KipEllis

Terra Linda (meaning 'beautiful land') is just about 11 miles North of San Francisco, across the Golden Gate Bridge. Its a little suburb of San Rafael, which is part of Marin County. San Rafael really is made up of Lucas Valley, Terra Linda and Santa Venetia (along with the Downtown San Rafael portion). In reality these little suburbs are really BIG neighborhoods comprising the city of San Rafael.

Terra Linda is the 'older' part of the city. It started being populated in the early 1960s with the Military (Presidio in San Francisco and Hamilton AFB in Novato, which is just a tad bit further North of Terra Linda) families moving in and needing affordable housing off base. The homes that were built were by an architect Joseph Eichler, who's floor plans called for more glass to give a more open feel (blurring the lines between the outside and the inside). They have high beamed ceilings and plate glass windows with under the floor heating and are truly beautiful to live in. BUT they are fire traps - and in Northern California where the heat in the summer gets horrendous and the hills all end up in a blaze, it can be a bit scary living in an Eichler.

Terra Linda itself is a hub of activity. It FEELS like a small town - with the neighborly mentality of a small town, but it has the huge Northgate Mall with all the same shops you can find in a much bigger city... rivaling even San Francisco for quality.

It used to be the families who lived in Terra Linda had been there since its inception in the 1960s, and few, if any, moved away. A child born in Terra Linda in 1960 would have gone to Santa Margarita Elementary, Vallacito Middle and then Terra Linda High School - and then on to either College Of Marin or San Francisco State (or even Berkeley or Stanford) and their idea of 'moving away from home' or 'travelling far' would have been the going to College part of it. They would then come back to Terra Linda, and find a job and raise their families as well.

Now, however (I want to say in the last 15/20 years) there have been more new families, younger familes moving in and more of the middle aged moving out. There are still some pockets where the neighborhood has stayed the same but those are now few and far between (as far as you can get in Terra Linda anyway).

There is any number of different denomination of Churches and religions in Terra Linda, and while there is the Terra Linda Recreation Center along Del Ganado, you also have the Lucas Valley Community Center in the next town over (just about 10 blocks south) and the Ann Curtis Swim Club several blocks North. Of course at Northgate there are the requisite '24 hour fitness' and 'Ballys' as well.

There isnt much in the way of 'night life' (night clubs or bars) in Terra Linda - you would have to drive the (5 miles) into San Rafael proper for that - or even make it a night out on the town by driving the 11 miles into San Francisco. But because its in a little pocket of hills, the nature and greenery around Terra Linda (indeed all around San Rafael) is magnificent. It would be, as you have just up the road on the way to San Francisco the John Muir Woods and you have in Lucas Valley (Nicasio really) the 'woods' that were featured in the original Star Wars Movie (and no, Lucas Valley was named that BEFORE the famous George Lucas bought his "Lucas Ranch" out there).

Employment opportunities in Terra Linda are a bit limited as the salaries really are NOT on par with the same type of job in bigger cities. But the jobs themselves do have more a smaller town flair to them - a little more relaxed atmosphere and a bit more lenient and flexible.

Crime rate in Terra Linda is probably lower than elsewhere and I know the 'gang' activity is also lower. There have been some instances of 'tagging' on property but its not well tolerated and because the families are more affluent than in other parts of the country, the children tend to be better educated with a better choice of life opportunites and therefore less likely to join gangs.

The use of drugs tends to be more popular, however, probably because the children have more 'pin money' to spend and tend to be just that little bit spoiled. But its not the kind of drug epidemic that you would find in a bigger city.

All in all, if you can afford to live in Terra Linda, then do so. Its a lovely little town and its a great place to raise your children. Its so close to San Francisco as to feel almost a part of it, but without the headaches associated with living IN a Big City.

SW 182nd is a through street between SW Alexander and SW Johnson, in Beaverton. I think originally it was a nice little neighborhood street, but over time the single family homes ended up being turned into lease rentals and the general ambiance of the street went downhill.

It has a nice little church in the middle, along with a retirement home next door and most of the houses, while looking a bit 'run down' seem to be nice enough, but the neighbors all keep to themselves and you wont find anything like a 'neighborhood garage sale' nor any kind of '4th of july block party' or anything else community oriented.

As far as a through street, it would be just as easy to go down 185th to get from Alexander to Johnson, and most people do, unless you have friends on SW 182nd.

During the winter months, when it snows, though it can be dangerous as the ditch is really wide on the Johnson side, when you turn right onto SW 182nd and its difficult to judge exactly where the ditch starts (as there is no lip or anything) and I can see people driving into it in error and getting stuck and having to be towed out.

On the plus side, its an easy walk to the local 7-11, subway and Big Lots shopping centers, as well as being a nice easy walk for elderly people since theres not alot of traffic along the street.

I havent attended the Church there, but I have heard its a nice one, with an older congregation.

SW Pheasant Lane is just a small little residential street in the middle of two busy-ish roads. It starts out on one end from busy NW 185th Street - and although it does flow into SW Augusta Lane, which is the smaller street to the side of Beaver Acres Elementary school, it then flows into busy-ish 170th avenue.

SW Pheasant lane is nestled in amongst tall trees and alot of greenery and forestry. Its like a little sanctuary within a busy city. The houses have that 'Lake Tahoe' feel... log cabin type homes, a bit bigger than the rest of the single family homes in the Beaverton area... and smaller town neighborhood feel to it. The street is really one single lane for both ways, so you have to drive slower, and several of the homes do have signs up that say something like 'children at play, please drive slowly and carefully'. Driving through there is like driving through a nature reserve. The houses are set a bit further back from the road and have longer driveways, so even if there was a parade of traffic through there, the home owners probably wouldnt notice it.

Its shaded and cool and calm and peaceful. You see alot of joggers and people walking throughout the day and I could imagine taking a picnic lunch even to just park along the side of the road with a good book. Of course I dont think the home owners would like that much.

I dont know what the houses are priced at, although I would imagine a bit more than the rest of Beaverton, but it would be well worth it. Ive also driven through there in the winter with the snow dripping from the trees and its like a winter wonderland for sure - almost post card perfect.

82nd avenue is a great way to get to the Portland Airport when highway 26 is all backed up (or if you hear that the 205 onramp has an accident or something going on). When I have to go to the airport in the late afternoon when all the commuter traffic is going on, it can be really crowded going through the tunnel going from hwy 84 to 205 and sometimes can take upwards of an hour just to get through that part of it!

82nd avenue is an exit off of hwy 84. Its about 3 miles down the freeway from the entrance of 84 on the right hand side. Once you make the exit you keep turning right until you are ON 82nd Avenue and then you just follow it all the way to Airport Way. It takes about 7 min from the freeway to Airport way (if you are going the 35 mph speed limit the entire way). It is a downtown street so you have stop lights at each block, but most of the time you get the green as there isnt alot of cross traffic. Late at night and early early morning you will see the street walkers and the street people out, but they dont bother with anyone who is stopped at the red lights. There are a couple of 'cheap' motels along the way and some fast food places - dominos and McDonalds, as well as a 7-11.

Theres a high school and a small park along the way, but I really wouldnt call it a 'nice neighborhood' at all. There have been some pretty horrendous crimes in the neighborhood, but because I only use it to get to the airport I dont really stop anywhere (other than at the gas station a couple of times to get gas as they are open really early in the morning and also stay open quite late at night).

Early in the morning the police dont tend to bother with people going a little bit faster than the speed limit, but I have noticed at dusk they will sit in the parking lot of the park and wait for speeding traffic. I would say generally its safe to go around 40./45 without a problem.

NW Germantown Road is the wayyyy back way to get to Portland. It starts out in Beaverton/Hillsboro border at Cornelius Pass and ends up right at the entrance to St Johns Bridge, from which you can then get into downtown Portland.

Germantown Road is a really twisty turning one lane each way road. Its scary at night or early morning before the sun has come up, as its up over the mountain, and in amongst the trees its dark and shaded. If you stay on Old Germantown Road it has some really sharp hairpin turns which you will need to go really slow around, but you do eventually catch up to New Germantown Road - which isnt quite as turn filled. Its about a 30 min drive from Cornelius Pass to the end of the road, at highway 30 - which will either take you into St Helens (if you go left) or into Portland via St Johns Bridge (if you go right).

I wouldnt suggest taking this route if you are a new driver or if its late night or early morning. Some of the other drivers who use the road alot tend to really speed along it and it can be absolutely frightening if you arent used to it.

The scenary, however, along the way is absolutely gorgeous. Its out in the wilderness (or feels like it anyway) and all green and lush. I wouldnt want to break down along there though as I dont know how much a tow truck would cost from there, or how long it would take them to find you.

In a pinch if there was a problem on Hwy 26 - a mudslide (as there was last year when the hill slid into the freeway) or an accident in the zoo tunnel, I would take Germantown Road to get to work and it was just fine, but as a general rule I really do prefer more modern roads with a few more lanes and not so many hair raising turns.

Evergreen parkway is a really nice street. Its 2 lanes each way and starts at 185th, just after the Tanasbourne shopping center (and before the entrance to hwy 26). It is mostly industrial, as it has the Evergreen Theatres - which is a huge Movie Theatre complex, a party city and various banks and businesses (corporate business offices, not the kind that you go in to buy things). It also has the Beaverton Kaiser medical offices. If you keep going, eventually you will end up in Hillsboro.

After you pass through the industrial portion of Evergreen.. then it turns into residential with nice homes, that are newer than the ones you will find in Aloha. It really is a nice drive (nicer really than going out TV Highway to get to Hillsboro) Mostly its got a 'country' feel to it... farm land and more open space.

Evergreen ends up at Glencoe Road, at which point you need to make a left or you will be battling your way through forest trees. Glencoe Rd ends up being much more rural residential and while I havent lived out there, driving through there really is a nice calm, pretty drive.

I lived on this street in a rental home (single family dwelling) before they built the condos. Its a street that is about 1 city block long and had a total of 5 houses on it. As neighbors we all knew each other and were friendly... would chat across the back fence and didnt bother each other. Then the developers came in and decided to split our street, so the houses are now backed up to about 8 tall ugly grey and white condo units. All the sun is blocked out and its very squished on the street. It really is ugly and 'utilitarian' looking. The condos sell for alot more than this neighborhood is worth, so I dont think all the units are even bought or rented and they have been there now for almost 5 years.

Just off of Alicia Place is SW Alexander which has tons of single family homes and one big apartment complex and tons of fast food restaurants and a small shopping center at one end (with Big Lots and Little Ceasars and an optician and computer repair shop) along with the little Safeway shopping center (which also has the Papa Murphys Pizza, a flower shop and Arbys) at the other end.

This neighborhood has alot of little kids.. always out playing and riding bikes.. and but sometimes the teenagers will really drive fast up Alexander. I think it was much nicer before the condos were built to be honest.

SW Alexander is one of the side streets off of TV Highway. Its purely residential but only a block from a ton of fast food and sit down restaurants (Wendys, McDonalds, Taco Bell, Quiznos, KFC, Little Ceasars - to name a few). It used to be purely single family homes 'way back when' but in the past 5 years they have started putting in those tall ugly condos that sit about 10 in a line. Im not sure why there is so much building happening on this street and around it, because the prices of housing here is higher than what people are able/willing to pay.

Some of the single family homes have been turned into small, 'grass roots' type businesses. There is a jewelry/polished rock company, and a plant company along with a hairdresser and travel agency (altho neighborhood talk is that this one is going to become a montessori school instead).

SW Alexander technically goes all the way from the cross street of 209th to 170th BUT it gets cut in half by 185th and you cant drive all the way thru from one end of it to the other without hitting 185th at which point if you are coming FROM 170th and going TO 209th you have to make a right onto 185th then either do a u-turn or turn left onto SW Johnson, a left onto SW 187th and then a right back onto SW Alexander.

Its a nice street for walking even tho there is no sidewalk (just a very deep ditch, which in the winter isnt great for driving as the snow fills the ditch and its difficult to know where it is so you find yourself driving down the center of the road to be safe). There are still squirrels and birds all over the place so feels like country even tho it is so close to TV Highway and busy 185th.

I live just off of TV Highway in Beaverton - and its my highway of choice for getting around anywhere. It starts at Highway 26 just west of the zoo at Sylvan and ends in Hillsboro. It used to be THE highway into Hillsboro from the zoo, before 26 (sunset highway) was layed down. Its a two lane each way highway, and although it technically IS a highway, the speed limit varies from 35 mph to 45 mph - with 45 mph being the highest. There are also several speed traps along it. The worse one being right after the 185th cross street, just past REOS RIBS as it is 35 mph through there, however if you are coming FROM 185th, either direction onto TV highway going East, there is no posted speed sign until you see the speed sign for 45 mph just past the shell station - so you assume its 45 all along there (or you are supposed to just know the limit is only 35) so alot of people go 45 mph and the cops sit at REOS RIBS with the speed machine and pop everyone as they whizz past. And the cops ALWAYS show up at court, so theres no getting away with not paying the fine!

TV Highway can be really busy because its completely businesses. At the Sylvan end there are all the car lots and at the Hillsboro end there is the movie theatre (Stadium on tv highway) and the Esplanade shopping center which has the big safeway and Target and various other stores.

TV Highway is also the street that goes into downtown Beaverton, and takes you to the TJ MAX parking lot which is right behind the Beaverton Transit Center, for the MAX.

Highway 217 also intersects TV Highway (after which TV Highway is called 'Canyon Road'... and continues up to Sylvan under that name, but its all the same road).

To be honest I much rather drive on TV Highway as far as possible rather than go on Hwy 26 - particularly at commuter traffic time, as it can be much quicker to access hwy 26 at Sylvan rather than taking it from Tanasbourne.

I lived on this street as a single parent, thinking that it would be a really great place to raise my kids. It looked safe and friendly and successful. Boy was I wrong! I moved in as a single Mother - with three little kids. My youngest was having his 4th birthday right after we moved. I went around the neighborhood introducing myself, and looking for children his age to invite for a casual birthday party. I was interrogated as to my 'love life' and doors were closed in my face. I got the impression that because all the other mothers were married (no one else was single) that they felt 'threatened' by a single, divorced woman.

I felt safe letting my kids play outside because this street is at the end of a long side street (a bit behind Rock Creek elementary school) and its all residential. But the kids in the neighborhood were cliquish and snobby and would be deliberately mean to my kids.. calling them names and pushing them and taking their bikes and breaking them.

The area is really lovely though if you like nature walks... and walking at all. Theres a pond just past the elementary school... along the way to Bethany (Illahe is down the street and across from Westview high school and the Rock Creek Community Church). Its a bit difficult to get out to the main street during high traffic time (commuter traffic) but once you get there, getting onto highway 26 eastbound OR westbound is a piece of cake.

Its also just across the overpass from Tanasbourne so it makes it very convenient for shopping and errands and things.

185th is a very long street.. .it starts at Farmington on the 'other side of the railroad tracks' and goes all the way down past Tanasbourne shopping center and into Bethany almost to Old German Town Rd (in other words... from Aloha High School all the way past Westview and PCC Rock Creek). At the Farmington end its mostly 'old' houses... ramshackle and side streets with nicer houses.... all from when Aloha was a Walnut Tree (or was it Pecan Tree?) orchard. Once you get to the Aloha Post Office and cross over to the 'nicer' side of the tracks, you get more affluent style homes and some apartment complexes. Past that you get main thoroughfare cross streets - Walker Road, Cornell and Baseline (off of which the Elmonica Max station runs) and then you get out of the residential area and into the shopping centers. You have the old Albertsons Shopping center and then the beginning of the Tanasbourne shopping center which has the Target and now a Best Buy and Safeway along with alot of smaller shops (Kinkos, Subway and tons of fast foods).

Keep going across the overpass, which goes over highway 26 and you have Westview High School and a much more affluent area of Beaverton called Rock Creek. Keep going and you end up at Bethany and the turn off for Portland Community College, Rock Creek Campus. Once you pass that turn off you go out into 'country'... which leads to Cornelius, and St Helens and out that way.

All in all 185th is a really nice 'main street' as main streets go. Ive lived alot of places and its not too crowded... not too busy and is very clean. Id much rather go along 185th than any of the other cross streets to get from one end to the other. Its about 10 miles I think from start to finish.