If you are thinking about moving into Bethany, Cedar Mill, or Rock Creek, or you already own a house there, this is how those places actually sit. I have been selling real estate since 2008. I opened Shawn Realty in the Bethany neighborhood.
A lot of these addresses say Portland, 97229. The Portland on the envelope is the mailing name. It does not mean the house is inside the city of Portland, and it does not mean two houses in that ZIP are the same kind of house. I price from the street and the homes that compare to yours.
Same mail, different places
Bethany and Cedar Mill are unincorporated communities in Washington County. They are not cities. The county plans them. Rock Creek is a neighborhood name in the county’s Sunset West plan. That wider area has had some land annexed to Beaverton and to Hillsboro, so I look at the actual house instead of assuming every Rock Creek address is the same jurisdiction.
The Census Bureau draws its own map of 97229. On that map, the Cedar Mill census area sits entirely inside the ZIP. The census place called Rockcreek is almost entirely inside it. Most of the Bethany census area is inside it, and part of that census area is not. The ZIP also takes in pieces of Portland, Beaverton, Hillsboro, and other census places. A census line is not the neighborhood people mean when they say the name. It is not a school boundary either. Same ZIP, not the same house.
Bethany
Washington County plans Bethany in two pieces, and they are not the same on the ground.
The original Bethany plan area is in unincorporated northeast Washington County. The county’s border for that piece is NW 185th Avenue on the west, the Washington–Multnomah county line on the east, NW West Union Road and NW Thompson Road on the south, and NW Springville Road on the north. The roads the county names there are Bethany Boulevard, Springville Road, West Union Road, Thompson Road, and 185th Avenue. The plan keeps Bethany residential.
North Bethany is the newer piece, north of NW Springville Road, except Arbor Oaks, which the plan keeps separate. The county says this land is north of Highway 26. It came into the urban growth boundary later, and the county planned it as a complete community: houses and apartments, neighborhoods around parks, and a Main Street along NW Kaiser Road meant to be the walkable center, with shops, services, and housing. That Main Street is the plan for the center. I do not treat the plan as a promise that every corner is built out the same way. Portland Community College’s Rock Creek campus is part of the North Bethany plan.
For a park you can actually go to, Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District’s Bethany Lake Park is in the Bethany neighborhood at 5061 NW 185th Avenue, Portland 97229. It is lawn and trails around the lake, with picnic tables, a community garden, and a piece of the Rock Creek Regional Trail. You can fish there with an Oregon license. Parking is off NW 185th.
Cedar Mill
Cedar Mill is unincorporated too. The county plans it together with Cedar Hills, and it describes that community as directly north of Beaverton and west of the Portland city limits, mostly residential, and one of the more developed communities in unincorporated Washington County. That is a different feel from North Bethany, which was planned later as new urban neighborhoods.
The county’s shopping center for this area is the Cedar Mill Town Center. In the plan, Cornell Road between Dale and Barnes, and Barnes Road between Saltzman and Cornell, are the Main Street of that town center.
Highway 26, the Sunset Highway, and Highway 217 both cross the Cedar Hills–Cedar Mill planning area. The county also names Cornell, Barnes, and Murray as arterials there. The planning area is bigger than the Cedar Mill name people use day to day, which is another reason I start with the street.
Rock Creek
In the county’s Sunset West plan, Rock Creek is one of the neighborhoods north of Sunset Highway. The plan also names Somerset West and Oak Hills in that same subarea, so the map label is broader than one subdivision. The county describes the pattern as mostly lower-density residential, with a strip of higher-density housing along the highway. For that part of the county, the plan calls Highway 26 the main east-west route and NW 185th Avenue the main north-south route.
Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District’s Rock Creek Park is just north of Highway 26 in the Rock Creek neighborhood, with a Portland 97229 address on NW Rock Creek Boulevard. It has a playground, a lawn, basketball, picnic tables, and a connection to the Rock Creek trail.
If you are selling here
Buyers do not shop these pockets as one list. North Bethany is the newer planned side, with the Kaiser Road center in the county plan. Cedar Mill is the older residential community north of Beaverton, with the Cornell and Barnes center. Rock Creek, on the county’s map, is the residential neighborhood north of Sunset Highway, and that subarea is not only one street. Condition still matters inside each of those. An updated house and a tired house on the same block are not the same sale.
Send me the address and the overall condition. I will tell you what I would price the house at, from that street and the homes that compare to it. It is free. No obligation.
Current numbers
Sale prices, days on market, and how many homes sold all move, so they stay off this page. For the current snapshot, see my 97229 market dashboard (RMLS, updated daily).
That dashboard is the current picture. It is not a price for your house. I still price from the street. For what I see in Bethany right now, see what Bethany homes are selling for. If you’re in Cedar Mill, start with a Cedar Mill home value. You can also see recently sold homes in 97229.
Next step
If you would rather talk first, call or text 503-515-4499.
