Hillsboro

Hillsboro is the largest city in Washington County with a growing population of almost 100,000. In the 2000s it was noted to be the fastest growing city in Washington County and 4th largest growing city in Oregon. It is also one of the oldest communities in the Oregon, established in the mid-1800s by early pioneers that started the area’s farming and timber industries. The advent of the railroad caused Hillsboro to become a major agricultural supplier for surrounding communities. The city currently operates the worlds largest Costco, an airport, the second largest Independence Day Parade in Oregon and a sports field with a state-of-the-art stadium. This stadium hosts a variety of recreational leagues, high school team sports and is home to the Hillsboro Hops, a minor-league baseball team and the Portland Timbers 2 soccer team.

Hillsboro is an interesting place with a lot of character. It’s known for its growing technology headquarters and is often referred to as the “Silicon Forest”. Intel is a large contributor to Hillsboro’ s labor force as well as a number of other high tech companies, distributors and manufacturers. The city has 10 sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places too.  These few revenue makers along with many others, are putting Hillsboro on the map and making it an attractive place to land.

With 35 schools and over 20,000 students, Hillsboro is Oregon’s fourth largest public school district. It service the surrounding communities of Scholls, Reedville, North Plains, West Union and others. There are two public libraries, more than 20 parks and a Portland Community College campus.

On the outskirts of Hillsboro are many farms and open spaces. Many of these farms produce goods for the local farmers markets held all over the city during the summer months. It is also known for its local craft breweries and its cultural downtown area. But more notably its vineyards and the Oak Knoll winery, which is the oldest winery in Washington County dating back to 1970.

Because of Hillsboro’s growing popularity the city is expanding creating more neighborhoods, parks, even school to accommodate its new residents. They started with the Orenco Station development, which is a little pedestrian friendly metropolis in the heart of the suburbs. The current city project is a new community project called Hillsboro South. Across the city there is a good variety of homes, new, mature, low income, high density, or acreage. The median house price is in the mid $400k range.

Hillsboro is an up and coming suburb that really has something for everyone. Is it right for you?