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Where to live and fly near Wilsonville OR

IowaRV9Dreamer

Well Known Member
Considering a possible future move from Iowa to take a job in Wilsonville OR.

Can any locals suggest where to base an aircraft (for me) and where to life (for the wife)? Looking for a safe, upscale neighborhood, but not mansions. Ideally 1 story house.

Where are the "good" neighborhoods? School districts not a factor (kids will be grown) but will have 3 good size dogs.

Also, what is the commute like if one was to live in Vancouver and drive to Wilsonville? Is it better to live / fly up there? Google says 31 miles, 45 minutes in traffic right now (5pm local). I don't know about tax advantages / disadvantages either.

Last question - it's a bit far out - but what about residential airparks?

Thanks in advance for any info?
 
That is just up the road a bit from the mother ship.

Call Vans, a number of folks who work there live in airparks.
 
you do not want to live in Vancouver and commute to Wilsonville, despite the allure to live in a income tax-free state [WA] and buy groceries in a zero sales tax state [OR]. I live in lake Oswego which is looked upon as upscale, but the reality is it is quite varied. my neighbor drives a bus at PDX long term parking for instance. a street away houses start at $1M [lake frontage]. aurora would be a good airport to fly from. I am based at TTD because I once lived on the eastside. I hear that there are actually hangars available now, after years of a waiting list, so I don't know what the situation is at aurora. upscale would be Wilsonville, L.O., council crest, parts of Beaverton. I think it best if you stick to close access to I-5 if you need to work in Wilsonville. that or go off the deep end and move to independence air park near salem, and forget that there is anything to life but flying ! :)
 
Wilsonville

Last post, Kevin summed it up well. But we love Wilsonville, live and work there. Best schools are here...and keep our 8 in Aurora. Dietz airpark in Canby or Sportsman in Newberg are the closest air parks.
Where are you working?
 
having lived in the Midwest for many years before traveling the whole US and deciding on OR, I'd live in a trailer if that's what it took to live in OR. not that I've spent time in IA, but I've flown over it many times. [where are the mtns?, the snow, the ocean, the volcanos, the really big trees? I know, all that bacon has to come from someplace...] oh, and I forgot to mention that Wilsonville has a Fry's electronics store :)
 
Thanks to all, keep the good info coming. We looked at Google last night and it looks like the whole area is covered with these strange green leafy things...and I guess the corn hasn't come in yet?:D

I'll have to look into the tax situation, but living quarters and hangar situation are more important considerations.

I'm trying to set a trip up to go see next month.

What about the weather from a flying perspective? Does it rain all the time? In Iowa the problems are icing in winter, t storms in summer, and big wind in spring. I'm IFR and enjoy it, will I be operating IFR a lot? I fly about 150 hrs per year now.
 
FYI

Thanks to all, keep the good info coming. We looked at Google last night and it looks like the whole area is covered with these strange green leafy things...and I guess the corn hasn't come in yet?:D

I'll have to look into the tax situation, but living quarters and hangar situation are more important considerations.


I'm trying to set a trip up to go see next month.

What about the weather from a flying perspective? Does it rain all the time? In Iowa the problems are icing in winter, t storms in summer, and big wind in spring. I'm IFR and enjoy it, will I be operating IFR a lot? I fly about 150 hrs per year now.

Yes, I live between Sherwood and Wilsonville and Oregon is "tax ****" to some since even tho no sales tax,nasty 9% income tax and high property tax, but not on your RV. Rain? yes but not as much as mythology claims.. I used to play Golf a lot and rarely missed playing because of wx. Winters commonly stay above 32f for long periods. Summers are gorgeous with not much humidity. A number of eastern cities have more rain than PDX metro area. If you get tired of it you can always hop across the cascades with a much drier, colder climate. I promise you, the climate is overall warmer than Iowa.

For IFR you could fly on top much of the time some winters.

From Wilsonville there is Aurora, Newberg 2S6 (I am there) Twin Oaks, home of EAA 105, Hillsboro with a tower, all within a half hour or so.
 
There is no tax advantage to living in Vancouver and making your living in Oregon. You pay taxes where you get your income. The commute would not be fun and it isn't going to get any better.
There are a lot of upscale areas near Wilsonville. The Stafford area is very close if you want some land and property. Expect to be in the $1M and up range in that area. Otherwise, dial it back a bit $500k-$1M in West Linn. Anything less than $500k I would not consider upscale for any Portland metro area home. Oregon is expensive square footage compared to many places.
We fly year round. Winter months can be tough but rarely are you shut out for more than a few days. There are active EAA chapters, specifically 105, lots of sight seeing from desert, mountains, coastal, valleys, etc...
Lenhardts is a nice airfield very active with RV's just south of Aurora. That is where I would put my plane if I lived and worked down there. Sportman's is not far. If you want quiet, you might look out that way, Newberg Oregon, for better home values but it is certainly not the city.
Hope that helps.
 
Wow Jonjay, thanks so much. I don't want to spend that much on a house, so we will look further out, starting in some of the ares you suggest.
 
Aurora is best choice

Aurora is the best choice for an airport near Wilsonville but hangars there can be hard to come by at times and expensive. I pay $475 a month for a large T Hangar (but I can get my Pitts and a sub-leased Extra in there so it really is pretty big.) If you want to buy a hangar at Aurora, plan $300k and up. On field is Vans, 3 fuel vendors, several mechanics, a paint shop, Pacific Coast Avionics and some other nice amenities like ASOS, FBO's that are attended, self serve and full serve fuel, etc. the golf course at the north has good food. Lenhardht, Mullino, and Newberg would be my next choices, in that order. There are a couple airparks nearby too but wouldn't mention those unless you wanted to buy a house there. They are Dietz and Workman, no hangars that I am aware of.

If you don't have kids, I'd look further south in Canby if you wanted "Midwest" style living and lower cost housing options. (I grew up in Wisconsin, Canby feels like a small Midwest town to me.). Canby is right between aurora and mulino, and you can easily commute to Wilsonville in 10-15 minutes via I5 (or the Canby Ferry if you want a real kick!). If your wifey wants swanky upscale neighborhood with lots of beautiful people, I'd go with Lake Oswego.

But I would not consider Vancouver, or anything on the west or east side, there are just too many great places right around Wilsonville to live. You will love it. Download the Zillow app and have at it!
 
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My 2 cents

I just moved to Lake Oswego about 6 months ago and love it here. Chose it for the school system. I'm not in a position to buy, but I found a great little house (2 bedrooms, attic, basement) to rent for $1300. I am fixing up the 1920's one car garage to build an RV-12 with my son. Just finishing the garage now and I'm about to go pick up the tail kit in a week or two. I joined EAA Chapter 902 in Mulino, seems like a great group. I'd echo the comments about moving to Vancouver and commuting to Wilsonville. The road system is still 1970's, and traffic just doesn't move that well. That's OK with my as I like the slower pace (must be getting older!). Although the cost of living may be higher than the midwest, you can still do OK here if you put a little effort into it. Coming from San Diego, it seems down right cheap here! Anyway good luck with the move, hope to see you out here soon.
________________________
Alan Kellogg
RV-12 tail kit on the horizon
 
Alan - I, too, live in LO. I want to see your project. I built my fuse in a one car garage from 1912. let's go fly sometime.
 
Can't add too much more other than You Lucky Dog. :) Great part of the country to live in.

I will say that the traffic can be awful, so be like a native and live close to where you work or find a way to use public transit. I'm not sure how good it is, but there is commuter rail (WES) that goes from Beaverton / Washington County over to Wilsonville if you have to live in WashCo.

TODR
 
Check out Independence State (7S5) about 12 miles west of Salem. It features an active RV friendly residential airpark. Numerous repeat offenders here, some homes for sale plus some hangars for sale on the state airport.
 
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