Flying to Portland in July for a few days to help my son (fairly recent college grad, returned Peace Corp volunteer) move out there for his next job. He's narrowed it down to a few apartments, one of his favorites being on SW 16th Ave - if that makes sense to any Portland experts, would love to hear your opinion

Hotels on hold for a few nights for us while we do the move in thing and shop for some items are Embassy Suites downtown (319 SW Pine St and Hotel DeLuxe (729 SW 15) which looks to make it just around the block or so from the available apartment -

Anyone familiar have any preference on either of these hotels or other suggestion -
I did see NeoPatricks recent thread, but truthfully am starting to get 'distance confused' -( my personal version of Stendhal syndrome when I get info or site overload !) just too much going on right now on many fronts...

Both of the above hotels, same rate of 189.00 - I don't need parking I don't think -
I was not planning on renting a car - imagine there is transport from airport and that once we are there, public transport can handle all our errands ??

( Shop for mattress/boxspring/etc have delivered/ small kitchen table/chairs: have delivered, some items being pre shipped from home, other miscellaneous can purchase locally: linens, towels, etc. Read: young man who doesn't require much.)

If anyone has any particular local store preferences for mattress shopping or the type of first apartment furniture ( like a Straight from the Crate type thing) reasonable but fairly sturdy, a comfie chair, pole reading light, a few things ilke that just to get him started -
I'd appreciate knowledge of any local businesses to also support for these items -

or if you think I need a car to do the above, would appreciate that info also.

Thanks in advance -

We drove out to a huge mall on # 5 ... Bridgeport I think it was .. that is where we bought a lot of our home things.. they had a huge Bed Bath and Beyond .
There are so many good shops in Portland but not sure about prices .. on NW 23rd you will find Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn etc ...

The Hotel DeLuxe is supposed to be really nice .. it was not far from our apt but my friend beachbum stayed there, he will know more.. I will send this thread to him so he will notice, if he is not away for the weekend.

We had our furniture with us but did shop for antiques.. the Pearl District has an interesting shop , it is quite large, on NW 13 around Everett .. called Cargo. He might find something there.. downtown there were some ordinary furniture stores... and there is a Macys ..

As long as you shop in downtown Portland, you shouldn't need a car ..
Streetcars, LightRail and taxi ..

There are used furniture stores too.. I just can't remember where right now ..sigh .. senility is hitting early.

SW 16th...meaning Goose Hollow/just west of I-405 near downtown? What intersection? That's not a bad location but not the most exciting to live - but it's close to a lot of things. Tell me the name(s) of the apartment building(s) if you want (you can email me privately via portlandbridges dot com if you like) and I'd be happy to give you feedback on the areas/places if I know them. Definitely check out the recent crime stats in the area via the city website PortlandMaps.com . A friend has just moved back here and is staying with me while she looks for an apartment, so she is going through something similar.

You can get by in Portland without a car but for errands for when you move it can be quite annoying not to have one. I'd probably try to use Priceline to find a cheap hotel if it were me if I were trying to save money.

Without a car, you can get some basic stuff at Fred Meyer, a local chain of grocery stores that have department store stuff too. There's one at NW 20th and Burnside, very close to the Hotel DeLuxe, that has a full-sized grocery store but downsized department store stuff. If you don't have a car, you can take the #6 bus up to Jantzen Beach (a long ride) to get to a Target and a Home Depot.

See www.trimet.org for info on Portland's transit system; we have a good bus system in addition to the trains. TriMet has has a "trip planner" tool there to tell you how to get point-to-point via bus and train, but I prefer Google Transit (http://www.google.com/transit - or use via Google Maps), a great tool for finding your way around. TriMet also has a real-time arrival tool you can use via your cell phone to know when buses/trains are due to arrive, in case they are not on schedule or you don't know the schedule.

If you have a car, though, you have options like an Ikea out by the airport (it actually IS on the MAX light rail line, but good luck carting large items on it!). Actually, you can find tons of used/cheap furniture here on Craigslist as well, but often you need to drive to pick stuff up.

Yeah, my wife and I stayed in Hotel De Luxe a couple years ago. It IS a nice place, and MAX runs right by, but there's not much in the way of restaurants etc. in the immediately surrounding area, so you'll be walking to dinner (short walk to both Pearl District and NW 21st & 23rd. If you're planning to stay in the same room as your son, Embassy Suites might be a better fit.

Do you know that the apartment is "just around the block" from the De Luxe? I like that area; surprisingly quiet for being in the middle of an urban area. If you know addresses of other places your son is thinking about, I could offer opinions on those too. Inner NW and SE addresses seem to appeal to lots of young folks.

For that shopping.... I'm not sure you can easily get where you'll want to go on public transportation. Stores like Crate & Barrel, Linens & Things, Bed Bath & Beyond are usually located in malls or strip malls out in the burbs. Best place for a mattress would probably be Mattress World (where you'll learn that "It's not too late to sleep like a baby"). There are several locations around town, but again, not easily accessible via public transit.

One other thought... IKEA. There's one out by PDX, which can be accessed via MAX. I've never been in one, but judging from what my wife and daughter have bought there, it might be the best idea.

I see Andrew beat me to that IKEA suggestion, and he's right about carting whatever you might buy there back to the apartment.

I think this kind of shopping trying to use public transportation could prove frustrating. As above, the type of stores you'll find that type of merchandise are more likely in suburban malls, not the downtown core.

beachbum and andrew were a huge help to us when we moved to Portland.. I would listen to them
we lived at NW 12 & Couch and walked to Fred Meyers etc easily.. so you and your son will be able to wander over to NW 21st, 23rd and into the Pearl for good eats.. on NW or SW 11th and 10th is where the Streetcar lines are .. which take a huge Loop through the city .. that will save a lot of walking for you too..
here are the websites to help you with getting around

1. Portland Streetcar
http://portlandstreetcar.org/schedule.php
The Portland Streetcar makes getting around the city so easy. And it is free in part of the town!

2. The Next Bus
http://www.nextbus.com/corporate/works/index.htm
Using the streetcar

3. TriMet/Max
http://www.trimet.org/max/index.htm
Buses & Trains

Escargot, the public transport in Portland, OR is probably the best in the US, I remember it was easy for me to figure it out... except paying

On MAX (to/from airport) you buy tickets (machines on each stop), then board, unless you are within the free zone.

On streetcar, you pay inside while the car is moving and rocking - this was strange the first time.

You guys never fail to impress me !! Thanks and thanks - I have to leave office, so I will absorb when I get home - basically, at this place ( I think Lafayette, supposedly an old 1920's building) he can get a decent size ( looks clean, good kitchen, etc) for a good price and get to his job by either bike or rail - they will give a 6 mth lease, with an option for 6 more at the same price, - so he figured he could take that time to really learn the areas and then choose where he wanted to live - he liked lots of areas, but he'd put in a call and by the time they got back to him, the apartments were taken - so he figured better to do when he was there and could scope out -

He figured between work, and rail nearby, even if not a lot to do near him, he wasn't too far from things ( so he thinks by the map and a quick 4 dy visit to Portland as part of his rail across America while in college.... I don't worry about him needing much but a fairly safe place to cook and sleep - he has lived without much , including electricity and running water as a PC volunteer and prior to that in Nepal - so I mean it when I say guy who doesn't need much !!

He isn't available right now, but I will find out exact address, etc - also sounds like maybe I should look into renting a car even if for one day ( if that's possible, an Enterprise or something around) to do the bigger errands... I'll get out a map and really spend some time on this this weekend - they will ship $ 500 worth of stuff out there for him, so I am trying to figure out what exactly that will take care of ( some kitchen stuff we'd packed up for him from my moms house, his books and art supplies, etc, etc...) and what not to....

He will want to buy a bike when he gets out there - I am assuming having the reputation it does as a friendly biking city, he won't have to look far for that? Again - if anyone has a rec for a bike shop they happen to do business with and like, let me know and I'll pass it along too.

Thanks -I'll post back later or tomorrow when I can digest and get some answers from him -

oh geez, I just looked at that crime map, not a good thing maybe for a mother to look at
Thank you though, have to get home to the kitchen table and give that address a better look - yes, it is the one at the edge of "goose hollow" - I'll find out exact address, but I think I have it right.

Don't sweat it over the crime map too much. You'll find crimes in the suburbs, too. What you want to do is look for patterns of crime AT A PARTICULAR PROPERTY. If there is a rash of drug crimes at the exact address he's looking to rent, then that's probably NOT a great place to rent.

You can pick up rental cars in downtown Portland at Hertz and such usually for about the same money as picking them up at the airport. Your son might look into joining a car sharing program (e.g. Zipcar) so if he decides to sign up while you're here, you could use that instead of renting a car! It would allow him to use a car a few times a month, though it's not cheap.

But I'd just use Kayak to find the best rate for a car, really. There is an Enterprise downtown or in Old Town I think besides Hertz and others.

There are TONS of bike shops here. Yes, bikes are HUGE here. Sorry, I don't really ride so I can't recommend a shop. Send your son to Craigslist and the forums (got to be a biking forum) and I'm sure he can find great recs in a jiffy!

Yes, he'll be in a great location to get to lots of things quickly. It's just that Goose Hollow doesn't quite have the hip reputation that NW Portland or the Pearl District has - but it's not that far away. He can get to MAX in a hurry or easily walk to NW, the Pearl, or Downtown from that location, though.

I really recommend Google Maps for finding stuff in Portland. You can search for things near any particular address as well.

Crime that we saw but thankfully never experienced was mostly cars being broken into.. homes all had good security, apartments have good security and bikes should always be kept inside and safely locked when being used.

I walked the dog alone late at night in the Pearl, we walked all over the city at all hours .. the worst bother for me was street people who were aggressive .. and the kids. I stayed far from the street kids, they are a problem , but mostly they are around an area in town, when we were there, it was around the Max station and Pioneer Square.

Our friend who works at the Monaco Hotel and lives over in the NW neighborhood ( Everett & 19th) rides his bike to work every day .. it is a bike friendly city.

On NW 27th and Thurman I think.. I will look it up to be sure, is a good Bike place .
It is close to our old vet
Here it is, Fat Tire Farm
http://fattirefarm.com/

There is Northwest Bicycles
Neighborhoods: Northwest, Alphabet District
916 NW 21st Ave
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 248-9142

Best two bike shops in town are River City Bicycles and Bike Gallery. Straight shooters, knowledgeable,and they won't try to oversell. River City is close in, on the east side of the river, but there's a Bike Gallery store not far from where I think his apartment is located.

You are all amazing, thank you so much: Andrew, Scarlett, beachbum, suze, dayenu - great info all -
We land at night, so I think we will just go straight from airport to hotel and stay at that DeLuxe since it is so close to his apartment - we're a boating family so as long as we have two beds, being in the same room for a few nights we can handle -and I don't think we'll be in the room much except to sleep after a long couple of days of pulling the apt together

Yes, he did look at NW, SE and some other "cooler, hipper" locations - but those apts were taken by the time he'd get a call thru to someone - and you couldn't really see all of them on craigs list, some just the outside, some one inside shot, - so today he has made the decision (after trying for a few others) that maybe this apartment will serve him well enough for his first 6 months, he can get the lay of the land and be there to grab one when it comes up in an area or two that he narrows it down to after actually living in Portland a bit - so he has mailed the deposit.

So, while it may not be a 24 yr olds first choice, he's ok with it for that time - hey, after living in Madagascar with no electricity or running water, and basically not much in the PC, this will be luxury to him - as long as it is fairly safe, which we feel good about thanks to all of you and Andrew that extra info sent thru email/ thanks a million again.

So I think we will rent a car after the first day (and a visit to Mattress World) and hit IKEA - that worked out well also when I moved my daughter in NYC - and hit whatever else we need in one long day -

We have zipcar in Boston and love it ! If he finds he needs a car more than a rental here or there, he will look into that there -thanks - and for the bike shops, web links, just for everything !!

Anyone have any favorite restaurants for us to hit within walking distance please share -
otherwise, when he returns from his weekend reunion and starts his real planning, don't worry I won't be shy asking for any other suggestions !! - My family just shakes their heads sometimes over all the help people give each other on this forum - they find it amazing all my 'travel friends' - thanks thanks thanks !!

All of the places I am listing are on the other side of Burnside on NW ..
But as you will find , you will be in that area plenty as well as the SW area of town .. it is all so close, we walked back and forth and up and down every day
*yeah, I miss Portland *

NW 21st street has some good places, as does NW 23rd .. and then on Burnside and 12th is Henrys Tavern which is a great family restaurant .. there are all sorts of small locals places that he will find and like ..
Again, I will give you my lists ...
Happy Hour is great in Portland.. you don't actually have to drink alcohol , you can get anything but the food is great and sitting outside at tables watching the world go by is so entertaining. We moved to Portland in August, we had about 2 weeks to wait for our furniture, dishes etc .. so we ate out or had take out .. with Pup .. Paragon, bluehour and Vault were on our street but wherever you go, there is a fun place to stop and rest and have a bit/drink.


Cafe Mingo
http://www.barmingonw.com/caffemingo.html
casual, very affordable, very busy all the time..

Wildwood
http://www.wildwoodrestaurant.com/privatedining.htm
Wildwood
favorite of many, great menu, great space



Bluehour
http://www.bluehouronline.com/
NW 13th & Everett
Tourist favorite, great Happy Hour

Paragon
http://www.paragonrestaurant.com
Great Happy Hour, Weekend late-night "scene"
Good food, good service

Piazza Italia
http://www.piazzaportland.com/
NW Johnson & 12th
Good authentic Italian, casual and fun.


Oba
http://www.obarestaurant.com/indexMaster.html
NW 12th
Nuevo Latino, great brunch and Happy Hour
dinners are good too.

Vault Martini
http://www.vault-martini.com/
NW12th
The Best Martinis, Blood Orange Margarita..etc
Great Happy Hour

Everett Street Bistro
http://www.everettstreetbistro.com/about.htm
NW Everett & 12th
French-ish bistro, good food, good service, always busy

Henrys Tavern
http://www.henrystavern.com/index.cf....display&pageI...
12th & Burnside
100 beers on tap, what else can I say?
The food is good and enormous portions. Family friendly as well.

Silk (formerly Pho Van Bistro)
http://www.silkbyphovan.com/
VietNamese- beautiful space, delicious food

Mothers Bistro
Mama Mia both on Stark and SW 2nd

on 23rd there are a few pizza places.. some people like Escape from NY.. we didn't but we might be picky.
Also Miso Happy.. a very casual inexpensive Thai/Vietnamese place. .their pho is good, I loved their salads ..

Scarlett: Well, there goes my diet !! Thanks a million - excellent to have so many choices in different areas - and my son will appreciate everything on this thread -

For a more casual/cheaper food option: there's also a new Hot Lips pizza over at the Civic (18th and Morrison) just a few blocks from his apartment. Hot Lips is a local chain. While perhaps just a pizza joint (they also have salads and a few other things), they support local farmers and tend to use "healthier" ingredients in their food - plus they are proactive about recycling and sustainability. E.g. their to-go "plastic" cups are some sort of naturally-based material that can compost.

And their pizza is quite good. You can even buy just the fresh dough if you want to make your own pizza pie.

http://www.hotlipspizza.com/

Clyde Common is another that's located not far from the apartment: http://www.clydecommon.com/. Good food & drinks... very Portlandish. Then, Tanuki, a tiny Japanese place on NW 21st: http://www.tanukipdx.com/. One of the best kept secrets in the area, I think.

The Oregonian published its annual diners' guide a few days ago: http://www.oregonlive.com/diner/. I don't know if it's organized by area in the on-line version, but it might be useful anyway.

My son lives next door to the Hotel Deluxe in an old building with really cool studios. Not cool as in updated but cool as in old, funky and with acres of built-ins like a table and bench that folds into the cabinetry and HUGE closets. I think he has more closet space than I do in my entire house (which isn't very big, either).
Anyway, he rides a bike and walks everywhere plus the Max is right out in front of his building as it is in front of the Hotel Deluxe. The hotel has plenty of parking but I'm sure there is a cost associated with it. The hotel has a foie-gras burger that I would suggest (especially at happy hour prices) not for the foie-gras which is only a sliver, but for the texture of the beef. I think they chop it there on-site and it's not ground. It was excellent!
I would suggest Basta's on NW 21st avenue. That would be a lovely place for dinner after a hard day of shopping and unpacking. We love Basta's and have had several lovely dining evenings there. Casual but nice and always some special little taste treat.

Thanks again for even more great info - I emailed the chain to my son, and he was amazed and most grateful - he called the mattress place today, starting scouting out a few other things, stores/locations/day we'd rent a car and investigating bikes - he will have storage in his building so he's psyched about biking in a city where it's much easier than biking in Boston and finally replacing his bike at that same time -

pdx, from the photos it looks like my son has good storage in the kitchen and the closet is 8' deep - the woman sent him a postcard today from when the building was originally built, which was nice - so far everything about his move has been great thanks to people like all of you above - the management company - his new boss - so far, so good ! thanks again -