Portland Oregon - Please tell me more

[French Fry]

My wife and I are considering moving to Portland, or within a 30 min circle.

I've spent a few days there, mostly downtown.

What are some of the towns I should be looking at?

I've been looking mostly on the east side, simply for easier general access to mt hood, so I don't know anything about the towns on south and east of the city.

Should I consider towns in washington?

This would be a rather permanent move, at least the next 15 yrs or so, and my primary motivation would be an excellent school district for my kids (toddlers right now), but easy access to live music would be great. So I guess I'm looking for a nice mix of city and suburb.

I would be working from home for my current employer for the next couple years, but would eventually need to work somewhere out there (IT), so commute times are also a factor for me.

Thanks in advance!

[Mudder]

If you're into mountain sports, but still want to be within an AM commute to Portland, then I'd say Gresham, Fairview, Troutdale, Damascus, Boring, maybe Sandy are all towns that cover that pretty well. The housing market is down in PDX and surrounding towns right now, a good time to buy as any here.

In Washington, Camas and Washougal are right across the river from Gresham/Fairview/Troutdale, but the closest bridge is west about 10-15 min, or 30 min east.

Would you be working in the city or from home?

[EelEye]

Man, I LOVE Portland. I just wish I could find a high-paying job there.

I personally like the Southwest Hills area (SW of downtown). I have seriously looked at buying something in Portland...one of my favorite places.

[sharpshooter]

The biggest problem with living on the Wash. side, is that their are only two bridges across the river, and the am/pm commute is a slow moving parking lot.
The section of the MAX light rail system that runs between Gresham and Portland makes for a much easier trip.
Lots of music venues in all directions, the East side does seem to have more then the other areas,,,but everything is pretty close,, the city is not that large.
Bring rain gear,,,.

[wstsidela]

Great artsy town. No sales tax. Lots of rain.

[SideBMusic]

I'm lookin' to move up there from Southern California in a few years. Can't decide on what area yet, but we want to be away from the city. I look forward to the comments in this thread to help give me ideas.

We are thinking of buying a small house and building an art and recording studio.

[DC1]

They hate californians. Be aware.



dc

[lucky111]

Having lived here my whole life, and in all areas of that 30 min circle you're talking about, that's one of the best things about Portland--wherever you live, you're only about 30-45 minutes from the other complete opposite side of town depending on traffic.

Take a look at the Clackamas/Happy Valley area--great school district (I'm a Special Education teacher). I'd agree with Damascus/Boring as well, Gresham/Barlow School District is still in pretty good shape.

If you're willing to go south just a bit, but still within your 30 minutes of downtown rule, I'd definitely recommend Tualatin, Lake Oswego & West Linn.

Portland is a great town! Hope you enjoy it.

Cheers!
lucky

[Scott Miller]

I have family there. South has some nice burbs; Gladstone, Milwaukie, Oregon City. Washington has lots of new development. Beaverton, Tigard, I'm not too wild about. On the east side, Hawthorne/Mt. Tabor are cheapish but decent neighborhoods. You will recognize the bad parts of town (north) just driving through them. If I were moving there, I would go out in the burbs, get a small house with a half an acre, and grow a ton of tomatoes. You can go crazy gardening up there.

Where are you on the political spectrum? Doesn't matter; Oregon has it all, from the stuck-in-the-sixties Eugene to the um... reactionary wackos of the Illinois Valley. It's weird that way, but interesting.

Being from California, I never found any anti-California sentiments.

[WahmBoomAh]

A warning!
If you want to keep your family together stay AWAY from Koll guitars !!!

[French Fry]

Thanks!
I guess I'm trying to stay within 30 min of downtown, but I guess I don't know where I'll be working in a few years. Is downtown portland where the bulk of the companies are?

I work in software development. To a certain extent, I can always work from home 100% but I enjoy having an office environment to go to. We're looking to move maybe late summer of 2011.

I do enjoy mountain sports so the closer to mt hood, the better, but it doesn't seem like that big a deal to cross the city east west.

Sounds like I wouldn't want to deal with living in washington and commuting.

Coming from the Boston area, I'm quite familiar with traffic and rain. From what I gather, the rain patterns in portland are quite different. Weather moves faster so perhaps there is rain coming in and out frequently, but it's generally a pretty light rain. (at least that's what I experienced while I was there and what people seemed to try to explain to me.)

I don't mind rain so much, but I hate traffic. I'm going on the assumption that heavy traffic means very different things in portland and boston. Is that assumption somewhat correct?

[French Fry]

Originally Posted by WahmBoomAh

A warning!
If you want to keep your family together stay AWAY from Koll guitars !!!

Thanks! I didn't know Koll guitars was in that area. That does not spell trouble for me .

[Jerrod]

Originally Posted by DC1

They hate californians. Be aware.



dc

[Atmospheric]

The wife and I totally dig it. It has exceeded expectations on every level.

Newberg is 22 miles southwest, the first town over the Washington/Yamhill county line. The northern gateway to the Willamette Valley.

It's super family friendly with a great smallish town vibe. But yet, it's also a college town, so you get that influx of young energy that I find really appealing as well.

Portland (and PDX airport) is still plenty close, but also far enough away if you get my drift.

Portland proper is a great city, but (sadly) it (and Salem) have significant gang/crime issues. In fact, Portland and Seattle regularly make the FBI's list of top 10 most dangerous cities (right up there with Baltimore, Detroit, L.A. and New York). I've never felt in danger walking the streets of Portland at night, but then again I pick my spots.

Oh yeah, don't let people steer you away with the urban myth stuff about Oregonians hating out-of-staters. My wife and I are originally from So Cal. I think Oregonians are some of the friendliest most decent people I have ever met. It's a culture shock in the best sense of the word.

It also doesn't rain quite as much as urban myth would have you believe. It's kind of like Hawaii when it rains - there is often part of the day when it is sunny. It is always beautiful and green. The climate agrees with me, but then again I am 50% French Canadian.

Oregon is my home now.

[fredgarvin]

Gresham would be a good choice imo. Easy access to the city, MAX rail and you can find homes virtually next to the Sandy river. Quick mt. Hood access too.