Jamie Hale/The Oregonian
Jamie Hale | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Nick Olsen knew his Hillsboro neighborhood when it was not much more than a big, empty field.
Growing up nearby, Olsen said, his mom taught at Orenco Elementary School, back when the school and a golf course were all that was there. The school is still around, but the rest of the land has dramatically changed.
Orenco Station was among the fastest-growing neighborhoods in the Portland metropolitan area, according to newly released Census data. The population grew more than 43 percent between 2010 and 2016.
“It’s gotten insane,” he said, taking a break from a walk through the neighborhood to marvel at how far and how fast it’s transformed. “I remember when there was nothing here.”
In this 2000 file photo, construction goes on at Orenco Station. (Roger Jensen/The Oregonian)
The growth is thanks to a boom in high-density housing projects around the Orenco Station MAX stop. Since 2012, five mid-rise apartment buildings have gone up, surrounded by smaller apartment buildings, condos, townhouses and tightly-packed single-family homes.
Many residents here are employed by Intel, which recently finished construction on the company’s massive D1X factory just a mile north of the train station.
The development has been a whirlwind for locals like Olsen, who still holds aspirations for bigger homes but sees few options available in Washington County.
“We want to buy a house, but that’s impossible right now,” Olsen said. “You can’t buy a backyard anymore.”
Cranes work at the Intel campus behind the Orenco Station neighborhood. (Brent Wojahn/The Oregonian)
While Orenco Station lacks the bigger lots typical of other suburban neighborhoods, residents are, on average, better off than most in Washington County. A majority of locals are college educated, according to the census data, and median household income is $85,000 – higher than the nearly $70,000 county average. The median age in Orenco Station is in the mid-30s, and most households consist of married couples with kids.
The growth has a boon for local businesses like iSpark Toys, a small toy shop that opened two years ago on the ground floor of one of the new buildings. Owner Hande Buyuksahin said business has been buoyed by young families, grandparents and the local community that gathers for events, like the recent pop-up ice skating rink by the MAX station.
“To be here, to see all that’s happened, it makes me really happy that (locals) come over and support us,” she said.
Hande Buyuksahin is the owner of iPark Toys at Orenco Station. (Jim Ryan/The Oregonian)
Storefronts on the ground floor of the larger apartment buildings house restaurants, fitness studios, bars and a New Seasons Market, all within walking distance.
Marissa Loosli and her husband, Brent, moved to an apartment just south of the MAX station nine years ago, and now they’re raising their two kids, ages 4 and 2. The area seems to be full of other young families, she said, and the parks and restaurants make it a great place to live.
Still, as they’ve watched the population boom, they can’t help but crave a little more peace and quiet. Both Loosli and her husband grew up in small towns in the Pacific Northwest, and while they’re happy not to be in bustling Portland, she said the bigger population hasn’t been ideal.
“Some people like that it’s up and coming here,” she said. “We’d like it to be more rural.”
But at Orenco Station, the rural fields are a thing of the past.
-- Jamie Hale
jhale@oregonian.com
@HaleJamesB
Mark Friesen, David Cansler and Melissa Lewis contributed data analysis.
Ice skating at the pop-up rink at Orenco Station. (Jim Ryan/The Oregonian)
The Orenco Gardens neighborhood at Orenco Station. (Jamie Hale/The Oregonian)
The Hub 9 apartments at Orenco Station. (Jamie Hale/The Oregonian)
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