Downtown | |
|---|---|
Neighborhood | |
 Downtown Portland, viewed from overInterstate 5 | |
 Location in Portland | |
| Coordinates:45°31′10″N122°40′47″W / 45.51935°N 122.67962°W /45.51935; -122.67962 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oregon |
| City | Portland |
| Government | |
| • Association | Downtown Neighborhood Association |
| Area | |
• Total | 1.00 sq mi (2.58 km2) |
| Population (2010)[1] | |
• Total | 12,801 |
| • Density | 12,900/sq mi (4,960/km2) |
| Housing | |
| • No. of households | 8,353 |
| • Occupancy rate | 87% occupied |
| • Owner-occupied | 1,099 households (13%) |
| • Renting | 6,171 households (74%) |
| • Avg. household size | 1.53 persons |
Downtown Portland is thecentral business district ofPortland,Oregon,United States. It is on the west bank of theWillamette River in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and where most of the city'shigh-rise buildings are found.
The downtown neighborhood extends west from the Willamette toInterstate 405 and south fromBurnside Street to just south of thePortland State University campus (also bounded by I-405), except for a part of northeastern portion north of SW Harvey Milk Street and east of SW 3rd Ave that belongs to theOld Town Chinatown neighborhood.[1] High-density business and residential districts near downtown include theLloyd District, across the river from the northern part of downtown, and theSouth Waterfront area, just south of downtown in theSouth Portland neighborhood.
Portland's downtown features narrow streets—64 feet (20 m) wide—and square, compact blocks 200 feet (61 m) on a side,[2] to create more corner lots that were expected to be more valuable. The small blocks also made downtown Portland pleasant to walk through. The 264-foot (80 m) long combined blocks divide one mile (1.6 km) of road into exactly 20 separate blocks.
By comparison,Seattle's blocks are 240 by 320 feet (73 m × 98 m), andManhattan's east–west streets are divided into blocks that are from 600–800 feet (183–244 m) long.[3]
By the early 1970s, parts of Portland's central city had been in decay for some time.[4] New suburban shopping malls in the neighboring cities ofBeaverton,Tigard, andGresham competed with downtown for people and money. Unlike many downtown revitalization efforts around the United States at this time, Portland's plan did not call for widespread demolition and reconstruction.Robert Moses, the designer ofNew York City's gridded freeways, expressways, and bridges, designed a plan to revitalize downtown Portland. Moses charted a highway loop around the city's central freeways, which would become Interstate 405 as it links with I-5 south of downtown.[5]
Additionally the creation of adowntown transit mall in 1977, anew waterfront park in 1978 (later named after GovernorTom McCall) in place ofa freeway, the creation of thePioneer Courthouse Square in 1984, the opening of thePortland–Gresham light rail line in 1986, and the opening ofPioneer Place mall in 1990 successfully drew or retained businesses and lured customers. After 1990, downtown Portland dominated the city's development, with 500,000 square feet (46,000 m2) more development there than on the east side (Lloyd District, Central Eastside Industrial District, and LowerAlbina).[6]
Downtown Portland has many surfaceparking lots,[7] which the city is attempting to reduce in order to promote higher density, create storefronts, and make downtown more vibrant.[citation needed] Some changes are being made slowly, such as the creation of the Smart Park garage system,[citation needed] and conversion of a surface-level parking lot into a park with underground parking at Park Block 5 between theFox Tower andPark Avenue West Tower.
In 2017,Human Access Project partnered withPortland Parks & Recreation to open the city's first officially recognized public swimming beach,Poet's Beach.[8][9][10]
In 2020 and 2021, during theCOVID-19 pandemic, Downtown Portland faced an increase in homeless camps and a reduction in office workers due toremote work. During and after theBlack Lives Matter protests, there was an increase in graffiti, property damage, and windows being boarded up.[11][12]
Portland is sometimes known as "Bridgetown",[13] due to the number of bridges that cross its two rivers. There are ninebridges entering downtown and immediately adjacent areas. The bridges are (north to south):[14]
Outside the downtown area there are three other road bridges within Portland limits thatcross the Willamette River: theSt. Johns Bridge andSauvie Island Bridge (to the north) and theSellwood Bridge (to the south).
Most streets in downtown Portland are one-way.Naito Parkway (two-way, formerly known as Front Avenue) is the farthest 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. Route 26 connects downtown Portland to theOregon Coast and theCascade Range.
Downtown is also served by several forms of public transportation.TriMet, the regionalmass transit agency, operatesMAX light rail on two alignments in downtown, one running east–west on Yamhill and Morrison streets and north–south on 1st Avenue, the other running north–south on 5th and 6th avenues. On the latter two streets, an extensivetransit mall—known as thePortland Mall—limits private vehicles and provides connections between more than fifty bus lines, MAX light rail, and thePortland Streetcar.
The southern part of downtown and the West End are also served by the Portland Streetcar system, operating from South Waterfront north into the Pearl and Northwest Portland districts. The system currently has two routes, measuring 7.2 miles (11.6 km) end to end, and connects in South Waterfront with theTram (aerial cableway) toOregon Health & Science University (OHSU).
Starting in 1975 and continuing for almost four decades, all transit service in downtown wasfree, as downtown was entirely within TriMet'sFareless Square, which also covered a portion of the nearbyLloyd District after 2001. However, in 2010, free rides became limited to MAX and streetcar service – no longer covering bus service – and the zone renamed the "Free Rail Zone",[15] and in September 2012 the fareless zone was discontinued entirely, because of a $12 million shortfall in TriMet's annual budget.[16]
Several high-rise buildings are located in downtown Portland.[17] The five tallest are:
Every great civilization has an origin story. For modern Portland, it is an exodus from Moses. That's Robert Moses, the master builder of New York City's grid of expressways and bridges who brought the Big Apple its car commuters, smog and sprawl. In 1943, the city of Portland hired Moses to design its urban future. Moses charted a highway loop around the city's core with a web of spur freeways running through neighborhoods. The city and state embraced much of the plan. The loop Moses envisioned became Interstate 405 as it links with I-5 south of downtown and runs north across the Fremont Bridge.
Before the mid-1990s, development on the east side was sparse; and even then, large construction projects were rare. Between 1990 and 2010, 500,000 more square feet of development took place in downtown than in the east side's Lloyd District, CEID and Lower Albina area combined, according to data collected by the Bureau of Development Services.
Improving physical connectivity between Old Town and adjacent areas, including Downtown, the Pearl District and Waterfront Park can strengthen the vitality and economic health of the area
