We are looking at moving to PDX area. The girlfriend is looking like she will get a job in Vancouver, It looks like I will get hired on in Hillsboro.

From watchin the traffic cams it looks like Vancouver to Portland commute is god awful, so I think living in Vancouver is out.  

Where would be the best place to live? Downtown? Beaverton? East side? Im pretty sure I can take the max, what is the best location for her to get out of town?

Quoted: We are looking at moving to PDX area. The girlfriend is looking like she will get a job in Vancouver, It looks like I will get hired on in Hillsboro. From watchin the traffic cams it looks like Vancouver to Portland commute is god awful, so I think living in Vancouver is out.   Where would be the best place to live? Downtown? Beaverton? East side? Im pretty sure I can take the max, what is the best location for her to get out of town?

thats better.  YOu sit will be different from the other one.

If it as me, i would move to the PDX side.  why.  cuz your wives commute would be the opposite of everyone else.

your commute could be bad tho.  However, if you find someplace sort of neutral, yours may not be so bad.  The only major drawback is that the govemt fucktards cant agree on a new bridge.  they are looking at a toll bridge for I-5 & I-205.  so i can see that causing some backups.

I live in the St. Johns area and its sort of central.  I can go up Germantown and be in hillsburitto/Beaverton in ~20 minutes.  however, if the winter is bad, germantown can suck.   I can also be on I-5 in 5/10 minutes, or downtown in about 20. but some people may think St. Johns is the pits, but so what.

but i wouldnt move down here UNLESS you have a job lined up.  

how is i5 and highway 26, would it be possible to live in beaverton area and then just take i5 up to vancouver?  or is it really backed up with everyone going to portland?  

Quoted: how is i5 and highway 26, would it be possible to live in beaverton area and then just take i5 up to vancouver?  or is it really backed up with everyone going to portland?

PDX has become a commuter town like SEATAC.  People live in Beaverton/Hillsburitto and further and commute into/thru PDX.  

Yes, you can do that, but its a PIA.  26 has some drawbacks. there is limited access on/off it.  once youre on at particular points, youre stuck.  if you can, take a look at some of the hwy cams on 26 during weekday/rush hour traffic.

of course it depends on the time of day, too.  same with going up to vancouver.  traffic starts to backup in PDX to Vancouver around 1500 or so.

While not from Portland, I can say the traffic always seems to suck when I go over the hill.  For me it is usually 26 all the way.  I guess I have become immune to the fact that it is a stop and go route.

Quoted: how is i5 and highway 26, would it be possible to live in beaverton area and then just take i5 up to vancouver?  or is it really backed up with everyone going to portland?

my friends and I joke that beaverton is an island.  there is really only one way to get to portland (yeah, I know there are many "back roads" ways to go, but bear with the analogy).  26 is bad just about any time of day unless you hit a sweet spot - which can be done with practice.

there is really no such thing as a "reverse commute" no matter when you're going whereever you're going, there's going to be traffic.  And when there's a wreck on one of the freeways, they all back up (freakin' rubberneckers!)

There are advantages to living in Vancouver, in my opinion, Portland, not so much.  Regardless if you work for an Oregon employer, you WILL have oregon taxes withheld (members of the armed forces excepted) and have to file a return at the end of the year.

Good luck either way.

Quoted: While not from Portland, I can say the traffic always seems to suck when I go over the hill.  For me it is usually 26 all the way.  I guess I have become immune to the fact that it is a stop and go route.

what is over the hill?  Is there a hill on the west side of portland?  

nm google maps says yes

Quoted: Quoted: While not from Portland, I can say the traffic always seems to suck when I go over the hill.  For me it is usually 26 all the way.  I guess I have become immune to the fact that it is a stop and go route. what is over the hill?  Is there a hill on the west side of portland?

we call the hills, the "west hills" and run more or less north/south dividing Beaverton/hillsburitto from downtown PDX.

theres also the Willamette Rivier too.

Quoted: what is over the hill?  Is there a hill on the west side of portland?

I'm in Central Oregon, a common expression here is going over the hill meaning through the passes.  The particular hill I'm talking about is Mt. Hood.  Although it could mean any of the passes out of or into the cascade range.

Quoted: Where would be the best place to live? Downtown? Beaverton? East side? Im pretty sure I can take the max, what is the best location for her to get out of town?

I would avoid the West Side, and unless very picky about location, East side would not be my choice unless much farther out, and then you have a looooong max ride and you GF still has to get across the river either on I-5 or I-205. I'd probably look at something in NW portland, maybe around NW23rd for proximity to max and the ability to jump across the bridge and pick up I-5 into Vancouver.

Cheers
7.62

Here are the determining factors of where to live.

1) Traffic - Traffic is horrible going into the city during the morning commute and horrible going out of the city in during the evening commute.
2) Quality of life - This is what type of neighborhood you want to live in. Do you want to be able to walk places easily, be in a cleaner area, etc.
3) School system - Kids? Then you want to take into account the public school system. The Portland Public school system has some great schools and it also has some god awful schools, so you want to buy in an area with good ones obviously.
4) Urban or Suburbia - Which do you prefer?
5) Income tax - If you live or work in Oregon you have to pay Oregon Income Tax. So your girlfriend even though she works in a state that does not collect income tax, she will have to pay the state of Oregon Income Tax if you decide to live there. Sorry dude but working in Oregon you're hosed either way.

I grew up on 11 acres of land north of Vancouver, 4 wheelers, shot guns, BBQ, etc. Basically a red neck... I married a woman who grew up 2 subway stops from Fenway Park in Boston, MA. So since I'm a guy and everyone knows the woman gets what she wants, I live in Northwest Portland and am a "city guy" now.

In all honesty I love it in Northwest because I work in Southeast Vancouver and my drive is always counter commute. Takes no more than 20 minutes to drive the 17 miles. Getting to and from Beaverton/Hillsburitto is pretty easy if you take the Max Train, but if you are starting in the city where I live, then "in theory" your drive would be counter commute as well.

Northwest and Southwest Portland (in the downtown area) also have access to the best schools in the Portland Public School System. Again I don't know if this is a factor for you, but it does help the value of your home.

If you want to live in a more suburban environment, then I would probably go with Beaverton and make your girlfriend drive over the west hills either using Barnes road or Cornell. The drive for her North of downtown will be cake, it's getting into/through downtown that will kill her.

So pretty much you can't lose if you live in downtown, unless you hate the urban atmosphere.

Hope this helps!

I don't live in Portland anymore and haven't for about 15 years.  That said, there are decent areas with good schools in most areas.

With workplaces in Hillsboro and Vancouver I think there is no way in getting around one of you having a bad commute.

The Germantown Rd idea seems to be the best I've heard so far.

Hwy 26 is bad both ways during rush hour so is 217.  Those are generally the two ways out or into the west side areas of Beaverton / Hillsboro.

Thanks a lot guys,  this is really helping me out.  I was reading on this site today

http://www.portlandbridges.com/portland-neighborhoods/

lots of good info.   I emailed the guy and asked what he though.   Here is what he said:

I probably wouldn't recommend anything west of downtown Portland (more halfway) because then her Vancouver commute has to go INTO Portland (traffic) then out on I-5 (occasional gridlock) and yours would be easy.

So anything in/near downtown Portland between 26 west and I-5 north (look on a map) would be somewhat in between/closer to Vancouver.  Besides NW Portland and the adjacent Pearl District, you could also consider something on the east side/NE Portland such as Irvington, near where I live.  There's a little shortcut to the Fremont Bridge/I-405 that I take to go west that avoids I-5 completely and is pretty smooth sailing toward Forest Grove, and her commute north to Vancouver has the option of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd if I-5 is backed up.


Does that sound about right?  Also no need to worry about schools.  My main requirement is a garage since I have a lot of tools, a motorcycle, some bigger RC planes and a bunch of brewing equipment I would like to keep covered.  Other then that I would guess I like quiet and suburb, dont really go out that much.  

Quoted: Thanks a lot guys,  this is really helping me out.  I was reading on this site today http://www.portlandbridges.com/portland-neighborhoods/ lots of good info.   I emailed the guy and asked what he though.   Here is what he said: I probably wouldn't recommend anything west of downtown Portland (more halfway) because then her Vancouver commute has to go INTO Portland (traffic) then out on I-5 (occasional gridlock) and yours would be easy. So anything in/near downtown Portland between 26 west and I-5 north (look on a map) would be somewhat in between/closer to Vancouver.  Besides NW Portland and the adjacent Pearl District, you could also consider something on the east side/NE Portland such as Irvington, near where I live.  There's a little shortcut to the Fremont Bridge/I-405 that I take to go west that avoids I-5 completely and is pretty smooth sailing toward Forest Grove, and her commute north to Vancouver has the option of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd if I-5 is backed up. Does that sound about right?  Also no need to worry about schools.  My main requirement is a garage since I have a lot of tools, a motorcycle, some bigger RC planes and a bunch of brewing equipment I would like to keep covered.  Other then that I would guess I like quiet and suburb, dont really go out that much.

Then what he says is right on for you. Go east of the river but don't go too far. There are nice homes in northwest with garages but it will cost you a lot more than an equivalent home on the east side. Keep in mind that is the MLK area so you have to deal with all the fun that goes along with it. Good thing you are an arfcom'r which means you are locked and loaded!

Unless you're a tax & high cost loving pinko with a queer eye, I wouldn't move to Multnomah county.  Move to Tigard; it's an ok commute to portland via I5 and a nice 20 - 30 minute country road or freeway commute to hillsboro.  

Quoted: Unless you're a tax & high cost loving pinko with a queer eye, I wouldn't move to Multnomah county.  Move to Tigard; it's an ok commute to portland via I5 and a nice 20 - 30 minute country road or freeway commute to hillsboro.

Commute to Vancouver from Tigard? Yuck!

Quoted: If you can spend the cash you might think about the Hollywood/Grant area on the East Side of Portland. It's not that far away from the Max line and she could hop over to either I-5 or I-205 to go into Vancouver. If you can also offset your hours the commute is easier for sure. This is a site I use all the time before I head out in the mornings. My route is pretty fixed as like I said I go from deep SE Portland to Hillsboro. Check it out for a while during the times you think you will be making your commutes to get a fee for traffic flow.. www.traffic.com/Portland-Traffic/Portland-Traffic-Reports.html

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