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 Tualatin
is located 12 miles southwest of Portland, accessible by I-5 and I-205
and Highway 99W. The Tualatin River meanders through town
at an unhurried pace, carrying canoes and kayaks along its tree-lined
expanse. More than 110 acres of parklands and an active tree preservation
and planting program have earned Tualatin the nickname "Tree City, U.S.A."
And in an echo of the town's past as an onion and hops-farming community,
the popular produce market Lee's Farms still sells pumpkins, Christmas
trees and other fresh homegrown goods year-round. Rapid evolution Despite
its sleepy history, Tualatin has awakened to dramatic growth and change
over the last 30 years.
Home builders have flocked
to Tualatin to satisfy the metro area's demand for new homes on good-sized
lots, not too far from Portland. Legend Homes, Don Morissette Homes,
J.C. Reeves Construction and SLS Construction are just a few of the
builders working in Tualatin, which is within Portland's urban growth
boundary.
Developments such as Fox
Hill, Victoria Woods, Lakeridge Terrace, Hedges Park, Hedges Estates
and Lake Forest, seem to have sprouted almost as many new homes as there
are trees.
Downtown Tualatin
For most of its history,
what Tualatin lacked was a proper downtown. So in 1985, Tualatin's urban
renewal agency bought 19 acres in the town's core and set about building
the downtown Tualatin never had. The result is Tualatin Commons, a 3-acre
man-made lake surrounded by a hotel, restaurants, office buildings,
apartments, condos and shops. Construction was completed in 1994.
Now, Tualatin residents
can go into town, stroll around the lake and enjoy outdoor concerts
every Friday night in July and August. In early August, there's the
venerable
Crawfish Festival at Tualatin Commons and nearby Tualatin Community
Park, where residents munch on miniature crustaceans and enjoy the festival
atmosphere.
Going to Work
Though many residents commute
to nearby Hillsboro, Beaverton or Portland for work, Tualatin employs
about 9,000 people in its own community, including about 1,100 at the
Tigard-Tualatin School District, 760 at Legacy Meridian Park Hospital
and 700 at United Parcel Service.
Parks: Kid-Friendly City Full of Activities
 When
school lets out for the summer, Tualatin offers a raft of activities
to keep children and young people busy: kickflipping at the skateboard
park, scrabbling around on the play equipment at Ibach Park, participating
in the library's summer reading program, attending a city- and school
district-sponsored summer camp for middle schoolers, or paddling a kayak
or canoe rented at Brown's Ferry Park.
Tualatin offers 260 acres
of community parks and greenspaces. This includes: Tualatin Commons
with a man-made lake, Tualatin Community Park with a skate park, Brown's
Ferry Park with Tualatin River access, Ibach Park, Atfalati Park and
Jurgens Park. In addition, the Tualatin River National Wildlife
Refuge has a number of public access points.
Tualatin River Recreation
Many resident take advantage
of recreation on the Tualatin River. A map of the Tualatin River
National Wildlife Refuge shows public access points, mileage, hazards,
and points of interest from the mouth of the Tualatin upstream through
Washington County can be found on the Tualatin Riverkeepers Web site,
which also has more interesting information about the river that runs
through the City of Tualatin. Go to
http://www.tualatinriverkeepers.org
and click on "Tour of the Watershed" to see the map.
History
In 1853, Samuel Galbreath
began a ferry service crossing the Tualatin River from a village he
called "Galbreath". The town's name was changed to "Bridgeport" when
Galbreath built the first bridge across the Tualatin River in 1856.
Located along one of the first "improved" roads, Boone's Ferry Road,
Bridgeport thrived by attracting business from Portland throughout the
Willamette Valley.
In 1886, the Portland &
Willamette Railway Company purchased a right-of-way through John Sweek's
land on the Tualatin River's west bank opposite Bridgeport. Profiting
from the sale, Sweek took advantage of the railroad's location and platted
a town around the depot - he called the new town Tualatin. The City
of Tualatin was incorporated in 1913 at which time an official government
was formed.
Portland Monthly Magazine Neighborhood Guide
 The
Portland
Monthly magazine features neighborhoods in their April issue every
year. It has a ton of information about Portland neighborhoods as well
as suburban communities.
To help those in the housing market, the magazine combines
all the data from about 120 neighborhoods and communities in the Portland
metro area. Include in the document are housing prices, school
ratings, demographics, crime statistics, parks, commuting information,
and services. Click
here to view the report.
Community Demographics
Web Sites
Search for Homes in Tualatin
 To
search for homes in Tualatin, go to
Search for
Homes and click on the "City Search" icon and then select "Tualatin
- 129." You can use over 100 search parameters to define
your criteria. Alternatively, you can select a specific area off
a community map by drawing a box around that area. If you save
your search criteria, you will be given the option to have new listings
that match your criteria automatically e-mailed to you.
More About Tualatin
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Origin of Name The word is derived from an Indian
expression referring to the Tualatin River and plains.
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Parks 68 acres.
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1Drive
Time to Downtown It will take a good half hour to drive to
downtown Portland.
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Public Transportation TriMet
Green Leaf line. No MAX light rail or streetcar service.
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22000
Demographics Population - 22,791. Number of households
- 8,651. Median household income of $55,762 (metro area median household
income: $46,789). Diversity - 13.1% non-Caucasian. Median house
value - $197,700. Percent of residents over 25 years of age holding
a bachelor's degree or higher - 37.5%. See
City Data for more information about Tualatin.
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Crime Stats The latest crime stats are available at the
Hello
Tualatin Web site.
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Sex Offenders Click
here for
the State of Oregon Sex Offender Inquiry System. After agreeing
to the "Conditions of Use Statement" you will be redirected to a "Enter
Search Criteria" page. Insert a zip code in the "Zip" field and
click on the "Query" button.
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3Shopping
and Services Number of supermarkets: 2.
Number of health clubs: 1. Number of public libraries: 1. Shopping
and dining opportunities at the Fred Meyer mall, Martinazzi Square and
Hedges Greene (which houses a Haggen's grocery store, Starbucks, a video
store and other modern necessities).
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Renters vs. Home Owners Owner occupied is 55% and renter
occupied is 45%.
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Who Lives in Tualatin People who want a place
where you can live, work and play. Tualatin residents are young as the
median resident age is 31.9 years according to the 2000 U.S. Census.
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They Probably Drive Tualatin residents drive mini-vans
and SUVs.
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Schools The
Tigard-Tualatin
School District includes Byrom, Bridgeport and Tualatin elementary
schools, Hazelbrook Middle School and Tualatin High School.
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4School
Report Card Grades Elementary schools: O/S. Middle schools:
O/S. High school: O/S. Click
here for report card details.
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Housing Styles City plans call for "55 percent of
the residential housing stock to be single-family homes and 45 percent
multifamily − apartments, condos and rowhouses."
5Tualatin Home Price
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Number of homes sold in Tualatin 2009: 231.
Distressed properties sales were 32%.
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Median price for homes sold in Tualatin:
$280,000 in 2010; $312,000 in 2009; $410,000 in 2008; $362,000 in
2007.
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1-year median sales price change in 2010 from
2009 in Tualatin: -10%.
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5-year median sales price change in Tualatin:
-14%.
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Metro area median home prices: $239,900
in 2010; $247,000 in 2009; $278,000 in 2008; $290,000 in 2007.
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Metro area average home prices: $282,100
in 2010; $289,900 in 2009; $330,300 in 2008; $342,000 in 2007.
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