Need some vacation rental assistance for Portland...help please
 

Hi. I’m looking for help from some people who know Portland.

My husband and I will be flying up to Portland from SoCal and meeting our son, daughter-in-law and two year old grandbaby who will be driving in from elsewhere in Oregon. We thought a vacation rental would be nice so we could spend our time together. I have been scouring VRBO and homeaway.com and am baffled by the neighborhoods. We could use some help from people who know Portland.

We are looking for a two bedroom and two bath. The baby will need to be in a crib somewhere near mom and dad. We will have at least one car, maybe two, although once we get there, we would certainly like to be able to walk to some places. A small yard would be nice for the little one to run around. We aren’t looking for modern suburbia but are looking for something safe and probably closer to mostly regentrified than just starting the regentrification process. Having a neighborhood which we could walk around (and to) would be great. Is there such a neighborhood?

Rather than burden you with a long list of rentals, I’ll start with these. Comments about their locations will be much appreciated as well as suggestions of neighborhoods or other rentals about which you may be aware.

http://www.vrbo.com/371370

http://www.vrbo.com/375607

http://www.vrbo.com/366219

http://www.vrbo.com/235163

http://www.vrbo.com/346233

http://www.vrbo.com/369027

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p336214

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p272461

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p253835


OK. I realize that I have listed more than I intended and I shouldn’t expect anyone to go through all of these. But to the extent that any of you can provide some guidance, I’d appreciate it.

Overall, the locations are fine. None are in bad areas. The Mt. Tabor one though isn't really near anything within walking distance. The area is fine, residential, but not overly exciting. The one that says it is walking distance from the Pearl and NW 23rd is a bit of a stretch. It does say that the area is very hilly, which is definitely true. But that area of town is very nice. The Hillsdale one, nope...not bad but very boring immediate area.

I hope some of this helps:)

Instead of looking at each of your links, I'll recommend areas of town I think you might like.

I'd shoot for NW Portland (aka the "Alphabet District") between NW 21st/NW 23rd Ave area. The Pearl District is nice but there are no houses with yards, only condos and apartments.

On the east side, the Hawthorne District (SE Portland) is pretty gentrified as the many of the neighborhoods nearby. In NE Portland, Irvington is pretty decent and close-in. There are some other nice NE neighborhoods (Laurelhurst, Beaumont-Wilshire, Grant Park for example) but they tend to get further out from downtown - just means you'll be commuting more to do stuff near downtown Portland.

Areas in SW Portland like Hillsdale and Multnomah Village are actually very nice, but they are more "suburban" feeling with more road traffic, more hills, less conducive to walking (some neighborhood have no sidewalks) and seemingly more removed from downtown Portland.

The Sellwood/West Moreland area in SE Portland is actually a super nice area, great leafy sidewalks and old houses with lots of restaurants and such to walk to, walking to things, but it is also removed from Portland's downtown a bit.

Thank you mms and Andrew.

One unit has risen to the top of the heap. It's in Nob Hill on NW Marshall between NW 21 and NW 20. From google maps, this block looks like it has multi-family buildings. It's about 1 1/2 blocks east of the Good Sam hospital.

Since I'm not familiar with the area, I really appreciate any feedback you can offer.

Many thanks.

Yeah, that's a terrific area. A block from the Portland Streetcar (quick access to the Pearl District and downtown Portland), plus NW 21st and 23rd are full of nice restaurants and shops. The Pearl District is also an easy walk away. Very walkable, obviously.

Downsides: it's probably more expensive than rentals in other parts of town and/or a lot smaller. Also, street parking in that area can be a hassle. And while this is a pretty safe neighborhood, if you do park on the street there is an incidence of car theft in NW Portland. I see broken glass from the cars when walking on the sidewalks sometimes. This true to some degree in most of Portland's urban neighorhoods, though. Car thieves know that NW and the Pearl are pretty affluent neighborhoods so might target certain areas more than others.

FYI, the Portland-operated website PortlandMaps.com can tell you about crime stats within the last year (on a map) in the various neighborhoods. Just punch in an address and check out the incidents. Just remember that it's a city and there is crime occasionally, but if you aren't in the drug trade, you're pretty safe - car break-ins aside...

Andrew, thanks so much for your very quick reply.

Actually, the rental isn't as expensive as most others and has a two car garage. So it looks like we have a winner!

I really, really appreciate your help. All the best.