Renting in Portland, Oregon 2021

I have been living in Portland, Oregon since 2002. During that time it’s been all shared housing, but recently I’ve been subletting a friend’s house for the 2nd year in a row while he and his wife are off in warmer climes. Ah, the snowbird life! Living on my own works for me – who knew? So, I figured I’d take a look and see what the apartment rental climate is like in Portland these days. 

Portland’s in a strange place these days. We’re way beyond the Portlandia phase which featured a lot of mentions in the national press as being the place to move to. There’s a lot more talk here about this being a place that has passed its prime. On Nextdoor there is a very long discussion thread in my neighborhood asking whether people have made exit plans. When I say long, I mean over 500 comments which for Nextdoor is a long thread! I still find it fascinating living here, though, so no exit plans on my part, but I do consider living in a sunnier place from time to time – Maui, for instance. I traveled there for a couple of months 3 years ago and it still calls me back at least for a visit someday soon! 

There’s also a lot of discussions here about whether we’re in a housing crisis or not. I just read this morning that the number of permits being requested by developers has gone down a lot in the last year. That’s true nationwide, but we seem to be ahead of the game which will inevitably lead to a housing and apartment crunch in a couple of years as people flock back here.

Well, as you can see from the above graphic according to Zumper, the average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment in Portland is $1,350. Right now that’s out of my range by a little bit, so it’s probably going to be shared housing for me for the next while. I also do love living in houses. The one I live in now comes with a sweet West-facing porch, for instance, and it’s surrounded by some friendly neighbors who have helped me get through Covid times without too much isolation! 

If I were looking further though this type of site does help in both finding available apartments and also shows you ones nearby. So, if I were to search in the Eliot neighborhood I might find a listing and then find nearby relevant listings. This site also allows you to apply to rent apartments, run through background checks and other relevant parts of renting a place. You can even save your search and get an email update with new listings when something comes up for rent. 

Wow, all of this capability really wows me. I can easily remember the days of the 1990s before anything like this was available and the best way to find a place to live was to search in the alternative weekly, word of mouth, or hung-up notices on the co-op bulletin board.  Perhaps someday you’ll just be able to think about finding a new place to live and the perfect place will pop right into your mind.  Maybe I should be careful what I wish for! 

Here’s to a happy home for you and yours! Albert