Moving to Portland - The Commute

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.