Best planned community in Portland, Oregon area?

Like I said in my previous post about a planned community in Monmouth, Oregon, almost certainly someday my wife and I will want to leave behind the large house on ten rural acres that simultaneously drives us crazy and makes us happy.

There's a lot of people akin to us.

Baby boomers (we're in our 60's) who are in good health, have lived in a non-easy-care home for a long time, aren't interested in a traditional retirement community, and are beginning to think about where they'd like to live when "let's move" becomes not just a idle thought, but an urgent need or desire.

Reading about the Edwards Addition Master Plan, the community in Monmouth, got us thinking about what other planned communities are near Salem, where we live now.

Some Google searching today revealed... surprisingly few. Kind of disappointing.

We'd figured that the green, hip, cool, cutting-edge Portland area would have more planned communities where green, hip, cool, cutting-edge older folks like my wife and me could feel comfortable.

"Planned" is the key word.

Northwest Oregon has lots of wonderful neighborhoods. However, we're inclined toward communities with some sort of master plan, preferably with strong sustainable, environmentally conscious, outdoor activity, and dog-friendly components.

Currently we live in a 70's era planned community, Spring Lake Estates. There are easements behind most of the small acreages that allow quite a few miles of hiking/riding trails. We also have a nine acre lake on common property, and a neighborhood association. 

A planned community brings people together. It fosters more of a sense of, well, community. Without that, getting to know your neighbors and feeling like you belong is more difficult.

Though nowhere near ready to move yet, we've begun to explore options in our general area. Northward toward Portland, with all its amenities (yes, also headaches) draws us more than anywhere else in Oregon. We'd consider staying in Salem if a planned development didn't have the "blah" factor that curses this town.

Here's the communities I've found so far, along with my initial largely-uninformed snap judgment about each. If anyone has more suggestions, please leave a comment. 

Edwards Addition, Monmouth. Nice vibe. Pleasant town. Just fifteen minutes away, though. Put this sort of development in a different location, and we'd be more intrigued.

Pringle Creek Community, Salem. We've toured this development several times. A lot to like here. Small, though. On the right track; just not the development we're attracted to at the moment.

Villebois, Wilsonville. I've browsed the web site, but never been there. Like the sustainable, green angles. Seems to lack nature trails and has a "snooty" air; but maybe it's just the regrettable French'ie name. 

Fairview Village, Fairview. Quite interesting. Look and feel, based on web site, appeals to us. Proximity to I-84 and Columbia Gorge is worrisome. Windy? Plan to pay a visit one of these days.

Mountain Park, Lake Oswego. Beautiful area. Too country-club'y of a vibe, almost certainly. Strikes me as an old-style high-end planned community. We'd rather have a dog park than a staffed clubhouse.

Murray Hll, Beaverton. By and large, if a planned community web site features a photo of a stone wall with the development's name in big bronze letters, it's not for us. Enough said.

Orenco Station, Hillsboro. lt's won awards. Good place to live if you want to hop on a MAX light rail train and cruise into Portland. Seems overly urban for our taste.

As noted before, I thought there would be more choices. Maybe I've missed some planned communities. Perhaps Google failed me. Somehow I doubt it. Which means, there's a untapped housing market for a creative developer.

Could be wrong (an ever-present possibility). I just know enough baby boomers like us who don't want to grow traditionally old, yet realize that they are... growing old. 

Living in a large difficult-to-maintain single family home is becoming less attractive to them. Yet they're active, energetic and nowhere near ready to enter a dreaded "senior" housing situation. 

So where are the planned communities aimed, in part, at people like us?

We're not going to retire to a golf course community in Arizona. We want hiking, biking, and yes, skateboard/longboard trails much more than bingo and bridge in a social center. 

Build it, and we will buy it. 

Comments

[Dan Gellner]

Something I'd like to see, and maybe you as well would be recycling of residential areas. I mean face it, isn't there a part of whatever town you live in where you think, "man if they bombed this place it would be doing them a favor."? Rather than tearing up valuable farmland, or God forbid forest lands on the edges of established places and extending sprall, why not buy out an entire neighborhood level it, and then build a "planned" community like you suggest?

I saw something similar when I was living in Bend. Several of the old neighborhoods that were built to house mill working families way back in the 20's. They were not built to be nice places back then, strictly functional. Organizations went in, bought up large portions of these non descript neighborhoods, and rebuilt very nice looking retro style houses. The kind that are meant to look old, but are up to standards.
I imagine like anything else, the devil is in the details, and the removal of the old asbestos riddled places has it's costs, but I'm sure they can be levied in the price to the new owner fairly.
Wouldn't it be cool to have your "planned" concept, in a place that was never planned out?

[Laura]

I've been looking at Woodburn Sr Estates. I was hoping to find something similar, so did a google search. This blog post came up. So far I'm not having much luck. I'm surprised by how inexpensive the homes are there. It is near the freeways which is a bummer, but the houses and neighborhood are charming. Very small lots, but I'm not sure I need much any more. I don't play golf, but I think the space might work for me anyway.

[Jean weingartner]

I like the "Build it and I will buy it" quote. I too, a baby-boomer an on the same quest.

[KERRY WALTON ERION]

I found your post very interesting as my husband is from Salem but was hired by Ford right out of college (1969) and we have been in S.E. Michigan ever since. I am from Portland originally. We are in a similar situation as you and your wife and are looking now to move back to Oregon. I can't see shoveling many more years of snow and enduring long, extremely cold Michigan winters. We are also looking for a planned community, preferably in southern Oregon for a more temperate climate. It has been so long since we have lived in Oregon, I was wondering what your thoughts are about living south of Salem. I am searching the 10 Best of 'this and that' but wonder how much the lists are more of opinions. We visit family in Salem and Portland, but don't like the traffic. We are poking around the internet looking at Ashland and Grants Pass.

[Brian Hines]

Kerry, you definitely should move back to Oregon, a marvelous state, as you well know. We've looked at the Mountain Meadows Community in Ashland (only online, and via a information packet). You've probably discovered this planned development already, but wanted to point it out.

[Christopher Odell]

I would love to see more of this too. We have been looking at doing a modular green home on some land but better would be a community of sorts with a strong lean towards farming spaces and more room per unit so a dog or two could be happy in a yard. The latter is the thing I see missing. Where is the love for man's best friend in these spaces? I feel like dogs are such a great part of being human and I always want mine to have open access to the outdoors.

Let us know what you find!

Oh and this place in Washington looks cool, just needs dog homes :)

http://growbainbridge.com

[Claudia Argüero]

I am on the same search and love the idea of build it and I will buy as well.

[Dana Via]

Well I've spent my whole life in the boomer group so of course it's no surprise when I google planned communities and you describe my life. I'm just exploring the possibilities and finding what I have in mind is non-existent. Your blog was dated 2013. How disappointing no developer has met the criteria you proposed. Or at least I haven't found it yet. We are active seniors who would like to find a community with easy access to biking and hiking trails. Low maintenance yard but with elbow room. Keep looking and if you find it please share. Only thing I'd add is Portland is no longer a town but a city with traffic congestion and lines out the door at better restaurants. So looking outside the metro area is appealing keeping in mind someday good medical care easily accessed will probably be a requirement.

[Joanna]

The Pringle Creek Community is a lifestyle and a community before its time. Sustainable living at its best with Leed certified homes and living.

[Donna]

What about those of us who are not in the market to buy into these retirement communities, but would rather pay the monthly fee? I am a single woman, early 70s, who has searched intensively online for what I want in this regard, including an indoor pool, elevator, and walkability to a grocery store (I wouldn't want to always have to rely on those scheduled community-supplied buses). My search has extended to several states, but I'd like to stay in Oregon, if possible. Often, these communities are situated out in the boonies, so walking to a store is not possible. I've come close to finding what I want, but it would be missing one of my priorities, like the indoor pool. Any suggestions?

[Brad]

There's more and more of a need for active-retiree-focused development. Not everyone wants to move to Florida and live on a golf course.