Exploring a move to Portland - which neighborhoods to look at? (Beaverton: real estate, new home)

[Canamlian]

I'm thinking about a move to Portland and will be visiting next week to meet with a few companies. I'll have time to explore the city and want to get a feel for neighborhoods we'd want to buy a house in. I haven't found a good, concise neighborhood guide online and would appreciate either recommendations on what to check out, or links to good guides.

My wife and I are in our mid thirties with two young children (not yet pre-school).

For a neighborhood, we'd like:
- Walkable (in order of priority: parks/playgrounds, grocery stores, restaurants, retail). The less we need to use a car the better.
- Mature trees
- Community feeling
- No planned communities
- Good elementary schools (good high schools less of a concern)

If anyone is familiar with Chicago, right now we live in northeastern Lincoln Park and we absolutely love it. I don't think there are many neighborhoods like it in the US, but as close to that as possible is what we're looking for (beautiful tree-lined streets, 10 minute walk of 3 playgrounds, a pond, 3 grocery stores and a handful of restaurants).

Our budget for a house would be 700-850k and we'd want:
- 3BR minimum, 4BR highly preferred
- 2.5+ BA
- 2,000 sq ft+
- modern kitchen with open floorplan

We'd be open to renovating an old, historic home, but from what I've seen on Zillow, there don't appear to be many on the market that haven't already been spruced up, or they're not being offered at as much of a discount as I would have thought.

I don't know where I'd be working yet - could be Beaverton, could be downtown, could be NE, so I'm open to suggestions all over the city.

[Canamlian]

Also, I have a general sense of the five quadrants of the city, but I'm having a harder time getting a feeling for the difference in neighborhoods within each one.

[Oregon_Native32]

If you are looking to move into the City, I would suggest Sellwood or Woodstock area

- Great vibes in neighborhoods
-Lots of biking, fitness studios, coffee shops, etc..
-Family oriented neighborhoods
-Friendly
-More pricey

OR if you are looking to be a little bit away from the city, lets say about 20 minutes, I would recommend Fairview or Happy Valley. Both BEAUTIFUL cities, great schools, great people, great food and shopping! Happy Valley is very up-and-coming and being built out like you've never seen before! New homes, schools, shops, malls, etc! Major plans in the works

Best of Luck! Welcome to Oregon!

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Better hurry up if you want to live in Woodstock.

That neighborhood is changing (gentrifying) quickly.

Very, very few real estate "hidden gems" are left.

Woodstock seems to have been "discovered" in the last couple of years and it's been booming.

Sellwood is way past that stage and is even worse price wise.

700k to 800k would buy you a great house in those neighborhoods, but IMHO, your money would go much further elsewhere.

I also believe that Eastmoreland is pretty close to what you are looking for, with the mature tree lined streets, and neighborhood feeling.
Its also close to a nice golf course and the Woodstock, Sellwood and Westmoreland neighborhoods.
Your money would buy a decent but not huge house in that neighborhood.
No big yards though.

BTW, take advantage of the rest of City Data.
This forum is only a small part.

For instance check out this page about Portland.

https://www.city-data.com/city/Portland-Oregon.html

Good list of neighborhoods about half way down.

[Minervah]

I am a former resident of Chicago, born, raised and lived there for thirty years. I also lived in Portland for nearly forty. So having said that I think I can say you are not going to find a Portland neighborhood like the one you are living in. There's really nothing in Portland like the Lincoln P ark area.

You may find some similarities though. I would suggest you take a trip to Portland and check out some of the most upscale neighborhoods and see if any of them feel right to you.

[Canamlian]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

For instance check out this page about Portland.

https://www.city-data.com/city/Portland-Oregon.html

Good list of neighborhoods about half way down.

Thanks for that. I did look at that page but didn't come close to scrolling down far enough. Am going through the neighborhood links right now.

Originally Posted by Minervah

I would suggest you take a trip to Portland and check out some of the most upscale neighborhoods and see if any of them feel right to you.

I started this thread because I'm taking to trip to Portland and want to prioritize what I check out while there

[Minervah]

Where you work will be an important determination as to where you live. You want to live as close to work as possible because traffic can be a nightmare.

If you find your job is in Beaverton, that would be a good place to live and will met many of your requirements. With a young family, that's where I would want to be.

[opticcurve]

I would look into NE Portland in the Grant Park/Hollywood/Alameda and Laurelhurst neighborhoods. Beautiful, lots of parks, walkable to grocery stores and restaurants. If you do a search on Redfin enter the zip codes 97212, 97232 and 97213. It's an expensive area but is also very kid oriented. Good luck!

[VelouriaPDX]

Irvington, Sellwood, Laurelhurst, Richmond, Eastmoreland, Mt. Tabor (Mt Tabor Middle School is the coveted middle school assignment in SE and areas assigned to Tabor middle also have good elementary schools.) Lots of great private preschools in SE Portland. I have a five and a three year old and find inner SE to have all the amenities you list. SE doesn't really have that classy, old feeling that cities like Chicago and the east coast cities have; just be prepared for a little more... "character." Lots of trees, though. Great parks everywhere.

[Nell Plotts]

Housing prices in Northwest may be above your price range but it meets all your other needs.