Downtown Portland is the city center of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is on the west bank of the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and where most of the city's high-rise buildings are found. The downtown neighborhood extends west from the Willamette to Interstate 405 and south from

Burnside Street Burnside Street is a major thoroughfare of Portland, in the U.S. state of Oregon, and one of a few east–west streets that runs uninterrupted on both sides of the Willamette River. It serves as the dividing line between North Portland and South ...

to just south of the

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

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 the

Old Town Chinatown Old Town Chinatown is the official Chinatown of the Northwest section of Portland, Oregon. The Willamette River forms its eastern boundary, separating it from the Lloyd District and the Kerns and Buckman neighborhoods. It includes the Portland ...

neighborhood. High-density business and residential districts near downtown include the

Lloyd District The Lloyd District is a primarily commercial neighborhood in the North and Northeast sections of Portland, Oregon. It is named after Ralph Lloyd (1875–1953), a California rancher, oilman, and real estate developer who moved to and started ...

, across the river from the northern part of downtown, and the

South Waterfront The South Waterfront is a high-rise district under construction on former brownfield industrial land in the South Portland neighborhood south of downtown Portland, Oregon, U.S. It is one of the largest urban redevelopment projects in the Unite ...

area, just south of downtown in the South Portland neighborhood. Portland's downtown features narrow streets— wide—and square, compact blocks on a side, to create more corner lots that were expected to be more valuable. The small blocks also made downtown Portland pleasant to walk through. The long combined blocks divide one mile (1.6 km) of road into exactly 20 separate blocks. By comparison, Seattle's blocks are , and

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

's east–west streets are divided into blocks that are from long.

Urban development

1900s

By the early 1970s, parts of Portland's central city had been in decay for some time. New suburban shopping malls in the neighboring cities of Beaverton, Tigard, and Gresham, Oregon, Gresham 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 of New 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. Additionally the creation of a #Transportation, downtown transit mall in 1977, a Tom McCall Waterfront Park, new waterfront park in 1978 (later named after Governor Tom McCall) in place of Harbor Drive, a freeway, the creation of the Pioneer Courthouse Square in 1984, the opening of the MAX Light Rail, Portland–Gresham light rail line in 1986, and the opening of Pioneer Place mall in 1990 successfully drew or retained businesses and lured customers. After 1990, downtown Portland dominated the city's development, with more development there than on the east side (

, Central Eastside Industrial District, and Lower Albina, Oregon, Albina).

2000s

Downtown Portland has many surface parking lots, which the city is attempting to reduce in order to promote higher density, create storefronts, and make downtown more vibrant. Some changes are being made slowly, such as the creation of the Smart Park garage system, and conversion of a surface-level parking lot into a park with underground parking at Park Block 5 between the Fox Tower and Park Avenue West Tower. In 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Downtown Portland faced an increase in homeless camps, and a reduction in office workers due to remote work. During and after the Black Lives Matter protests, there was an increase in graffiti, property damage, and windows being boarded up.

Bridges

Portland is sometimes known as "Bridgetown," due to the number of bridges that cross its two rivers. There are nine bridges entering downtown and immediately adjacent areas. The bridges are (north to south): * Fremont Bridge (Portland, Oregon), Fremont Bridge, carrying I-405 past the Pearl District, Portland, Oregon, Pearl and Northwest, Portland, Oregon, Northwest districts and into downtown * Broadway Bridge (Portland, Oregon), Broadway Bridge, connecting the Lloyd District, Portland, Oregon, Lloyd District to Old Town Chinatown and carrying the Portland Streetcar's east-side line * Steel Bridge, the only double-deck bridge with independent lifts in the world, and carrying MAX Light Rail and Amtrak into Old Town Chinatown * Burnside Bridge, connecting the east side to downtown and the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood * Morrison Bridge, leading directly into the central business district from the east side * Hawthorne Bridge, Portland's oldest highway bridge and, leading directly into the central business district from the east side; Oregon's most heavily used bridge for bicycles * Marquam Bridge, a two-deck bridge carrying Interstate 5 (Oregon), I-5 traffic * Tilikum Crossing, Portland's newest bridge, limited to public transit, bicycles, pedestrians, and emergency vehicles * Ross Island Bridge, which connects U.S. Route 26 (SE Powell Blvd.) to the

Outside the downtown area there are three other road bridges within Portland limits that List of crossings of the Willamette River, cross the Willamette River: the St. Johns Bridge and Sauvie Island Bridge (to the north) and the Sellwood Bridge (to the south).

Transportation

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 (Oregon), U.S. Route 26 connects downtown Portland to the Oregon Coast and the Cascade Range. Downtown is also served by several forms of public transportation. TriMet, the regional mass transit agency, operates MAX 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 extensive transit mall—known as the Portland Transit Mall, Portland Mall—limits private vehicles and provides connections between more than fifty bus lines, MAX light rail, and the Portland 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 end to end, and connects in South Waterfront with the Portland Aerial Tram, Tram (aerial cableway) to Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). Starting in 1975 and continuing for almost four decades, all transit service in downtown was free public transport, free, as downtown was entirely within TriMet's Fareless Square, which also covered a portion of the nearby Lloyd District, Portland, Oregon, Lloyd 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", and in September 2012 the fareless zone was discontinued entirely, because of a $12 million shortfall in TriMet's annual budget.

Sites of interest

* Pioneer Courthouse Square * Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall * Portland Art Museum *

* Oregon Historical Society * Tom McCall Waterfront Park

Buildings

Several high-rise buildings are located in downtown Portland. The five tallest are: * Wells Fargo Center (Portland, Oregon), Wells Fargo Center: rises to 166 meters (546 feet) and was constructed in 1972 * U.S. Bancorp Tower: rises to 163 meters (536 feet) and was constructed in 1983 * KOIN Center: rises to 155 meters (509 feet) and was constructed in 1984 * Park Avenue West Tower: rises to 153 meters (502 feet) and was constructed in 2016 * PacWest Center: rises to 127 meters (418 feet) and was constructed in 1984

Adjacent districts

– northeast, and extending south of West Burnside St. near the river * Pearl District, Portland, Oregon, Pearl District – north, adjacent to Chinatown * Goose Hollow, Portland, Oregon, Goose Hollow – residential, west of PSU, north of US 26 * Southwest Hills, Portland, Oregon, Southwest Hills – residential, west of PSU, south of US 26 * Marquam Hill, Portland, Oregon, Marquam Hill (colloquially "Pill Hill") – south, including Oregon Health & Science University, OHSU and the Veteran's Hospital * RiverPlace – at southeast corner of downtown *

– south of downtown, east of Interstate 5

References

External links

Portland Downtown Neighborhood Association

Official City of Portland websiteDowntown Street Tree Inventory Report
{{Portland neighborhoods Neighborhoods in Portland, Oregon Economy of Portland, Oregon Central business districts in the United States, Portland