We are moving to the Portland area sometime during Q1/Q2 of 2015.I need some advice from the OR HTF for advice on where to live on our move to the West Coast.

* The biggest thing is that we are going car-free at first. We will be using MAX, bikes, walking, and Zipcar for when we need a car. So the neighborhood would need access to TriMET

* My job will Either be in Beaverton or SE Portland. My wife telecommutes so no big deal there.

* Walking distance to grocery stores, restaurants, etc is ideal

*School districts are not that important since my daughter is a toddler and we aren't going to settle in a house for a year or so.

We've been told to look at The Pearl, NW Portland and The Lloyd District. Any more recommendations for a neighborhood?

It all depends on how much you wanna spend. NW and parts of SE Portland are nice. Stay out of the Lloyd district unless you wanna get shot.

Huge variations depending on what you need for space and what your budget it. I love our area (Bull Mt) but it's not easy to get into downtown (where I work ).

Since you're just renting you have a lot of options. The Pearl is very nice if you like condos and city life. It's downtown though and not ideal if working in Beaverton or SE. You can find very nice homes or condos in SE or Beaverton once you know where you'll be.

we are just basically looking for a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment etc most likely.I would mostly just say the neighborhood where I won't get shot and and is very convenient to Portland's public transportation system since we will be relying on it at least partly sense lol no car lifestyle.

I would say I would like to be around $1200 a month max for rent I roughly pay about 600 now in semi-rural North Carolina.the cheaper would probably be better just because we will probably eventually get a house in the burbs or move back to North Carolina or to Seattle metro area if we ended up not digging Oregon. Tl;DR Google Voice sucks for grammar

Might I suggest that you don't live west of 170th (pretty much west of Beaverton) if you like living somewhere that is kinda nice.  Also,  anything within walking distance of Trimet has plenty of the sketchy characters.
It's expensive out here too.  Keep that in mind.  

SE is cheaper to live in by far and depending on the neighborhood,  it's not that bad.  Anything near 82nd (east side) is not ideal.

Edit to add;  My opinion might not be the greatest.  I'm bailing on Oregon and moving home to Detroit.  

You're not going to get anything decent in downtown like The Pearl or Northwest for anything close to $1,200. I'd look around SE portland but again you're going to be limited to not so nice neighborhoods. For that price your gonna have to move out of town.

NW or Pearl-no way for $1200. I hope you and your wife are going to making some serious coin compared to what you are getting in NC. $600 a month for housing here is a dream that will never come true. Desirable parts of town are spendy as hell. At 1200 a month you are not going to like your neighbors. 2 grand will get you some folks with class and no prison records. Seattle is the same or even higher cost of living.

Hey now...  I might not be tuxedo classy,  er...  Um...  

Ok,  I really have no rebuttal for that.  

$1200 was just a price I would like to be at since I could go up to $1800. Just as long as I don't have to worry about getting shanked

I also found a few places in Goose Hollow FWIW.

You'll be fine. Half my mortgage is goddamn property taxes.

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