A Critique of Portland Oregon

[peanut gallery]

Portland looks absolutely fantastic. I love that so many of your photos are at street level. I haven't visited in over 20 years and a lot has definitely changed.

[POLA]

Originally Posted by furrycanuck

Blue Bottle is no Stumptown.

Oh, snap!

Originally Posted by aspiringArchitect

I also heard that there were plans to construct a MLB stadium where the post office is now...

That would be awesome! That post office needs to go, or at least be better integrated into the hood.

Originally Posted by ForAteOh

It's a condo building called The Henry.

Thanks! All the new construction there was beautiful.

Originally Posted by S_B_Russell

^Portland might not be there, yet, but they are close and light years ahead of a lot of North American cities.

I found Portland to be light years ago of most North American Cities. Hell, even more so then Los Angeles!

Originally Posted by Chicago3rd

you said there wasn't anything to do...what do you do?

Funny, I don't remember saying there wasn't anything to do there. I do remember saying that I didn't find much to do there. And while I did find many art galleries, bookstores, and bars that I liked, most were not located in what Porltand calls downtown. Which is fine because most downtowns are just offices. Even San Francisco's FiDi is a little boring at times.

Originally Posted by PDX City-State

Your comment that we ought to find a new name for it is frankly rather stupid.

I feel the same way about your post. If I've been misinformed, please do tell me what is Nob Hill named after?

And finally, thank you to all those who had possitive and informative comments to share. I really loved Portland, and I hope it shows. I was only there a short time, but I plan on returning soon!

[initiald]

Thanks for this wonderful tour! Portland seems like my kind of city. Now that some relatives have moved out there, I've gotta put in on my list.

[aaron38]

Originally Posted by POLA

Another cool thing was the "Bike Box", which was an area were you could get ahead of traffic safely at red lights.

That's cool as hell. I wish we had those here. I usually have to scrape through on the 1 foot the cars leave you next to the curb.

[dkealoha]

Thanks for your pictures! Glad you enjoyed our city.

Originally Posted by POLA

And while I did find many art galleries, bookstores, and bars that I liked, most were not located in what Porltand calls downtown. Which is fine because most downtowns are just offices.

If you consider the Pearl District as part of "downtown", there are so many bars, restaurants, shops, art galleries, bookstores (uh... POWELL'S!) etc. that the sidewalks and streets are packed all day during the week and all night on Tursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. There is SO much to do that living and working in the Pearl, I don't leave the neighborhood for months!

[POLA]

^I don't want to split hairs, but every map I read said that the pearl district was outside of downtown. And of course I went to Powells!

[mhays]

"Downtown" can mean many things, and it's a subjective term. The Pearl is as much a part of Downtown Portland as Belltown or Pike/Pine are part of Downtown Seattle. By a narrow definition, no (for that I personally say CBD). By a wider definition, yes.

[POLA]

Well, then in that case, I found shit loads of things to do downtown. So, what do Portlanders call that area of town that is below burnside and home to the majority of skyscrapers?

[Buckeye Native 001]

Originally Posted by POLA

Well, then in that case, I found shit loads of things to do downtown. So, what do Portlanders call that area of town that is below burnside and home to the majority of skyscrapers?

Central Portland?

[mhays]

I'd call that Downtown. All I'm saying is that everyone has their own set of boundaries in mind, so being more specific can help.

[mSeattle]

Very nice! Portland Oregon is very lovable.

[MarkDaMan]

ask my dad, 15 miles out of the core near where the the farmland begins, where the Pearl is, he'd say...downtown. Same with SoWa, Lloyd, and 'nob hill' (also know as the alphabet district and most commonly, northwest).

Liked your pics! Glad you enjoyed the visit, it's even better living here.

[F-Misthebest]

awesome photo tour! portland's awesome

[hymalaia]

I think it's splitting hairs to not consider the Pearl district downtown. Aside from a difficult street crossing on Burnside, there is nothing separating the two areas. The average person (ie tourist) would never guess they are "leaving" downtown by going into the Pearl. The whole area is fairly compact to begin with. Most cities would call "downtown" an area that is the same size or bigger than Portland's downtown and the Pearl combined. Now in the case of NW23rd (nob hill) I can see where that'd be considered not downtown, since you have i-405 and several blocks of "meh" (if you aren't an urbanphile) separating it from the rest of the action. Not to mention the e-w distance between blocks from 19th-23rd is HUGE.

In POLA's defense, I do think that the southern area of downtown, where the taller office towers are, can be sterile. Even Pioneer Sq can have a "ho hum" vibe to it, like an upscale mall with better architecture and a larger variety of people hanging around.

[POLA]

hymalaia, thanks for the input! I mean, WTF do I know? I was just going off what the map I had told me! Haha... but seeing how people are so protective of their cities on this board (which I love) I knew that statement would rattle a few cages. Glad to see someone not taking it too serious!

[LosAngelesBeauty]

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[LosAngelesBeauty]

some interesting shots of a very overcast city.

[Inkdaub]

Our Nob Hill was named after SF's Nob Hill by an SF transplant who opened a shop in that area. Noone here calls it Nob Hill, though. I myself tire of cities appropriating names from other cities. Portland itself is named after Portland, Maine and was almost named Boston, Oregon.

I say the Pearl is downtown. When I lived in NW above the 405...alphabet district...I told people I lived downtown if they weren't familiar with my hood. Downtown adjacent is too much of a mouthful and still just as vague as simply downtown.

Everyone loves Kenny and Zuke's it seems.

Good thread. I'm glad you had a good time. It's funny you say that the Pearl is so new mainly because it is. It has been literally shocking seeing that hood sprout from what was there before.

[urbanlife]

Actually the Nob Hill area is more of a wealthy name for the area by the people who wish it were Nob Hill...personally, I think the area should be more known for its historical district name, which is the Alphabet District which would make more sense and has a much more unique sound to it.

Alphabet District Map

The whole region in itself is called the Northwest District.

Actually a friend of mine likes to joke, only "nobs" call it "nob hill." I wont call it Nob Hill because there is no hill, in SF, Nob Hill is a hill. In Portland, that part of town is at the base of the West Hills. Hell calling it Lower West Hills would make more sense that Nob Hill....sorry, always been one of my big grips. Of course sames goes for how Couch and Williamette is both pronounced. It makes no sense.

Great shots by the way, seems like you had an enjoyable tourist visit to the city, and yeah back in the day Burnside to Jefferson and the river to the 405 was considered downtown, but these days it is more like a collection of districts that are within the 405 loop and the river as all of downtown. Of course, the official downtown map is much larger and includes the eastside as well, but your average person would have no clue about that.

I am not gonna say anything about Blue Bottle because I have never had it, but Stumptown for me is the greatest coffee I have ever had and by far a perfect staple for Portland.

[PDX City-State]

There are varying stories on the origins of Nob Hill, but the name has actually been used to describe parts of NW Portland for about a century. Originally, it referred to the large hill that's home to mansions to the west of the city. More recent attempts by the likes of shopkeepers and tourism boards have been to label NW Portland as Nob Hill. The reality (and I say this as someone whose family has lived in Portland since 1903) is that very few Portland residents would ever refer to NW Portland as Nob Hill. It's usually just called "Northwest Portland."