Work: Beaverton, Live: Portland?

[EnricoV]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

What you will be facing is the replacement of the Selwood bridge. Not an easy drive.

The Ross Island Bridge is the one you'd want to take, anyway, for that route. But, the Sellwood Bridge situation could make it more congested.

[sunnysunnyside]

Thank you!

[howardsgirlfriend]

I agree that Beaverton, West Slope, Cedar Mill, Cedar Hills would all be good. I don't know much about the schools, but the West Slope area has Catlain (sp?) Gable school, an excellent private school, as well as the Oregon School of Arts and Crafts.

Portland has a lot of "infill development" near the MAX line. If you're looking for new aparment-style living, you might like to check it out.

Don't worry about arriving in winter. Clouds and rain aren't that bad, and it doesn't usually rain for entire day very often. Some years, it doesn't snow at all. When it snows even an inch, the entire city shuts down, but usually for just a couple of days.

If you choose to commute from Portland to Beaverton, be advised that you will have to cross the area of the most severe weather in the area. The Tualatin Hills, usually known as "The West Hills" to Portlanders, have an elevation of 750 feet above sea level. The sunset highway (US 26) crosses them at the Sylvan exit, its biggest choke point. When there's rain and snow mixed everywhere else, there will be snow and ice at that part of the highway. Since these hills run the length of the city, there is no way to avoid them when traveling between Beaverton and Portland, without a long detour to Lake Oswego, where highway 217 connects with I-5.

I've lived in this area for every one of my 52 years. Live on the side of the hills on which you work.

[Nell Plotts]

Or take the MAX.

Catlin Gabel is a nice school but there are many public schools that can deliver the same education. If you want something your local public school doesn't offer spend the private school tuition either on enriching your own child's education or make a targeted donation to the school your child attends. My kids are now in their 30s, back in the day their playmates attended Catlin. It is my observation that my neighbors didn't get any measurable educational return on their Catlin investment. My sample is small but it is consistent with what I see in my own peers (who are now in their 70s).

I have a somewhat different take on Oregon Episcopal School's program. It has an international school curriculum, very rigorous, and entry to their high school is academically selective. If you have a child for whom such a program is suitable, and you can afford it, it is worth a look. My nephew ran through the offerings at a suburban high school, they told him to go to college. He was the consummate geek, not socially ready to leave home. His parents approached OES who offered him a scholarship. Foreign language was not a problem because he had picked up Chinese in grade school when his father was an expat for 2 years. Now he works for Microsoft, need I say more.

[HonuMan]

I live in Beaverton and work in NW Portland, and rush-hour traffic going west to east is usually about as heavy as that going east to west. My commute is about 45 minutes during rush hour, and 30 minutes outside of rush hour. If I had my druthers, I'd live in a Portland city condo or a close-in residential neighborhood so I could be close to pleasures of the city, but those options are out of my price range. That said, it's not a big hassle to stay in the city after work for some event, or to drive into town on the weekend. While Beaverton doesn't have the restaurant selection that Portland does, it has some good and cheap ethnic restaurants, so I can always find something that appeals to my palate on any given evening. If you can afford Portland city living, don't mind the commute, and are okay with the schools, then give it a try. If that would be a financial strain, and/or you want your commute to be as short as possible, then live in Beaverton; it's not a bad place at all.