Portland Homes for Sale, Portland Real Estate, Portland Condos, Oregon, OR

Portland Real Estate Overview

Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon, and county seat of Multnomah County. It is located within the Pacific Northwest, straddling the Willamette River south of its confluence with the Columbia River.

Most of Portland real estate lies in Multnomah County, though scattered adjacent parcels fall within Washington County and Clackamas County. As of the 2000 census, Portland had a total population of 529,121. The 2003 estimate of the city's population is 538,544, a growth of 1.7%.

Portland is known as "The City of Roses" or "Rose City", nicknames originated during the 1905 Lewis and Clark centennial exposition. Its climate is ideal for growing roses, and the city has many rose gardens. Modern colloquialisms for the city include "PDX" (after the city's airport code), "P-town", and "Rip City."

Portland - The City and Region

The more densely populated parts of Portland proper are somewhat asymmetrical, with the west side hemmed in by the West Hills, while the flatter east side stretches on for about 170 blocks, until it meets Gresham. They extend from the beginning of East Portland, at the Willamette River, to the outer fringes of the suburbs of Gresham. Further east lies rural Multnomah County.

Downtown Portland and many other parts of inner Portland have compact city blocks and narrow streets. Each block is only 200 ft (60 m) square, and most streets are only 64 feet (20 m) wide. The combination of compact blocks and narrow streets make the downtown more pedestrian friendly.

Portland's Five "Quadrants"

As a result of a "great renumbering" on September 2, 1931, Portland is divided into five sections: Southwest, Southeast, Northwest, North and Northeast. Burnside Street is the boundary between north and south, and the Willamette River divides the eastern and western sections. North of Burnside Street, the river curves west and in place of it Williams Avenue is used as a divider. Between Williams and the river is the fifth, North, quadrant.

Northwest Portland Real Estate

Northwest includes the Pearl District, a fairly recent name for what originally was an old warehouse area. Since the late 1980s, many of the existing warehouses, some on brownfield sites, have been converted into lofts, and new multistory condominiums have also been developed. The increasing density has attracted a mix of restaurants, brewpubs, shops, and art galleries, though in some cases pioneering tenants have been priced out of the area.

Between the Pearl District and the Willamette is Portland's old Chinatown neighborhood. Its entrance is marked by a pair of lions at the corner of NW 4th and Burnside, and includes the district along the Willamette River between Burnside and Union Station.

Further west is the tiny NW 21st and 23rd Avenue neighborhood and shopping area. When Portland natives say Northwest, they often mean this area, which is also called Uptown, Nob Hill and the Alphabet District. This area has a mix of Victorian-era houses, apartment buildings from throughout the 20th century, and various businesses centered around Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center. The Portland Streetcar connects this area to downtown.

Even further northwest lies part of what is known as Portland's West Hills, including the majority of massive Forest Park.

Southwest Portland Real Estate

Part of the West Hills is in the Southwest quadrant, which includes Washington Park, site of North America's deepest transit station, the Oregon Zoo, Hoyt Arboretum, the International Rose Test Garden, the Japanese Garden, beautiful hiking trails, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The West Hills underwent rapid expansion during the 1960s and 1970s.

Southwest Portland Real Estate also includes:

• The heart of the Portland's Downtown, centered on Pioneer Courthouse Square ("Portland's living room").
• The campuses of Portland State University, Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), and Lewis & Clark College.
• Neighborhoods like Lair Hill, Burlingame, Macadam, Hillsdale, and Multnomah Village, with unique residential houses and well defined commercial and retail districts.
• Various suburban neighborhoods, including Raleigh Hills, West Slope, and Garden Home.
• Alpenrose Dairy, the grounds of which host track cycling and Little League sports.
• The south Willamette riverfront along Macadam Avenue, over 100 acres (0.4 km²) of former industrial land. This area is undergoing redevelopment as a mixed-use, high-density neighborhood, with an anticipated 2700 residential units and 5,000 high-tech jobs after build-out.
• Portland's Gay District, centered on Stark Street, one block south of W Burnside.

North Portland Real Estate

North Portland, known as NoPo to some, includes the neighborhoods of St. Johns, Cathedral Park, University Park (and the University of Portland), Overlook, Portsmouth, Kenton, Arbor Lodge, Bridgeton, Hayden Island, Piedmont, Humboldt, Eliot, and Boise.

During World War II, a planned development named Vanport was constructed to the north of this section between the city limits and the Columbia River. It grew to be the second largest city in Oregon, but was wiped out by a disastrous flood in 1948. Columbia Villa, another wartime housing project in the Portsmouth Neighborhood, is being rebuilt; the new $150 million community will be known as New Columbia and will offer public housing, rental housing, and single family home ownership units. In 2004, a new light rail line opened along Interstate Avenue, which parallels I-5.

Northeast Portland Real Estate

Northeast contains a diverse collection of neighborhoods. For example, while Irvington and the Alameda Ridge boast some of the oldest and most expensive homes and real estate in Portland, nearby Albina is a more working-class neighborhood. Because it is so large, Northeast Portland can essentially be divided ethnically, culturally, and geographically into inner and outer sections. The inner Northeast neighborhoods that surround Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. are predominately African American, resembling typical urban inner-city environments found in most major U.S. cities. Inner Northeast includes several shopping areas, such as the Lloyd District, Alberta Arts District and Hollywood, and part of the affluent Laurelhurst neighborhood and its nearby developments. The city plan targets Lloyd District as another mixed-use area, with high-rise residential development; developers are waiting for the success of a seed project before intensive development occurs.

At the base of Northeast is the Rose Quarter. It is named after the Rose Garden Arena, home of the Portland Trail Blazers, and also includes the Blazers' former home, the Memorial Coliseum. The coliseum is the home to Portland's hockey team, the Winterhawks, though they often play at the Rose Garden. The newest Rose Quarter tenants are the Lumberjax, a professional lacrosse team starting play in the winter of 2006. The city still holds the lease to the land, but the buildings were owned by private business interests until they went into receivership. The area is quite active during the teams' home games, and the city hopes to extend the activity by promoting a major increase in residential units in the quarter using zoning and tax incentives.

Southeast Portland Real Estate

Southeast stretches from the warehouses by the river, through the historic Ladd's Addition, to Hawthorne and Belmont districts. Southeast Portland residents initially tended to the blue-collar but have since evolved into a wide mix of backgrounds; it is home to several thriving subcultures including hippies, pagans, and environmentalists. The Hawthorne district is known for its beyond-the-norm hipster crowd and funky shops. Farther south, the Brooklyn, Sellwood, Woodstock, and Brentwood-Darlington neighborhoods and Eastmoreland near Reed College are close to the Willamette River. The Clackamas Town Center and Mall 205 are the largest retail centers serving the area.

Between the 1920s and the 1960s, Southeast was home to Lambert Gardens. Southeast Portland also features Mt. Tabor, a park with one of the only dormant volcanos in a continental U.S. city.

Portland Parks and Outdoor Attractions

Portland is proud of its parks and its legacy of preserving open spaces. In fact, it has one of the highest parks-per-capita ratios among cities in the United States.

Forest Park is the largest wilderness park within city limits in the United States, with over 5,000 acres (20 km²). Portland is also home to Mill Ends Park, the world's smallest park (being a two-foot-diameter circle, its area is only about 0.3 square meters). Washington Park is just west of downtown, and is home to the Oregon Zoo, the Portland Japanese Garden, and the International Rose Test Garden.

Gov. Tom McCall Waterfront Park runs along west bank of the Willamette for the length of downtown. The 37-acre (150,000 m²) park was built in 1974 after Harbor Drive was removed and now plays host to large events throughout the year. Portland's downtown also features two groups of contiguous city blocks dedicated for park space; they are referred to as the North and South Park Blocks.

Portland is also home to Portland Classical Chinese Garden, an authentic representation of a Suzhou-style walled garden. Local construction workers provided the site preparation and foundation, and dozens of workers from Suzhou, using material from China, constructed its walls and other structures, including a tea house.

The only state park in the area is Tryon Creek State Park; its creek still has a run of steelhead. Nestled within the park is the Tryon Life Community Farm, an aspiring urban ecovillage and educational center.

Portlandia, a statue on the west side of the Portland Building, is the second-largest hammered-copper statue in the U.S.

Portland Real Estate Neighborhoods

Alameda, Arbor Lodge, Ardenwald, Argay, Arlington Heights, Arnold Creek, Ashcreek, Beaumont-Wilshire, Boise, Brentwood, Brentwood-Darlington, Bridgeton, Bridlemile, Brooklyn, Buckman, Buckman-East, Buckman-West, Cathedral Park, Cedar Mill, Centennial, Chinatown, Collins View, Concordia, Corbett, Creston, Crestwood, Cully, Darlington, Downtown Portland, East Columbia, Eastmoreland, Eliot, Fairview, Far Southwest, Forest Park, Foster-Powell, Garden Home-Whitford, Glenfair, Goose Hollow, Grant Park, Gresham Butte, Hawthorne, Hayden Island, Hayhurst, Hazelwood, Healy Heights, Highlands, Hillsdale, Hillside, Hollywood, Homestead, Hosford-Abernethy, Humboldt, Hurst, Irvington, Kenilworth, Kenton, Kerns, King, Ladd's Addition, Lake Oswego, Laurelhurst, Lents, Linnton, Lloyd, Madison South, Maplewood, Markham, Marshall Park, Maywood Park, Mill Park, Milwaukie, Montavilla, Mt. Scott, Mt. Tabor, Multnomah, Northwest, Northwest Heights, Northwest Industrial, Old Town, Overlook, Parkrose, Parkrose Heights, Pearl, Pearl District, Piedmont, Pleasant Valley, Portsmouth, Powellhurst, Powellhurst Gilbert, Raleigh Hills, Reed, Richmond, Riverview Cemetary, Rose City Park, Roseway, Russell, Sabin, Sellwood-Moreland, South Burlingame, South Tabor, Southwest Hills, St. Johns, Sullivan's Wood Gulch, Sumner, Sunderland, Sunnyside, Sylvan, Sylvan Highlands, Terwilliger Lair Hill, Troutdale, Tryon Creek Area, University Park, Vanport, Vernon, Washington Park, West Portland Park, West Slope, Wilkes, Woodland Park, Woodlawn, Woodstock.

The Portland real estate links at the top of the page will help you find Portland homes for sale, Portland real estate agents and Portland home values. Get access to Portland real estate listings and Portland home listings, including the Portland MLS, Portland REALTORS, Portland new homes, Portland condos, Portland condominiums, Portland property, Portland land, Portland acreage and Portland foreclosures. These free real estate services feature all Portland cities, Portland towns, Portland suburbs and Portland neighborhoods. The websites linked above also contain information on Portland home selling, Portland home buying, Portland mortgages, Portland insurance, Portland movers and other Portland realty services for anyone looking to sell a home or buy a home in Portland, Oregon, OR.

Also: City of Portland, Oregon Official Website.