Collins View

Collins View is a SW Portland area that is near Marshall Park and South Burlingame. This neighborhood is right in the heart of the Lewis and Clark college area. This school is fairly small, but has a great reputation. While primarily undergrad, it also has an established law school. If you choose to live in Collins View, you almost won't feel that you are in the city at all. This area has a really suburban feel. There are some businesses, stores and restaurants, but they are in fairly low concentrations. If you are looking for more to do, it is easy to cross the Sellwood Bridge and get into Sellwood, which is a very pretty area that offers more to do including a lot of dining options.

You can find some nice homes in this part of town for affordable prices. Additionally, this area feels quite safe. Of course, you will see students throughout the area. But the Lewis and Clark students tend to be pretty easy to deal with, so don't worry about loud parties or roaming fraternity members.

Another major perk for Collins View is that it is very close to nature. It borders on the Tryon Creek State Park, which is the only state park in Oregon. When you enter this park, you truly feel as though you are on vacation. As a result, Collins View is a good choice for nature lovers.

In Southwest Portland, the neighborhood of Collins View is found between Tryon Creek State Park directly to the South and River View Cemetery to the Northeast. It is not a very well-known area; those who don't know Portland well sometimes confuse the name with that of Collins Beach, a clothing-optional spot on Sauvie Island in the Columbia River.

Collins View, on the other hand, is a relatively conservative residential neighborhood. There really aren't any businesses in Collins View itself. The main routes through the neighborhood are SW Terwilliger Blvd and SW Boones Ferry Rd, both of which are curvy routes that run roughly North-South. Interstate 5 is fairly close to the north edge of the neighborhood, making commuting a bit easier, though it is still a bit of a commute to most places in Portland.

Lewis and Clark College, a highly regarded private liberal arts college, is along the east side of the neighborhood. Although some college students do find housing within Collins View, on the whole it's out of the range of many students' budgets, making it more popular among professors and other professionals. Homes here tend to be large and well-kept, with beautiful landscaping and unique architectural features.