What neighborhoods in Portland OR should I avoid moving into and why?

Thanks for your help!

People are so skittish. I would live in ANY Portland neighborhood. Unless you're in a gang...

People in Portland, OR 537,081

Random Murders in 2006: 3

(Most are gang related and even at that there aren't many)

Do have any idea how freaking unbelievable those stats are for a city?

I think in order to answer this question, people would need to know what you're looking for in a neighborhood. I'd never live in one of the suburbs, because I prefer to be in the city. Even most of the east side of town doesn't really feel like the city to me, because there are so many houses. Most people live in houses over there. I also wouldn't live near Hawthorne (a street/area) because it's more of a hippie neighborhood, and that's not my style. But the people are nice, and there's a lot to there. Belmont is similar but more shabby chic hipstery as well, and there's a bit less to do in terms of bookstores and shops and movies.

Other people might not like to live in the neighbohoods I prefer. Downtown is great because it's in the most "city" part of the city, and you can live in an apartment building. However, it's expensive, and if you have a car you're going to need to pay for parking as well.
Northwest is nice enough, also shabby-chic hipster but more in more of a modern and less of a hippie than the aforementioned Belmont. Northwest has a ton of short, cute apartment buildings, mostly from the '20s or '30s, I suppose, with wood floors, ceiling fans, tiny kitchens, pay laundry machines in the basement, and bathrooms with separate faucets for hot and cold. The streets are tree-lined, and there are also a few houses, especially further off the main avenues of 21st and 23rd. You will also have a hard time with a car here: there's no parking garages, and the streets are overcrowded with cars of residents and people visiting the neighborhood.

The Pearl District is one of the newest neighborhoods, and it's quite citylike as well. It's between Northwest, Old Town (which doesn't have many places to live), and bordered by Downtown, and they all sort of encroach. A lot of new apartment buildings with new amenities---which includes parking garages, which you'll have to pay extra for. The rent prices are maybe a third more than in NW, or maybe half more, but you get modern facilities and appliances, too. But since the neighborhood is new, it still kind of feels that way, and tends to be a bit lacking of necessities, especially at its outer edges. That means no convenient grocery store, and not a lot of little neighborhood things beyond coffee places, some galleries, a few restaurants and very few bars (which are still enough to create a lot of noise from people at night). It's not a lived-in place. There are, however, a ton of young couples with small children, and they congregate at the water feature in the small park. Everyone seems rather well-to-do or on their way to that.

Another newishly popular neighborhood is Northeast, which is a hipster-gentrified area with art galleries and little vegetarian restaurants and stuff. It's sort of snooty in its hipsterness, though, imo. Further away from the river, but in the actual North East streets there (not really the "Northeast" strip) you can also find really nice houses on more quiet neighborhood streets.

There are a few more, or even specific areas within these neighborhoods, but I'd be able to suggest one better if I knew what you were looking for. By the way, the suburbs I mentioned earlier are basically the same as suburbs anywhere. Houses, streets, gyms, and that's where most of the car dealerships and malls are. And most of them tend to have better access to nature activities than the city neighborhoods, but it still usually requires a drive.

NE and downtown, also parts of SE. because there is alot of gang activity, and downtown there is a lot of dug problems and prostitutes. if you have doubts of which areas you can usually tell by looking at it if its good or bad. also you can look at the crime stats for portland or the sex offender registry.

Don't live within 30 blocks of SE or NE 82nd ave. Besides that Portland is great.

check out this website...

www.portlandmaps.com

You can check the crime rate for any area your considering moving in to. Lots of good info.