Portland Neighborhoods Guide

Portland Neighborhoods Guide: Top 5 Things To Do Before Renting a Place in Portland

Frontpage/Areas Map

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Portland Mapper

Articles

Navigating Portland
Portland Public Transit: Trains, Buses, Streetcars
Living in Portland Without A Car
Finding an Apartment or Rental in Portland
Where in Portland should I live?
Random Facts and Portland Trivia
Portland Frequently Asked Questions
Portland Grocery Stores
Top 5 Things To Do Before Renting a Place in Portland

Area Descriptions

Downtown/Northwest

Downtown
Goose Hollow and King's Hill
Northwest Portland
Riverplace
South Waterfront
The Pearl District

Northeast/North Portland

Alberta
Beaumont-Wilshire
Hollywood District
Irvington
Lloyd District
Mississippi
St. Johns
University Park

Southeast Portland

Hawthorne District
Ladd's Addition
Laurelhurst
Sellwood
Woodstock

Southwest Portland

Johns Landing
Multnomah Village

Suburbs/Outlying Areas

Beaverton - West Suburbs
Lake Oswego - South of Portland
Orenco Station - Hillsboro
Tanasbourne - Hillsboro/Beaverton
Tualatin Town Center - Southwest of Portland
Vancouver, WA

Links

Portland Scenic Photographs by Andrew Hall

Craigslist - Great for rentals

OregonLive.com - the Oregonian Online

Willamette Week - Alternative Weekly, Online

alt.portland guide - everything cool about Portland

Before you rent a place in Portland there are several things you should do before signing a lease:

  1. Check crime stats (Portland-area only, not suburbs) on PortlandMaps.com (run by city of Portland). Just type in the address or intersection.
  2. Walk around the neighborhood at night, if you can. See what it feels and sounds like. If you can't actually be there ahead of time, view pictures of the streets using Google Maps Street View. Just type in an address there and click on "Street View" and take a look around!
  3. Check the bus/train commute and (if you drive) the driving commute to work or school via Portland Mapper. Add points to My Locations and then select Get Point to Point Directions to view Google Transit maps of bus/train connections or driving directions
  4. Check utility costs. In Portland, your electric company will be either Portland General Electric (PGE) or Pacific Power. Your gas company will be Northwest Natural. You can call them and check the billing history at any address, so you can figure out if your power bills will be cheap or sky high. Note that Portland's electricity is generally not super expensive in part because of the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) hydroelectric power subsidies.
  5. Check out internet options at that particular location. Cable internet is generally available everywhere in Portland - Comcast is the provider for almost everyone. DSL via telephone companies (Qwest in Multnomah County, Verizon in Washington and Clackamas Counties) may or may not be available, depending how far away your residence is from a Central Office (CO). You can check with Quest or Verizon based on the address to see if you can get DSL. Also, Clear offers WiMax wireless internet service.