Rachel Dresbeck - Insiders Guide® to Portland, Oregon

Rachel Dresbeck, a writer and editor, has observed and written about Portland for a variety of publications. Shes also an author of the first edition of the Insiders Guide to the Oregon Coast, as well as the Insiders Guide to Portland since the second edition. She was educated at Whitman College and the University of Oregon, has taught writing and literature at Portland Community College and the University of Oregon, and now teaches writing and writes about research at Oregon Health and Science University. She lives with her husband and daughters in the Richmond neighborhood of Portland, where she studies ways in which citizens sustain their civility and community spirit against all odds.

Portland is a city of neighborhoods, so first I would like to thank my neighbors for their insight, witticisms, and generosity over the years. I would especially like to thank my neighbors far-flung and close by: the Bancheros, Forrests, Frosts, and Colwell-Averetts, as well as the Gurleys, the Ellises, and the McCollums, and the Passarellis, McFaddens, and Walkers. I am especially grateful for the time shared at Pine Grove and at the St. Walkers Invitational.

Thanks also to my ever-patient husband, Tom, and my daughters, Flannery and Cleo, who make writing anything a more interesting experience, who are my favorite companions for exploration, and who had to make a lot of dinners as I was completing this volume. This book is dedicated to them.

In this section we feature specific information for residents or those planning to relocate here. Topics include real estate, education, and more.

Portland is repeatedly honored across the nation as being one of the best places to live. Its setting among mountains, farmland, and rivers contributes to its desirability, and so does its solid economy and unfrenzied style of life. Yet above all, we are a city of neighborhoods. And this may be the true secret of Portlands charm, the source of its community feeling. Government agencies such as Metro, nonprofit organizations such as the Coalition for a Liveable Future, neighborhood associations, far-sighted real estate developers, and plain old unaffiliated citizens keep the neighborhood spirit alive and provide a foundation for its strength to grow. After youve had a look at some of our neighborhoods, well turn to the topic of real estate and let you know about ways to find your own place in our beautiful metropolitan area. And well tell you other important facts about moving to the area.

Researchers predict that the Portland Metro area will increase to up to 4 million people in by 2060. All these new people will have to live somewhere, but we also need to protect forests to clean the air and water (and the spirit), and we need to preserve the farmland to feed all these new residents. Our unique tri-county government, Metro, plays an important role in determining land use policies, and because its officials are elected, these policies ideally reflect the wishes of citizens. This unusual tri-county government helps to protect open spaces, to allow for coordinated transportation management, and to stabilize development by encouraging population density instead of suburban sprawl.

Metro and the kind of planning it embodies is not without its critics from both sides of the political spectrum. Developers rankle under the land-use plans, while environmentalists worry that the urban growth boundary actually encourages growth by requiring a certain amount of urban space to be dedicated to development. The best hope is that the competing interests will work in fertile tension with each other. For example, Metros encouragement of affordable housing and mass transportation have sparked some of the most innovative developments in the nation. Orenco Station, which was built in Hillsboro specifically to take advantage of the light-rail line, has been dubbed Americas Best Master Planned Community by the National Association of Home Builders. This assemblage of cottages, Craftsman retros, apartments, and row houses reverberates with an old village way of life. Similarly, highly accoladed projects such as the Belmont Dairy, Irvington Place, Albina Corner, and the Division 43 micro homes, which reclaimed underused urban space and now provide attractive, mixed-use facilities and affordable housing for lower-and middle-class residents, might never have happened without the productive constraints of land-use planning.

Portland housing features a mixture of new city development and older neighborhood homes.

Old or new, upscale or downhome, Portlands neighborhoods embody the genius loci of the city. From the friendly, front-porch lifestyles of St. Johns to the funky old Victorian houses of inner Southeast Portland to the stately manors of the Dunthorpe district to the shiny and light condos in the South Waterfront, Portland is home to a healthy array of diverse and distinct communities. We have 95 formally recognized neighborhoods in the city of Portland alone. This chapter is meant to serve as a broad overview of Portland Metro area neighborhoods. In the first section of this chapter we try to give you a feel for Portlands four distinct areasSouthwest, Northwest, Southeast, and North/Northeastand also to introduce you to Vancouver and at least some of the communities outside Portlands formal borders.

The heart of Southwest Portland is the downtown area. Not only is it the home of many businesses, cultural organizations, government agencies, and public spaces, it is also the home of many residents, who like the urbane atmosphere and the proximity to work and nightlife. Portlands downtown is a mecca for shoppers, with department stores such as Nordstrom, Macys, and Saks Fifth Avenue, as well as the Pioneer Place shopping center, all within several blocks. Pioneer Courthouse Square is a popular meeting place and offers a wide range of free, live entertainment during the noon hour. But despite the tempting stores, the impressive statues, and the well-designed business towers, nothing defines downtown Portland as well as the Willamette River.

In the early 1970s the city underwent a huge renewal project, ripping apart a four-lane highway along the west bank of the Willamette and transforming it into beautiful Tom McCall Waterfront Park. It is the site of numerous concerts, festivals, and celebrations as well as a showplace for community events. Eight blocks west, Park Blocks, a 25-block boulevard of trees, grass, flowers, fountains, and statues, offers another urban refuge for workers, shoppers, and students. Nearby are many of the citys most important cultural and recreational facilities, including the Portland Art Museum, the Oregon Historical Society, the Performing Arts Center, and the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Just outside the inner city is Washington Park, home to the Metro Washington Park Zoo, the tranquil Japanese Gardens, the World Forestry Center, and Hoyt Arboretum.

Beyond the parks boundaries to the south and west are several of the most established, picturesque, and tree-lined of all the citys neighborhoods. Collectively referred to as the West Hills, each of these neighborhoods nonetheless has distinctive features. For example, Arlington Heights, one of Portlands most scenic neighborhoods, just west of downtown above the city center, gives residents easy access to the spectacular International Rose Test Gardens and all of Washington Park. The houses here tend to be older, and the architecture diverseone house is a miniature replica of Canterbury Castle in England. Arlington Heightss neighbor, Portland Heights, also displays diverse architectural styles. Ranging from Victorian cottages to the latest contemporary dwellings, these houses are noted for their lovely gardens and spectacular views. Nestled amid the Southwest Hills, Council Crest affords extraordinary views of both the city and the western valleys. Farther west, on the other side of the hills, youll find Multnomah Village, named by