Thinking about moving near Portland

So I am thinking about moving near Portland with my mate. I figure that we would have more success finding an apartment somewhere around the city limits since there seems to be a lack of available apartments near town (at least I read that this was the case in the paper). I was thinking maybe somewhere near Westbrook or Scarborough. The reason is that I'm just out of college and I need to live somewhere where I have more of a chance of finding a job in my field. This cannot happen until sometime after December as we're still under lease until then. Can anyone make any suggestions about where to look for decent apartments in the $500 a month range? WE are looking to avoid the bad neighborhoods.

Depends on what your requirements are. I've lived a couple places in Westbrook, best I found was closer to the $900 mark, BUT heat, hot water, good parking and onsite laundry was included.

All in all you wont find something decent for $500 anywhere even close to Portland.

There's a chance that when/if I move to the area, I'll move there witha better job right off the bat. Working retail and being in student loan debt only affords me so much, unfortunately. My needs are only one bedroom, a living room, kitchen, and bathroom. Basically what we have now.