While there are some people out there who may never leave the hustle and flow of the city, and still others 
whose lives are bound to farm lands and gravel roads, most of us are after the middle way. Sure, we want the diversity of the city life: the art galleries and dance shows, the music, the nightlife, all that delicious food. But we’re also after some amount of green in our lives. Some fresh air. A hike up the mountain, a float on the river, a ski or even just a breathtaking view. And rather than craving the anonymity of the city life, many of us want to know the person who delivers our mail, who sells us our milk. And we want to be known by our community, too. Basically, we’re after big city life with small town charm. In other words, we’re after a place like Portland, Oregon.
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A few months ago the Boston Globe reported that Google was sued because a Pennsylvania couple felt that 
Google Street View invaded their privacy. You will frequently find people in the street view images… a mother pushing a stroller, a man smoking in the driveway…. It sure it won’t be long before we hear of captured images of boyfriends cars in their ex-girlfriends driveways and naked people being captured walking across the front window of their home. Remember the famous Ebay picture of the naked man in the mirror…?
Many buyers, especially those moving to Portland from out of town are looking for tools to research Portland’s neighborhoods themselves. One of the best online resources for the home buyer is portlandmaps.com. Most addresses will open you to a plethora of information; just a few examples include:
- Flood zones
- Urban Growth Boundaries
- Crime Statistics
- Businesses Nearby
- Outstanding Permits
- Parks in the Area
The amount of information available is dependent on the home address you enter but PortlandMaps.com is by far one of the best resources available to date, especially if you have already identified a home or area you are interested in.
Crime for Instance-
It’s worth noting that agents are bound by law not to point out or specify areas prone to crime (which can be referred to as “steering”) so the buyer needs to take some initiative to further investigate statistics that interest them on their own. PortlandMaps shows specific crimes within a radius of an address and layers them based on type of crime, frequency, and proximity. Even more specifically the date and time of such crimes are also noted.
For those of you law abiding citizens, the crime maps conveniently define the various types of crimes so incase you’re wondering for example: “Prostitution” is defined as “Sex offenses of a commercialized nature, including assisting or promoting prostitution. Attempts are included”.
If you’re unfamiliar with Portland and don’t know where to start your home search, here are a few tips to get you started.
Consider Your Commute To Work
There are several main freeway arteries in Portland but some are more congested than others, although Portland traffic is nothing like California there are some areas you want to avoid depending on where you live vs. where you work and play. Here are some notes:
Highway 26 West: (AKA “The Sunset Hwy”) is heavily congested, even on the weekends there is an abundance of traffic flow. This Hwy connects the far West side of Portland (areas such as Beaverton, Hillsboro, Tanasbourne) to other arteries that connect near the center of Portland. I don’t recommend living on the East side of the River and then commuting to the far west side unless you work off hours and enjoy listening to a lot of radio in the car.
Do I need a car?
Many people are moving to Portland with the intention of beginning a carless lifestyle. Portland invites many lifestyles but our growing theme, especially in areas of inner SE Portland is “go green”. Because there are so many areas within Portland that you can work, live and play all within a single community it is easy to adapt. Segways, scooters, and “smart cars” are commonly seen around Portland and we have an enormous number of bike paths. Many of our main roadways (including the freeways) have a paved separate path that runs parallel to the main arteries for those bikers who take their health and gasless commute more seriously.
Commuting to Vancouver: There are only two bridges that commute between the cities, unless you work off hours I highly recommend living and working in the same state until a third bridge is built. There is a lot of discussion in Portland about how to remedy the traffic flow problems but city officials can’t get beyond the argument of whether to have more lanes for cars or to limit the car lanes and run Portland’s mass transit Max Train System and bike lanes instead.
Next, I’ll write additional “Relocating to Portland Tips” on a weekly basis. But in the meantime, to receive a Portland map that has the various main arteries and areas of Portland highlighted, contact us and we’ll send you a free map.