Most desireable neighborhood in Portland proper?

This is how I feel. Although even with a family, I'd choose to live in a smaller house in the city rather than some McMansion in the burbs. I don't go out much, but the vibe/energy of the city cannot be found in the the burbs. I probably wouldn't move downtown/Pearl like I am in SD (I'm right on the edge of the gas lamp), but depending on how much I had to spend, I'd move to one of the neighborhoods in NE/SE.

 

You people crack me up talking about living in Sherwood or wherever. You just can't compare inner city to out there. There is no culture out in the burbs. Give me crime and diversity over that vanilla shit anyway. I'd love to have a get together in my neighborhood and have you guys over just so you would open your eyes just bit. Within walking distance from my house we have coffee shops, art galleries,amazing restaurants, book stores, you name it. You guys can keep those cookie cutter whitebread houses out in the burbs. And as far as this thread goes he said neighborhoods IN Portland.

 

I have kids. Education is important to me. LO and West Linn have the best public schools in the state, FAMS. As a parent, I feel some serious responsibility to provide my children the best education possible. I'm not hating on the "culture" around you, it just doesn't interest me. I lived in SE PDX, and I have lots of family there. I just prefer my house and neighborhood to living in the "inner city" (if that's what you call it).

And yes, we all noticed he said in Portland (well, Portland proper). And the conversation shifted some. Did you read the thread, FAMS??

 

You should send them to Jesuit then.

hoop fam

 

Yes, spend a bunch of money to send them to Jesuit when they have access to the top school district in the state, and I prefer to live in the suburbs?

 

Yes. The top of a steaming pile of shit is still shit.

hoop fam

 

You mixing OR public schools with CA public schools again?

 

You hit the nail on the head, playboi. I take the culture every time and I've seen both sides.

 

I can respect that. I have kids and although Portland Public Schools has its problems (like most districts) we are fortunate to live in one of the best. It just stings sometimes to hear people who live out there who OBVIOUSLY have never been to our area hate so much on it, when there is so much to offer lifestyle wise.


Sent from HCPs Baller-Ass iPhone 5...FAMS!

 

How are those schools on the east side?

It's funny that people on the east think people on the west don't know what is on the east or don't seem to understand the advantages the westside has. I'm not saying east is bad or west is better, just that there are differences and reasons why people choose east and west. Portland is relatively small and I'm guessing most posters have lived on both sides or at very least had exposure to both. For me, it's a been there done that kind of thing with the east. At this stage in my life I need more of what the west offers and will take the lack of restaurants and "character" for good schools and large pieces of property with a big home. (Been on the westside for 10 yrs now and could actually see myself returning to Portland someday. But it would probably be downtown in a luxury condo . . . with no yard what so ever.)

Point is, what is important to each person can change over time and there really is no wrong or right place to live. Eastside has some great aspects to it and I like the fact I am just a short ride out there. I also would recommend to anyone coming to Ptd to start out living on the eastside. But at some point schools, safe neighborhoods, bigger houses with modern conveniences and less repairs work, larger pieces of property with big yards and space for toys become more important to some. Not to mention high paying jobs are more readily available on the west side. So rip on the westside, but "diversity" (are we really going to pump up Ptd diversity) and "character" are not the end all and be all of where to choose to live for many. In fact if you want diversity, Seattle kicks ass over Ptd . . . which actually wouldn't be a bad place to retire, but I digress.

 

Psh, I've been everywhere in the Metro area. I went to summer school out at Grant. My sister had a close friend who lived a few blocks from the high school. My pops owns a business on Hawthorne. I've spent plenty of time on the east side, enough to know I would never live there. I've been out to the sticks in Oregon City, Canby, etc, and I've been up to Hillsboro and Northwest Portland. The last place I'd live is NoPo..... well..... maybe I'd live in NoPo instead of like 82nd.

 

I'm talking within the city limits. I think some of you are including Beaverton as westside.

 

There's great parts of North Portland. Or, maybe its just great to me. I dunno.

What kind of business does your dad run? I spend all day on Hawthorne. Its starting to grow on me, even though it is the essence of 'Portlandia'.

 

REPPED!
SE is for transplants*. And on the westside, anything outside of downtown/Pearl/23rd is essentially the 'burbs.

*That said, there are several areas in SE I wouldn't mind living.

 

99 does suck at rush hour I would not go on it then but you can go over to i5 or take back roads. I work in Wilsonville so obviously traffic didn’t bother me But I would often go to girlfriends out by Nike and Intel at rush hour or downtown a couple nights a week and it wasn’t bad at all.

I never locked my car in Sherwood and had zero problems. Always felt safe at night. Trashy people I saw in Sherwood just seemed like fat slobs on their way to McDonalds. Not fun to look at but totally harmless.

Totally different than in Portland where I had stereo’s stolen out of cars with alarms and meth addicts along the springwater corridor. I grew up in a nice part of SE Portland but there were tons more trashy and even some scary people all over the place.

I don’t get why there is this city vs burbs debate… Yes they both have a few unique advantages, but I think most everyone would rather live in the middle of the city if they could afford it. Some areas in the city are insanely expensive where you can get a house for less than half the price a half hour away. For many folks a half hour drive is worth a few hundred grand but if you have plenty of cash laying around maybe its not.

 

Well, yeah, they're there. But you didn't make a point to exclude them. Same as a lot of the 'burbs on the south end of the metro (and LO of course). I've lived in Wilsonville and West Linn. Both of those places are safe, though I have never felt safer than now in WL.

As for the "debate".... I dunno if I'd want to live in-town after having lived close-in for many years. I guess I don't understand why the debate cuz to each his/her own. Some people prefer inner-city. Some people prefer hoods. Some people prefer the 'burbs. Some people prefer city life. I mean, if I had more money to afford more house, I wouldn't move closer in to Portland (without traffic, it takes me 20 minutes to get to downtown as it is). I would live where I live now and add on some sort of ridiculous garage addition, indoor sport court, or something like that (as if 5000+ sq. feet isn't big enough now).

 

I just think the "safety" issue is funny. Never have I felt unsafe in NE. Growing up my friend's family NEVER locked their doors (still don't). They'd be away on vacation and I knew I could always walk into their house to grab anything I needed. Walking around in the middle of the night - never an issue.
Houses and cars are broken into in all cities, suburbs, and small towns. However, mass shootings typically only happen in suburban environments. Urban shootings typically are directed at individuals, rather than anyone who happens to be in a particular location.
I get that cities aren't for everyone - that's fine. But if I didn't want to live in a city I'd go to a small town or the country. I just don't get the appeal of suburbs - to me they represent everything that's wrong with this country (Walmart, fastfood, strip malls, white flight/fright, xenophobia, homogeneity, sprawl, oil consumption, etc). That's not to pass judgment on people who live there - I've known plenty of very nice, good people who live in suburbs. You're going to have awesome people and asshats in any community, regardless of how urban or rural it is.

 

When we were growing up in the burbs, NE was always the ghetto.

North Portland was the slum/public housing areas.

only reason to go there was to go to the nike outlet. :MARIS61:

 

I agree with HCP and that's how I felt living in Oakland. I rarely felt threatened. I now live in suburbia and it's dull. Yes, everything is walking distance and I have a big yard to garden in and I met my cat here, but there is not a single decent restaurant, the one movie theater plays basically kid movies, no bookstore at all. No yarn store. I have to schlep into Berkeley to buy food because the supermarkets suck.

 

And us kids who grew up in NEP liked that you thought that way. I never felt unsafe. Granted I lived on the edge of Alameda, but from 1st grade I walked to school to Alameda, then Beaumont and then Grant. Sure, if you left a bike out it might get stolen, but I'll deal with that to get all the benefits (for me personally) of living in the city. People value different things, so if you want to live in the burbs, go for it. As for me, I'd rather live in a small house with a tiny yard in the city than some 4000 sq ft place with a bonus room bigger than my current apartment in West Linn.

Oh, and as far as schools go, in my class, I had friends go to Columbia, UVA, Northwestern, Stanford (PHD), Berkeley (MBA) and other elite schools. You can coast and get a shitty education, but if you have parents that push you, you can do just fine there.