Area north of 26 (north of Hillsboro/Beaverton) (Portland, Sherwood: home, neighborhood)

[Leisesturm]

Yep, that's it all right. I wasn't recommending it so I wasn't more specific. I was recommending parts of Hillsboro much more East than Downtown. Like here. 2 - 5 acres? Have you looked at Canby, OR?? I think you might possibly get as much as one acre within what is considered the Portland Metro Area but anything bigger would be commercial. Seriously I don't know that much about Portland. I don't get out much in a car. If I can't ride there on a bicycle its largely out of my sight unless I am in someone elses car. Forest Grove is a nice town. I am a personal friend of the mayor, his house is on a hill with an incredible view... oh you like flat. Hmmm. There is plenty of flat land in Forest Grove. Go and see. Take 47(?) into Gaston. Take 99(?) into McMiniville. I like McMinnivile.

I like all those towns. Most of the people in them wind up there because they were born there or a house came up for sale. No one just says... "I'm going to live in Tigard". Or Newburg. I know, I know... these towns are all south of 26. Shoot me. The o.p.'s stated preference for alternative roads to 26 does not pan out in practice. There is only one road that parallels 26 and it does so in a very haphazard fasion. Getting onto 26 is the hard part. The exits are controlled by signals and the back-up at those exits can be 10 minutes or more. The further west you are the less likely this is. Someone working in Hillsboro will not have a problem with nor a need to use 26. If you need to get into Portland there is no way around the fact that when 26 hits the curves it is going to back up. You could take Canyon Road (to the south) all the way in and I do it that way sometimes. PM me Psi-chick, you are all but crying out for someone to offer to show you around. I can do that or suggest people who get paid to do just that. I don't bite, and you'd better not bite either. .

H

EDIT- My link is not working, it wants to duplicate EnricoV's...I've given up. West Main St and Brookwood Ave. are the main thoroughfares through the neighborhood I had in mind. Just drag EnricoV's map so it shows more of the Eastern portions of Hillsboro.

[psichick]

Originally Posted by EnricoV

'Downtown" Hillsboro is here.

Thank you.

[psichick]

I wanted to see what was around Hillsboro, land-wise. Here's some I found.

I'd love this home. Too bad there's no way I could afford that. LOL.

With this one, I am thinking, how far is that really? And what would traffic into Hillsboro really be like? And where is the nearest grocery store? Hillsboro? But I like it.

This one I like.

Honestly, I don't see myself owning anything in the next 5 years (unless it's a condo). I need to not only rebuild my nest egg but also would need to build a down payment. Need a lot more time and money for that. But it's good to look. Because if I lived, say where my boss does in Sherwood, and took the back way in (up Hillsboro Hwy I assume), I have some more options too. But who knows. Granted, I do need this job to go FTE first. LOL.

[psichick]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

Yep, that's it all right. I wasn't recommending it so I wasn't more specific. I was recommending parts of Hillsboro much more East than Downtown. Like here. 2 - 5 acres? Have you looked at Canby, OR?? I think you might possibly get as much as one acre within what is considered the Portland Metro Area but anything bigger would be commercial. Seriously I don't know that much about Portland. I don't get out much in a car. If I can't ride there on a bicycle its largely out of my sight unless I am in someone elses car. Forest Grove is a nice town. I am a personal friend of the mayor, his house is on a hill with an incredible view... oh you like flat. Hmmm. There is plenty of flat land in Forest Grove. Go and see. Take 47(?) into Gaston. Take 99(?) into McMiniville. I like McMinnivile.

I like all those towns. Most of the people in them wind up there because they were born there or a house came up for sale. No one just says... "I'm going to live in Tigard". Or Newburg. I know, I know... these towns are all south of 26. Shoot me. The o.p.'s stated preference for alternative roads to 26 does not pan out in practice. There is only one road that parallels 26 and it does so in a very haphazard fasion. Getting onto 26 is the hard part. The exits are controlled by signals and the back-up at those exits can be 10 minutes or more. The further west you are the less likely this is. Someone working in Hillsboro will not have a problem with nor a need to use 26. If you need to get into Portland there is no way around the fact that when 26 hits the curves it is going to back up. You could take Canyon Road (to the south) all the way in and I do it that way sometimes. PM me Psi-chick, you are all but crying out for someone to offer to show you around. I can do that or suggest people who get paid to do just that. I don't bite, and you'd better not bite either. .

H

I don't bite....unless provoked. :P And people get paid to show others around? Tour guides?

Canby is a bit far if I worked in Hillsboro. Honestly, I don't mind going outside of the "metro area". If you see in a previous post, I posted a home in Banks. To Hillsboro via 26, it's less than 15 miles. That's not bad. No clue what that city is like, I just threw it out there because it came up on Trulia.

Do you know much about 47? Is it a highway/road that gets snow? Is the elevation high? Things like that. Let's be real, I'm from SoCal, driving in snow would freak me out....at least for awhile. LOL. McMinnville is a bit far for a commute.

BTW, I don't want alternatives to the 26. I'm fine being on the freeway. I dislike being on overly congested streets where I have to sit through up to 5 light cycles. Yuck. That's why I am trying to stay away from south of 26 and east of Hillsboro. If I was directly south of Hillsboro or not too far away south/southwest, that may not be too bad. But I've tried those streets as alternate routes, yuck.

Oh and I do not have to go into Portland for any reason. Unless it's on the weekend and at that point, I couldn't care less about traffic.

If I get the job as a perm employee, I may take you up on your offer. Until then, I'm just doing online research. Getting a feel for the areas via computer...and maybe lunch drives.

[EnricoV]

Banks isn't far. And it'd be relatively traffic-free most of the time. Though in the summertime Friday and Sunday afternoons can be a bear, with everyone headed to and from the beach.

[bler144]

I was out all weekend. Agree with Leisesturm's first long post (but barred from repping).

And if you know how big 1 acre is, just think of something 5 times as large! (helpful, eh?) In any case, if you aren't doing large-scale farming, grazing, or ATV-riding, 1-2 is probably plenty.

Going back to Rock Creek, AFAIK it's within the Portland City borders for mail and tax purposes (but in WashCo), and other than two small small commercial hubs (185th at West Union, and abutting 26) it's all residential, the majority of that relatively recent (1980 or later). There's a mix of housing, from apartments along 26, to condos/town homes on small lots, to some pretty big places the farther you get from 26. [edit - though most lots are smallish even for bigger homes]

The major upside about living in Rock Creek is that it's a short drive to lots of services off-peak. It's easy to pop down to Tanasbourne, and a relatively nice drive the back way to Orenco/Intel/Cornelius to the W/SW, or Sunset to the SE. Even if you don't want to live in Tanasbourne/Orenco, it's nice to be able to use the services. The West Union plaza has an Albertsons, banking, restaurants, a yarn store, etc. which is walkable/bikeable if you can handle a bit of hills. And the bike path is nice for walking, and while there are dogs, most people do seem good about picking up.

I wouldn't rule out finding a "flattish" lot north of there, as long as you're staying west of Kaiser Rd.

IMO the downside of Banks would be the distance to major services, but it really depends on what shopping you do. But I think the only grocery is a Thriftway. About 8 miles to the Safeway in PacGrove, or 13 to Orenco if you want a New Seasons.

[psichick]

Originally Posted by bler144

I was out all weekend. Agree with Leisesturm's first long post (but barred from repping).

And if you know how big 1 acre is, just think of something 5 times as large! (helpful, eh?) In any case, if you aren't doing large-scale farming, grazing, or ATV-riding, 1-2 is probably plenty.

Going back to Rock Creek, AFAIK it's within the Portland City borders for mail and tax purposes (but in WashCo), and other than two small small commercial hubs (185th at West Union, and abutting 26) it's all residential, the majority of that relatively recent (1980 or later). There's a mix of housing, from apartments along 26, to condos/town homes on small lots, to some pretty big places the farther you get from 26. [edit - though most lots are smallish even for bigger homes]

The major upside about living in Rock Creek is that it's a short drive to lots of services off-peak. It's easy to pop down to Tanasbourne, and a relatively nice drive the back way to Orenco/Intel/Cornelius to the W/SW, or Sunset to the SE. Even if you don't want to live in Tanasbourne/Orenco, it's nice to be able to use the services. The West Union plaza has an Albertsons, banking, restaurants, a yarn store, etc. which is walkable/bikeable if you can handle a bit of hills. And the bike path is nice for walking, and while there are dogs, most people do seem good about picking up.

I wouldn't rule out finding a "flattish" lot north of there, as long as you're staying west of Kaiser Rd.

IMO the downside of Banks would be the distance to major services, but it really depends on what shopping you do. But I think the only grocery is a Thriftway. About 8 miles to the Safeway in PacGrove, or 13 to Orenco if you want a New Seasons.

I think this helps a lot. Thank you!!! Knowing that Rock Creek is close enough to use Tanasbourne, but far away enough and more residential that people won't be stopping there to shop, is nice. It means all traffic is probably people just going to and from home (which I know doesn't mean it's not busy, but it does mean less traffic overall).

Although living far away from a grocery store wouldn't bother me (I could get things at lunch or on my way home from work), I'm sure, when I want that "oops" items, I'll be like, EIGHT MILES!!! LOL. So, I could see how that could get old. Or if I don't feel like cooking and just want some fast food. Yikes. And the pizza delivery people may never deliver.

I definitely am not going to be doing farming, grazing, ATV riding....and honestly, I should go scope out how big an acre really is. From what I've seen online (photos I'm sure don't do it justice), 1.5-2 is probably good enough.....assuming most of the land is flat and in the back. I saw this one house, it was perfect. It had a 2 acre lot, mostly in the back. Behind the house, there was a big fenced yard. The fence was the type where a dog couldn't get out. The rest of the area was fenced off like the typical kind. Two horizontal pieces. My ultimate goal is to build a barn of sorts. I probably need at least 20k sqft of flat land that I can build a barn on (that's not going to house animals). And obviously, I wouldn't want it butting up against my house. LOL.

Ah, dreams that I have....that are possible here in OR, that would never ever be possible in SoCal (unless I move to BFE).

Thanks again. I'm writing all this down so I can check it out

[bler144]

Originally Posted by psichick

I think this helps a lot. Thank you!!! Knowing that Rock Creek is close enough to use Tanasbourne, but far away enough and more residential that people won't be stopping there to shop, is nice. It means all traffic is probably people just going to and from home (which I know doesn't mean it's not busy, but it does mean less traffic overall).

Mostly, though all of the north/south roads that cross 26 have 26 access (185th, Cornelius, Bethany) and 185th in particular tends to be slow during rush. Though from most of the Intel plants you'd probably be taking Cornelius, which isn't as bad. If you were biking there's a route through Rock Creek Park, and most of the roads have bike lanes. You do see a moderate amount of bike commuters on that route (less on 185th, which is wise, imo).

Off hours things generally move pretty well barring a major accident.

Originally Posted by psichick

Although living far away from a grocery store wouldn't bother me (I could get things at lunch or on my way home from work), I'm sure, when I want that "oops" items, I'll be like, EIGHT MILES!!! LOL. So, I could see how that could get old. Or if I don't feel like cooking and just want some fast food. Yikes. And the pizza delivery people may never deliver.

That's the issue, it's nice at first, but for some it can start to feel like a drag.

[psichick]

Originally Posted by bler144

Mostly, though all of the north/south roads that cross 26 have 26 access (185th, Cornelius, Bethany) and 185th in particular tends to be slow during rush. Though from most of the Intel plants you'd probably be taking Cornelius, which isn't as bad. If you were biking there's a route through Rock Creek Park, and most of the roads have bike lanes. You do see a moderate amount of bike commuters on that route (less on 185th, which is wise, imo).

Oh, they're all slow at 5pm. I've tried. LOL. I just sit in the traffic on Cornelius because it seems like I sit through less cycles than on 185th. Seeing a light cycle 5 times and I've moved 3 car lengths is anger inducing.

That's the issue, it's nice at first, but for some it can start to feel like a drag.

So true. My mom came to visit me and she said, "why do you always live so far from things" and I said, "what do you mean?" and she said, "the grocery store is a 10 min drive, going to find food places is 10-15 min drive". I just told her I like being away from all the traffic. She lives within 5 mins of everything she could need. Almost 40 years later.....and she still doesn't seem to get it that I don't like the things she likes.....at all. And she tells me people care closed-minded.

Honestly, living far away is only an issue when it comes to food. And that's the worst part because I hate grocery shopping and even if I do plan, 90% of the time, I change my mind about wanting to eat what I bought, LOL. That's when I need a personal shopper....to do ALL my shopping.

[Nell Plotts]

Take a look at the park area under the power line that runs E-W in Bethany. That is a great place to go with a dog. I don't know of any multi-family dwellings that back up to that park but start by exploring the area.