Independent Living Communities in Tigard, OR

"I visited the independent living community of Clearwater Beaverton, and I will be moving into a 2-bedroom apartment there. It was $700 cheaper than the other facility I looked at, and everybody was just so friendly. The people I sat with and had lunch with have been very nice. Everybody seems to like the place really well, and there were no complaints. I wanted the 2-bedroom apartment because my house is almost 3000 square feet, and there's a lot of stuff I've collected, so I liked the size of the unit. I love the courtyard, too. They have a lot of activities there, and I thought that would be interesting. I also have a deck that is kind of enclosed. It's not on the outside of the building, but just bolted onto the side, and has a door out onto it from the bedroom. I like that it's covered, and my things won't go flying off the side of a building if it gets stormy. I think they said that nobody's used that room before. It's brand new, so that'll be nice. The sink faces the window that looks outside near the deck. It has a raised counter there, so I could put stools instead of a dining room table because I didn't want to take up more space in the living room, which is not that big. You come in and there's a kitchen and a place where you could put your dining room table and living room. I like that a lot. I liked that it has a bath and a half. I also like that one wall is painted in a very nice soft green. I just don't have anything that I'm worried about. They also have covered parking if I want it. Everything seems to be taken care of, and I'm very pleased. There are a lot of activities there. There's somebody there that quilts, and I also wanted to do yoga, and they've got that. The food was good. There are lots of choices that you can eat, and it's two meals a day, which is fine. I could also have my cat there."

"MorningStar of Hillsboro was very nice, new, and shiny. The woman who did the intake was incredibly knowledgeable, but it was much more expensive, and there wasn't a good way to access the outside from the apartment with the dog. You didn't want to have to walk the dog all the way through the facility to get outside. Physically, it didn't work out. This facility was gorgeous. They even have a swimming pool inside. They have a library, a gym, and game rooms. It seems very well-maintained."

"I toured Holiday Rock Creek. The community is nice. It's a little on the city side, but other than that, I like it a lot. I like the space. They had a lot of upgrades, so it was nice. The location is good. The apartments are good sizes and layouts. They have a lot of good windows. What I liked best about them was that almost all of the rooms had either a balcony or a little patio space. Also, most of the people were doing activities when we visited. The staff were very friendly. The facility was very nice. We couldn't see some of the common areas because they were dealing with some water damage due to the construction. The gym could use a little bit more stuff in my opinion. It didn't have very much equipment. It just had two little riding bikes and some chairs to do sit-down exercises. I know that's what most people that age do, but it seems like they could have had a little bit more for strength training and stuff. "

"It had a positive atmosphere. They were caring and we were happy to consider moving our mom there. The staff seemed responsive and interested. The room was nice, clean, had a beautiful view, was roomy, and bright. The layout was really good. Everything was close for my mom who doesn't get around very well, including the elevators and the dining room. It seemed manageable for her. They have trips, movies, and different activities for the residents. They were playing bingo when we were there."

"We ended up putting my mother-in-law at Somerset Lodge Gracious Retirement Living. It is very pretty. The land that it is on is very pretty, and you can see Mount Hood from there. The facility itself is very clean. It is brand new and the rooms are good size. I really like the fact that there are two sets of managers - two sets of husband and wife. They live in the building, so there is always somebody there. They’re really nice. The dining room is set up beautiful. They have fresh baked bread and cookies everyday. They have cookies and coffee out everyday. That’s really nice. The atmosphere is very nice. They have activities too. The only suggestion would be, when someone new comes in, it would be nice if they have a service where the some of the residents or maybe one of the managers would go up and invite them down at dinner or lunch and sit with them. It has been a little hard of an adjustment for my mother-in-law; she doesn’t feel comfortable just walking upto a table and sitting down for a meal. "

"Mom is at MorningStar at Laurelhurst. It is very clean. Most of the caregivers are very caring and loving. They enjoy what they do and care for the residents. There were a few issues at the beginning, but things are better now. No place is perfect. I was given a couple of opportunities to have a meal there, and the food is always very fresh because the memory care patients are always served first. It's nutritious and they have a really good chef. There's a good variety. There are a lot of coloring activities (they have adult coloring books). They also play music and then have movies after dinner. They have other activities that I noticed on the board, like going for a walk and trivia things, but Mom's not interested in any of that stuff. She's very picky. She's always just sitting there, totally bored."

"It is very nice. It's very light and airy, and it feels warm, gracious, and homey."

"Glenmoore Gracious Retirement Living was more up-to-date than all of the other places we looked at. It was more modern, it had a two-bedroom, two-bath that we wanted, and all the meals. They had a theater, a beauty shop, they had a library, and the people were extremely nice, and very helpful. They provided us with one meal, and it was quite delicious. I think that they have a lot of activities. We're planning to move there."

"We moved to Brookdale Newberg. I think they just have a hard time keeping people on. I don't know what it is, but maybe that way everywhere because we've looked at the other communities, and the people that are here, and we really like them. They just worked hard. It's just sometimes I think they need to hire more people, but they're still getting the work done. They try to make everybody happy. When there's a problem, they solve it. It doesn't go unnoticed. They take care of it if you have a problem. The facility is a beautiful place but there could be some improvements. They are trying to make improvements when we first start here. The food was not great, but we are seeing some improvements. Like the vegetables being overcooked. Some of the meals were not great, but they had a menu chat every week. You can go in and tell them what you'd like to change and the food you'd like to see on the menu. They listened and made changes, so that's good. Every day they've got something going on. They have an exercise program in the morning and they've got games all day long, different kinds of games, and they have outings that they take people on. We're still driving, so we haven't gone with some, but there's a sign-up sheet and you can go on outings if you sign for it, and they drive the bus."

"I went to Parkrose Chateau. Jim, the guy who I worked with, was super knowledgeable and it was the first place I went to. So he was able to educate me on assisted living versus independent living, etc.. And the layout of the location was very nice, very welcoming, and warm. The rooms are nice. I looked at a one-bedroom and it was fine. It was a type of location that doesn't have a kitchen, because obviously all the food was included. The dining area was all clean, very nice, and the menu looked good, so no issue there. It would not probably be a good fit for my stepdad, just because there was no kitchen."

"Kamlu Retirement Inn seemed like a nice place. They have a decent size studio apartment. It felt like an apartment complex where everyone was a senior. The dining area was very nice. It looked like it would be a place to easily socialize with people. It was very welcoming and you can have little parties there. They have exercise classes and book clubs. The one thing they had that nobody else that we talked to had was that they take the residents to a place to swim a couple of times a week. They have a big craft group, too. The staff members were great."

"Elms Retirement Living Center is a very nice place. The staff seemed very nice and accommodating. The biggest problem that I had was that, if you came in through what they were calling the main entrance, which was from the parking lot, you had to navigate through the dining room to get to the elevators. Being blind, I would have done it, but I didn't choose that place also because Forest Grove is a little bit further out, and I go to Vancouver on Sundays. It would have added an extra 30 minutes to my travel time. The food was very good. The staff was friendly and helpful. It was just too far out. Since I am blind, I use the paratransit services, and it's usually a shared ride. The further out you are, the more possibilities you're going to have to pick up people or drop people off or both, and the traffic here is crazy."

"We liked Truewood by Merrill, Vancouver. They're high quality. The staff was wonderful. The rooms were nice. The cost was just too high for us. We were looking for something a little more economical. The pool was beautiful. It was an indoor pool and it was open all the time."

"Springwood Landing is nice. It's clean and eye-appealing. It's fairly new, so it's put together really nicely. The lady who toured us was very professional, very kind, positive, and welcoming. She was just really accommodating. I could tell that she knew the residents and she was super sweet to them. I liked that. We went to dinner there and the food was good. After dinner, they were showing a movie that night in their movie theater. They also have a craft area, they have people that go walking quite a bit, there's a library and a cooking/baking area that's part of the craft area. I visited probably three or four different rooms and styles of layout. There was a single bedroom and then there was one that had two bedrooms, but the one that my mom would go to had a small kitchenette. It had a peninsula and my mom would be able to have her dog with her, and she's not going to be charged extra for that."