MetroParent, September, 2014 By Courtney Sherwood
Speed through Milwaukie on Highway 99E and it's easy to get the wrong impression: Fast cars, wide lanes and strip malls dominate the landscape. But if you're willing to slow down and take city streets, you'll soon learn there's much more to this community of 20,500 people.
"It's a delightful place to raise a family," says Danna Freeman, who has lived in Milwaukie for 21 years, 14 of them selling real estate in the area. She moved to the community because of its sense of place and local schools, and stayed because of the mix of small-town community and big-city access. "We're so close to the city, five minutes from Sellwood, but so many people never think of living in Milwaukie."
This summer, Milwaukie home sales were up 10 compared to a year earlier, according to data compiled by the RMLS real estate listing service. About half of Milwaukie homes sold for more than $290,000, half for less. Recent real estate listings show a three-bedroom, 2,400-square-foot house with an asking price of $219,900. A 2,600-square-foot house with four bedrooms, 2.5 baths at the end of a dead-end street listed at $324,900.
Families looking for average can find similarly priced houses outside Milwaukie's strict city limits, Freeman says.
Melissa Thomsen, a stay-at-home mom to three kids, first moved to Milwaukie with her husband and her then 4-year-old in the spring of 2006. She'd been living in southeast Portland, and loved the walkable neighborhoods there. But her husband had, as she describes it, "a lot of toys," including a boat and a dune buggy, so they were looking for a home with at least a two-car garage, plus enough room to hold the family they wanted to grow. In the still-overheated market of 2006, that proved hard to find in Portland.
"We wanted to settle down," Thomsen said. "We wanted to be somewhere for a long time."
This is what Lake Oswego is competing with - it is what Lake Oswego used to be: a small town with small-town amenities and close to big-city services. Lake Oswego used to be affordable for people of varying incomes - a family town.
There is no place in Lake Oswego for a lot of young families anymore: the houses are too expensive, utility costs are through the roof, and despite what planners and developers might say, most families don't choose to live in the apartments that are being forced on the suburbs now. If I were young again with school-aged children, I'd be checking out low-density, affordable and friendly Milwaukie, and probably by-pass the Lake Oswego of today. The youthful energy has gone to the other side of the river, and it won't be coming back for a long, long time.
Families looking for average can find similarly priced houses outside Milwaukie's strict city limits, Freeman says.
Melissa Thomsen, a stay-at-home mom to three kids, first moved to Milwaukie with her husband and her then 4-year-old in the spring of 2006. She'd been living in southeast Portland, and loved the walkable neighborhoods there. But her husband had, as she describes it, "a lot of toys," including a boat and a dune buggy, so they were looking for a home with at least a two-car garage, plus enough room to hold the family they wanted to grow. In the still-overheated market of 2006, that proved hard to find in Portland.
"We wanted to settle down," Thomsen said. "We wanted to be somewhere for a long time."
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The article goes on to describe the virtues of suburban, small-town living. The Thomsen family's home is close to the river and they have a view of downtown Portland and OHSU from their deck, surrounded by mature oak and fir trees. They can walk to their church, go to a Farmers' Market during the summer, bike and walk around town, enjoy Milwaukie's restaurants and still get to Sellwood and Portland quickly for whatever else they need. They love the schools and most importantly, they can afford to live there! This is what Lake Oswego is competing with - it is what Lake Oswego used to be: a small town with small-town amenities and close to big-city services. Lake Oswego used to be affordable for people of varying incomes - a family town.
There is no place in Lake Oswego for a lot of young families anymore: the houses are too expensive, utility costs are through the roof, and despite what planners and developers might say, most families don't choose to live in the apartments that are being forced on the suburbs now. If I were young again with school-aged children, I'd be checking out low-density, affordable and friendly Milwaukie, and probably by-pass the Lake Oswego of today. The youthful energy has gone to the other side of the river, and it won't be coming back for a long, long time.
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