Originally Posted by
Greg_R
Well, I'm a little late to the party but have a few key suggestions (grew up in MD, now live in PDX). I work @ Intel and they do indeed offer discounted -MONTHLY- passes since yearly passes are no longer sold (essentially a $30/month discount off current price). Rt26 sucks to drive on (well, not DC / Baltimore traffic suck but still pretty bad); I would totally take the MAX or bike commute. I have friends who get on @ Goose Hollow and ride by bike from the Washington fairgrounds exit. While on the train, they watch movies or TV shows (uploaded to their laptop), do some work (wi-fi is available & you can work on e-mails offline), or just read the paper or a book. You can always get off the train earlier for a longer bike ride if you want. Most roads have bike lanes out here. Intel has bike racks and full shower facilities with lockers (so you can keep towels, change of clothes, soap, etc. @ work).
If you are the kind of person who enjoys the city then I would encourage you to live downtown. There is nothing around Orenco except surburbia. The MAX commute from Goose Hollow to the Washington fairgrounds is ~30 minutes (it will take you that long by car on RT26 as well). Figure 5-10 minutes of bike riding and your commute is not bad at all.
Thanks, Greg, this is very very helpful! I especially appreciate the DC/Baltimore comparison, which gives me a better idea of how good/bad the traffic is
Do you have an idea of how crowded the train would typically be at rush hour from Goose Hollow to Intel?
Originally Posted by
JonRags
I usually don't ride all the way to work in the mornings as I live in Clackamas on the far SE side of town and work at McAfee in Hillsboro (about 4 miles I think from Ronler Acres) but ride all the way home through the zoo. A co-worker that I ride with usually rides all the way to work through the hills since there is virtually no traffic from downtown til you get passed 217.
Good to know, thanks. The bike commute is sounding more and more feasible. By the way, when I was interviewing at Intel RA, I went for several runs and was just amazed at how many tech companies' offices I passed in Hillsboro... Intel, Triquint Semiconductor, MacAfee, FEI. Quite an impressive little tech mecca.