Author Topic: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?  (Read 10381 times)

loftygoal

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I currently live in downtown Portland, but my lease is up soon, and I'm looking to move to a more affordable neighborhood. I work in Hillsboro, 13 miles away. My fiance works in Vancouver, WA, 10 miles away, in the opposite direction. We are both recent graduates, gaining experience in our industries, really enjoy our jobs/companies, neither of us want to quit, nor can we telecommute. I currently take the MAX to Hillsboro every day (1 hour each way).
We enjoy living in older, walkable neighborhoods with personality. Ideally only one of us would need a car to get to work. We are willing to take public transportation up to 1 hour each way. I'm thinking North Portland fits this criteria (I would clown car commute to Hillsboro, and my fiance would bike to Vancouver over the I-5 bridge), but would love any creative suggestions.

Exflyboy

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #1 on: March 03, 2015, 10:56:22 PM »
Intel?

Lanthiriel

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #2 on: March 03, 2015, 11:07:42 PM »
Whatever you do, don't move to Hillsboro or Beaverton and make him take the 26. That's just mean.

I think close in NE (think Lloyd Center) might be a good compromise. He wouldn't have to pass through downtown and you should be able to MAX all the way to Hillsboro. I found PadMapper to be super helpful when looking for rentals in Portland.

loftygoal

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #3 on: March 05, 2015, 03:08:16 PM »
Intel?

Nope, not Intel. I'm feel like I'm the only person who commutes from downtown Portland to Hillsboro that doesn't work at Intel.


Whatever you do, don't move to Hillsboro or Beaverton and make him take the 26. That's just mean.

I think close in NE (think Lloyd Center) might be a good compromise. He wouldn't have to pass through downtown and you should be able to MAX all the way to Hillsboro. I found PadMapper to be super helpful when looking for rentals in Portland.

Close in NE would be good if I was renting, but I forgot to mention that I'm looking to buy my first house on a Mustachian budget. Perhaps this cannot be done in Portland right now.

danthelibrarian

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #4 on: March 05, 2015, 03:16:01 PM »
Living on the East side is great, but not for commuting to Hillsboro. If you live close to a Max stop, it might be doable, but it's still a slow trip through downtown. Trying to take a bus from SE to downtown, then switching to Max, is not efficient.

I'd recommend Goose Hollow - close to Max, easy for the fiance to hop onto 405/5 to get to Vancouver.

Or wait until the new light rail line opens in the fall, move to Brooklyn in SE, and help increase my rental's property value! Thanks!

bacchi

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #5 on: March 05, 2015, 03:20:05 PM »
Hmm, Goose Hollow isn't exactly an affordable neighborhood.

FoundPeace

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #6 on: March 05, 2015, 03:29:10 PM »
So, your fiancé pays Oregon income tax? I would at least think about moving across the river to avoid that.

My wife and I are also thinking about moving to N Portland. If you were going to drive anyway, then what about the St. John's area, then you could take the St. John's bridge and avoid some traffic. Also, it looks like that would be a pretty good place to bike into Vancouver.

danthelibrarian

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #7 on: March 09, 2015, 02:02:00 PM »
Really tempted to click Report to Moderator for the suggestion of moving across the river to Vancouver. :-)

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #8 on: May 06, 2015, 09:57:49 AM »
bout moving to N Portland. If you were going to drive anyway, then what about the St. John's area, then you could take the St. John's bridge and avoid some traffic. Also, it looks like that would be a pretty good place to bike into Vancouver.

.....St John's Bridge gets awful traffic.

Krolik

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #9 on: May 06, 2015, 12:12:38 PM »
Whatever you do, don't move to Hillsboro or Beaverton and make him take the 26. That's just mean.

I agree. The commute is HORRIBLE. I did that for three years and it was exhausting. Never again.

protostache

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #10 on: May 06, 2015, 01:09:21 PM »
My wife and I adored the Brooklyn neighborhood when we lived in Portland, but that doesn't really work for your situation. I have two sets of friends friends who live in North Portland (not quite St. John's, sort of where the Fred Meyer is right there by the railroad cut). One set, she works in Vancouver and he works either downtown or out by the airport. The other set, he works downtown and she works at the airport. It seems to work really well for both couples.


James!

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #11 on: May 06, 2015, 01:14:39 PM »
All of your constraints really don't add up to a good long term solution. Do you both think that you'll be at your current jobs long term? Presumably buying a house is a long term proposition. If one of you doesn't see being at your job for more than another few years, than perhaps you optimize where you want the house towards the more likely long term job. Does that make sense?

The reality is that you work in two suburbs in different directions. You've gotta fix that :-)

I live in NE off 29th and Alberta, and commute to Hillsboro (I work on Cornelius pass rd). It sucks, but my wife is less than 1 mile from her job, and you couldn't pay me enough to live in Hillsboro. I typically drive, and it's about 25 min in the AM and 40 in the PM, but I shift my schedule to miss traffic. If I bike (and haul ass), I can get to work in under an hour, riding down to goose hollow, taking the max for two stops to sunset transit, then biking from there.

Hope that helps!

Cheers,
James

monstermonster

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #12 on: May 06, 2015, 01:25:26 PM »
If you're willing to live in a small space, there's a lot of affordable studio and 1bdrm condos (under $170K) in the Goose Hollow/Providence Park/PSU area. The advantage of a downtown location is access to the MAX for you, access to the C-TRAN express bus to Vancouver, and killer walkscores/bikescores for everyday life.

The other advantage: it's really easy to rent out a downtown-ish condo on airbnb or to students, so even if you outgrow a smaller space, it can easily serve as a jumping off rental property.

The Pigeon

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #13 on: May 09, 2015, 12:29:44 PM »
What is the general consensus of the adjacent Vancouver, WA? Looking down the pike for low-tax living solutions for RE, that seems like a great possibility, if the town is decent. I hope to visit the Pacific NW in the next year, but any opinions of the city from the Portlanders-and-adjacent?

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #14 on: May 09, 2015, 05:59:02 PM »
What is the general consensus of the adjacent Vancouver, WA? Looking down the pike for low-tax living solutions for RE, that seems like a great possibility, if the town is decent. I hope to visit the Pacific NW in the next year, but any opinions of the city from the Portlanders-and-adjacent?

It is a VERY different feel. You don't get the same culture, that's for sure. Not nearly as walkable, not very public transit friendly, not as bike friendly. Has some issues with drugs (not that PDX doesn't), but certain areas aren't so bad. Certainly not the same restaurants/parks/hipsters environment. Much more of a strip mall feel to a lot of the areas.

FoundPeace

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #15 on: May 28, 2015, 02:03:06 PM »
What is the general consensus of the adjacent Vancouver, WA? Looking down the pike for low-tax living solutions for RE, that seems like a great possibility, if the town is decent. I hope to visit the Pacific NW in the next year, but any opinions of the city from the Portlanders-and-adjacent?

It is a VERY different feel. You don't get the same culture, that's for sure. Not nearly as walkable, not very public transit friendly, not as bike friendly. Has some issues with drugs (not that PDX doesn't), but certain areas aren't so bad. Certainly not the same restaurants/parks/hipsters environment. Much more of a strip mall feel to a lot of the areas.

This is mostly true. I happen to live in a very walkable part of Vancouver though. I would stay away from down-town Vancouver and a lot of areas are pretty drug-infested. Schools in Portland are pretty much only good in expensive neighborhoods ( $500k+, if you care about that). Also, the feel is very different from Portland. For me the numbers work out slightly in favor of Vancouver and I'm more comfortable having my kids go to school in Vancouver.

Really tempted to click Report to Moderator for the suggestion of moving across the river to Vancouver. :-)

Hey, not everyone wants to live the dream of the 90s. ;)

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #16 on: May 28, 2015, 07:54:43 PM »
What is the general consensus of the adjacent Vancouver, WA? Looking down the pike for low-tax living solutions for RE, that seems like a great possibility, if the town is decent. I hope to visit the Pacific NW in the next year, but any opinions of the city from the Portlanders-and-adjacent?

It is a VERY different feel. You don't get the same culture, that's for sure. Not nearly as walkable, not very public transit friendly, not as bike friendly. Has some issues with drugs (not that PDX doesn't), but certain areas aren't so bad. Certainly not the same restaurants/parks/hipsters environment. Much more of a strip mall feel to a lot of the areas.

This is mostly true. I happen to live in a very walkable part of Vancouver though. I would stay away from down-town Vancouver and a lot of areas are pretty drug-infested. Schools in Portland are pretty much only good in expensive neighborhoods ( $500k+, if you care about that). Also, the feel is very different from Portland. For me the numbers work out slightly in favor of Vancouver and I'm more comfortable having my kids go to school in Vancouver.

Really tempted to click Report to Moderator for the suggestion of moving across the river to Vancouver. :-)

Hey, not everyone wants to live the dream of the 90s. ;)

What area of Vancouver do you live in, if you don't mind me asking? We haven't ruled it out, but since I never have cause to go up there, I don't have any idea where to even begin looking.

pdxvandal

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #17 on: May 28, 2015, 11:46:35 PM »
Piedmont, Concordia or Woodlawn neighborhoods in PDX? You'd save 60 minutes of drive time in your daily commute compared with Vancouver. And commuting to Vancouver for your wife would be easy-peasy.

I like Vancouver, but my life is in PDX and I won't live there while I work full-time in PDX.

kimmarg

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #18 on: May 29, 2015, 03:05:51 AM »
North Deering is very affordable and close to I-95 for the 3000 mile commute to Washington ;) Oh,   Maybe you meant Portland OREGON. This Mainer was confused a minute :)

surfhb

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #19 on: May 29, 2015, 03:16:03 AM »
What's so bad about Hillsboro?   I was just there and thought its a pretty fine place to live.

Then again, I live and work in BF Los Angeles so maybe my perspective is different.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #20 on: May 29, 2015, 07:38:44 AM »
What's so bad about Hillsboro?   I was just there and thought its a pretty fine place to live.

Then again, I live and work in BF Los Angeles so maybe my perspective is different.

It's a million miles from anywhere is my issue with it. A friend moved out there a couple years ago, and it's impossible to see him. The MAX trip out there takes at minimum 45 minutes, and that's coming from W of downtown. And driving on 26? I prefer Dentist visits.

FoundPeace

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #21 on: June 02, 2015, 09:21:41 AM »
What area of Vancouver do you live in, if you don't mind me asking? We haven't ruled it out, but since I never have cause to go up there, I don't have any idea where to even begin looking.

Cascade park

anneinpdx

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Re: What Portland neighborhood should I live in, logistically?
« Reply #22 on: June 02, 2015, 01:41:31 PM »
How about Kenton? You could take Germantown Rd out to Hillsboro and it would be reasonably close to the I-5 bridge for a bike commute.  Also it's near the Max just for general convenience.  It used to be a (relative) bargain but I last bought 5 years ago so am out of the loop on current neighborhood pricing.  I know people who enjoy living in downtown Vancouver.  Not for me personally but I imagine it's significantly cheaper.  That would be a hellish commute for your though.