podman

i live on the westside and don't find OHSU difficult to get to in the least.. i would prefer it to coming over from Mt Tabor, that is for sure.

i tend to dislike the high traffic roads and i can't think of a route to OHSU that doesn't put you well into one somewhere along the route... i may not be considering them all, i don't know.

i love my commute up to OHSU which i used to make before the construction job i was on ended. i am in the west hills.. Multnomah Village to be more specific, and as i recall it is only eight miles... although it is a fairly hilly ride.
but the traffic is very light in the AM, and the vibe in the village is cool and funky.

mikdes

Additional Multnomah County income tax. 'Nuf said.

I agree the east side has more culture than where I live in Beaverton. It also has better food than the suburbs (not so many chains). That being said, I find many advantages that Beaverton has over the inner east side.

1 - I have Greenway Park and Fanno Creek 1 block from my house and I can ride through it for about half of my commute.
2 - I have school-age children who thankfully don't have to attend Portland Public Schools, which are currently a mess.
3 - Crime statistics show that the west side is safer.
4 - I'm 5 minutes from the countryside.
5 - That tax thing. I'm in Washington County and am a homeowner. I pay enough taxes without having my county nail me with another one.

There are advantages and disadvantages to all parts of Portland. Personally I'd love to live in the inner east side for many reasons. I'd also like to live in NW Portland, the Pearl, Lake Oswego, Gresham, and other areas for the advantages that those areas provide.

Basically what I'm saying is that one can find positives and negatives to any part of any city. It just depends on which factors carry the most weight for the individual.

mikdes

This is funny. First, it doesn't rain 10 out of 12 months. This past year we have had consistent rain for maybe 7 months. It was a very dry winter.

I grew up in Lake Oswego and my mom still lives there. Yes, it's a nice town. It also has the highest average income and property values in the entire state, so what does that tell you? Driving a car? Plan on paying an extra $.20 per gallon. You get less home for your money and higher property values mean higher property taxes. Groceries are also more expensive. Having been a kid there I can also tell you that LO is not immune to what are commonly known as "city problems." Drugs are there because the kids have the money to spend on them (there's nothing quite like the sight of a kid smoking a doobie in his Range Rover). LO has just as many punks as any other part of town, and the only thing worse than a punk is a punk with money.

All negatives aside, LO is a beautiful place. It's hilly, green, and has the lake (although not easily accessible to non-lakeside homeowners). Schools are good and crime is low. There are nice shopping areas and pretty good restaurants. Personally I've love to live there again, but I simply can't afford it.

duane041

Glad i found this thread. GF and myself are currently thinking of moving out into this area, also. Having grown up in NYC, and currently living in Chicago, I doubt the 'crime' you speak of will measure up to what I'm used to. But how bad is this 7 months of rain? We are debating this topic here between the two of us, and she constantly says "Which would you rather have-rain all winter, or 5 degrees all winter?"

Hmmmmmmmmmmm.......

mikdes

Great point. Let's put it this way. Today is sprinkled for 5 minutes this morning. It warmed up to about 78 this afternoon and was glorious. Right now it's 8:45 pm and I'm sitting here with my windows open and it feels awesome. Before today it hadn't rained in probably at least a month. The "rainy season" is made up of rain about 3-5 out of every 7 days, but it's sporadic. By sporadic I mean it might rain for 20 days straight, but it might also be sunny for 2 weeks in the middle of winter. July through the end of September is usually awesome, and often it will extend a month before and after that period. It depends on the year and whether "El Nino" is paying a visit. When he does, Portland has a dry winter while California gets slammed, as shown this past winter.

If you check something like "Places Rated Almanac" or some other resource that "measures" climate, Portland is always in the top 25 for climate out of over 300 cities in America. It's mild, rarely snows (1-2 small storms/winter), has very few severe rain storms (the last really bad flood was 1996), and is rarely oppressively hot and/or humid for an extended period of time. Overall it's very comfortable.

All that being said, just prepare yourself to see more gray skies that what you might be used to, and buy one of those "gustbuster" umbrellas.

duane041

Thanks Mike. I'd rather have to purchase an umbrella than another pair of work boots because my last ones were ruined from salt. Yeah, salt. The fun part of winter here is that even after it snows, the snow never leaves. It melts during the day, and refreezes at night, causing the DOT to 'drop more salt'. It's disgusting. Needless to say, cycling is difficult during the winter, unless you don't mind your bike getting trashed by road salt.

mikdes

Yep. No salt here. The environmentalists won't allow it. We actually don't need it, anyway.

SpokesInMyPoop

why not beaverton?? (sorry if anybody suggested that... I can't read through some of these threads completely sometimes )

Well, with that said, I live in the inner SE area, and I commute to Milwaukie (Oregon, not "MilwaukEE") which is about 17 miles round trip. There are a bit of hills on the way, some rude drivers... ya know, the norm. I wish I could advise you on what paths to take, as I am interested in riding out there one of these days.

How the hell do you get to beaverton/hillsboro from portland?!

SpokesInMyPoop

I'm under the impression that "El Nino" is full of crap. This past winter was dry because we supposedly went through a fifty year cycle where the jetstreams cross, which causes California gets our weather, and we (Oregon) get theirs I do recall the winter before this past one, the ice storm was crazy. I"m sure it's worse in other cities, but Portland is/was not prepared for that kinda crap, although I've heard those storms come around once every 10 years or so. I'm not from Portland originally, but have friends who's families have been here for generations... so I'll take their word for it :B

Oh, and I don't know about ye, but I wouldn't recommend an umbrella. Trust me, you'll lose it. Doesn't matter if it's on trimet, a coffee shop, or stuck in your cat's litter box :x. Just get a good raincoat

Yeah, Portland's not that bad in regards of weather, but it ain't no Honolulu heheh

mikdes

I don't think so. The entire explanation with El Nino is that it moved the systems that normally hammer us to the south, thus hammering California. Last year was supposedly an El Nino year and, sure enough, we were dry and Cali got "speedbagged" by storms.

I kind of agree on the umbrella thing. I have a good one and sometimes use it, but I find it's easier just to have a coat with a hood and throw that thing up when it's really coming down.

SpokesInMyPoop

El nino has been around since '96. at that time it was supposed to be a one year thing, then suddenly the next year "la nina" shows up.

Yeah, I think it's full of crap. I'd moreso believe that it has something to do with global warming. Have you heard about the plankton population and the fish in Klamath??

Linds476

Is it reasonable to consider biking from Beaverton to the Providence St. Vincent Campus? I am new to the area and wondering if it would be realistic. Thanks--

ratell

East side either NE or SE to OHSU is an ideal commute. If you want to be cush you take a neighborhood greenway then cross the river by either the Hawthorne or Tillikum Bridges and ride the tram up to OHSU. There's even a bike valet for you at the Tram. When you feel like getting a work out you bike up the hill. I'm in North Tabor and it's 6 miles each way and takes about 35 minutes to ride the tram and about 30 minutes to bike up the hill.

CliffordK

Oh, an ancient topic.

It should be possible to make it up there. I think I did make it up to Harbor Freight just south of there.

I think it is a little flatter to the west side, and hillier to the east side (in that region of Portland). Beaverton tends to be fairly flat.

Although, probably some small rolling hills as you head north.

There are some good bike paths, but some of the main roads are narrow and busy.

@ratell mentions OHSU (not Providence) which is on a decent hill, especially if you hit it from the west side. I don't think there were any bike paths anywhere near OHSU (except Terwilliger below it). At least it was all awfully narrow 20 years ago.

willydstyle

Back when I rode from Beaverton to Portland regularly I used to take Beaverton-Hillsdale up to multnomah village, then from there you can bomb down Capital Highway to Barbur then you basically have access to all of Portland from there, crossing Tillikum if you want to get to the East side. It's not the *shortest* route, but I considered it to be the least dangerous due to broad shoulders/bike lanes on Beaverton-Hillsdale.

CliffordK

I've ridden Beaverton Hillsdale Highway many times. The shoulders disappear between the two Fred Meyers stores. And it has a lot of LARGE storm sewer grates along the route.

Following @gugie, and crew, I found a route between Beaverton and Portland that cuts a couple of blocks south of Beaverton Hillsdale that hits a short bike path, through an apartment complex, and cuts through a corner of a school yard.

I think @Linds476 was wanting to head north from Beaverton. Many of those streets aren't too bad. Some with good bike lanes. Perhaps less traffic pressure than other roads since it is parallel to a good freeway. Are there times when the entire freeway dumps onto residential roads?

I'm not quite sure where one cuts across HWY 26. Probably on Cedar Hills Blvd.

Actually, I think Cedar Hills Blvd has bike paths along at least parts of it, and would take one right into the middle of Beaverton. It should have good visibility.

There may be other less busy residential roads, but then one ends up wandering around some since none of the roads go through.

gugie 

@Andy_K knows the roads like the back of his hand.

gugie 

If you provide your nearest cross street, I can put together a ridewithgps map for you.

Andy_K 

Yeah, but these days I'm finding things on the back of my hand that I never noticed before all the time.

Beaverton to St. Vincent by bike is definitely doable. The best route will depend on which part of Beaverton you're coming from. I'd probably start with Murrary-to-Cornell-toBarnes as the backbone of the route. I might be biased because I live near Murray. Coming from West Beaverton or Aloha, safe routes to Murray are easy. From central or east Beaverton, you need to be a bit more selective.

tairy

So is Portland a pretty bike friendly city overall?

CliffordK

The northwest typically has mild, but wet winters that one has to contend with.

There were some major gaps in Portland bike infrastructure 20 years ago including trails to nowhere.

They've been working hard to make improvements since then, including constructing bike specific bridges and overpasses.

It is a big city though, and has a lot of traffic pressure, especially if one gets off the beaten path.

Polaris OBark

What's relevant to the OP is whether it was bike friendly 19 years ago.

Linds476

SW 108TH Ave and SW Canyon Road

Thanks!

Andy_K 

I probably don't need to tell you, that's kind of a tricky area to get out of by bike. I haven't ridden most of this route, but I know most of the areas it goes through, and I think it should be OK.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/39399441

It's got some steep sections, but that's going to be hard to avoid with where you're going.

gugie 

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/39405008

Not very creative, but this would get you there on a route with bike lanes and/or wide shoulders.

edit: Andy's route looks better, go with that.