City of Portland, Oregon with Mt. Hood in the background
The city of Portland is divided into what are
know as the five quadrants:
©Copyright 2009 Norris Monson All Rights Reserved. For more information contact me at norris@portlandareahomeinfo.com. Disclaimer: While the information contained on this site is believed to be reliable, no guaranties of any kind are expressed or
implied. The Real Estate for sale data on this website comes in part from the INTERNET DATA EXCHANGE (IDX) program of the Portland Metro Association of Realtors  Regional MLS. - RMLS DEEMS INFORMATION RELIABLE BUT NOT GUARANTEED.
Home                 Search                Sitemap                Admin Login                Contact Me
Portland Neighborhoods-

Portland is made up of almost one hundred distinct neighborhoods, each
with it's own unique feel and character. Given that Portland is know for its
community activism, its no surprise that many of these neighborhoods have
thriving community centers, community gardens, neighborhood
get-togethers and a whole host of other neighborhood involvement projects.

Finding the right neighborhood for you may be as easy as taking a drive
around Portland and seeing what feels  right, or it may require quite a bit of
research. In any case, this neighborhood guide can  serve as a starting
point to the search for your new home in Portland.

One of the great things about Portland is that it's almost impossible to get
lost, as in to  not know where you are (how to get where you want to go is
another matter, of course). The  city has developed an extremely
user-friendly system of street names and numbers, combined with a very
practical N-S-E-W quadrant system.
The Willamette River serves as an orienting device wherever you are in the city, and divides the city into the
"West Side" and the "East Side." It is further broken down into quadrants: Northwest, Southwest, Northeast,
Southeast and the "fifth quadrant", North.

The streets run east and west and the avenues north and south. The river, running vaguely north and south, is
considered ground zero for the avenues, which  begin as first avenue on either side of the river and proceed
higher the further east or west you go. North of Burnside st., which is the divider for north and south Portland,
the streets also follow a logical alphabetical pattern (for the most part). It actually starts with Ankeny one block
south of Burnside, then continues as you go north of Burnside with Couch, Davis, etc.

Another helpful generalization is that the streets on the West Side are much more snake-like and  difficult to
predict (with the exception of downtown), while the east side is more grid-like (with the exception of Ladd's
Addition, a few other neighborhoods, Foster and Sandy, etc.).

The values of real estate are on average highest in NW, then SW, then NE, then SE, and lowest in North.
However where you are within each of these quadrants (and of course the condition of the home itself) is really
what determines property value.

The East Side has traditionally been the more working-class side of town, however recent years has seen much
more development and gentrification of certain areas on the east side, and has become  very attractive to many
home buyers who are looking for an exciting urban setting with tight-knit communities and  a lower price-tag .

The West Side of Portland tends to attract those who want more privacy, greenery or families looking for a good
school district. There are plenty of areas in SW and also NW that lack sidewalks and is also  quite hilly (mud
slides), which can rule it in or out, depending on your perspective. Of course these are just a few of the myriad
issues one considers when buying a home, and the one rule about generalizations in Portland is that there are
always exceptions, so each property should be evaluated on its own merits.
  
#########

An $8000 tax credit

Interest rates at
historic lows

Foreclosures and Short
sales
selling 10-40% below
peak prices





Makes now a great time
to buy!
Happy real estate buyers