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Suggestions about where to live...

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wpryan023
  6/5/2021 13:12 EST

Hi All, we arrived about a week ago and are staying at an Air BnB in Almada (mistake #1 - not the most beautiful part of the Lisbon area, I will say...). We have been poring over the Idealista site trying to find a place to rent. We went already to Costa de Capirica, Estoril, Cascais, Belem, various places around the north side of the Setubal region (Almada, Corroios...), We are super disappointed with what we have found so far. I would say we are not "super exigente", but we are looking for a place that has some green around (e.g. not a concrete jungle), is relatively close to commerce, convenient to public transport, and where the buildings are not covered with graffiti everywhere you look. Also, should be reasonably convenient to the airport.

Is this a pipe dream, or does there exist such a place?

StellaW
  6/5/2021 16:11 EST

Portugal is not a large country - it is never very far to an airport. Try expanding your search t o 'second tier' cities, such as coimbra, santarem, aveiro, caldas...

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Gogagay
  6/6/2021 02:32 EST

Have you looked at Sintra? Easy access to Lisbon and plenty of green around there. Along the Linha trainline - Lisbon to Cascais.
Cascais is close to Sintra.

Check out: hoodpicker.com.,
calendly. com.

If you are on Facebook, Americans & FriendsPt is a great resource with up to date input from many who live here.

Reconsider some of the areas you've already looked at as they may appeal on a second visit.

Best of luck in your search.

wpryan023
  6/6/2021 04:32 EST

Thanks for the reply. Calendy looks like a calendar/scheduling site, but the other looks quite useful.
One thing that has me very disappointed here in Lisbon is the amount of graffiti one sees everywhere. It makes me think I'm in a ghetto or slum. Very unappealing!

HKtoPortugal
  6/6/2021 09:32 EST

I realise you have your heart set for the South of Portugal (Lisbon area). Just anecdotal, when we first scouted Portugal as a potential place to live four years ago we had booked two weeks at AirBNB's , one week in Lisbon, one week in Porto. We were pretty sure we were going to get a place in Lisbon but as a friend of ours recommended Porto we had split it up equally 50/50, with no expectations whatsoever that we would end up in Porto. We were also a bit disappointed when we were in Lisbon and could't really find a nice vibe. So we left rather disappointed to Porto, not expecting much there either. First day we arrived in Porto and walked around we looked at each other during lunch and we both decided there and then that we had fallen in love with Porto.

Not suggesting the same would be true for you ofcourse.

We had a similar requirement (i.e. I travel internationally 50% of my time so an airport within 30 minutes was a requirement). In addition we have a daughter that started high school so we required an international school within 30 minutes of travel as well.

We ended up buying outside Porto, along the Douro river. Green, quiet and in downtown in less than 10 minutes by car.

Ncwhiteman
  6/6/2021 14:31 EST

A lot will depend on your budget. But as others have said, PT is not that large so access to an airport is pretty simple, public transportation is very good in all first and second-tier cities. Most of the towns/villages have a center of commerce that has small winding, cobblestone streets which we find charming. Most cities also have many public parks. But if you want a yard and be able to walk to a cafe...you will have to move a bit away from the coast.

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Intransit1
  6/7/2021 07:59 EST

lol for not being very exigente, you sure have crossed off a lot of territory.

wpryan023
  6/7/2021 10:18 EST

...what has us disappointed is the amount of graffiti. Like I said, it makes many places look like ghettos, to put it bluntly.

Intransit1
  6/10/2021 21:21 EST

first of all, it's considered "street art", second referring to people's neighborhoods as ghettos is not very nice.

jandm
  6/11/2021 16:09 EST

Interested in your post on Porto. We live in Lagos because of the warmer weather. Never considered Porto because it's cooler & the rain. Seems very similar to Portland OR where we moved from. But we visited Porto for the 1st time last week and really liked it. We are coming back in early Sept for 10 days & again in the winter months to get a better feel of the weather. Interested in any info you have to offer. Especially wondering what are the more preferred parts of Porto to live. Like the idea of a quiet space but also interested in walkability to grocery, doctors entertainment etc. It seems to be an eclectic city. Any guidance is appreciated.Thanks

HKtoPortugal
  6/12/2021 14:16 EST

Hi Jandm, maybe we should start a new topic on Porto ;-)

In recent years Porto local government has made many investments (urban rehabilitation) which in turn attracted developers to build in specific areas that were being redeveloped. The major of Porto comes from a business background and he is keenly promoting Porto in the international press. There has been a large influx of non-Portuguese moving here, also helped by the golden visa.

We personally like many parts of the Bonfim area as it is close to the city yet far enough away from the real touristy stuff. Also it is not so crazy expensive as parts of Foz or Matosinhos (close to the sea).

We have an apartment in Bonfim that we rent out (AirBNB) and the reaction of guests is always that they love the fact that they can walk to the Ribeira area in 15 minutes but in the evening can sleep in a quiet place with local restaurants, great supermarkets and in general have a more local feel then the touristy areas.

Not too long ago the Bonfim area (and neighbouring areas) was mostly empty at night as most Porto families (used to) live outside of the historic areas. The wealthy families mainly in the Foz area, the less fortunate ones in the surrounding areas.

However we have noticed an enormous change in the past 4 years. More and more real estate developments that encourage folks to live in the more central Porto areas (like Bonfim, but also Campanha is up and coming).

4 years ago Porto felt like a deserted city, now there are loads of new restaurants, cultural events, shops, breakfast places etcetc.

We ourselves live, as I mentioned, about 10 minutes outside Porto along the Douro river but we are likely to move to the city after our daughter graduates.

We were concerned about the rain too (as everyone told us that it always rains in the winter). It is true that there are many days with rain in the winter (but these are not 24 hour rainy days, it rains and then one hour later the sun shines). There is typically only a few weeks when it rains every day for prolonged periods of time. It can get cold (but rarely under 5 degrees centigrade at night), more typical is 10-15 degrees.

It's therefore important to select a house / apartment that has a good (A or B) energy rating and heating. For this reason we bought a new house as older properties tend to be badly isolated.

Hope that helps, feel free to reach out if you need more info.

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