I want to rent an apartment in a fun neighborhood. I will be working downtown or going to school at Portland State, want good public transit options, but want to live near coffee shops and cafes.

A dozen neighborhoods would work. Most of Portland's buses and its trains go directly through downtown, so if you can live near a MAX stop or the streetcar or a (good) bus line, you can get into downtown without driving. Having a bike helps...

The Pearl District and Northwest Portland are good choices if you can afford them, because both are close to downtown and on the streetcar line. But both are pricey.

There are also some highrise apartment buildings Downtown but you would lack a "neighborhood" feel and these buildings can be expensive, too.

On the east side of the river, you could live in Hawthorne District in SE, in Irvington or Alberta in NE and still live in a nice but slightly less expensive area than NW or Downtown. And all of these areas have plenty of shops and cafes you might desire.

I will be working in Beaverton or Hillsboro but want to live in Portland and not in the burbs. Would prefer not to drive...

Portland's MAX Train runs from Downtown west to Beaverton and Hillsboro - this is really the only way to get out there via public transit from Downtown. If you will work close to a MAX stop, then it would help to live near a MAX stop in Portland. You would probably want to live in NW or SW very close to downtown Portland. In SW, you could live in Goose Hollow, King's Hill, or Uptown (close to Burnside), where there are some high rise apartments, walk to NW, and also walk to the MAX train. You could also take your bike on the MAX going east from the Goose Hollow, King's Hill, and PGE Park MAX stops, so you could live further away from a MAX stop and bike fairly easily to MAX.

To see what the driving or bus/train commute would look like between any two locations in the Portland area, use the Portland Mapper to get maps and directions via Google Maps. Just add the areas you are interested in or any address in town to My Locations on your map, then Get Point to Point Directions.

If you want to drive, it's still advantageous to live in NW or close to downtown on the west side, because you want to skip I-84 and I-5 if you can help it when commuting to the western suburbs (Hillsboro and Beaverton). The dreaded Sunset Highway (Highway 26) gets messy enough, and you don't want too many traffic variables. Although you would be going against rush hour traffic living Downtown and working in Beaverton or Hillsboro, the Sunset still gets busy, especially inbound at night, going up the hill toward Sylvan Hill. It's not an unbearable commute but not fun.

I don't want to live right in the city - are there any nice areas outside of the urban neighborhoods?

Lake Oswego is kind of a ritzy suburb south of downtown Portland - known for huge mansions and upper middle-class homes and condos, in a suburban setting. You can take the TriMet buses 35 and 36 to downtown if you will be commuting or going to school in Portland. Or you can drive inbound on I-5 in the morning through the dreaded Terwilliger Curves...

There's also Orenco Station, way out on the West Side in Hillsboro, an "old neighborhood" themed newer development of homes, condos, and apartments built around a MAX station. Part of the development has old-style row houses and tries to re-create the feel of an old neighborhood. For the 'burbs it's not bad, but Portland has too much of the real thing Orenco to feel authentic. Still, if you must live in Hillsboro, it's a good choice. There are also lots chain stores nearby and the trendy new Streets of Tanasbourne Mall on Cornell Road.

We just want to buy a nice home in one of Portland's nicer neighborhoods. We can live pretty much anywhere but want a safe neighborborhood with character.

Northwest Portland, if you can afford it, has beautiful homes and it's a great neighborhood, but it's also very urban: homeless people wandering around, not a lot of street parking, etc.

Laurelhurst in NE/SE Portland is one of Portland's very first "planned suburbs" (not really a suburb anymore) with roads slightly curved so as not to be a grid. It has really nice homes and the name "Laurelhurst" is well regarded. It's a little quieter than NW Portland, less "urban" in part because there aren't really any apartment buildings.

Sellwood in SE Portland is kind of a satellite of Portland because it is a bit removed from downtown and not easy to get to from the freeways. But it has some beautiful homes, some well-known antique shops, and nice parks.

In NE, Irvington is known as another "elite" urban neighborhood, maybe not as exciting as NW but still one of Portland's best. Slightly east of Irvington is Beaumont-Wilshire, a slightly more conservative neighborhood than some of the others with some posh, classic Portland homes.

I'm going to be working at/attending Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU) or the adjacent Veteran's Hospital - where should I live?

OHSU is up on Marquam Hill, and parking up there is limited. In fact, I'm told it's very difficult to work there and drive especially if you are new. Your best bet is probably public transit.

There are buses up to the hill but also the Portland Aerial Tram, which avoids the windy drive up the hill - a quick ride from South Waterfront (connects to the Portland Streetcar). Otherwise, you would be taking buses. So you may wish to factor the bus/tram ride into where you will live. You can live at South Waterfront, with its condo and apartment towers, but as of mid-2009 it's still a relatively undeveloped area (ten years ago it was an abandoned industrial area).

You can actually live ON the hill near OHSU - there are some apartments up there - but they tend to be a bit overpriced and/or not that nice. And there's not much else up on the hill besides the hospitals. You pretty much need to come down to do anything.

Since OHSU is in the Southwest part of town, living downtown is one decent option if you can handle living in a condo or apartment tower. Downtown is convenient to a lot of things (cultural events and some restaurants - much more down in the Pearl) and has excellent public transportation and is extremely walkable, but it lacks the "neighborhood" feel you can find rather easily elsewhere in Portland. Also, guest parking is limited downtown and if you own a car expect to pay a premium to park it somewhere.

With buses otherwise: I would look at the major bus lines. The #8 is the primary bus line up the hill, and it goes through downtown and crosses the Willamette River to NE Portland, into Irvington, where you might also wish to live (lots of apartments at the south part of Irvington). Then it's a direct (but fairly long) bus ride up to OHSU. The #68 bus is a rush hour bus from Goose Hollow (MAX red and blue line connections also) and there is housing in Goose Hollow as well - not the most exciting part of town, probably a bit cheaper than downtown, but located NEAR a lot of awesome places (Powell's, Washington Park, etc.).

There are other rush hour express TriMet buses that serve OHSU: as of 2009, routes 61, 64, and 65 (aka 61X, 64X, 65X) serve SW Portland, Beaverton, and Tigard; Bus 66 (aka 66X) serves the Hollywood Transit Center in NE Portland. Living near Beaverton Transit Center is a decent suburban option because it's served by the 61 but also lots of MAX service. There are a bunch of apartment complexes just north of Beaverton Transit Center, on Center Street, that are fairly bland but tend to be cheaper than living in Portland; it's very suburban yet there is a Powell's Books nearby at Cedar Hills Crossing and some decent grocery stores (Trader Joe's, New Seasons) along with the dull chain stores and restaurants, so it's a compromise but not completely terrible.

If by chance you will be living in Vancouver, WA, and working at OHSU/VA, there is also a C-Tran bus (the 190) that provides express service at rush hour to Marquam Hill; if you don't catch the express, good luck, it's a long ride via the regular bus routes to/from Vancouver.