On our very first day in Portland, Meredith and I laced up our running shoes and headed out to explore our new city. Heading west towards the river, we ran into the Springwater Corridor. Within the first quarter mile, we knew this path that connects the Southeast Industrial district and Sellwood (one of our favorite neighborhoods), would become one of our go-to runs.

Running along the Willamette River, the Springwater Corridor path is an easy distance from our home, allowing Meredith and I one of the best places in the city to relax, enjoy the beauty of the city, while not having to deal with cars, buses or trains.

On this sunny and warm (a record-breaking 75 degrees!) March day, the beautiful views of the river, kayakers, paddle boarders, chirping birds, blue skies and budding trees, made this run one to remember.

Here's the Run-O-Meter breakdown for my Springwater Corridor run:

Rating scale is 1-5: 


1 = the worst;  5 = the best

1--•--•--•--5
Enjoyment
It might be rainy, windy and cold, but a good running route can always bring happiness.

5 - A steady stream of runners, bikers and walkers, a panoramic view of the river, abundant trees and plants, and the most darling little pine tree (pictured right). And there's a not-so hidden Amusement Park called Oaks Bottom about 2.5 miles in.

1--•--•--•--5
Scenery
Mature trees, flowers, green grass, views of the Willamette River and the West Hills are all welcome sights.

5 - Our scenery category description pretty much sums up the Springwater Corridor. Beautiful views of the Willamette, blooming flowers and trees and the occasional bald eagle and deer sighting.

1--•--•--•--5
Safety
Traffic, intersections, sidewalk and road conditions tell us a lot about a neighborhood and can turn any run into a zen moment or a terrifying trial.

4 - Despite the high traffic of path goers, Springwater's safety is a big draw. No cars, a well groomed path and limited twists and turns means never feeling unsafe. To avoid a bike collision, stay right and move even further right when you hear bike bells.


1--•--•--•--5
Difficulty
Charging up hills every mile is hard, thus it will be judged.

5 - Picture running up Mt. Everest. The Springwater Corridor is the exact opposite.


1--•--•--•--5
Sound and smell
Loud sounds, quiet sounds, good smells, bad smells. A neighborhood defines itself by appealing to the senses.

4 - I heard a girl screaming at the top of her lungs, like she was dying. Don't worry, she wasn't, she was merely riding the flying saucer ride at Oaks Bottom. Other Sounds: plenty of bike bells as cyclists rode around walkers and runners, all sorts of birds chirping and the occasional dog barking. Smells: The smell of summer. Blooming flowers and trees, grass and cotton candy (okay, I didn't smell cotton candy, but I wish I did).


1--•--•--•--5
Hellos and waves
Because Midwest-nice is important to us.

2 - Despite the overall happiness of folks on the path this day, few said hello and none waived.


1--•--•--•--5
Number of puppies
Once we get a house, we're getting a puppy...and of course our puppy will need friends.

3 - Believe it or not, very few puppies walked the path, until...I came upon the dog park near the turnaround point in Sellwood. Thank god for the Sellwood dog park.

1--•--•--•--5
People watching
Who lives in the neighborhood?

4 - Puppies riding in baskets, a dad blazing the path pushing his newborn in a stoller and carnies.

1--•--•--•--5
Parks
We're keeping an eye out for picnic spots, puppy playgrounds, budding trees and only-in-Portland spectacles.

5 - On this sunny day, the entire Springwater Corridor felt like a park. Families sitting on benches overlooking the river, packs of cyclists getting their workout on and TONS of people walking in and around Oaks Bottom.


1--•--•--•--5
Shops and restaurants
Coffeeness and quirkiness are appreciated.

1 - A path surrounded by a river, railroad tracks and nature doesn't leave much room for shops and restaurants...which is a very good thing on the Springwater Corridor.


1--•--•--•--5

Home potential
Can we see ourselves living in this neighborhood?

Since the Springwater Corridor isn't liveable (legally), lets focus on Sellwood. We adore Sellwood.  Being one of our top two choices, Sellwood's value is increased by having the Springwater connection. If we can find a decent house at the right price point, we're all in.

North Portland is Portland's 5th quadrant - an area of the city that escaped quartering (phew) by the Willamette River and Burnside Street.  North Portland has also evaded a few other Portland phenomena -- for better and worse ( The Better: teachers can afford to live here, plentiful parking spots, relatively unobstructed views of the Forest Park, an underdog spirit, some cute micro neighborhoods -- The Worse: Traffic noise, the need for a car, fast-food restaurants/payday loan centers/7-11s on the major thoroughfare).

North Portland is our most affordable option and an area that we have to learn more about given its distance from the city center.  Scott and I love tennis and we love magnificent views of Forest Park, so I tried to get to know North Portland by starting my run at the tennis courts at Arbor Lodge Park and then winding through the perimeter of North Portland's neighborhoods along scenic Willamette Boulevard.  Lucky for me, I ran on one of the sunniest and warmest days (63 degrees!!) of 2013.

Here's the Run-O-Meter for my Willamette Boulevard Run:

Rating scale is 1-5: 

1 = the worst;  5 = the best

1--•--•--•--5
Enjoyment
It might be rainy, windy and cold, but a good running route can always bring happiness.

5 - Sweeping views of the River, the city and Forest Park, uninterrupted urban running, tons of sunshine (on this rare day), some of the best sidewalks in Portland, youthful energy along Willamette Boulevard.


1--•--•--•--5
Scenery
Mature trees, flowers, green grass, views of the Willamette River and the West Hills are all welcome sights.

4 - Incredible views of trees and the Fremont Bridge, somewhat obstructed by oil refineries, the Port of Portland and traffic.

1--•--•--•--5
Safety
Traffic, intersections, sidewalk and road conditions tell us a lot about a neighborhood and can turn any run into a zen moment or a terrifying trial.

4 - People expect runners and bikers along Willamette, so there was a lot of traffic that bordered the sidewalk and bike lane, but I never had to break my stride in fear that a driver would not see me.  The route hosts the smoothest sidewalks in Portland - hands down. 

1--•--•--•--5
Difficulty
Charging up hills every mile is hard, thus it will be judged.

5 - Like a pancake - flat with a few lumps.

1--•--•--•--5
Sound and smell
Loud sounds, quiet sounds, good smells, bad smells. A neighborhood defines itself by appealing to the senses.

4 - The Arbor Lodge neighborhood was serene and calming and the Willamette part was filled with the hum of traffic and some exhaust.  Sounds: Wind through my ears, crows, cars and buses, bikers, bagpipes Smells: Spring (and some exhaust), but mostly it smelled like spring and that is among the best smells in the world (disclaimer: this run took place in spring and I am sure it smells like dying worms on the sidewalk all winter)


1--•--•--•--5
Hellos and waves
Because Midwest-nice is important to us.

2 - Nothing -- but no one was mean.


1--•--•--•--5
Number of puppies
Once we get a house, we're getting a puppy...and of course our puppy will need friends.

3 - I only saw 2 puppies on this afternoon weekday run.  However, Arbor Lodge Park had an "off-leash" section where dogs could run free with sticks in their mouths.  There were roughly 5 dogs playing on this particular afternoon (see the small specks of dogs in the picture above)

1--•--•--•--5
People watching
Who lives in the neighborhood?

4 - College Students, young families, politically active people (see picture below).

1--•--•--•--5
Parks
We're keeping an eye out for picnic spots, puppy playgrounds, budding trees and only-in-Portland spectacles.

5 - I loved Arbor Lodge Park!  The tennis court was in tip-top shape and the park had a playground filled with what looked like upside down turtle shell swings, a climbing wall and a marimba.  I also noticed that they have the best benches of any park in Portland - painted pale green, splinter free, with rounded back support.

1--•--•--•--5
Shops and restaurants
Coffeeness and quirkiness are appreciated.

2 - It might be possible to simultaneously die of dehydration and starvation along this route.  I imagine there is a dining hall at the UofP, but I would not eat there.

1--•--•--•--5

Home potential
Can we see ourselves living in this neighborhood?

Maybe - it's relatively affordable, filled with cute houses and near some great parks, but still feels a little distant from the urban core. 

Laurelhurst Park path

Laurelhurst Park is easily one of the nicest parks we've run in. Mature evergreens, quiet Firwood Lake, blooming flowers and a variety of trails make the park an ideal running spot. Our route to and from Laurelhurst runs along Clinton, Division and the Hawthorne neighborhoods, each providing a unique take on the multifaceted, independent spirit of Southeast Portland.

Here's the Run-O-Meter of our Laurelhurst Park Run:


Rating scale is 1-5: 

1 = the worst;  5 = the best

1--•--•--•--5
Enjoyment
It might be rainy, windy and cold, but a good running route can always bring happiness.

5 - It's a rare loop route; covers multiple neighborhoods, great variety, positive vibes throughout, people always seem happy

1--•--•--•--5
Scenery
Mature trees, flowers, green grass, views of the Willamette River and the West Hills are all welcome sights.

5 - The combo of Laurelhurst Park, eccentrics on Hawthorne, bike brigades on Clinton and one of the best views eva of the West Hills on Harrison makes for a delicious treat of a run. 

View of the West Hills from Harrison

1--•--•--•--5
Safety
Traffic, intersections, sidewalk and road conditions tell us a lot about a neighborhood and can turn any run into a zen moment or a terrifying trial.

3 - Clinton and Laurelhurst are quiet, but Division and SE 37th between Hawthorne and Belmont pose many obstacles - beware of cars, car doors, bikes, scuttling children, packs of people, jagged sidewalks and tourists. 

1--•--•--•--5
Difficulty
Charging up hills every mile is hard, thus it will be judged.

2 - A steady incline through the first mile and ups and downs through Laurelhurst park.  Beware - the paved paths at Laurelhurst are very slippery when wet.  It's a thrill to run down Harrison on the home stretch to Ladd's Addition.  Open your arms and take in the city.

One of the most beautiful intersections in Portland

1--•--•--•--5
Sound and smell
Loud sounds, quiet sounds, good smells, bad smells. A neighborhood defines itself by appealing to the senses.

4 -  Sounds: Ice cream trucks, accordions, ducks, shrieking children, barking dogs, wind through the trees; Smells: depends on time of the year - from fragrant trees and flowers, to eggs, bacon and coffee to people who don't bathe for political reasons.

1--•--•--•--5
Hellos and waves
Because Midwest-nice is important to us.

2 - People notice us and usually make way for our passing, but rarely say hello.  

1--•--•--•--5
Number of puppies
Once we get a house, we're getting a puppy...and of course our puppy will need friends.

5 - We've saw 19 puppies on an early spring run.  Who let the dogs out?

1--•--•--•--5
People watching
Who lives in the neighborhood?

5- We've seen every type of person you can imagine on this run.  Literally.  It makes us feel boring.

1--•--•--•--5
Parks
We're keeping an eye out for picnic spots, puppy playgrounds, budding trees and only-in-Portland spectacles.

5 - Nothing beats Firwood Lake, the Douglas Firs, the Cedars, rose trees and secret path in Laurelhurst Park.  We've seen just about everything here - jugglers, sword fights, professional tree climbers, birthday parties, picnics, frisbees and film crews.

A serene view of Firwood Lake 

1--•--•--•--5
Shops and restaurants
Coffeeness and quirkiness are appreciated.

5 - Plenty of indie coffee shops, a branch of Powells Bookstore and our favorite crepe and cupcake place all fall along this route. 

1--•--•--•--5
Home potential
Can we see ourselves living in this neighborhood?

1 - If we find a home with a cracked foundation, a poltergeist or if we had a $100,000 more in the bank.  A distant, dream neighborhood.

Our Laurelhurst Park run route

With each neighborhood run, we're going to score the route through our Run-O-Meter rating system. We've described the categories that matter to us below.


Rating scale is 1-5: 

1 = the worst;  5 = the best

1--•--•--•--5
Enjoyment
It might be rainy, windy and cold, but a good running route can always bring happiness.

1--•--•--•--5
Scenery
Mature trees, flowers, green grass, views of the Willamette River and the West Hills are all welcome sights.

1--•--•--•--5
Safety
Traffic, intersections, sidewalk and road conditions tell us a lot about a neighborhood and can turn any run into a zen moment or a terrifying trial.

1--•--•--•--5
Difficulty
Charging up hills every mile is hard, thus it will be judged.


1--•--•--•--5
Sound and smell
Loud sounds, quiet sounds, good smells, bad smells. A neighborhood defines itself by appealing to the senses.


1--•--•--•--5
Hellos and waves
Because Midwest-nice is important to us.

1--•--•--•--5
Number of puppies
Once we get a house, we're getting a puppy...and of course our puppy will need friends.

1--•--•--•--5
People watching
Who lives in the neighborhood?

1--•--•--•--5
Parks
We're keeping an eye out for picnic spots, puppy playgrounds, budding trees and only-in-Portland spectacles.

1--•--•--•--5
Shops and restaurants
Coffeeness and quirkiness are appreciated.

1--•--•--•--5
Home potential
Can we see ourselves living in this neighborhood?

Scott searches for the perfect raspberry --
will he use the same approach in selecting a house?

We are very grateful to have found an almost-new 2 bedroom apartment with a loft extremely close-in, in the Southeast.  Our apartment is a hop, skip and a jump away from the Spring Water Corridor and the East Bank Esplanade, which Scott uses to bike to work daily.  We love walking to grab coffee, see music, eat dinner or just pick up some groceries.  Our place is super convenient, but tiny.  After settling into our new jobs and making sense of a new city, we decided we were ready to start looking for a home so that we could gain some elbow room and really feel a part of a community that we love.

We asked colleagues and friends for referrals and scoured the internet for savvy agents.  We stumbled upon Living Room Realtors and immediately felt drawn to their ethos and the quirkiness of their realtor profiles.  We feel fortunate to have connected with Amber Turner to help us find our first home.  First of all, she referred us to JJ Lee Kwai of Rose City Mortgage, who was such a welcome surprise after seeking pre-approval for a home loan with several other local financial institutions.  JJ is responsive and brilliant.  She's the kind of person that you want to talk to -- how many people can say that about their mortgage lender?

Amber made sure to get to know us as people and know our values, not just our needs and wants in a home.  We respect Amber's involvement in her NE Portland neighborhood and her promotion of environmentally conscious design.  Amber has expert knowledge about the housing market and she's highly strategic.  She is also patient and has been encouraging throughout the home search process.  One of the things we love most about Amber is that she is understated and prefers to listen and let us draw our own conclusions before giving us useful feedback.  Although we have yet to find a home, we have learned quite a bit about what to look for in a home.  We feel extremely grateful for Amber's professionalism, kindness and support. 

Meredith smiles will picking a raspberry - will she be able
to keep that smile when picking a house?

Here's the nitty-gritty, since you already know our story: 

House budget: $225,000-315,000

Needs:
Close-in location
Quiet, safe street
Runnable and walkable area (coffee, grocery, parks and library are our priorities)
Over 1,000 square feet
2 beds/1bath
Well lit
Bug free
Newish roof
Safe area
No mold or water issues
Safe area
Two levels (a basement counts)
*A Puppy

Wants:
A yard
3 beds/2 baths
Move-in ready
Hardwood floors
A Garage/Off-street parking
An Upstairs
Energy efficient

*Once we buy our home

When we seriously embarked on our home search in early January, we assumed it could take a few months to find a home since the market tends to be less active in the winter.  We never imagined that there might be even fewer appealing listings at the end of March than at the beginning of January.  At the start of the home search process, I don't think we would have believed that offering $20,000 over asking price for a home in a "realistic" neighborhood wouldn't be accepted.

Questions ran through our mind after losing out on the first home we loved in early March: How can we compete in a market where homes are selling for over their appraised value?  Isn't the Great Recession still lingering - how are these bidding wars possible given the current economic context?  Can we ever hope to compete in a market with many all cash buyers?  Will we be priced out of the inner east side of Portland before we find another home we love?

With right action and intention, we do believe that things happen for a reason.  We have tried to put that first home behind us and learn from the experience.  Historically low-inventories and intensely competitive bidding wars will continue to characterize the housing market going forward and it is likely that it will take quite some time for us to find a suitable house and have our offer accepted.  In this sense, long-distance running has been apt preparation for a process that requires great endurance and strength.  Because there are so few homes to even consider (we have gone weeks without a single viable option coming on the market), we decided to channel our energy into this blog to share our love of running and our journey to home ownership.

  Smiling after a successful birthday run along
strenuous trails in Wisconsin

Of all the things we’re passionate about, running ranks right up at the top. We run almost every day for the simple satisfaction of getting out the door, pushing ourselves and letting our minds roam free.  Since we first met in 2002, we’ve grown together through running.

Many of our favorite days and experiences are based on running.  We plan special runs for our birthdays.  We reserve Saturdays for long runs together through trails or parks.  For many years, we started the New Year with a midnight run through dark and revelrous streets.

I was a member of my college cross country and track and field teams when I met Meredith.  I specialized in the 5k and 10k distances at the Division I level in college, running about 85 miles a week.  My intense passion for the sport inspired Meredith and soon she took up running. Meredith started seriously running in college and realized she had some talent after winning local 5k races and competing in an Olympic distance triathlon.  Meredith was soon the accomplished runner in the relationship.  From 2009-2010, she ran three marathons, including the esteemed Boston Marathon, where, despite dealing with an IT band injury, she still set a PR. While we both still have competitive dreams, running through the beautiful neighborhoods and trails of Portland is our focus.

While our own running is a near daily ritual, we also devote our time to other aspects of the sport. Meredith coaches middle school cross country at Catlin Gabel School and I write about the top professional runners for RunnerSpace.

Along the way, we’ve also done our fair share of race directing. Together, we put on a turkey trot in the suburbs of Chicago called the Frozen Turkey 5k. From 2009-2011, we raised nearly $20,000 for area food banks and hosted some stellar Thanksgiving costume contests. In addition, I put on a variety of road races and track events, and now work with the Portland Track Festival.

We love running.  We hope that we are fortunate enough to be able to run for years to come from a home base that provides us access to quiet and tree-lined city streets.

Portland

In June of 2012,  Scott and I packed up the Pod parked in front of our suburban Chicago apartment and made the over 2,000 mile journey west to Portland, Oregon.

This journey was set into motion many months before on a spring break trip to Tucson, Arizona in March of 2011.  We spent this trip running through Sabino Canyon National Forest, swimming, reading, walking and thinking.  At the time, I taught history at an outstanding high school (my alma mater) and Scott had a comfortable corporate job and we lived in Barrington, Illinois - a scenic and affluent suburb where Scott had grown up.  We were happy, but felt restless.

We couldn't shake the feeling our lives were too comfortable and the values of the place we lived in and the places we worked were no longer matching up with who we were and the types of lives we wanted to live and the types of people we wanted to be.  Our values and our dreams were evolving based on a number of life changing experiences and ideas.  In the spring of 2010, Scott and I traveled to Indianapolis to hear the Dalai Lama speak.  We didn't fully realize the impact of his words then, but his message to simplify, to value people and experiences over material goods and to cultivate compassion, would become increasingly central to our own value system.  In the summer of 2011, I had a profound and transformative experience while swimming through the silky waters of Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts - I realized that I was a Transcendentalist (150 years after the Transcendentalist movement ended) and I wanted to live my life like Thoreau who said this, "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." (Walden, 90) 

On spring break of 2011, Scott picked up the book, Twelve by Twelve: A One-Room Cabin Off the Grid and Beyond the American Dream by William Powers at a local bookstore in Tucson, Arizona.  Powers made us really question our suburban existence and the pace, quality and comfort of our traffic-filled, competitive and materialistic lives in Barrington.  Thoreau, the Dalai and Powers had powerful calls to action: live deliberately, simplify, find yourself in nature, love others and collect new experiences.  We began to take on these calls to action as personal truths.  After my Walden Pond experience, I started making each history class I taught about three questions: "Who am I? Who are We? and What is good?"  Scott and I also started to seriously ask and answer those questions ourselves.  So, we put pen to paper and wrote out the following lists of what we knew to be true.

Lessons Learned - Spring Break 2011 (unedited)

• Being outdoors and immersed in nature is a key to happiness and mindfulness
• Simplicity makes happiness
• Idleness is a key to creativity
• Losing technology expands your mind
• Taking a risk can lead to something beautiful - a new perspective
• We are very small and a split second in the universe
• Part of living life to its fullest is being scared and uncomfortable
• We are happy and in love
• Touching nature is important
• Playing in the pool is for everyone
• Seeing, hiking and running on trails gives wisdom

Goals and Dreams - Spring Break 2011

• We need to move toward nature, simplicity and creativity
• We want to find inspiration where we live
• Meredith loves being a teacher and wants to be a transformational teacher
• Scott wants to work on transformational projects
• We want to make the good great
• We want to connect with others more
• We want to love more
• We want to be better family members

We decided then that it might take many years, but we would move west to be near the mountains, forests and open spaces that we found so inspiring and life affirming.  Our decision to move west was intentional, but we we didn't seriously consider Portland as a real possibility until a job offer made it possible. We visited Portland in the summer of 2010 and found it to be the city of our dreams - a city with a sense of humor, with more treeline than skyline, where people are progressive and kind, and a place that is walkable, bikeable and runnable.  We also realized that Portland had one of the highest unemployment rates in the country and an underfunded, challenging public education system.  We, sadly, stopped pursuing Portland and fixed our attention on other cities out west  - namely, Seattle, Denver and Boise.  In the spring of 2011, Scott and I decided that it might take years, but that we would move to the city where one of us found a job first.  After many rounds of interviews across the country for both of us, the stars aligned and Meredith found the perfect teaching position in the Upper School at Catlin Gabel and Scott found a position at a non-profit a few weeks later. 

We love Portland.  While sometimes terrifying and tragic in ways that most cities can be -we find it to be life-affirming, inspiringly beautiful and without pretense.  We love that we have many varieties of vegan cheese to choose from at the local grocery store, that Scott can commute by bike, that Meredith's students never have to fill in bubbles on tests, that everyone seems to be listening to a song in their own head, that we can run on forested trails and gaze up at a Mountain and learn from authors and artists any day of the week.  We feel fortunate to have arrived at our new home.