OK ST’ers. A buddy is looking to move to Portland Or. Where would you live if training was #1 priority, nice roads, swimming pool in the area,maybe off road trails? Help a brother out, where should he look to buy a house
I think it depends on where he will work. Commuting by car to and from certain areas sucks. For example, if he lived in Beaverton, but worked in vancouver, it would really be bad. Really, you can ride you bike to good rides in a few minutes from just about anywhere, Good running too. Personally, I like the rides and runs in the west hills the best. And you have forest park too. If training were number 1 I like beaverton. You can do the skyline ridge rides, and some nice farm country rides through the wine country. Running is easy. I even think there are some saltwater pools up there. Athletes lounge is up there too on Cornelius pass road, and a bike gallery, and a performance bike. There is some good racing there too, Hula Man HIM, some good half marathons too. and not too far from Hagg Lake for open water swimming and races. Yup, training is number one, go over the hill. I used to live in the west hills proper which was nice, but at the end of every ride, I had one hell of a climb. It is tough after riding for 7 or 8 hours or bonking and trying to crawl home up an 800 foot climb in the last half mile. Ugh. But over the hill is good, I would just hate the commute. Oh up in the beaverton area there are great group rides too. Through Athletes lounge with the Ironheads, or with portlland wheelmen or Portland Velo, I cant remember which is up there. Anyway LOTs of options for group rides.
So the other side of town isnt bad either. I now live toward Gresham. The gorge is not far, I have a saltwater pool three blocks away. I can be riding scenic cascades climbs in 10 min. The farmland south west of town is great rollers too. The running is not so good near my house, but at least I dont have to deal with that hill I mentioned before.
Let me know the area they are thinking of working in and I can give some suggestions of neihborhoods. If he is rich, move to lake oswego. Buy a house right on the water. Perfect training location. Perfect in all the ways that a 5 million dollar home should be,
todd
I’ve always thought the best place to live in PDX for training would be in NW’s “Pearl Disctrict”. Further out in NW along HW 30 would have many of the same advantages.
- Very close to Forest Park, the largest forested natural area within city limits in the US. Tons of running trails and some mild mountain biking.
- Very close to bike riding in the “west hills” for some hill work, access to open flat roads along highway 30 and Sauvies Island.
- It is a trendy area to live so they have relatively new 24 hour fitness and LA fitness with pools. I think there are some smaller community centers with pools.
- Numerous small bike shops, a triathlon shop (Athletes Lounge), one of the best running stores in town, and depending on occupation centrally located so it isn’t too far from anything.
This is more urban living; lots of condos, small expensive houses, plenty of places to eat, lots of young professionals, etc. Can get spendy quick but I bet prices have come down with the current housing problems.
All of pdx is relatively bike friendly and you are never too far from a good ride. If you don’t want to have to drive to get running trails NW is the way to go. There are other small parks around town but nothing to keep you from getting bored quickly. Other than NW, further outside of town like Hillsboro will have quick access to rolling country roads for running and biking. There will be pools at health clubs and community centers. Much more suburban lifestyle, lower home costs, more family oriented, etc.
How is the West Linn area?
West Linn, overall, is higher end suburbia. It is about 15 miles south of Portland. In my experience the roads out there are narrow, not quite as bike friendly. None of the typical group ride routes I’m aware of go through West Linn. What is there are primarily rolling hills. Some parks that have trail running available but nothing too great. I know of a few pools out there but have no experience with them myself.
It’s a great place to live and I’m sure you could find plenty of places to train but it’s not where I would move if “training was my #1 priority.”
Now is where somebody from West Linn tells us why it is the best place for training in the area.
I generally agree about west linn, but there are some nice rides. Not quite as freindly, but really some good options. I would have to look at a map, but a group ride I went on was on one of the best roads I have ever found. We rode four abreast for about an hour without seeing any cars. I have not been down there for a while, I might need to go back. Good idea.
t
I would go with the Southwest area if possible. near the the aquatic center a few tracks and also down the street from Leif Ericsson Trailhead at Forest Park. Up and over the hill and you are in BEaverton or heading south you can get to Tigard and the outskirts that another was talking about. Enjoy Portland! It is a great town to live in and man… the places to eat are endless! My wife and I were just saying that we miss that part of Portland the most. ERIK
How is the West Linn area?
I live in an unincorporated area with West Linn as one of my property lines and a few houses from the nearest property within the city of Lake Oswego. My postal address is Lake Oswego and some day the city will eat us up.
This is what I know. Going south is as good cycling as you can find anywhere as far as I’m concerned. I have lived in Boulder and Santa Barbara and each is great for their own reason. But here for 6 months of the year the riding is their equal (but different). The other 6 is what trainers are for. There are beautiful country roads and some good climbing in the areas of Mountain Drive and Petes Mountain (and back to my house at 700 feet above the river). Further south across the Willamette River (on a free for cyclists ferry) there is no limit. Just avoid the major highways whenever possible. You can also throw your bike into the car and drive up into the cascade mountains for a ride up paved forest service roads or Hood River Valley. However, I do nearly all my rides straight out the door.
There are regular rides out of 2 separate LBS. Nothing like what happens in Santa Barbara, but decent. I can’t compare to Boulder because it was the early and mid 70s and it was just a bunch of different people climbing the canyons onto the Peak to Peak Highway in those days.
For running I love running the trails of Tryon Creek State Park which is Lake Oswego proper. It’s hilly and beautiful running in a forest. I never get tired of it so that’s where I run except when I am doing pace work on a local high school track. There is another nearby state park, Mary S. Young, but there are to many people walking dogs off leashes on the trails for my liking. It is flatter through the woods but not as peaceful.
I am a swimmer and readily admit for swimming Mount Hood Community College in Gresham is best. They have a 25 yard indoor pool and an outdoor 50 meter pool that they put a cover over so you can swim in the winter. Masters Long Course Nationals was held there last summer. Probably the next best facility is the indoor 50 meter X 25 yard community pool in Beaverton. There is a 50 meter pool downtown, but you’ll have to belong to the private Multnomah Athletic Club (MAC).
I swim at Lake Oswego High School where I trained in the 80s. It was built in the 60s I think. Don Scholander got his start there (is that to long ago for anyone else to remember him?) It’s good enough for me. I can swim anytime before 3 and have my own lane. The swim clubs have it after that. Lake Oswego talks about a new aquatic facility, but it is all talk.
There is no pool in West Linn and with the economy as it is there is little likelihood there will be.
http://www.westlinntidings.com/opinion/story.php?story_id=121502859680658200
Nearby Oregon City has a 25 meter pool but while I’ve seen it I have not swam in it. Nothing special there.
http://www.orcity.org/parks-and-recreation/swimming-pool/
Some people belong to Club Sport in Tigard which is not far from West Linn. I belonged for a couple of years.
http://clubsports.com/oregon/home.do;jsessionid=EDCA482516815C764795AFE76597D357
A pool I enjoy is at the North Clackamas Aquatic Park. It’s a 25 yard pool and never seems to be busy but the very popular wave pool is mobbed.
http://www.clackamas.us/ncprd/aquatic/
I wouldn’t swim in the Willamette River in LO or WL, but the Portland Triathlon’s swim leg is in the river down stream. I did the race and the water seemed passable - barely. Oswego Lake is a private lake with public access to lifeguarded restricted areas in the summer. I have been thinking of just jumping in and seeing if the private lake police show up(I don’t know if there is any).
I hope this helps let me know what else I can help you with. And by the way we don’t all live in $5 million homes, but housing can be surprisingly expensive here.
Wow, I live right by MHCC and my wife works there. I didn’t know they had a 50 m pool! I will have to check that out.
X2 on Tryon, I used to run there all the time. I had forgotten how much I missed it. Perfect loops you could always link together into great runs.
I have to disagree with the trainer comment though. Perhaps its being from the midwest that skews my perspective of the weather. But I don’t mind the winters at all. In fact, this past December was the first time in years that the weather has kept me off of my bike. and that was only a week and the worst storm in 40 years or something. Yeah it rains, but its not hard rain, and not soaking, but its never really cold. It rarely gets to a low that is below 30. Buy some booties, pants, jacket and gloves and you will be fine for 350 days of the year.
t
+1
and despite the snopocalypse in december, it’s been pretty dry this winter
trainer time is mostly for early morning oh-dark-thirty rides before work
despite being an avid urbanite, i disagree with the Pearl location and i’d agree to the post above saying the beaverton/west side is best for riding access…the rolling vineyard and farm land is just gorgeous
runs are easy and you’re going to drive/bike to swims most likely anyway unless you get lucky with your house location
.
I have spent many a summer vacation in Hood River (mainly for windsurfing) but always bring my bike and the riding around Hood River Valley, around the Gorge, out to Dufur, etc is awesome. I would move up there in a minute if I could. I love the amazing changes you see from green cascade forrest to high plains just east of The Dalles. The PNW in the summer is heaven on earth as far as I am concerned. There is a very nice pool in town of HR with fabulous views of Mt Adams you can enjoy as you swim backstroke.
I have to disagree with the trainer comment though. Perhaps its being from the midwest that skews my perspective of the weather. But I don’t mind the winters at all. …Yeah it rains, but its not hard rain, and not soaking, but its never really cold.
I’ll admit it I’m a wimp when it comes to riding in the rain. I did it when I lived in Eugene and going to school, but I always hated it. I can handle dry cold. I lived at Denali National Park in Alaska, but I hate the wet cold. Give me sunny, dry and 20 and I am in heaven, on XC skis, running or a bike. Also riding in any kind of traffic in the rain totally stresses me out. On ther other hand I can swim off shore a mile out by myself and not be fazed. I guess it’s whats you are used to and riding in Boulder and Santa Barbara rarely involved the wet stuff.
West Linn is better than average when it comes to riding. I don’t think anyone really rides in West Linn, it is just a starting or finishing point. It is easy to head east, south and west from there. As someone else indicated, it really depends on where they are going to work. If they are working downtown, driving in from West Linn is probably not the easiest. I would tell them to rent for a while to get the lay of the land and then decide where they want to live.
It rains here in the Winter and Spring and Fall. No one loves riding in the rain, but in order to get out in the fall and winter, you are going to get wet at some point but you learn to deal with it. I moved here from a dry climate and tried to avoid the rain without success. Either you ride in the rain or you fry your brain riding the trainer.
I can’t speak for the pools as I swim like a rock.