Hillsboro

MEDIAN INCOME*

$91,540

MEDIAN HOME VALUE

$521,794

AVERAGE RENT

$1924/month

Population

105,771

*Statistics Sources

About Hillsboro

The city of Hillsboro is the county seat of Washington County and the fifth largest city in Oregon. It is bordered by Aloha/Beaverton to the east, Cornelius/Forest Grove to the west, and mostly small, rural towns to the north and south (such as Helvetia, Farmington, and Scholls).

Along with it’s neighbor Beaverton, Hillsboro is part of the “Silicon Forest”, a cluster of high-tech companies mostly located along a corridor stretching between 185th Avenue west into Hillsboro. Hillsboro houses several large Intel campuses along with locations and/or headquarters of many other notable high-tech companies such as SolarWorld, Genentech, Lattice Semiconducter, and Medicalogic.

Hillsboro is located squarely within the Tualatin Valley and is largely at a low elevation. It consists of a mixture of suburban neighborhoods, a picturesque downtown Main Street, farmland, manufacturing facilities, and even a large wetland. The 635-acre Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve is a beautiful natural area to visit for the ecology and wildlife (but leave the pups and the bicycles at home).

Hillsboro also has an added transit option besides the ubiquitious Tri-Met bus system throughout the metro area. The MAX light rail blue line was originally designed to run west from Gresham, through Portland, to an end-point at 185th Avenue on the north side of Beaverton. However, an extension to the plan was added at the last minute before breaking ground. The full length of the blue line opened all the way to the Hatfield Government Center in downtown Hillsboro in 1998. The MAX blue line now has 48 stations and runs approximately 33 miles between Gresham, through downtown Portland, and all the way out to Hillsboro.

For those that have a little further to travel, the Hillsboro Airport is centrally located between NE Evergreen Rd and NE Cornell Rd. It is the second busiest airport in Oregon and has gone through numerous improvements over the past two decades. Due to the close proximity to large employers such as Nike and Intel, it’s a popular hub for business travelers. However, more than half of the operations at the airport are dedicated to flight training. The Hillsboro Airport is also a port of entry and does employ a single-officer-staffed US Customs and Border Protection office.

People considering a move to Hillsboro should consider the proximity of the home to the airport for noise levels, but should be even more aware of flight paths that can be particularly noisy. I personally lived in a home just to the west of the airport for nearly a decade and never had to worry about excessive noise except during the air show. But there are some homes, particularly to the south, where planes fly directly overhead regularly.

One benefit of living in Hillsboro is the opportunity to enjoy the Oregon International Air Show from your yard. This is one of the largest civilian air shows in the western United States. Featuring both military and civilian aircraft, the highlight of the show is typically a performance by one of several flight demonstration squadrons, such as the US Navy Blue Angels, US Air Force Thunderbirds, and Patriots Jet Team (among others).

Hillsboro has a fantastic, picturesque Main Street filled with shops, restaurants, and other services. It’s anchored by the stately Washington County Courthouse which was built in 1928. Main Street at the courthouse is closed to vehicles on Saturdays from April through October for a thriving Farmer’s Market.

Notable dining options in downtown Hillsboro include: The Venetian, an event venue and restaurant, Amelia’s Mexican Food, which serves amazing freshly made tortillas, and Syun Izakaya. Located in the former Hillsboro Library, Syun Izakaya serves the freshest sashimi in Oregon, better than anything you can find in Portland. The many izakaya options are worth sharing and it has a fantastic array of sake options. Best of all, the unique atmosphere of the former library makes for a fantastic dining experience.

Hillsboro is a large, sprawling suburban town and there are many areas outside of Main Street to explore.

Speaking of sprawl, when the MAX blue line was approved into Hillsboro, there was a greenfield site along the railway that presented an opportunity to develop a planned community from scratch. Orenco Station was born.

Unlike the vast majority of suburban developments, Orenco Station is designed for density instead of sprawl. Mixed use areas of retail and high-density housing are surrounded by skinny streets with close-set homes featuring alley garages and narrow side-yards. Significant pedestrian spaces and parks create a strong sense of place. Retail shops line the streets, giving the area a more quaint, small-town feel by relegating parking to behind the structures.

This suburban density is made possible by the nearby MAX stop. Many people that live here have only one vehicle, or none, and often work at one of the many nearby high-tech companies. Schools mostly have higher ratings on sites like greatschools.org.

It doesn’t necessarily sound like a successful formula… until you visit the area and realize how the unique design somehow perfectly marries a suburban location to an urban style of walkability and sense of community.

Another area that must be mentioned whenever discussing Hillsboro is the new South Hillsboro neighborhood. I wrote a blog about the South Hillsboro neighborhood back in 2018 when they were just beginning to break ground. What was once a large 1400 acre tract of farmland (known as the historic Ladd-Reed farm) is now "South Hillsboro", the largest master planned development in Oregon history. It will eventually have around 8000 homes and house around 20,000 people.

It’s now been 4 years since I wrote that blog. A large part of the area has been developed and is populated by new homeowners and renters while much more will be built in the years to come. The price tags have become a little mind-numbing… There’s one home built by ICHIJO on the market for over 1M, and that’s for a less than 3000 square foot house with a postage stamp backyard. Considering that this isn’t Portland, it’s enough to make your eyes pop. But families of all types of configurations are willing to lose some elbow room (and yard work) to own a brand new, modern home that they likely were able to extensively customize (depending on the particular builder). Not to mention the relatively short distance to where many of the employers are along the Silicon Forest.

Another area to mention in Hillsboro is Tanasbourne. More of a shopping destination than a neighborhood, this area sits at the furthest east part of Hillsboro, and part of it is technically in Beaverton. It includes Tanasbourne Town Center, Tanasbourne Village, and the Streets of Tanasbourne.

The Streets of Tanasbourne is an outdoor shopping mall anchored by Macy’s. It features popular stores such as REI, H&M, the Gap, etc. There are also a few dining options including P.F. Changs, Thirsty Lion, and Qdoba. Next to the shopping area is the fairly new Kaiser Westside Medical Center. Nearby off of Evergreen Parkway is the Silicon Forest.

There are many different apartment complexes that surround Tanasbourne (I’ve lived in a couple of them way back in the day). Due to the plethora of nearby job opportunities, shopping options, and relatively quick jaunt down Hwy 26 or via the MAX to downtown Portland, this is a busy area that will continue to grow as long as there’s a square inch left to be developed.

The Hillsboro School District has 4 high schools, 4 middle schools, and 26 elementary schools. Ratings and programs vary widely from school to school so for parents it’s worth doing some research before a house-hunt to narrow down the options. I’ve worked with many clients that love area schools and have heard good things about the Spanish-English Dual Language program (also referred to as two-way immersion).