[Okstate]

I am curious as to which LRT stops have the most activity surrounding them. The reason i ask is b/c when i do move there (and i will be 1 of the 1 million expected :yes: ) I would like to already have a basic knowledge of the areas easily accessible via LRT. What i am mainly interested in is:

1) what stops have apartments within EASY walking distance (no further than 3 blocks) and what they are called, hopefully a website for them exists also.

2) what stops have some form of pedestrian activity (i.e. The Round)

-I already have an apt reserved on Northrup, but i'm not set in stone
-Pictures are always welcomed, in a perfect world i would like to see a pano of every transit stop.

[PacificNW]

If you want to live downtown the Goose Hollow transit stop has a lot of apartments in the area, plus it is a very short walk to PSU and downtown.

[pdxstreetcar]

just wondering, by activity do you mean urban development, shops/retail or foot traffic?

if you mean max specifically, westside max has tons of new apartments within walking distance of almost all the stations (west of beaverton). they are too numerous to name. within portland there are many particularly around goose hollow, pge park stations, and along the burnside stations on east side max. not a whole lot of very close apartments however along the I-84 stations, the core of downtown or in the lloyd (although there is 'the merrick').

there are tons of apartments along the streetcar line (like NW Portland, riverplace, psu/south auditorium area, pearl) and even more along the major bus lines serving the inner east side.

perhaps your best bet would be to use windows live local (local.live.com) in birds eye view following the max line to see if an area looks good and we can work from there.

[Okstate]

By activity pdx, i simply mean an area (transit stop) where walking could provide 90% of your basic necessities (groceries, banking, hair-cut, restaurants) When i visited in late December after Christmas, i obviously arrived through the airport & took Max into downtown. While i did notice some areas along my trip that had apts. nearby the stops, it was not what i am looking for. I have a feeling the west Max line is better suited. There is this 1 apt. complex located above a library in Hollywood that looks pretty neat, but too far from the LRT stop. As for the Merrick. It was also a great looking complex, but the Llyod district is not up my alley...yet anyway. I went to the mall there & was very unimpressed, especially compared with pioneer square's mall.

[zilfondel]

Actually, besides the downtown stops, there aren't really any "cool" areas near MAX stations. They serve the 'burbs, and all of the actually interesting parts of Portland to live are far from the MAX. This is largely because they built the MAX line to promote development in underbuilt corridors, away from existing neighborhoods.

Now the streetcar is a completely different ball of wax...

[MarkDaMan]

^I was going to say the same thing. You can craigslist apartments for NW Portland and find a crapola of places available within five blocks of the streetcar. There also is a Zupans, Fred Meyers, Trader Joes and soon to be Safeway all within relatively quick walks from almost anyplace in NW. Also Kings Hills/Goose Hollow has some terrific apartments. The older apartment towers above PGE park are pretty nice inside and have somewhat affordable rents considering the location.

[Okstate]

What time does the LRT operate from? doesn't it start up at 4:00 a.m. & end around midnight...

[pdxstreetcar]

max runs close to 22 hours, the blue line ends around 2am but usually with short runs to the yard (but the yards are still pretty far out on the line)

i agree with zifondel and markdaman, locations along max might not offer quite the urbanity that it sounds like your looking for. northwest portland is probably your best bet particularly around lovejoy/northrup or the pearl (which i understand is your plan). northwest portland is mostly 1900s apartment buildings in a victorian era neighborhood, the pearl is all new apartments in a new/renovated neighborhood both have an amazing selection and range of retail and services where you can get just about everything you need within a very short walk.

in the pearl...
markey rate apartments:
kearney plaza
the burlington
the louisa
10th/hoyt
affordable:
sitka
lovejoy station
pearl court

also close-in neighborhoods to checkout served by frequent bus lines:
belmont
hawthorne
irvington/broadway
mississippi
alberta

[Okstate]

I was on Craigslist today & found a Llyod District apt. located at 1727 NE Multnomah St. (17th & Multnomah, across from Residence Inn) Can anyone tell me which complex this may be? I believe it's a midrise tower judging by the google earth locale.

[Okstate]

Lloyd might sound better :)

[PacificNW]

I think this might be the one: The Merrick: (from the For Rent mag)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v120/PacificNW/Portland3/Merrick.png

Second thought: this probably isn't the one.

[MarkDaMan]

^hmmm, I don't think the Merrick is as far out as 17th, more like MLK. Ha! I'd love to see these 'luxury' complexes advertise on Craigslist though...

[bvpcvm]

I was on Craigslist today & found a Llyod District apt. located at 1727 NE Multnomah St. (17th & Multnomah, across from Residence Inn) Can anyone tell me which complex this may be? I believe it's a midrise tower judging by the google earth locale.

It's a 1950's-era condo, about 16 stories, typical for the time, if you know what I mean.

[Okstate]

Thanks bvpcvn. I know the Lloyd isn't the most dynamic neighborhood, however, you do NOT have to pay monthly parking fees ($100) that you would in NW, Goose Hollow, Kings Hill, Downtown, Pearl. Also, it's an easy walk to the Max, which is still fareless. Just too many pros (pricewise) to pass by. If any of you guys happen to catch the name of this place, i'd like to know. The unit is on the top floor too, probably a dang good view if towards downtown.

[vjoe]

The only places that has meters are downtown and the Pearl. In other area, you can get a sticker and park on the street. It used to be 30 bucks a year, but I don't know how much now. Depending on where you are, it could be difficult to find street parking though.

[IHEARTPDX]

The Lloyd district definitely has parking meters.

[Okstate]

By $100 parking, i of course mean with a parking garage attached to the apt. complex. I've heard bad reviews about the $30-35 annual city pass, such as hard finding a spot (near your unit), car break ins, etc... Don't know how valid those claims really are though. People who have had bad experiences tend to be more inclined to write reviews than those who are satisfied, such is life.

[jonjon]

Okstate, the building you're describing sounds like the Fontaine. Older, but it seems pretty well maintained. Also, there are no meters past 15th or so, but the free street parking attracts suburban commuters who hop on Max at Lloyd Center.

[bvpcvm]

the fontaine! i was wracking my brain... not sure if the whole building is maintained this well, but if it's any indication there was an article in portland monthly a couple years ago about a couple who did a *fantastic* job remodeling their 16-th floor unit. one would assume (hope, anyway) the other units are similarly maintained.

[PacificNW]

I thought the Fontaine was for seniors only....

[zilfondel]

By $100 parking, i of course mean with a parking garage attached to the apt. complex. I've heard bad reviews about the $30-35 annual city pass, such as hard finding a spot (near your unit), car break ins, etc... Don't know how valid those claims really are though. People who have had bad experiences tend to be more inclined to write reviews than those who are satisfied, such is life.

Check out portlandmaps.com - you can view the locations of any reported crimes in the past year - by type - for the whole city. And you can search by address... although you can use the website for a lot of other things as well. :frog:

[SpongeG]

What time does the LRT operate from? doesn't it start up at 4:00 a.m. & end around midnight...

we stayed at a hotel at the convention centre and the max ran right on the street by the hotel and i can tell you every morning around 4 am it woke me up :haha: it was very loud and sometimes the room seemed to shake

but i was able to fall asleep quickly at least but it definately let its presence be known :haha:

they call it the lloyd district and i found it alright - didn't see many places to live near the station but i am sure within a few minutes of it there must be something - there did seem to be a lack of places open after 1 am other than drive thrus and one 7-11

even the walgreens was closed at like 9 pm and the dennys closed at 1 am :shrug: never heard of a non 24 hour dennys before

but one could either walk to the lloyd centre or hop the max to it as its in the fareless square and there are theatres etc there

[Pavlov's Dog]

That's actually a decent area. Broadway/Weidler have some nice eateries, bars and cafés. Free parking and fareless square are a great draw as well.

Irvington, which is just on the other side of Broadway, is a lovely tree lined area of large homes and a neighborhood I'd love to live in.

For the price it is certainly an attractive area.

[tworivers]

I know someone (definitely not a senior) who owns a condo in the Fontaine. From what I've heard through friends they've done a really good job of gutting and remodeling in midcentury modern style.

[rapid_business]

Quick question: Like everyone and their dog who dicusses transportation solutions in planning, Portland comes up as an example. Any good links that you guys know of that has transit figures, dates, etc.?

[zilfondel]

^ Trimet's (http://trimet.org/) website has some figures, as does the wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAX_Light_Rail)entry for it. Try Metro's (http://www.metro-region.org/) page as well.

pdf: http://trimet.org/pdfs/ridership/busmaxstat.pdf

Try this google string as well: "site:trimet ridership"