Portland, OR

[msmb]

Quick question....I believe that Portland was voted one of the best places to raise a family, does anyone have any suggestions as far as good neighborhoods to live around the Portland area?

 

[flyguybri]

Portland Monthly magazine a few issues ago did a review of all of the neighborhoods, it's available on the homepage towards the bottom for download. It's www.portland-monthly.com (without the dash is the magazine for Portland, Maine). There's tons of different areas, if you want I can answer any qeustions you've got.


Edit: I just tried to download it and it keeps crashing acrobat, maybe you'll have better luck.

 

[KCSO780]

My wife is from Beaverton, about 20-30 minutes from down town. Great area, nice schools lots of shopping. Hope you like rain, expect 5+ days of rain each week during the winter months.

 

[XR650R]

Try the Vancouver/Camas area, it's right across the river from Oregon. Better schools, 15 minutes from PDX, and no income tax. Oregon has an income tax of about 9.1% but no sales tax. Live in Washington- no income tax, shop in Oregon- no sales tax. Best of both worlds.

 

[LearLove]

I remember seeing on an HBO program a few years back that Portland, OR had the most strip clubs of any city in the US.

 

[msmb]

Thanks for all the info...I have a Dec. class date at Alaska Airlines and I am looking at all options for relocating. I want a nice area with good schools for the kids and a somewhat easy commute to SEA. Am I asking for too much?? I know the west coast is a lot higher as far as cost of living goes. I thought the info I had on Portland was recent but I guess not....
Any other suggestions are appreciated. I'm not crazy about the Seattle area because of weather and the cost of living.....
REALLY excited Alaska though!!

 

[K-Mart]

Thanks for all the info...I have a Dec. class date at Alaska Airlines and I am looking at all options for relocating. I want a nice area with good schools for the kids and a somewhat easy commute to SEA. Am I asking for too much?? I know the west coast is a lot higher as far as cost of living goes. I thought the info I had on Portland was recent but I guess not....
Any other suggestions are appreciated. I'm not crazy about the Seattle area because of weather and the cost of living.....
REALLY excited Alaska though!!

Commuting to Seattle should be a piece of cake. Plenty of flights plus it's not a far drive. Amtrak will take you there for 25 bucks too.

As far as the weather and cost of living compared to Seattle it's about the same in Portland. Maybe a little less in Portland. If you want to live outside Portland try the areas west of town. Good towns might be Scappose, Verboort, Banks area, or maybe St Helens. Nice rural areas and most likely less expensive than Portland. Good schools from the gouge of high school friends that live there. Overall you can't miss. I grew up there and miss it. But,... the wife and I will be back in a couple of years.

Congratulations!!

 

[JetSpeed219]

I live in Vancouver and lived in Portland and much prefer Vancouver and highly recommend it.

 

[qxdash8]

As many a Horizon or Alaska pilot can tell you, the PDX/SEA commute isn't as easy as in might seem. Horizon does have flights every half hour or so, but they can be very hard to get on. Many of them are with the Dash 8-200, and with our recent passenger weight adjustment, we are quite often unable to take a jumpseater.
Also, since we have so many flights a day, the PDX/SEA shuttle seems to have more then its fair share of cancellations.
It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive from PDX to SEA with no traffic.
I live in the Seattle area, and really like it. True, it can be a bit wet in the winter, however when the weathers nice, there are few better places to be!
Just some things to think about as you make your decision.

Congrats on the new job, by the way!

 

[Dave Benjamin]

West Linn and Lake Oswego have excellent schools and are very popular communities for families.

Feel free to PM me for further info.

 

[coolyokeluke]

West Linn and Lake Oswego have excellent schools and are very popular communities for families.

Feel free to PM me for further info.

West Linn or Lake Oswego on first year pay? Beverly Hills is nice too.

 

[Buckaroo]

PDX is a very Liberal minded city - full of hippies and dope smoking tree huggers.

 

[Dave Benjamin]

West Linn or Lake Oswego on first year pay? Beverly Hills is nice too.

You don't know the real estate market here that well. You can still find some decent buys. We bought our place when I was a regional FO. It's gone up about 50% since then but you can still find homes in the 200-300K price range. If the gentleman who started this thread uses a mortgage that offers a low fixed rate for the first 3-5 years of the loan he could buy a 300K home and have mortgage payment of around 1200 a month.

Visit www.RMLS.com and select SFR's in Lake O and West Linn for under 300K and see what you come up with.

Like anything else you get what you pay for. Lake O and West Linn are highly desirable and will appreciate nicely in the future. If you buy a place out in the sticks your results may vary.

 

[Dave Benjamin]

PDX is a very Liberal minded city - full of hippies and dope smoking tree huggers.

You'll still find a few intolerant rednecks around here so you might feel right at home.

 

[flx757]

I will agree that the PDX/SEA commute is extremely difficult. The Dash-8-200s seem to be restricted to about 34 pax (which eliminates the jumpseat altogether) and there are A LOT of people competing for these seats, not to mention positive space deadheading QX crewmembers.

I will also agree that the cost of living in Seattle is high, but as far as the weather goes...it's pretty much the same in Portland as it is here, except the ice storms seem MUCH worse there along the Columbia River basin.

One other consideration. If you are in the Dec class at Alaska, you will not be based in Seattle...so you will initially be commuting to either ANC or LAX, if that weighs into your decision.