mms ~ We would ideally like a garden/flat condo. It seems that the Pearl District is desirable but may be cost prohibitive. I think our first choice would be to be as near downtown as possible. What's the best source for searching the MLS out there?

Fred, 2 areas you should look at are at the top of Barnes Road right into Washington County; lots of townhouses/condos with nice wooded feel and just minutes from Downtown-(Burnside becomes Barnes as it heads up), and around the Cornell/185th/26-Tanasbourne area, which is within a few blocks of Max and immense shopping all around-Nordstrom's rack, Haggen Grocery, etc. There are several nice townhouse/condo developments out that way, + Beaverton has this cool place-
http://www.uwajimaya.com/index.html
Might be too suburban, might be perfect.
Drive Cornell up and over the hill, past Skyline Diner and back down the Portland side to get a good feel of the lay of the land.

www.windermere.com
www.johnlscott.com
and
www.hasson.com

are the three leading realty companies for the Portland area.

Downtown Portland?

There are only four words you need to know:

Salmon Hash at Mother's.

Fred, the two sites I posted will give you the MLS listings. The Pearl is going towards th high high rises syndrom so NW where there are more homes and townhouses might appeal.
Lake Oswego is very charming and pretty and suburban, did I mention very expensive? but it is a short train ride away or a 15 min car ride.
On the MLS listings, put in NW or SW when you want to see "downtown" listings..otherwise, you end up in Vancouver or on the East side, which happens to have many more homes at better prices.
Look at ReMax also...they all get the same listings though..mine realtor tells me that people are still buying apts that have not been built yet, to turn over when the building is ready to move into..at large profits, but they say this is coming to an end.
Be prepared for "sticker" shock, prices are a bit on the ridiculous side all over town at the moment.
Renting for a year is a good option..it also gives you time to find a neighborhood that you might fall in love with..
Neo-funny! Her Chicken pot pies aren't bad either!

Tanasbourne/Hillsboro area is very suburban indeed. It's not terrible, just not very exciting and far from downtown (Highway 26 can be AWFUL to/from downtown Portland). If you are going to be that far out, I'd consider Orenco Station instead if only because you might be able to walk to the MAX stop (can't really do it from Tanasbourne).

Those condos up on Barnes Road are in a nice, secluded area, but I would personally not care for living in an area that is not really part of the vibe of the city; you pretty much have to drive everywhere, nothing you can walk to. Urban neighborhoods aren't for everyone, however, just realize that up in the hills won't be an urban neighborhood.

Andrew

Regarding Mother's everybody was aghast at Lee when for breakfast he ordered Marionberry Cobbler with ice cream -- even the waiter raised his eyebrows. But why is that so different from a waffle smothered with strawberry sauce or French toast swimming in syrup? Lee was delightfully happy with his choice.

Scarlett, do you think you could Fed Ex me some of their salmon hash? I googled and found the recipe, but I don't want my homemade version to spoil my memory. Do you think it would travel well in a two or three day period?

LOL, Neo- you might smell it coming in the mail
Or the poor delivery man, walking up the walk, with a line of cats following him, meowing hopefully..

I think you just have to come back and visit and let Lee indulge in some more cobbler. From a dedicated sweet-toother I say that cobbler for breakfast is perfectly normal, that waiter was just being odd.. One of my fave breakfasts when I lived for a short time in Las Vegas/Ceasars, was Chocolate cake..