OT: Portland Oregon
- Thread starter Vermilion
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The cost of living in Vancouver in much less expensive than Portland. She could live just over one of the bridges in a neighborhoods and have a 5 minute uber to downtown Portland. Pick a neighborhood with some bars and restaurants that she could easily walk to as well. Pot laws are a bit more restrictive in Washington but it is legal on private property.
I've lived in Portland since 1995, so feel free to ask anything.
The City is essentially divided into 4 quadrants. The Willamette River runs south to north and divides the east and west. Burnside St is a major corridor and runs east-west, separating north side from south side. So you have SW (business district, but also a lot of suburb type living outside the CBD), SE, NE, and NW. There is actually one misfit district that is called North Portland, so I lied and there are actually 5 areas.
I would personally steer her toward the inner NE and SE and from the Willamette River to about 65th Ave (the streets go up in number starting at the river). There are a lot of cool neighborhoods in these areas. For someone 22, I would mostly focus in SE Portland from Burnside to Powell Blvd and from 11th Ave to about 50th St. Lots of bars, restaurants, and nightlife. This is where I lived in my 20s and 30s.
If she wants to be closer to downtown, there are two pretty hot areas in NW Portland - the Pearl (little more high end) and NW 23rd (super hipster, but a bit pricey).
Despite what you may hear on certain media outlets, the City is mostly beautiful and livable. The access to outdoor activities and incredible food is second to none. Let me know if you want to chat directly and we'll figure out a way. Feel free to bounce thoughts off me during the search. Oh, and if she needs a place to stay for a few days, we just became empty nesters and have free rooms - seriously.
my ex-wife is from Portand, so stay away from 149th and SE Lincoln in Gresham-ish.....
in all seriousness, i actually really liked Portland. tons of beer, generally good people, beautiful scenery and lots of outdoor stuff to do.
in all seriousness, i actually really liked Portland. tons of beer, generally good people, beautiful scenery and lots of outdoor stuff to do.
we divorced in '08, so my experience there was 15+ years ago. Didnt' feel that bad back then, but i'm sure, as with most things, it's changed
Yeah, gentrification has pushed people out into that area. Combined with the pandemic, that area has grown even more sketchy in the past few years. did you have any favorite spots?
We were married when I was stationed in Alaska and Vegas so we didn’t get there enough for me to really know the area. I remember golfing at glendoveer and her mom and dad had a lake house on the pine hollow reservoir.
Grant, what are your thoughts on this link?
2024 Best Portland Area Neighborhoods for Young Professionals - Niche
That is pretty reliable. My thoughts....
#1Kerns, #Sullivans Gulch, #9 Lloyd Center (this one may not be the best), #12 Irvington (my hood - very nice), #15 Boise, and #19 King (could be a little patchy) - these are all in the inner NE quadrant that I suggested. #23 Hollywood is actually a really nice area too, but it will be a little more family oriented. #5 Eliot is also in this area, but I think this could be a little gritty
#6 Sunnyside, #7 Buckman, #10 Hosford-Abernathy, #16 Creston-Kenilworth, #17 Richmond - these are all in the inner SE quadrant that I suggested. I would start here. Very young and fun.
#2 Pearl, #4 NW District - these are the ones I suggested if she wants to be near downtown. Definitely more urban than inner NE and SE. #3 Goose Hollow is also very close to downtown. I can see this being a cool area, but also very urban and may be some homeless activity on the fringes.
#13 South Portland - I didn't want to confuse things, but this is actually a 6th area that was just recently broken out from SW Portland. This also fits in the 'near downtown' area. The "South Waterfront" is a relatively newly developed area that is just off downtown and right next to the river. Almost entirely high-rises, but pretty nice spot. May be tough to have a car here, but good access to the trolley that runs through downtown.
I went to Portland for a wedding about 22 years ago and loved it. It was a lovely city and I felt really comfortable walking around. We stopped in downtown Portland two years ago on our way to the airport and it was pretty nasty. Didn’t feel safe at all so we got some food to go and headed to the hotel.
Downtown got hit hard by the pandemic. A lot of people worked from home so offices were empty and the homeless situation got bad. You probably saw it at it's worst. It's not all the way back, but a lot better than 2 years ago.
I spent a lot of time in Portland when I lived in Seattle. 25 years ago one of my friends ran his tech start up out of the penthouse apartment of the Ione Plaza (1717 SW Park Ave) and another friend that worked for my company lived in the apartment below and shared a T1 line with them. Back in the day that was the best internet you could get (1.5 Mbps LOL). Great times and a great area, but it's been maybe 10 years since I've been down there. Looks like Ione is now called the Vue, so maybe worth looking into.
What a coincidence. I lived in the Ione Plaza when I first moved to Portland (you nailed the address). It was a good place to start, but we moved to SE Portland within a year. I preferred the neighborhood feel to downtown.
Nothing the matter with that! Portland, ME is great! I would love to make it out to Portland, OR, though….
Grant, We have an apartment hunting trip October 9-12. My daughter doesn't land until 7:30 PT and I get in much earlier. Would I be able to check out some apartments without having a car, meaning I could take a train or subway to a few locations before my daughter arrives?
That would be pretty difficult. It would have to be by bus. There is no subway and the light rail probably isn't what you want. I think the area you will be searching in is probably smaller than you are imagining, so car is really best. We do have an 09 Toyota RAV4 that you can borrow if you want. It's the kids car, so it won't be super nice, but it works.
Have you done a prelim search on Zillow? I would start in the red area and then consider orange. If it doesn't fit her budget, the yellow area is worth checking out. Historically not as great, but it has been improving a lot in the past 10 years.
I guess on this board we are not allowed to address why Portland went bad when talking about Portland. Why am I not surprised.
Grant and friends, we are staying at the Courtyard by Marriott on Anchors Way starting tomorrow. Any fun medium-priced restaurants you would recommend. Any advice on things to do in the area between apartment hunting trips?
I assume that you rented a car. Your hotel is in a pretty dead area so you will have to drive.
I hate to recommend anything outside of Portland, but since you are so far north, Waterfront Way in Vancouver, WA (just across the Columbia River) is a nice little area to walk around and get dinner/drinks. Grassa is a pretty cheap Italian restaurant, but not a full service restaurant (you order at the counter and you may be at a long table with others).
I'll give you three cool areas on the north side of Portland. Your hotel is as far north as you can get.
1. North Williams and Fremont St (enter that intersection in your nav app). A number of good places to eat including EEM, which is my favorite restaurant in Portland. It is Thai/BBQ fusion and it is spectacular. One other place I like is Life of Pie Pizza.
2. Mississippi Ave (navigate to Mississippi ave and Skidmore st). There is a German bar called Prost at this intersection and there are 5 or 6 food carts in the parking lot. The food at the carts is excellent and this defines Portland's food cart scene. It will be outdoor, group seating but it's a really cool spot. A number of shops, bars and restaurants along Mississippi St.
3. NE Alberta St (nav to Alberta and anywhere from NE 11th to NE 30th). Chaba Thai (we like our Thai food) is a good inexpensive place. Bamboo Sushi also good (outstanding waygu burger). Pine State Biscuits for breakfast/lunch (it's more than just biscuits).
Feel free to shoot me questions. I'm happy to give you my cell number if there is a way to DM and not post it on this board.
PS. The Willamette River divides the City into east and west (hotel is on the east). Numbered streets go up as you move away from the river in either direction.
You introduced politics into a very nice thread, which is against board policy, so you shouldn't be surprised.
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