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Neighborhoods of Portland, Oregon

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Map of Portland, Oregon's five sections, prior to the creation of South Portland in 2020.

Portland, Oregon is divided into six sections, as of May 1, 2020: North Portland, [[Northeast Portland, Oregon|Northeast Portland, Northwest Portland, South Portland, Southeast Portland, and Southwest Portland. There are 95 officially recognized neighborhoods, each of which is represented by a volunteer-based neighborhood association.

No neighborhood associations overlap the Willamette River, but a few overlap the addressing sextants. For example, most addresses in the South Portland Neighborhood Association are South, but a portion of the neighborhood is west of SW View Point Terrace where addresses have a SW prefix. Similarly the Buckman Neighborhood Association spans both NE and SE Portland.

Neighborhood associations serve as the liaison between residents and the city government, as coordinated by the city's Office of Community & Civic Life,[1] which was created in 1974 and known as the Office of Neighborhood Involvement until July 2018.[2] The city subsequently provides funding to this "network of neighborhoods" through district coalitions, which are groupings of neighborhood associations. A few areas of Portland are "unclaimed" by any of the 95 neighborhood associations in Portland.

Sections

Southwest

See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Southwest Portland, Oregon
Downtown, in the southwest area of Portland, at night, from the east
Pioneer Courthouse Square, with Fox Tower in the background

Downtown Portland lies in the Southwest section between the I-405 freeway loop and the Willamette River, centered on Pioneer Courthouse Square ("Portland's living room"). Downtown and many other parts of inner Portland have compact square blocks (200 ft [60 m] on a side) and narrow streets (64 ft [20 m] wide), a pedestrian-friendly combination.

Many of Portland's recreational, cultural, educational, governmental, business, and retail resources are concentrated downtown, including:

Beyond downtown, the Southwest section also includes:

Northwest

See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Northwest Portland, Oregon

Northwest Portland includes the Pearl District, most of Old Town Chinatown, the Northwest District, and various residential and industrial neighborhoods. A range of streets primarily in Northwest Portland is named alphabetically from Ankeny through York (the street following York is Reed Street). The street between Wilson and York was called "X Street" until it was renamed as Roosevelt Street.[3] Burnside Street, the "B" in the sequence, divides the Northeast and Northwest quadrants of the city from the Southeast and Southwest.

The Pearl District is a recent name for a former warehouse and industrial area just north of downtown. Many of the warehouses have been converted into lofts, and new multistory condominiums have also been developed on previously vacant land. The increasing density has attracted a mix of restaurants, brewpubs, shops, and art galleries. [4] The galleries sponsor simultaneous artists' receptions every month, in an event known as First Thursday.[5]

Between the Pearl District and the Willamette is the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood. It includes Portland's Chinatown, marked by a pair of lions at its entrance at NW 4th Ave. and W Burnside St. and home to the Portland Classical Chinese Garden. Before World War II, this area was known as Japan Town;[6] Chinatown was previously located just south of W. Burnside St. along the riverfront.

Farther west is the compact but thriving NW 21st and 23rd Avenue restaurant and retail area, the core of the Northwest District. Parts of this area are also called Uptown and Nob Hill.[7] Nicknames include Snob Hill and Trendy Third.[8] The residential areas adjacent to the shopping district include the Alphabet Historic District (with large Victorian and Craftsman homes built in the years before and shortly after 1900) and a large district centered on Wallace Park. The neighborhood has a mix of Victorian-era houses, apartment buildings from throughout the 20th century, and various businesses centered on Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center. The Portland Streetcar connects Nob Hill to downtown, via the Pearl.

West of the developed areas is the northern portion of Portland's West Hills, including the majority of extensive Forest Park and the Willamette Heights, Hillside, Sylvan, Skyline and Forest Heights neighborhoods.

North

See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in North Portland, Oregon

Northeast

See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Northeast Portland, Oregon

Southeast

See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Southeast Portland, Oregon
The Bagdad Theater in the Hawthorne district

Southeast Portland stretches from the warehouses along the Willamette through historic Ladd's Addition to the Hawthorne and Belmont districts out to Gresham. Southeast Portland has blue-collar roots and has evolved to encompass a wide mix of backgrounds. The Hawthorne district in particular is known for its hippie/radical crowd and small subculturally oriented shops; not far away is Reed College, whose campus expands from Woodstock Boulevard to Steele Street, and from 28th to 39th Avenues.

Between the 1920s and the 1960s, Southeast was home to Lambert Gardens. Southeast Portland also features Mt. Tabor, a cinder cone volcano that has become one of Portland's more scenic and popular parks. Peacock Lane is a street known locally for lavish Christmas decorations and displays.

South

Main article: South Portland, Oregon

South Portland, once established in May 2020, will exist in the current South Waterfront, Collins View and Riverdale neighborhoods. It will be bordered to the east by the Willamette River and to the west by Southwest Naito Parkway and the Tryon Creek State Natural area.[9] The Portland City Council voted to establish this sixth sextant of the city in June 2018, primarily because of addressing concerns that created serious impediments to emergency services.[10]

Official list of neighborhoods

Each neighborhood association defines its own boundaries, which may include areas outside of Portland city limits and (if mutually agreed) areas that overlap with other neighborhoods. Neighborhoods may span boundaries between the five sections (N, NE, SE, SW, and NW) of the city as well. The segmentation adopted here is based on Office of Community & Civic Life's district coalition model, under which each neighborhood is part of at most one coalition (though some neighborhoods are not included in any).

Other areas and communities

  • Alberta Arts District, an art, retail, and restaurant area in the King, Vernon, and Concordia neighborhoods
  • Albina, a historical city which was consolidated into Portland in 1891
  • The Belmont Area, a retail and residential area in the Buckman, Sunnyside, and Mt. Tabor neighborhoods
  • Dunthorpe, an affluent unincorporated enclave just beyond the city limits, north of Lake Oswego
  • Unincorporated areas near Portland proper in Washington County (unincorporated neighborhoods expanding into Washington County)
  • East Portland, a historical city which was consolidated into Portland in 1891, not to be confused with the area of the same name that extends roughly east of I-205 to Portland's eastern boundary
  • East Portland, the area of Portland generally east of I-205, where approximately one quarter of residents reside, but which has historically not received adequate city services.[11][12]
  • The Hawthorne District, a retail, restaurant, and cultural district running through the Buckman, Hosford-Abernethy, Sunnyside, Richmond, and Mt. Tabor neighborhoods
  • Maywood Park, a Northeast neighborhood incorporated as a separate city that is now completely surrounded by the city of Portland
  • Peacock Lane, a quaint English village in the heart of Sunnyside Neighborhood has been treating the city of Portland to free holiday lighting displays each December since the 1940s
  • Vanport, a city located in present-day North Portland destroyed by a flood in 1948

References

  1. ^ Office of Civic & Community Life, City of Portland. Accessed 2018-08-26.
  2. ^ City council ordinance 189078, passed on July 18, 2018. Auditor's Office, City of Portland.
  3. ^ Ordinance 7446 in 1891, which renumbered street addresses, shows the alphabetical streets through York Street.
  4. ^ The 15 Coolest Neighborhoods in the World in 2016, retrieved 13 November 2016
  5. ^ Johnston, Greg (June 8, 2006). "Whether you run, roll, stroll or paddle, Portland's riverfront is the place to be". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "Japanese Labor in Oregon". Ohs.org. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
  7. ^ Nob Hill Neighborhood Guide Portlandneighborhood.com. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
  8. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2009-01-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ Templeton, Amelia. "South Portland Becomes City's Newest Address Area". www.opb.org. Retrieved 2018-07-27.
  10. ^ Theen, Andrew (February 28, 2018). "Sixth Sextant? City considering changing thousands of addresses to 'South Portland'". oregonlive.com. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  11. ^ Templeton, Amelia. "Audit Finds East Portland Lags Behind In Sidewalks, Parks". www.opb.org. Retrieved 2018-07-27.
  12. ^ "The Other Portland". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2018-07-27.
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