Newcomer's Handbook for Moving to and Living in Portland: Including Vancouver, Gresham, Hillsboro, Beaverton, Tigard, and Wilsonville

by Geon, Bryan

  Goose Hollow’s central location and semi-urban ambiance have made it popular with a diverse set of residents—PSU students near Columbia and Jefferson streets, empty nesters, retirees, young professionals, twenty-something hipsters, and even some families who are happy to take advantage of the well-regarded public schools that serve the neighborhood (Chapman Elementary, West Sylvan Middle, and Lincoln High). At the same time, these characteristics have made Goose Hollow a relatively expensive neighborhood in which to rent or buy housing; this is especially if you’re looking for a single-family home rather than a condo or apartment. While Goose Hollow itself is densely populated, the upper (western) end of the neighborhood lies on the doorstep of 130-acre Washington Park. Note that, while on-street parking is generally free (if not necessarily easy to find) in the neighborhood, a resident parking permit is required for long-term and overnight parking.

  Old Town and the Pearl District

  Neighborhood Associations: Old Town–Chinatown, Pearl

  It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. These two adjacent neighborhoods that lie just north of West Burnside Street tell, if not a tale of two cities, at least a tale of two districts with very different fortunes. Just to the northwest of the downtown skyscrapers luxuriates Portland’s urban Cinderella, the Pearl District. The Pearl is Portland’s closest analogue to New York’s SoHo. Like SoHo, it was once a warehouse district where real artists lived and worked; also like SoHo, it has been redeveloped and gentrified to such a degree that most working artists have been priced out and have moved elsewhere. As for the name, the story goes that the neighborhood’s old warehouses, like crusty oyster shells, contained hidden “pearls” in the form of galleries and lofts. Most of the warehouses have been wholly renovated (or just torn down) and while there are still plenty of galleries, the Pearl is now positively packed with trendy boutiques, creative workspaces, and some of the city’s best and most expensive restaurants. Thanks to its proximity to downtown and the laziness of some travel writers, the Pearl has been the focus of many recent articles, including features in the travel sections of the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times, and is now Portland’s go-to zone for whatever subset of the jet set drops into PDX.

  Pearl District

  While most neighborhoods contain discrete commercial districts, the Pearl is unique in Portland in that the entire neighborhood is basically a mixed-use quasi-commercial district. The modern furniture stores, fancy eateries, and offices (including some corporate headquarters) coexist with, and in many cases actually are part of, the neighborhood’s residential buildings. The area is awash in a sea of mostly new, mostly high-end lofts and condominiums, with a smattering of urban row houses in the idealized Brooklyn mode. Per-square-foot prices for residential real estate are probably the highest in the state, and are double, triple, or even quadruple the per-square-foot average in other neighborhoods. The median price is likewise high, but because most Pearl units are relatively compact—a small condo in a tower instead of a three-bedroom standalone house, for example—the price of an average housing unit is comparable to the cost in other desirable parts of the city. That said, rents are not quite as stratospheric as sale prices, and there are even a few affordable housing units scattered around. The Pearl’s wave of redevelopment started in the southern part of the neighborhood, near Powell’s Books, then quickly spread north (along with the streetcar line) a dozen blocks to Northrup Street and beyond. The newest developments are generally in the northern part of the Pearl; some stand along the riverfront.

  In part because of its high profile (and high prices), the Pearl District and its generally affluent inhabitants get hit with a lot of verbal vitriol. Part of this resentment is pure envy, but part of it is the perception that the Pearl is somehow antithetical to Portland values: unaffordable, unfriendly, sanitized, faux New York, increasingly dominated by out-of-state chains, and definitely not egalitarian. Residents who complain about the train whistles from railroad tracks that run along the edge of the neighborhood, and which long predated the construction of their gleaming lofts, do not help to erase this perception. (The tax abatements that were given to condo developers didn’t do much to alleviate resentment, either.) Still, the Pearl is a great place to wander around, on foot or by streetcar, and it exerts a strong pull for both affluent young professionals and empty nesters.

  A few businesses, like Powell’s Books (www.powells.com), the Pearl Bakery (www.pearlbakery.com), and greasy spoon Fuller’s Coffee Shop (possibly the only Pearl business with no website) are holdovers from the days before the district’s virtually wholesale transformation into Trend Central. Another holdover is First Thursday—the first Thursday evening of each month—when gallery owners and other businesses throw open their doors to the public. (Of late, First Thursday is more about the scene—and being seen—than about art, but it can still be a lot of fun.) Some of the more architecturally interesting buildings in the Pearl are the mixed-use Brewery Blocks, on the site of the old Henry Weinhard brewery; the old Portland Armory, which has undergone a “green” makeover into the Gerding Theater, home of Portland Center Stage; and the Ecotrust building, a repurposed warehouse that is a model of sustainable design. (It even has an eco-roof.) For several years, until a new Safeway opened in 2008, the only supermarket in the Pearl was a Whole Foods; this fact may tell you everything you need to know about the neighborhood’s demographics.

  Some families with children live in the Pearl, in part because the area is so walkable and because the schools that serve it are excellent. Besides the high cost of even a two-bedroom pad, a possible drawback for families is the complete absence of yards and the relative dearth of parks. There are only three parks in the neighborhood—Jamison Square Park (popular for its fountains on summer days), Tanner Springs Park, and the North Park Blocks—and only the last of these is a “real” park with grass and a play structure. Highly regarded Emerson School, a public K–5 charter school, is conveniently located on the North Park Blocks, but has a long waitlist for enrollment.

  Just across Northwest Broadway, yet worlds away, Old Town glowers blearily at its fortunate stepsister. Old Town is indeed filled with many old brick and masonry buildings, some of which date back to the 1870s and 1880s, and which in many cases still retain their original cast iron facades. The neighborhood is honeycombed with underground tunnels—the so-called Shanghai tunnels through which hapless, drunken saloon patrons were purportedly carried off to ships that needed crew members in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

  A reputation as a haven for drug-dealing and a high concentration of homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and other social service providers has until recently limited Old Town’s appeal. Old Town has traditionally had few market-rent apartments or condos—most residential units were either subsidized or of the short-stay, transitional variety, and only about 20% of the neighborhood’s housing units are owner-occupied. The neighborhood also has a high concentration of paroled sex offenders, in part because few children live here (although, ironically, the area is served by some of the best public schools in the city).

  Despite these grim facts, Old Town is undergoing a modest renaissance. Several apartment buildings and luxury loft-type condominiums have risen along the river and near Union Station, Portland’s quasi-Romanesque train station. (Union Station, built in 1896, is recognizable by the neon “Go By Train” sign on the station’s clock tower and is still an active passenger station, with trains heading north to Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, south to Eugene and California, and east to Spokane, St. Paul, and Chicago.) Although they are subject to train-related noise, these housing units offer central location with enviable transit access and, in some cases, gorgeous city views. A number of historic buildings are being renovated, and restaurants and shops have opened to serve employees of businesses that have moved their offices here to take advantage of relatively cheap rents. Tens of millions of dollars of new investment are planned for Old Town over the next few years, an
d it is likely that this cash infusion, combined with bubble-over effects from the Pearl, will create dramatic changes in the neighborhood in the near future.

  Old Town has a couple of notable sub-neighborhoods. Skidmore Historic District, which extends south under the Burnside Bridge along the waterfront, is home to the long-running Portland Saturday Market (www.portlandsaturdaymarket.com), as well as a host of nightclubs. Chinatown, easily identified by the Chinatown Gate that looms over Fourth Avenue at West Burnside and by a cluster of Chinese restaurants, is a shadow of its former self: most of the area’s Chinese residents and some of its businesses have long since decamped to other city or suburban neighborhoods, notably the area around 82nd Avenue in the outer Eastside. Nonetheless, Chinatown is home to the lovely Lan Su Chinese Garden (www.lansugarden.org). Near the Chinatown Gate, on a private lot at the corner of West Burnside and Northwest Fourth Avenue, the Right 2 Dream Too semi-permanent homeless camp is adorned by a series of painted and decorated doors that form a sort of palisade around the camp. The camp, which is operated by a local nonprofit, is searching for a new home. After reading this section, you may not be surprised to learn that plans to move to the Pearl District were not met with open arms.

  Chinatown

  Both Old Town and the Pearl District are unusually well served by transit. The downtown Portland transit mall with bus and MAX light rail service extends along 5th and 6th Avenues to Union Station; the MAX lines continue over the Steel Bridge at the north end of Old Town. A separate MAX line runs along 1st Avenue, with stops at Skidmore Fountain (under the Burnside Bridge) and Old Town/Chinatown. The NS Portland Streetcar route runs north-south along 10th and 11th Avenues to Lovejoy and Northrup Streets, at which point the line turns and runs east-west as far as Northwest 23rd. The CL streetcar line shares the NS route to as far as Lovejoy, then branches off and crosses the Broadway Bridge near Union Station.

  Downtown and Environs Neighborhood Information

  ZIP Codes: 97201, 97204, 97205, 97209

  Post Offices: Central Post Office, 204 SW 5th Ave; Portland Post Office, 715 NW Hoyt St; Waterfront Station, 101 SW Madison St

  Police Station: Portland Police Bureau, Central Precinct, 1111 SW 2nd Ave, 503-823-3333 (non-emergency)

  Emergency Hospitals: Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, 2801 N Gantenbein Ave, 503-413-2200, www.legacyhealth.org; Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center, 1015 NW 22nd Ave, 503-413-7711, www.legacyhealth.org; OHSU Hospital, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, 503-494-8311, www.ohsu.edu/xd/health/

  Library: Central Library, 801 SW 10th Ave, 503-988-5123

  Parks: Major parks include Washington Park, Waterfront Park, and the Park Blocks (north and south); www.portlandparks.org

  Community Publication: Northwest Examiner, www.nwexaminer.com

  Public Transportation: TriMet, 503-238-RIDE, www.trimet.org; comprehensive bus, light rail, and streetcar service.

  The West Hills

  Boundaries: North: Forest Park; Northwest Industrial District; West: Forest Heights; unincorporated Multnomah County; unincorporated Washington County; South: Hillsdale; Bridlemile; East: Downtown; Goose Hollow; Northwest Portland/Nob Hill; South Portland

  Neighborhood Associations: Arlington Heights, Healy Heights, Hillside, Homestead, Northwest District, Southwest Hills, Sylvan-Highlands

  When Art Alexakis, frontman of the Portland band Everclear, promises, “I will buy you a big house way up in the West Hills” (in the song “I Will Buy You a New Life”), he is channeling the aspirations of generations of Portlanders. Not every house in the West Hills is big—some are tiny, in fact—and not everyone who lives here is rich or even upper-middle class. But ever since the late 19th century, when timber barons, successful merchants, and other members of the city’s incipient upper crust began to literally look down on flatlanders from their lofty palaces, the West Hills have been the destination of choice for many socially and financially successful Portlanders.

  It’s not hard to see why. The West Hills is the colloquial name for the portion of the Tualatin Mountains that parallels the Willamette River to the west and forms the backdrop to downtown Portland. The hills rise to more than 1,000 feet above sea level in places, and the often fog-shrouded slopes and canyons are forested with mature conifers. Many homes here have incomparable views—a few choice homes offer expansive vistas of virtually the entire city, along with several snow-capped volcanoes—and others feel as if they are well-appointed cabins in the woods. The icing on the West Hills cake is the incredible proximity of these woodsy neighborhoods to downtown Portland—some West Hills homes are a five-minute drive (and perhaps a 30-minute walk) from the center of the city.

  Many less fortunate (or simply hipper) Portlanders mock denizens of the West Hills, sometimes out of envy, and sometimes—well, in any city (except perhaps Los Angeles), tanned, well-coifed people zipping to their Botox appointments in luxury SUVs will be a target of derision. While the stereotype of the mansion-dwelling executive certainly applies to some residents, the reality is that the neighborhoods of the West Hills feature residents with a mix of ages, professions, educational backgrounds, and incomes, and many of these supposed snobs are actually quite unassuming people. West Hills houses are equally heterogeneous, and the area encompasses several distinct neighborhoods with different characteristics. Yes, there are ridiculously huge mansions that look as if they were brought over lock, stock, and barrel from Sussex, but there are also small, wisteria-shrouded cottages, charming bungalows, unrenovated 1950s ranches, and the city’s highest concentration of custom-designed homes; many of the latter are sleekly modern and decidedly not fuddy-duddy. To cope with steep slopes, quite a few houses are built on piers or stilts: the structures jut out over the hillside, with a gulf underneath. From the street, only a garage (or garages) and a front door are visible, and sometimes passers-by see only a wall with a gate. These houses usually have decks, but yards are clearly impossible.

  Not every block in the West Hills is actually hilly, but the entire area is laced with narrow, winding, steep streets that utterly abandon the city’s grid pattern and that make traveling through these neighborhoods a bit of an adventure (especially without a map, or during rare snow or ice storms). Virtually the entire West Hills region is at risk from landslides, wildfire, and earthquake damage. An additional hazard is the acrimonious disputes that erupt when a tree in one person’s yard grows tall enough to block a neighbor’s mountain view. If you can live with these dangers, and have the money and desire to buy into the West Hills, read on.

  Just southwest of (but high above) downtown Portland, Portland Heights centers on a tiny commercial district, located around Southwest Vista Avenue and Spring Street (home of the aptly named Vista Spring Café, which serves up surprisingly good pizza), and unlike most other parts of the West Hills, the immediately surrounding area is on a plateau of sorts, so is relatively level and mostly adheres to a grid pattern. (Lamb’s at Stroheckers—just Strohecker’s to most people—an upscale supermarket, is just up the hill on Southwest Patton Road.) Ainsworth Elementary School, one of the top elementary schools in the city, is also at the intersection of Vista and Spring; the surrounding area has a strong attraction for affluent families with young children. The remainder of the neighborhood is a warren of narrow, winding streets carved into hillsides or tucked into shady dells; some homes have jaw-dropping views over the city, and many of the streets have a relatively European/English village feel (an impression that is deliberately accentuated by street names such as Georgian Place and English Court).

  Portland Heights

  Portland Heights was largely developed in the ’teens and 1920s, and most homes here are in traditional styles—foursquares, bungalows, English Tudors, and colonials—and generally range in size from large to palatial. Many of the grandest old houses line Vista Avenue, south of the high bridge over Jefferson Street; a streetcar line once ran along Vista, and captains of industry in the late 19th century built to impress. Some newer contemporary and custo
m homes perch on the hillsides, particularly on slopes too steep for prewar engineering to manage. The sinuous streets leading up to Portland Heights from downtown feature an interesting cross-section of structures, from virtual mansions to condo complexes and even a few mossy, tumbledown shanties in the woods.

  Healy Heights

  Uphill to the south, Healy Heights and Council Crest occupy the loftiest real estate in Portland, and homes with a view feature similarly lofty prices. (Tiny Healy Heights has by far the highest average and median home prices of any neighborhood in the city, but the sample size is tiny.) These neighborhoods are draped across a saddle on the very pinnacle of the West Hills, between Council Crest Park (the highest point in the city, with a nearly 360-degree panorama) and the giant red-and-white KGON radio tower (officially now called Stonehenge tower, as it is owned by the Stonehenge Towers company) atop Healy Heights to the southeast. The Vista streetcar line once served Council Crest, which was home to an amusement park, complete with roller coaster, lookout tower, and, absurdly, a giant paddleboat in an artificial channel. Some homes, particularly on the north and northeast slopes of Council Crest, survive from this era—the park closed in 1929, just before the stock market crash of that year—but the majority of houses here date from the post–World War II period. The neighborhood includes some surprisingly modest 1950s ranch-style houses, as well as a large number of spacious, architect-designed dwellings; the latter are especially common on lots with prime views, especially those coveted eastward views taking in the city and the mountains. Level Fairmount Boulevard, a favorite walking and biking loop, encircles these high points; the downhill side of the street is lined with architecturally interesting “stilt” homes and other structures built to cope with steep slopes, including modified geodesic domes and other quirky dwellings. Council Crest’s labyrinthine street layout and confusing access routes tend to discourage nonresidents from driving through, except to visit the park (which closes to cars at 9 p.m. in summer and 7 p.m. in winter), and this neighborhood typically enjoys one of the lowest crime rates in the city. Despite its lofty perch, the neighborhood has some sidewalks and even a bus line, the modern descendant of the old streetcar line. This area is also a center of the Southwest Trails system, which threads through the hills and fans out into surrounding residential neighborhoods.