Posted October 10, 201410 yr Part 1: Pearl District Part 2: South Waterfront Part 3: Lloyd District Part 4: Downtown Portland I was in Portland in late September. These are some of my photos from the Pearl District. I really like this building with the red balconies and random-sized windows: This part of the Pearl has a lot of old warehouses that have been repurposed: ...and an urban grocery store: Plenty of new projects under construction: A column from the old Lovejoy Viaduct that used to run through the neighborhood: And, of course, the best way to get around the Pearl District is... Now that both streetcar routes (the NS and CL lines) are up and running, you don't have to wait long for a streetcar in the Pearl District and Downtown Portland. Unfortunately they sometimes bunch together, as seen here: More photos from other neighborhoods coming soon!
October 10, 201410 yr Great pics! The Pearl District is easily one of my favorite neighborhoods in the US. Beautiful architecture, very walkable and bikable, and great beer and food everywhere. Plus, streetcars!!
October 11, 201410 yr One of the better Midwestern neighborhoods out there. Yes, Midwestern. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
October 11, 201410 yr At least this part of town has sidewalks ;) Also, mandatory Gary Low (via Washed Out):
October 13, 201410 yr One of the better Midwestern neighborhoods out there. Yes, Midwestern. Why Midwestern? Great pics of a thriving neighborhood!
October 13, 201410 yr Very nice! Pearl is not cheap to live. http://www.zillow.com/pearl-district-portland-or/
October 13, 201410 yr One of the better Midwestern neighborhoods out there. Yes, Midwestern. Why Midwestern? Great pics of a thriving neighborhood! Same built environment as a typical Midwestern city. Just add in some new condos, a windmill, and some donuts. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
October 13, 201410 yr One of the better Midwestern neighborhoods out there. Yes, Midwestern. Why Midwestern? Great pics of a thriving neighborhood! I agree with CDM. You can plop those buildings down in another city or exchange buildings with those in Seattle, Atlanta, Charlotte, San Antonio, or PHX and not know the difference. The buildings are new but not significant.
October 14, 201410 yr I agree with CDM. You can plop those buildings down in another city or exchange buildings with those in Seattle, Atlanta, Charlotte, San Antonio, or PHX and not know the difference. The buildings are new but not significant. I don't understand the point of agreeing or not agreeing.
October 14, 201410 yr I was just in Portland last week myself. What an incredibly walkable city. The small blocks and narrow streets really make for a great pedestrian experience and the way they time the lights make driving through quite easy too. Impressive. Cincinnati should take pointers. There's nothing Portland has that they don't and there's no reason why OTR can't at least attempt to mimic what they've done in the Pearl District.
October 14, 201410 yr One of the better Midwestern neighborhoods out there. Yes, Midwestern. Why Midwestern? Great pics of a thriving neighborhood! Same built environment as a typical Midwestern city. Just add in some new condos, a windmill, and some donuts. Second this.
October 14, 201410 yr I agree with CDM. You can plop those buildings down in another city or exchange buildings with those in Seattle, Atlanta, Charlotte, San Antonio, or PHX and not know the difference. The buildings are new but not significant. I don't understand the point of agreeing or not agreeing.
October 14, 201410 yr When I was in the Pearl District (2011), the main drag reminded me a lot of Cleveland's Old River Road on the east bank of the Flats with old-school brick warehouses and highway bridges in the distance (Main Avenue Bridge, anyone?). The periphery of the district reminded me of the West bank with a new condo tower interspersed with brick warehouses. For new construction, I'd say a good amount were very well executed and not just 'new tower plopped down'. clevelandskyscrapers.com Cleveland Skyscrapers on Instagram
October 14, 201410 yr When I was in the Pearl District (2011), the main drag reminded me a lot of Cleveland's Old River Road on the east bank of the Flats with old-school brick warehouses and highway bridges in the distance (Main Avenue Bridge, anyone?). The periphery of the district reminded me of the West bank with a new condo tower interspersed with brick warehouses. For new construction, I'd say a good amount were very well executed and not just 'new tower plopped down'. Do you feel as though the new construction was innovative or unique? I felt like its "been done before" and could have been in any city, anywhere.
October 14, 201410 yr Portland is not trying to compete with the Tier 1 world-class cities. Most of the new stuff going up in the Pearl District and South Waterfront is not anything special but is well executed.. A few of the Portland developments are excellent, such as The Gregory, which could be confused for an historic building when it is in fact new construction. So, yes, call it "midwestern" if you want, but I don't think every city needs to be filled with starchitect-designed buildings to be successful. Portland's draw is the walkability, density, great transit, great restaurants and breweries, culture, and natural surroundings; not the architecture.
October 14, 201410 yr a comfortable haven for upper middle class youth. ha. otherwise, i like it. they are doing just about everything right to refill the city and make vibrant, livable neighborhoods.
October 14, 201410 yr Portland's draw is the walkability, density, great transit, great restaurants and breweries, culture, and natural surroundings; not the architecture. sounds like cincinnati
October 14, 201410 yr a comfortable haven for upper middle class youth. ha. otherwise, i like it. they are doing just about everything right to refill the city and make vibrant, livable neighborhoods. Sure, that's an issue. I heard that the Portland region is slowly becoming more diverse, but the urban core is becoming slightly less diverse. I'm not sure if any of that is caused by displacement of lower-income individuals, or if it's simply because more middle-class white people are moving to the core. There are a few lower-income apartment building mixed into the Pearl District, and there are percentage goals for keeping lower-income residents in the community.
October 17, 201410 yr Good article: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/magazine/will-portland-always-be-a-retirement-community-for-the-young.html?_r=1
October 21, 201410 yr One of the better Midwestern neighborhoods out there. Yes, Midwestern. I feel the same way, outside of downtown I totally got a Lockland but in a temperate rainforest vibe. Portland's draw is the walkability, density, great transit, great restaurants and breweries, culture, and natural surroundings; not the architecture. sounds like cincinnati Cincinnati has way better historic architecture. Someone else mentioned the Perl District as a model for OTR, I disagree, if Queensgate is ever redeveloped into a proper urban neighborhood that might be a better model. :)
October 21, 201410 yr Has anyone ever seen the Old Market area of Omaha? For some reason it reminds me a bit of the Pearl District. By that I mean the refurbished brick warehouse buildings. But it is not anywhere near as large, I don't believe. I have never been to Portland. https://www.google.com/maps/@41.2554591,-95.9309002,3a,75y,250.66h,86.01t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1slBSH-fy8jA99xK-vjGPjVQ!2e0
October 21, 201410 yr I've been to both and I can see the comparison. The Pearl is more "neighborhoody;" the Old Market a tourist trap with good steakhouses; but yeah, generally warehouse district/old industrial areas tend to be cool. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
October 21, 201410 yr When I visited in 2009 the yellow condo tower, the one with red balconies, and the brick "warehouse"-looking building with art deco flourishes had all just been completed. These are the three large buildings that really gave the area some flavor, otherwise it looked a bit like the Arena District sans the arena. My point is that not every building has to be great -- just that any area is helped out by a few distinctive buildings.
October 22, 201410 yr One more really cool Midwestern neighborhood that is maybe a better example of the Pearl District than Old Market in Omaha and is actually centered around light rail transit is the North Loop Area of Minneapolis. Google Maps hasn't been updated here since June 2011, but it is even more built up now than it was 3 years ago. Plus, the Green Line (I believe) just finished construction and started service recently connecting downtown St. Paul to downtown Minneapolis and the Target Field Area. It just goes to show how much light rail transit can help with development. Minneapolis is obviously quite a bit larger than say Cincinnati, but think if a higher speed light rail connected Cinci to Dayton, or a commuter rail. It would create a ton of TOD. The Cinci-Dayton metroplex is pretty close to the same size as the Twin Cities though a bit further spread out. And Minneapolis is a Midwestern city, which shows it can and will work in this region! https://www.google.com/maps/@44.9805876,-93.2739993,3a,75y,124.84h,104.34t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sLGSHUl0DldLwPl6Sqgv1Wg!2e0
December 30, 20195 yr I was in Portland for a Christmas Vacation and one of the locations you went to in 2014 with a crane is now complete ... First photo almost replicates your location originally and then the 2nd photo is from the other side, looking north from inside Tanner Springs Park.
January 2, 20205 yr ^ cool to see the update -- maybe add more when you can or make a thread? its timely for me to bump this up -- i am going out there in a couple months and am looking for stuff to do. renting a car for a day trip to the falls and hiking is definitely on the list. maybe climb mt. hood.
January 2, 20205 yr On 12/30/2019 at 3:44 PM, BallHatGuy said: I was in Portland for a Christmas Vacation and one of the locations you went to in 2014 with a crane is now complete ... First photo almost replicates your location originally and then the 2nd photo is from the other side, looking north from inside Tanner Springs Park. I was in Portland again in late 2018 but did not really take photos with a photo thread in mind. I did take a few film shots in the Pearl: I also did manage to get an "after" shot showing the completed Park Avenue West Tower, following up from the "before" shot I took in 2014:
January 2, 20205 yr 56 minutes ago, mrnyc said: ^ cool to see the update -- maybe add more when you can or make a thread? its timely for me to bump this up -- i am going out there in a couple months and am looking for stuff to do. renting a car for a day trip to the falls and hiking is definitely on the list. maybe climb mt. hood. mrnyc - I actually took a MAX train from downtown out to the Gateway/NE99th Transit Center. ($5 day pass). Then from there I took the Columbia Gorge Express bus out to Multnomah Falls and back. ($5 each way; $10 total). I didn't stay long enough to really hike but you could easily make it a day trip and not even need a car. However to go to Mt. Hood, you would need a car. I took MAX train to and from the airport as well and did not rent a car at all.
January 3, 20205 yr 21 hours ago, BallHatGuy said: mrnyc - I actually took a MAX train from downtown out to the Gateway/NE99th Transit Center. ($5 day pass). Then from there I took the Columbia Gorge Express bus out to Multnomah Falls and back. ($5 each way; $10 total). I didn't stay long enough to really hike but you could easily make it a day trip and not even need a car. However to go to Mt. Hood, you would need a car. I took MAX train to and from the airport as well and did not rent a car at all. no kidding? that's great to know. thanks very much. its 20+ miles away from town, so that is pretty cool to have something like that. otoh, seems its a big tourist destination, so it makes sense. i know there are other falls around too though, so maybe we still get a car and make a big day or two of it? hmm, i dk yet. i should get on the ball, we haven't done any planning at all for this trip as yet. ha.
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