moving to Portland and need a little help

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WarriorFan said:
So I got a job offer that would require me to move to portland and I was hoping some of you guys can help me out with what neighborhoods are good for kids and have decent schools (or should I be looking for private schools).

My budget would be around 300K, though I'd like to spend less, and realtor.com shows me some great houses but I'm having lots of trouble finding neighborhood info.

Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance.
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Though it would be at the top range of your budget, Lake Oswego just made a list of "best" public schools in the U.S. where most of the rest of the towns on the list were multi-million dollar homes.

Where is job located? you didn't say.

You didn't say type of housing or size needed.

If you want suburban living and the job is downtown your best bets are Lake Oswego and Beaverton.

Both are decently run cities that are separate from Portland, outside of Multnomah County, have their own Police departments, have much lower crime rates and much better public schools.

Lake Oswego is nicer and has the snobbier population to go with it. Beaverton has more income diversity and isn't as lilly white as L.O. with some Latino and Asian residents.
 
Treaty_of_Batum said:
Bethany is one of my favorite areas (great homes, good schools and less than 15 min to downtown) . . . but don't think you can find a house for 300K. Love Lake Oswego too, but same problem.

That damn Murryhill takes 20 mins just to get to the freeway . . . hard to beat the schools though.
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Ten years ago I moved to Murryhill. I nearly went insane dealing with the commute to downtown. Really, its not all that bad (though we took surface streets most mornings because the highways are worthless during rush hour). I complained to my family in LA, and they laughed. They deal with worse traffic tying to get to their gym class. After two years I moved back to town.
 
Masbee said:
Ten years ago I moved to Murryhill. I nearly went insane dealing with the commute to downtown. Really, its not all that bad (though we took surface streets most mornings because the highways are worthless during rush hour). I complained to my family in LA, and they laughed. They deal with worse traffic tying to get to their gym class. After two years I moved back to town.
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MURRAY TO CANYON ROAD TO 26. :MARIS61:
 
Mediocre Man said:
Clackamas, towards 152nd is a good area. Good schools (absolutely no need for private schools in Portland) With your budget, you are fairly limited. Another option is across the river in Vancouver, WA.

IMO, stay the hell away from the west side, unless you will be working there? If you are downtown though, stay east. Stay away from north and northeast Portland and Gresham is becoming pretty shitty as well.
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Outer Southeast (Clackamas you mentioned) and Vancouver, WA are bad ideas for someone who works downtown. The commute is just too long.
 
Mediocre Man said:
West Linn
Clackamas
Tualatin
Wilsonville
Canby
Sherwood

probably your best bet. Commute gets longer after Tualatin
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I live in Tualatin ... took me only 20 minutes to get downtown from my door to SW 2nd this morning leaving at 7:45.

I'll add the Bethany area as a great place, too. Take Barnes Rd to downtown and it's an easy commute.
 
alex42083 said:
Best school districts (not in any order):
1. Lake Oswego [yes, and commute moderate]
2. West Linn/Wilsonville [too far to downtown]
3. Tualatin [too far]
4. Sherwood [too far]
5. Clackamas [too far]
6. Some of Beaverton [large city, parts are too far, ie MurrayHill]

If your kids are in high school and are good athletes, send them to Jesuit if you can afford it as a private school.
Stay away from Portland Public Schools. They're a mess.
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Jesuit has an excellent reputation. And if you send your kids there, you have more options for housing that is closer to downtown:

Hillsdale, Multnomah Village, Southwest, Raliegh Hills, and more.

With all these posts, I think we just confused the crap out of this guy with a whole bunch of conflicting advice.

"Portland public schools are fine"
"Portland public schools should be avoided"
"Look at X" 45+ minute rush hour commute to downtown.
 
Masbee said:
Though it would be at the top range of your budget, Lake Oswego just made a list of "best" public schools in the U.S. where most of the rest of the towns on the list were multi-million dollar homes.
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One thing about Lake O is that while the schools are good, they're also closing at least one elementary school for next year, which means the potential for overcrowding at the other schools. They haven't cut funding for stuff like TAG, though, so they keep their excellent rating. They're advertising/mailing TAG parents in our school district to send our kids to Lake O for only $5500/year. While that may sound like a lot, for the actual TAG education your kids get, it's a pretty good deal, and my wife and I are considering it for our oldest once she hits 6th grade.
 
Lakeridge = ghetto azz ghetto. all i remember about lake oswego is that's where all the hot rich white chicks were at in high school. :MARIS61:
 
If you don't like the idea of cookie cutter kind of houses, SW portland has cool 70s houses with nice gardens and shit like that. but then again, its not the best place to walk around at night (mainly due to the way the roads are, not the neighborhoods themselves).

old school!
 
Treaty_of_Batum said:
Murry to Allen to the 217 to the 26 . . . saves you 5-8 minswutes :)
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yeah, but then you can't get a lapdance at those 24 hour strip clubs on canyon. :MARIS61:

actually that's the way i usually take. well, usually Scholls ferry to 217.
 
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EL PRESIDENTE said:
here, its right between murray hill and bull mountain area.

New Seasons is a kickass grocery
state of the art movie theatre
Big Al's for gigantic big screen to watch games....
safe neighborhoods

http://www.gramor.com/locations/progress_ridge_townsquare/features


other good area in Tualatin is near Bridgeport Village.
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Progress Ridge wins for Big Al's and Cinetopia, but loses because it takes 20 minutes just to get to 217 if you're going downtown.

We're hitting Cinetopia on Friday night for That's My Dad. Love that theater.
 
Masbee said:
Best school districts (not in any order):
1. Lake Oswego [yes, and commute moderate]
2. West Linn/Wilsonville [too far to downtown]
3. Tualatin [too far]
4. Sherwood [too far]
5. Clackamas [too far]
6. Some of Beaverton [large city, parts are too far, ie MurrayHill]

Jesuit has an excellent reputation. And if you send your kids there, you have more options for housing that is closer to downtown:

Hillsdale, Multnomah Village, Southwest, Raliegh Hills, and more.

With all these posts, I think we just confused the crap out of this guy with a whole bunch of conflicting advice.

"Portland public schools are fine"
"Portland public schools should be avoided"
"Look at X" 45+ minute rush hour commute to downtown.
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West Linn, Clackamas, Tualatin and Sherwood are too far? A lot of people who live there work in downtown Portland. This isn't LA where it takes forever to get around.
 
PapaG said:
Progress Ridge wins for Big Al's and Cinetopia, but loses because it takes 20 minutes just to get to 217 if you're going downtown.

We're hitting Cinetopia on Friday night for That's My Dad. Love that theater.
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15 with heavy traffic. 5 min without any traffic. 20 minutes to get to 26 taking Murray road all the way down.
 
EL PRESIDENTE said:
15 with heavy traffic. 5 min without any traffic. 20 minutes to get to 26 taking Murray road all the way down.
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26 inbound sucks, though. Our first house after college was off of 149th and Murray. My wife worked downtown then and just took the Max from one of the Park and Rides just north of Canyon.
 
Tualatin is the best suburb of Portland! Very well rounded, not too big, lots of parks, stores and restaurants. Easy interstate access, only 20 minutes to downtown. Lots of houses for sale right now between 200k and 300k. Very nice schools.
 
Treaty_of_Batum said:
Murry to Allen to the 217 to the 26 . . . saves you 5-8 minutes :)
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Both wrong: When I lived in Murray Hill, Murray Blvd was under construction for part of the time and was a disaster. And even still, it takes you somewhat in the wrong direction and then dumps you on Highway 26 into very heavy traffic. As I said before, the highways (217 & 26) were worthless during morning peak rush hour. And Allen is slow with school zones, low speed limit and red light cameras everwhere. The route was:

Get to Brockman/Greenway to Hall Blvd, cut through a neighborhood street to Denny Rd. Get on 217. and exit at Canyon Road. If 217 stopped, stay on Denny to Scholls Ferry.
 
Masbee said:
Both wrong: When I lived in Murray Hill, Murray Blvd was under construction for part of the time and was a disaster. And even still, it takes you somewhat in the wrong direction and then dumps you on Highway 26 into very heavy traffic. As I said before, the highways (217 & 26) were worthless during morning peak rush hour. And Allen is slow with school zones, low speed limit and red light cameras everwhere. The route was:

Get to Brockman/Greenway to Hall Blvd, cut through a neighborhood street to Denny Rd. Get on 217. and exit at Canyon Road. If 217 stopped, stay on Denny to Scholls Ferry.
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I do take that way too. Usually take Sorrento Road instead of Greenway, hate that left turn by the albertsons.

I actually sometimes exit 217 at walker road then turn right and get dumped out by the plaid pantry on canyon.
 
E.Vancouver/Camas. Great schools without the severe $$ issues that face most of the Portland area schools. Lots of new business developement in the E.Vancouver area that fills up fast. Resteraunts, grocery, retail, etc. etc.
 
oregonians think that people in Vancouver are weirdos. just the stereotype.
 
PapaG said:
One thing about Lake O is that while the schools are good, they're also closing at least one elementary school for next year, which means the potential for overcrowding at the other schools. They haven't cut funding for stuff like TAG, though, so they keep their excellent rating. They're advertising/mailing TAG parents in our school district to send our kids to Lake O for only $5500/year. While that may sound like a lot, for the actual TAG education your kids get, it's a pretty good deal, and my wife and I are considering it for our oldest once she hits 6th grade.
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Better give up on that dream, I am a product of the TAG program in the LO school district. :MARIS61:
 
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