Low income apartments do tend to be full of noisier people and lots of kids, so unless it is a building for senior citizens, most of them will do nicely for you.

Geez, stereotype much?

To the OP, Portland has several median income tax credit apartments that are either mixed in with market rate apartments or stand alone. Unlike what was assumed above most don't take section 8 (not that section 8 automatically means noise or kids) and are priced at the average for the Portland area rather than the neighborhood they're in. What would surprise many people is that they're filled with NORMAL average people and are not any noisier than any other apartment building.

An example would be the Sitka. The wait lists for these buildings tend to be fairly long at this point but there are options such as Shaver Green in NE and others around town that aren't as long.

Some of the buildings DO take section 8 and seem to have catered to people with mental illness (not saying that's bad--everyone needs a home) so you'll want to check out each building on an individual basis and see if it's what you're looking for. Housing connections is a good resource but many buildings don't show up on there such as the Bookmark Apartments which have a few income restricted units, or the Sitka or the Ramona, Lovejoy Station, etc. You can also sometimes find units on craigslist if you do a search for income restrictions.

Here are the websites for two tax credit buildings that probably defy the stereotype that Oregonwoodsmoke is thinking of and are a good place to start. Thesitka theramona

Others you can find on the housing connections website or the home again website (they list both subsidized public housing units AND various income restricted buildings).

Most of the income restricted buildings cap eligibility at 60 to 80% of the median income for the area, which would be as of last year $30,000 for one person or $43,000 for a family of four at 60% and $40,000 for one person and $58,000 for a family of four at 80%.