of newer homes and a lot of developments, for less money now because the tech industry out here is SO bad that people are leaving en masse. (Really, it’s quite bad.) Keep in mind our unemployment rate is 11%, but supposedly getting better.
There’s an area called Multnomah Village that we almost bought a house in. It’s really a nice area, in SW, not far from either Beaverton or downtown. The houses all seemed to be in the 175K range. (± 50k)
Vancouver is much less expensive, but like Kallessa said, you’ll pay Oregon income tax and Washington sales tax, so it kind of balances out (we have no sales tax in Oregon)
Orenco Station is a new area, planned and developed around the tech industry. It’s (IMO) a cute artificial town, with low housing costs, mostly apartments - maybe worth considering for the period of time you’re looking to find a permanent home. I’d definitely recommend living here for a while, getting to know the area, then choosing a neighborhood. Apartments are very easy to come by and very affordable.
Northwest: lots of shops and restaurants and a mix of apts and single family houses. Frightfully expensive, however. About 15-20 minutes to Beaverton.
Pearl District: Converted warehouse lofts. Even more expensive. 15-20 minutes to Beaverton.
Hawthorne: Tie-dye heaven. Cheaper and younger than Northwest. About 30 minutes to Beaverton.
Northeast: Residential neighberhood. Lots of big houses. Near to public transportation. Less expensive than Pearl District or Northwest. About 30 minutes to Beaverton.
Multnomah Village is a really neat area. Shops, restaurants, and single family houses. Not too bad a commute to Beaverton
Vancouver is pretty dead. Tigard is strip malls.
I am an urban guy, so only go to Forest Grove when I want to get authentic Mexican food.
There used to be a great place for brunch in Multnomah Village–Marco’s. Omelets to die for. And there was an old fashion diner around the corner, been there for years–great burgers. Yes, it’s true, I know a town by its food. Who cares about affordable housing when there’s a great bakery on the corner! Ahhhhhh, como bread, mmmmmmm.
Even hipper in town (current crypto-gentrification for the young and hip who don’t mind living in edgy areas, which they will soon completely take over) is north Portland (a number of neighborhoods, traditionally black, in which people are snatching up nice old large fixer-uppers pretty cheap), Belmont (a bit north of Hawthorne) and Sellwood (far south southeast-- fairly pleasant and, which it would LOOK like a decent commute is actually hellish because of a smallish bridge, unless they’ve replaced that recently).
I though the trick to living in Vancouver was to avoid OR property taxes while doing your shopping at Jantzen Beach?
I’d also vote for Southeast, particularly Belmont, Hawthorne and Mount Tabor. But these areas are pretty expensive. It’s not very hip at the moment, but the Kent neighborhood in NE might be good if you like to gamble. Could be a very nice area in 5-10 years time. Friend of mine just moved their and got a good deal on 1930s house.
Beaverton is lots of suburban sprawl (sorry, Beavertonites).
Aaah, Kalessa You’re my kind of person. Foooooood…
Kent is a cute little neighborhood, and I agree that it could be a nice area in a few more years. Closer in is Alberta district, which is also supposed to be up and coming (those are both Northeast)
Irvington (NE) is very nice, easy to downtown and freeway, but more expensive.
Woodstock in SE is trendy, and coming up, but in an area that makes it a pain to get to a bridge.
Everywhere is pretty well covered by public transportation, and NE has access to light rail - it runs to Beaverton and is actually a really nice system. Within a few years they will also have it completed to North Portland, which (like ** capybara** mentioned has a lot of lower priced fixerupper type homes.) There’s also a lot of political issues about land use in that area lately because of that.
I’ll vote for Mt Tabor, just because I’m here and I like it so much. We have breakfast joints…
I’ve always thought of Mt. Tabor as a bit annoying to get through. (narrow streets, lots of cars…) Do you find it that way, living there or do you get used to it? Or do you not know what I"m talking about, you’ve never thought of it as a problem?
Hm. I’ve really never had a problem with it, but I usually use either Division or Hawthorne to travel East/West. Up around 70th or so, at the top of the hill is windier and more annoying, to be sure.
A lot of the residential streets are narrow and have parking issues. I’m just superlucky, I live on a wide street that everyone has a driveway and garage, so it’s pretty nice. I definitely know why you’d think that. I recall when I first moved spending a few weeks trying to figure out the best way off the hill - I’d zig zag down the hill across blocks until I just gave up and started using the major streets. Traffic only stinks on Hawthorne on weekends, that I’ve found. (I blame all the people coming to eat breakfast.)
I spent four of the best years of my life at Reed College in Portland. I miss both Reed and Portland dearly. I also miss Powell’s Books: the best bookstore in the English-speaking world. Oh yeah, and I also miss Macheesmo Mouse. And the roses. And the roundabouts. And the pubs. And Artichoke Music. And…
