The Apps and Tools That Make Living in Portland Easier
Every city has a set of small tools that locals rely on without thinking twice. Portland has more than a few. Here is a starter kit, organized by what you actually need it for.
In Case of Emergency
PublicAlerts.org is the region's opt-in emergency notification system, covering Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, and Columbia counties along with Clark County in Washington. Sign up once and you get texts, calls, or emails when something requires action, floods, earthquakes, wildfire, severe weather, and more.
Wireless Emergency Alerts come through automatically on most phones, no signup required, but PublicAlerts is worth adding on top since it covers more ground than the federal system alone.
PGE's outage map is handy during storms if you want to check whether an outage is known and get an estimated restoration time, rather than guessing.
Portland Street Response sends unarmed crisis teams to help with mental health and behavioral health crises, rather than a police response. Call 911 or 503-823-7773 directly, available every day from 6 a.m. to midnight. It is a good number to have saved, whether the need is your own or someone you see on the street.
Getting Around
Hop Fastpass handles fare payment across TriMet buses, MAX Light Rail, and the Portland Streetcar. Load it once and tap to board, no fumbling for cash or paper tickets.
PDX Bus and TriMet's own trip planner show real-time arrivals, which matters more in Portland's rain than people expect.
BIKETOWN is the city's bike share system, useful for short hops around downtown or a quick ride to dinner without needing your car.
TripCheck, run by ODOT, is the state's traffic and road conditions map. Worth bookmarking before any winter drive over the mountain passes, since conditions can change fast.
Parking Kitty lets you pay for street parking and extend your session remotely. Instead of just warning you a ticket is coming, it hands you a reminder with time to actually do something about it, and it purrs while it does, which somehow makes the whole thing easier to take.
Errands and Everyday Life
Multnomah County Library's app gives you access to the fullcatalog, ebooks and audiobooks included, right from your phone. But the library itself is worth knowing beyond the app too. Free museum passes, language learning, movie and music streaming, resume help, tech help, even a makerspace for teens. Their own list of 10 things you can get at the library besides booksis worth a look if you have not stepped inside one in a while.
PortlandMaps.com is worth knowing even if you are not house hunting. It pulls permit history, zoning, and property detail on any address in the city, useful for curiosity or due diligence alike.
Your garbage, recycling, and compost pickup schedule rotates on a cycle that is easy to lose track of. Portland's own collection schedule lookup is worth bookmarking so you are not caught off guard.
Staying Informed
OregonLive.com, the Oregonian's site and app, is still the most reliable source for local news, weather, and traffic alerts specific to the metro area.
Good Food, Good Nights Out
Eater Portland is the go-to source for restaurant openings, closings, and what's actually worth trying right now, run by people who eat out for a living.
Wanting to try somewhere new without watching every dollar is its own small luxury, and InKind dining discounts has become one of our go-to ways to make that happen. It works a little differently than a typical rewards app. It gives independent restaurants upfront capital by purchasing their future dining credit at a discount, rather than a loan or a stake in the business. That credit gets sold to diners through the app, so when you eat somewhere through InKind, you pay through the app, the restaurant gets paid, and you get money back, usually around 20 percent, to spend at any other InKind restaurant. We have used it a handful of times now to try restaurants we might not have found otherwise, and it has been a good way to support a small business while getting a little something back for it. Full disclosure, if you sign up through our code, you get $25 off a $50+ meal and we get a small referral credit too. Everybody eats well, nobody loses.
Oregon Liquor Search is niche but genuinely useful, since Oregon's liquor sales rules can trip up newcomers.
Willamette Week's event calendar rounds up concerts, festivals, art shows, and everything else happening around the city, and their annual Best of Portland guide is a solid starting point if you are still building your list of favorite spots.
PDX Food Weeks tracks the city's themed food weeks, Burger Week, Salad Week, and the rest, so you know when they are happening and where to go.
DoMORE is a weekly ticket drop, seven dollars a month for two tickets to use on something happening around the city, plays, concerts, live music. Each week they send five to seven options, and you can pick which drop to use your two tickets on, so you are not locked into redeeming every week. If nothing lines up with your calendar or interests, you just let that week pass and wait for the next one. Venues have seats to fill and shows that deserve an audience, and this is a genuinely good way to solve both sides of that problem, you get an easy reason to go out, and a room that might otherwise sit half empty gets filled. We used it to catch Dueling Pianos at the Barrel Room in Old Town, something we never would have gone out of our way to see, and it turned into one of the more fun nights we have had out in a while. Talented musicians, the whole staff jumping in on songs and dancing, and we still got to support the business directly through our own food and drink order. Full disclosure, signing up through our link gets you a free month trial, and we get a free month added to our membership too. Everybody gets to try something new.
Our recent experience using DoMORE - Dueling piano event at the Barrel Room in Old Town, Portland, Oregon
Making Friends & Finding Community
Shift Bikes' calendar lists group bike rides happening around Portland that you can simply show up and join. Subscribe to the calendar and you will see a steady stream of rides on the schedule, a good way to get outside and meet people who share the same taste in slow Sunday mileage or after-work laps around the city.
Meetup.com hosts a wide range of Portland groups built around a specific shared interest, hiking, board games, book clubs, tech, whatever you are into. Portland Fun Run is a good example, a weekly Wednesday run that starts and ends at a different bar each time, casual pace, all levels welcome.
If gardening is more your speed, the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon has been bringing Pacific Northwest gardeners together since 1984, through plant sales, speaker events, and open garden tours. Kim has been a member for three years and volunteers on the board, so you will likely spot her at after-hours nursery events or wandering through a member's open garden. It is a good way to meet people who care as much about their outdoor spaces as you do.
We rely on these apps and tools ourselves, day to day. If we handed you one or two you had not come across before, that is exactly the kind of small win we like passing along.
Looking for the Right Portland Neighborhood?
Portland neighborhoods vary more than most people expect. Our guide to the best Portland neighborhoods covers the city's main areas by location, character, and what it is actually like to live there.
We Like Being in the Know, and We Like Helping Our Neighbors Stay That Way Too
Portland has a way of rewarding people who pay attention, whether that means knowing which app tells you your parking meter is about to run out or knowing who to call when the power goes out. We have lived here for over 30 years, and staying informed about this city, and helping our clients and neighbors do the same, is just part of how we operate.
If you are curious about a specific neighborhood, market conditions, or anything else about living in Portland, we are easy to reach. Call or text us at 503-951-8547
Kim Campbell, Realtor | PSA, RENE | Licensed Oregon Broker
Francisco Salgado, Realtor | MCNE, EA | Licensed Oregon and Washington Broker
Campbell Salgado Real Estate Group with Soldera Properties
