Discover

'Downtown Portland' is located on the west bank of the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. It is in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and is where most of its high-rise buildings are found.
The downtown area is usually considered to extend west from the Willamette to Interstate 405, and south from W Burnside St. to just south of the PSU campus (also bounded by I-405). (The northeastern portion of this area is part of the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood.) The South Waterfront area, currently in development just south of downtown in the South Portland neighborhood, can be considered an extension.
Portland's downtown is unique in that in its founding, streets were made narrow (64 ft [20 m] wide) and blocks were made square and compact, 61 m (200 ft) on a side, to encourage easy walking and make more (relatively valuable) corner lots. (By comparison, Seattle's blocks are 240 by 320 ft (70 by 100 m), and Manhattan's east-west streets are divided into blocks that are from 600 to 800 ft (180 to 240 m) long.) The 264 ft (80 m) long combined blocks divide one mile (1.6 km) of road into exactly 20 separate blocks.

Contents

Success vs. Central City Decay

Bridges

Transportation

Buildings

Attractions

Adjacent districts

External links

References

Success vs. Central City Decay

Downtown Portland largely escaped the central city flight (or "urban hollowing") that befell many U.S. cities in the 1970s through a program of aggressive city planning and transportation reform as part of the acclaimed 1972 Downtown Plan. Unlike many downtown revitalization projects throughout the United States at this time, Portland's plan did not call for widespread demolition and reconstruction. In the early 1970s, Portland's central city was beginning to decay, with the creation of suburban shopping malls in the neighboring cities of Beaverton, Tigard, and Gresham drawing away money and people from downtown. However, the creation of a downtown transit mall in 1976 (see Transportation, below), a new waterfront park in 1978 (later named after Governor Tom McCall), the creation of the Pioneer Courthouse Square in 1984, the opening of the Portland-Gresham light rail line in 1986, and the opening of Pioneer Place mall in 1990 successfully drew or retained businesses and lured customers. The downtown, which had been a virtual ghost town after 6 PM, is now a vibrant all-hours shopping, dining, and business venue.
This apparent success due to Portland's policies has not been without criticisms. Some charge that the transit mall and increased pedestrian traffic has attracted transient and homeless persons from around the city, and aggressive panhandling has increased, despite periodic police crackdowns. Others argue that a proposed expansion of the transit mall is an unneeded expense, and that parking and traffic problems in the downtown area are an indication of the failure of Portland's transit policies to address growth-related problems. Downtown also has an inordinate number of surface level parking lots which contradict the City's efforts to promote higher density and create the ctitical mass of storefronts needed for a vibrant downtown. Yet there are no current efforts to convert these parking lots into buildings and instead there are blocks of virtual dead zones.
Despite detractors, the majority of Portlanders believe in the success of its urban policies and many take pride in the accomplishments of the city and its regional planning in creating a very livable urban environment.

Bridges

Portland is sometimes known as the bridge city, due to the number of bridges that cross its two rivers. There are 8 bridges entering downtown and immediately adjacent areas. The bridges are (south to north):

★ 'Ross Island Bridge', which connects SE Powell Blvd. and Mount Hood to the new south waterfront district high rises

★ 'Marquam Bridge', a two deck bridge carrying I-5 across the Willamette

★ 'Hawthorne Bridge', a Multnomah County owned bridge, highlighted in the movie ''The Hunted''

★ 'Morrison Bridge', leading directly into the central business district from the east side

★ 'Burnside Bridge', connecting the east side to the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood

★ 'Steel Bridge', the only double-deck bridge with independent lifts in the world, and carrying MAX light rail and Amtrak into Old Town Chinatown

★ 'Broadway Bridge', connecting the Lloyd District to Old Town Chinatown

★ 'Fremont Bridge', carrying I-405 past the Pearl and Northwest districts and into downtown

Transportation

''See also: Transportation in Portland, Oregon''
Most streets in downtown Portland are one-way and some of them are major ones. Naito Parkway (two-way) is the furthest east, while most of the high rises end by I-405 to the west. Interstate 5 runs on the opposite bank of the river, crossing over on the Marquam Bridge. U.S. Highway 26 connects Portland to the coast and mountains.
The city's downtown is also served by a number of alternate transportation options. Because of its shorter blocks, walking is often preferred by the locals. TriMet, the regional mass transit agency, operates MAX light rail east/west on Yamhill and Morrison street, and north/south on 1st Ave. An extensive transit mall—known as Portland Mall—limits private vehicles and provides connections between more than fifty bus lines, MAX light rail, and the streetcar. As of 2007, it is currently closed to add the MAX Green Line.^[1]
The city also operates the Portland Streetcar system from Riverplace north into the Pearl District. The system is approximately 8 km (6 mi) long, with a new extension to South Waterfront, a new high-rise district south of downtown connected by aerial tram to Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU).
Much of downtown lies within Fareless Square in which TriMet rides are free.

Buildings

Portland has several high rise buildings^[2]
. The 5 tallest are:

★ 'Wells Fargo Center': rises to 166 meters (544 feet) and was constructed in 1972

★ 'US Bancorp Tower', or '"Big Pink"': rises to 163 meters (534 feet) and was constructed in 1983

★ 'KOIN Center': rises to 155 meters (508 feet) and was constructed in 1984

★ 'PacWest Center': rises to 127 meters (416 feet) and was constructed in 1984

★ 'Fox Tower': rises to 113 meters (370 feet) and was constructed in 2000
While not located in the downtown area, another notable building is the Oregon Convention Center, the largest convention center in the Pacific Northwest, which draws many people across the river to downtown.

Attractions

★ Pioneer Courthouse Square

★ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

★ Portland Art Museum

★ Portland Opera Repertory Theatre

★ Portland State University

★ Oregon Historical Society

★ Tom McCall Waterfront Park

Adjacent districts

★ Old Town Chinatown - northeast, and extending south of W Burnside St. near the river

★ Pearl District - north, adjacent to Chinatown

★ "Brewery Blocks" -- north, adjacent/overlapping Pearl District

★ "Goose Hollow" -- residential, west of PSU, north of US-26

★ "Southwest Hills" -- residential, west of PSU, south of US-26

★ "Pill Hill"/OHSU -- south, including OHSU and the Veteran's Hospital

★ RiverPlace

★ South Waterfront

External links

★ Portland Downtown Neighborhood Association

★ Your Guide to Downtown Portland

★ Official Portland Homepage

★ Portland Visitors Association

★ Area Mass Transit

★ Live View from the top of the Wells Fargo Center

★ Photos, Arial Views, and Lot Profiles for the City

References

1. Portland Mall (Transit Mall) Service
2. Emporis Building Database