Susan Marthens

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(503) 497-2984

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Eastmoreland - Hosford-Abernethy - Mt. Tabor

Sellwood-Moreland - Sunnyside

Guide to Southeast Portland Neighborhoods

Cross over the Willamette River from downtown and you're in the Southeast's Central Eastside Industrial District, home to the industrial plants that provide thousands of jobs for Portlanders.  It's also home to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.

Many eastside residents take the Hawthorne Bridge (photo on the left) to enter the downtown area or leave it.  This beautiful photograph of the bridge was taken by Adrienne Cleveland of Portland.  You can view more of her work at Natural Sights.

Travel east from the Central Industrial District a mile or so and you'll run into the Hawthorne area.  The Hawthorne and nearby Belmont districts are filled with single-family homes and apartment buildings.  Bakeries, coffeehouses, boutiques, music and bookstores, micro-pubs, and restaurants line the two streets.

Southeast Portland's Hawthorne Boulevard supports a thriving district that is full of activity.  Here, high-density housing meshes with retail activity, creating one of the city's more interesting shopping areas -- pedestrian friendly, lined with gift stores, period clothing shops, eateries, and espresso shops.

Killing the Eastside Freeway and Preserving Urban Living

One event defines Portland in the past 25 years! It was killing the Mount Hood Freeway - a 6-mile, eight-lane asphalt highway that would have vaulted across the Willamette River from Johns Landing to Interstate 205.

The story of the freeway's demise is a lesson in what distinguishes Portland from other West Coast cities. Whereas most cities were building freeways after WWII, Portland was preserving neighborhoods.  It gave us strong neighborhoods, proud schools and MAX (light rail). It cemented the region's commitment to ecology and the reputation of a brilliant political leader, Neil Goldschmidt. Stopping the freeway not only saved 1,750 households in Southeast Portland from the wrecking ball, it also established Portland's philosophy of urban livability-the idea that cities are for people, not just for commerce and cars.

In 1975 Portland took the $500 million in federal highway aid and built the transit mall, eastside MAX and a host of neighborhood and suburban transportation projects, such as Eastman Parkway in Gresham and Cornell Road in Hillsboro.  Most of the money went to the light rail system.

Vintage Neighborhood Theaters

Portland's east side is dotted with vintage movie theaters.  Here's the list:

• Academy Theater  Address: 7818 S.E. Stark Street.  Opened in 1948, the Montavilla neighborhood theater closed in the 1970s and fell into disrepair. After an extensive renovation, it reopened in 2006.

• Avalon Theatre   Located at 3451 S.E. Belmont Street. The Avalon opened in the 1920s as the Sunnyside Theatre. It was renamed the Avalon in 1935.

• Bagdad Theater and Pub  Address: 3702 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd. Universal Pictures built the Bagdad, now part of the local McMenamins chain, in 1927 for $100,000. In 1975, it hosted the Oregon premiere of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" with Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher and Michael Douglas.

• CineMagic   Address: 2021 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.  CineMagic opened in 1914 as the Palm Theater.

• Clinton Street Theater   Address:  2522 S.E Clinton Street.  The Clinton, opened in 1915, is the city's oldest operating theater. It's best known for showing cult classic "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" every Saturday at midnight since 1978. The theater says it's the longest-running "Rocky Horror" in the world.

• Hollywood Theatre  Address:  4122 N.E. Sandy Blvd.  The Hollywood was built in 1926 as both a vaudeville house and cinema and it is one of the Northwest's most ornate theaters. The surrounding neighborhood was named after it. It was a single-screen theater until 1975, when the upper balcony was converted into two small theaters. Film Action Oregon, a nonprofit, bought the theater in 1997 and began restorations.

• Laurelhurst Theater  Address:  2735 E. Burnside Street.  The Art Deco theater was built in 1923 and almost met its dimise during the multiplex-dominated 1980s.  In 2000, the theater was renovated into a theater/pub and now features four theaters.

• Moreland Theatre  Address: 6712 S.E. Milwaukie Avenue. The Moorish-style theater opened in 1926. The theater shows first-run movies and retains a devoted neighborhood following.

• Oregon Theater  Address:  3530 S.E. Division Street. The Oregon opened in 1926 as a traditional neighborhood theater. Since the 1970s, it's shown only porn movies.

• Roseway Theatre  Address:  7229 N.E. Sandy Blvd. The Roseway opened in 1925 as a single-screen theater with a balcony. The balcony was closed during remodeling in the 1950s. The theater closed in the 1990s but was bought and reopened in 1999. It close again and the new owner says it will reopen after it's refurbished.

  Sources: Shawn Granton, creator of a self-guided eastside vintage theater tour - see www.urbanadventureleague.blogspot.com.  Also Cinema Treasures.org and The Oregonian.

Southeast News

The Southeast Examiner keeps track of the happenings and events in Southeast Portland.  It reports on activities of the various Southeast Portland Neighborhoods.

Portland Monthly Neighborhood Guide

The Portland Monthly magazine in their April issue every year features neighborhoods. It has a ton of information about neighborhoods to include their pick of the 20 best neighborhoods for the year.

To help those in the housing market, the magazine combines all the data from 120 neighborhoods and communities in one easy-to-read document.  Include in the document are housing prices, school ratings, demographics, crime statistics, parks, commuting information, and services. Click here (PDF format) to download the document.

Search for Homes in Southeast Portland

To search for homes in Southeast Portland, go to Search Southeast Portland.  You can use over 100 search parameters and then select a specific area off a neighborhood map by drawing a box around that area.  Alternatively, you can just specify the criteria and obtain all the current listings in Southeast Portland.

 Eastmoreland

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Eastmoreland
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Eastmoreland Homes for Sale

Eastmoreland Boundaries

Bounded on the north by lots fronting on Southeast Woodstock or streets connecting to Woodstock between 39th and 28th, and the northern boundary of the Reed College campus, on the east by Southeast 39th Avenue, on the south by the southerly boundaries of lots fronting on Southeast Crystal Springs Boulevard, and on the west by the western boundary of Eastmoreland Golf Course.

Maps of
Eastmoreland Neighborhood

Click to enlarge

Map Showing
Eastmoreland Boundaries

Eastmoreland

Google Maps

Eastmoreland

To learn more about the
Eastmoreland neighborhood
visit Portland Maps.
 It will provide you with demographic data,
crime stats, parks, schools, aerial photos,
elevation, etc.
All you need is a property address - use
"3333 SE Rex Street"

The Eastmoreland Golf Course is a public 18 hole course on 140 acres.  It is the second oldest course in Oregon and the first public course in Portland.
 

The Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden is is available for weddings, memorials, anniversaries, and other special events.

Two comfortable Portland neighborhoods near each other in southeast Portland, are Westmoreland (part of the Sellwood-Moreland neighborhood) and Eastmoreland. If you like wide tree-lined streets (lots of elms), quiet neighbors, and a variety of house styles, move to Eastmoreland.  Take a drive on  SE Reed - it's a boulevard with a median - and soon you'll be looking at the "Houses for Sale in Eastmoreland" ads in the paper.

Eastmoreland homes show a wide range of architectural styles popular in the 1920's and 1930's, including Tudor, Colonial, stone, and stucco.  Today the neighborhood is well established and stable.  Of the 1,500 lots in the neighborhood, only a few remain empty.

 Reed College

Eastmoreland is the home of Reed College, a well-regarded liberal arts college founded in 1908.

Eastmoreland is probably the only Portland neighborhood with an operating nuclear reactor. It's located on the campus of Reed College. Reed is the only liberal arts college in the world with a nuclear reactor.  Since the reactor only produces 250 kilowatts of heat (about 10 times as much as a home heating furnace), a meltdown or other serious event is not likely since the reactor doesn't produce enough heat to melt down.

 Gardens

The seven-acre Eastmoreland Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden was started in 1950 by the Portland Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society with the support of Portland Parks & Recreation.  The Eastmoreland Garden, a project five years in the making, was dedicated late 2004. Pushed forward by a dedicated core committee and scores of volunteers, donors and sponsors, the garden project transformed an unsightly, gravel parking lot into an area that is both graceful and historically meaningful to residents.

 History

Both Westmoreland and Eastmoreland, like the Ladd and Laurelhurst subdivisions, were part of the real estate holdings of the Ladd Estate Company. The Ladds had lots to suit most pocketbooks.  Over in the southwest part of the greater Portland area were Ladd properties that became part of Dunthorpe, an aristocratic suburb of manor houses and country estates.  To the north of Westmoreland and Eastmoreland is another Ladd property, Brooklyn.  The center of Brooklyn is the Southern Pacific's railroad yards.  When it was first developed and for some years thereafter, Brooklyn was home for hundreds of European immigrants, many of whom worked in the railroad yards.

The only sour note in Eastmoreland's peaceful setting was the battle between the Southern Pacific Railroad (S.P.) which owned vacant land alongside its tracks between Eastmoreland and Westmoreland.  The S.P. hoped to use those 15 acres to extend its Brooklyn yards.  When that plan was proposed, in the early 1950s, the Eastmorelanders took the matter to court, claiming that such railroad expansion would cause damage to Eastmoreland property values,  In 1956, a federal judge upheld the plaintiffs and enjoined the S.P. from expanding its yards.

 Walking Tour of the Eastmoreland

This link is to a walking tour of historical homes in the  Eastmoreland and Sellwood neighborhoods:  Eastmoreland/Sellwood Historical Home Tour (PDF format).  The document provides a map, brief description of each home, and the address of each home.  Courtesy of Timber Press.

 How Eastmoreland Was Named

Eastmoreland got its name from Julius Caesar Moreland, a successful real estate developer and also a prominent county judge.

 More About Eastmoreland

Neighborhood Association Web Site  Eastmoreland Neighborhood Association.
Location  From downtown cross over the Willamette River on the Burnside Bridge and take a right on S.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard or Highway 99.  Proceed for four miles and you'll see the Eastmoreland Golf Course. 
Topography  Flat to very moderate rolling hills. Mature trees on most properties.  Parks are wooded. 
Sidewalks and Streets  The street pattern is a pleasing combination of grid and winding.  The neighborhood has sidewalks for walking. 
2005 Livability Study  97.7% of Eastmoreland residents rated their neighborhood "good" or "very good."  The data for Eastmoreland was combined with their next door neighborhood, Ardenwald.  See Livability Study.
¹Drive Time to Downtown  16-18 minutes.
Public Transportation  There are four bus routes in the neighborhood - see bus schedule and routes at the TriMet Web site. Residents are working with TriMet on its proposal to site a light rail station at the Bybee overpass dividing Eastmoreland and Westmoreland.
²2000 Demographics  Population: 5,017.  Area: 729 acres.  Population density (people per acre): 6.  Households: 1,630.  Homeowners: 86%.  Renters: 14%. Diversity: 7.6% non-Caucasian.
³Crime Stats for 2007   Three violent crime, 18 residential burglaries, and 86 auto thefts.  Total crimes per 1,000 people was 39.
Sex Offenders  State of Oregon Sex Offender Inquiry System.  Scroll to the heading entitled "Location Information" and key "Portland" for the "City."  Insert the following zip codes for the Eastmoreland neighborhood in the "Zip" field:  97202 and 97206.
⁴Shopping and Services  Eastmoreland does not have any commercial establishments but adjoining neighborhoods offer a large variety of shopping. Along the east border of Eastmoreland, SE 39th Avenue has a number of stores like Trader Joe's and neighboring Sellwood-Moreland has a New Seasons Market and a QFC.  Also a pleasant hardware store.
Eating Out  No eating places (other than Reed College) are located in Eastmoreland.  But you are close to Sellwood-Moreland, and they have it all.
Walking Score  Most of the addresses have a score in the high 50s (some walkable locations) as recorded by Walk Score.  Those closer to SE 39th Avenue have higher scores.
Parks  The neighborhood has three parks, four if you count the 140-acre Eastmoreland Golf Club.  Even more if part of the Springwater Corridor is considered. See above explanation for the two gardens.  Berkeley Park (6.45 acres) includes a baseball field, softball field, soccer field, park play area, walking paths, picnic tables, playground, tennis court, and an outdoor wading pool.  At the south end of the neighborhood, lies part of the Springwater Corridor.  This corridor  is the major southeast segment of the 40-Mile Loop which was inspired by the 1903 Olmsted plan of a parkway and boulevard loop to connect park sites. The eventual developed trail will be over 21 miles long.
Public Library  The closest branch library of the Multnomah County Library system is the Sellwood-Moreland on SE 13th Avenue.
Who Lives in Eastmoreland Doctors, lawyers, merchants, and professors from Reed College.  Residents make certain their children receive a good education - the average daily attendance at Duniway Elementary is over 95%.  Dr. Warren Bland, the author of Retire in Style: 60 Outstanding Places Across the USA and Canada retired to Eastmoreland in the Spring of 2006. 
Cars in the Neighborhood   The UN of Vehicles.  If they make it, you'll see it on the streets of Eastmoreland.  Remember this is a college neighborhood.
Schools  Elementary school: Duniway.  Middle school: Sellwood Middle School.  High school: Cleveland High School.
School Report Card Grades  Elementary schools: A/C. Middle schools: B/C.  High school: B. Click here for report card details.
Housing Styles  Detached single-family homes. Eastmoreland homes show a wide range of architectural styles: Tudors, Colonials, stone, and stucco.  Many are traditional style homes built in the 1920's and 1930's. Lovely and gracious.

⁵Eastmoreland 2007 Home Prices

• Average price for homes sold in the Eastmoreland neighborhood in 2007:  $619,729.

• Median price for homes sold in the Eastmoreland neighborhood in 2007:  $592,000.

• 2007 price appreciation in the Eastmoreland neighborhood:  9%.

• 5-year price appreciation in the Eastmoreland neighborhood:  53%.

• 2007 metro area home prices:  The average price was $342,900 (6.3% appreciation from 2006) and the median price was $290,000 (7.2% appreciation from 2006).

Please be aware that the above figures are subject to error and are intended as guidelines only.

How would you like to live in a neighborhood where you can shop at two food markets, walk to see a movie, and have an expanding choice of restaurants?  And all within just minutes of downtown Portland.  If so, you may want to consider living in the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood of Southeast Portland.

Entrance to the neighborhood from the west can be via the Hawthorne bridge on the north boundary and the Ross Island bridge on the south boundary.  Coming into the neighborhood from the west, the first few blocks are all industrial that slowly turns into a mix of residential, including apartments, and industrial as you drive further east.  Finally, about SE 13th Avenue you’re in mainly a residential area with detached single-family homes.

A few years ago you would have been an “urban pioneer” if you decided to buy a home in Hosford-Abernethy, but this neighborhood has changed so much (for the better) that you can still catch the trend and find an affordable home.  It may require some TLC, but you will have company as many of your neighbors will be doing the same thing.

 Neighborhood Center

The heart of the neighborhood is located at SE 26^th and SE Clinton which is a couple blocks south of SE Division.  This is where a retail area has gradually grown so that it now contains 15 or so establishments to include restaurants, a food market, coffee shops, a record shop, movie theatre, a video store, and a gallery along with others.  The businesses are spread over a 5-6 block area.  All it needs is a bookstore to make it a real Portland neighborhood.

A neighborhood cooperative market has been in operation since the 70’s providing an alternative to corporate stores.  The People’s Coop also has a year-around farmers’ market on Wednesdays.  New Seasons Market opened in 2004 and along the coop, offer organic foods.

 Ladd's Addition

The neighborhood map reveals an uncommon street pattern just south of SE Hawthorne in an area known to the locals as Ladd’s Addition.  The streets are in an orderly geometric form – a rectangle crossed by two diagonals, which divide the plat into four isosceles triangles.  These are further divided into smaller triangles, quadrilaterals, parallelograms, and trapezoids.  Also included were four diamond-shaped parks located on the points of a compass. It looks like a British Flag from the air layered against the grid pattern of the rest of the area.

William S. Ladd platted this subdivision in 1891 and he named all but two of the streets after trees.  He named one street after himself (Ladd Avenue) and another after his wife, Elliot Avenue.  Two streets were later renamed because they were continuations of the grid of streets surrounding the subdivision, and some others were changed because of duplication in other parts of Portland.

 Home Styles

Most of the houses in Ladd’s Addition as well as the rest of the area were built between 1905 and 1920.  The neighborhood architectural styles can be described as “assorted” and the quality of maintenance varies from “needs work” to pleasantly preserved. 

In the late 90s, eastside builder Loren Waxman built four craftsman townhomes on SE 26th and others have been built since.  A small condo development was built in the early 2000s at 21st and Clinton and more condos are starting to appear. Alternatives to detached homes means that a new type of resident is attracted to the neighborhood.

 Changing Community

One of the issues in the neighborhood is traffic.  The Portland Department of Transportation awarded a grant to study traffic on Division Street, the primary route through the center of the neighborhood.  The goal of the grant is to plan for a pedestrian-oriented street and encourage more local business establishments.

The community has been successful in bringing in a number of businesses.  This means that the residents can shop in the neighborhood.  They want to attract community-minded business owners, and it appears to be working.

 Origin of Name

Chauncey O. Hosford was a one-time resident of Portland who owned 200 acres of land on Mt. Tabor. George Abernethy, like Hosford a Methodist missionary, was also Oregon's first provincial governor. Neither of these men lived or owned property in the neighborhood that bears their names, but both were important in the history of Oregon and Portland.

 More about Hosford-Abernethy

Neighborhood Association Web Site  Hosford-Abernethy.
Location  From downtown cross over the Willamette River on the Hawthorne Bridge.  As you drive east on SE Hawthorne Boulevard the neighborhood will be on your right side.
Topography  Flat with mature trees on properties.
Sidewalks and Streets  The street pattern is grid - the west part of the neighborhood streets are full of cars due to the many apartments.  The neighborhood has sidewalks for walking.
2005 Livability Study  94% of Hosford-Abernethy residents rated their neighborhood "good" or "very good."  See Livability Study.
¹Drive Time to Downtown  About 15 minutes.
Public Transportation  This neighborhood has over a dozen bus routes but they do not have a MAX light rail line or a streetcar line. See schedules and routes at the TriMet Web site.
²2000 Demographics  Population: 6,932. Area: 831 acres.  Average population density: 8 persons per acre.  Number of households: 3,243.  Percent of home owners: 51.  Percent of renters: 49. Diversity: 15.7% non-Caucasian.
³Crime Stats for 2007   40 violent crimes, 29 residential burglaries, and 155 auto thefts.  Total crimes per 1,000 people was 116.
Sex Offenders  State of Oregon Sex Offender Inquiry System.  Scroll to the heading entitled "Location Information" and key "Portland" for the "City."  Insert the following zip code for the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood in the "Zip" field:  97214.
⁴Shopping and Services  Number of supermarkets: 2.  Number of health clubs: 1. Number of coffee shops: 6. New Seasons Market has a store at 1954 SE Division Street and the Peoples Coop food market is located at 3029 SE 21st Avenue.  The neighborhood business community is located in a 5-6 block area of SE 26th and SE Clinton.  The area has gradually grown so that it now contains 15 plus stores to include restaurants, coffee shops, a record shop, movie theatre, a video store, and a gallery along with others.  Drive along SE Division Street and you will notice a number of thriving businesses.  Every community needs a hardware store and Hosford-Abernethy has one - Hankins True Value Hardware is located at 1720 SE Hawthorne Boulevard.
Eating Out  The Savoy at 2500 SE Division is authentic Portland where dining room and bar features art plucked from Goodwill - the vintage furniture and other salvage items are almost as interesting as the food (American).  Nuestra Cocina (means "Our Kitchen') at 2135 SE Division is one of Portland's hottest new restaurants serving food cooked in the central Mexico style. Lauro Kitchen, Willamette Week’s Restaurant of the Year for 2004, is located at 3377 SE Division Street.  Technically, Lauro Kitchen is in the Richmond neighborhood which begins on SE 29th Avenue.
Walking Score  Most of the addresses have a score in the mid to high 80s (very walkable) as recorded by Walk Score.  There are homes that score in the 90s (walker's paradise).
Parks  The neighborhood does not have a park but it does have gardens.  Known as the Ladds Circles and Squares, the circle at SE 16th Avenue and Harrison Street has a formal landscape with camellias, perennials, and a lawn area in the central circle and numerous rose varieties in the four diamonds, creating a stained glass effect. Today the gardens feature over 3,000 roses of 60 varieties that were popular in the early 20th century.
The Powell Park borders the neighborhood on the south side at SE 26th Avenue and Powell Boulevard.  The eight-acre park includes a baseball field, basketball court, soccer field, restroom, paths, picnic site, playground, and a wading pool.
Public Library  The neighborhood does not have a public library but two libraries are about the same distance from the center of the neighborhood.  The Belmont Library at 1038 S.E. 39th Avenue or the Woodstock Library at 6008 S.E. 49th Avenue.  The Woodstock Library building was opened in 2000 and it has received numerous awards for its elegant and functional design, including a national honor from the American Institute of Architects and the American Library Association. This southeast Portland library is the home of a wealth of original artwork, including 36 stainless-steel panels on the exterior of the building etched with words depicting the history of books.
Who Lives in Hosford-Abernethy  White collar married couples in Ladd's Addition because it takes two incomes to afford a home in that area.  Many singles live in the apartments on the west side of the neighborhoods.  In the rest of the neighborhood, you will find many younger married couples starting their family along with a few singles and baby boomers.
Cars in the Neighborhood  Japanese cars and you'll see a few Volvos in Ladd's Addition.  And lots of bikers - many from Hosford-Abernethy - stream into downtown via the Hawthorne Bridge in the early morning on their way to work.
Schools  Elementary school: Abernethy.  Middle school: Hosford Middle School.  High school: Cleveland High School.
School Report Card Grades  Elementary schools: B/C. Middle school: B.  High school: B. Click here for report card details.
Housing Styles  Single family detached homes with apartment buildings on the west side of the neighborhood.  This is an established neighborhood so most homes were built in the early 1900s.  You will see bungalows, cottages, four-squares, and a few new townhomes.  Condos are starting to appear. 

⁵Hosford-Abernethy 2007 Home Prices

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Mt. Tabor
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Mt. Tabor Homes for Sale

Mt. Tabor Boundaries

North - East Burnside.
South - SW Division Street.
East - SE 76th Avenue.
 West - SE 49th Avenue (from Burnside to Hawthorne) and SE 50th Avenue (from Hawthorne to Division).

Maps of Mt. Tabor
Neighborhood
 

Click to enlarge

Map Showing
Mt. Tabor Boundaries

Mt. Tabor

Google Maps

Mt. Tabor

To learn more about the
Mt. Tabor neighborhood
visit Portland Maps.
It will provide you with demographic data,
crime stats, parks, schools, aerial photos,
elevation, etc.
 All you need is a property address - use
"4919 SE Salmon Street"

The reservoir at the 195 acre Mt. Tabor Park.

Mount Tabor, named for the 600-foot high extinct volcano that is its landmark, has a sweeping city and mountain views, proximity to downtown (15 minutes by car heading straight West), a scenic 195-acre public park, and an easy mix of modest older homes and stately mansions.  Mt. Tabor is the only volcano within a major city in the United States.

Hawthorne Boulevard ends at the base of Mount Tabor, an extinct volcano and one of the city's most used parks. The Mount Tabor reservoirs hold a large portion of Portland's drinking water, piped straight from the Bull Run Reservoir in the Cascades. The park has trails, bike paths, and stands of old growth Douglas Firs and other trees.  Catch a summer sun setting on downtown and the West Hills from the park.

Mount Tabor is a very stable neighborhood, and people stay in Mount Tabor once they relocate to the area.  Homes come in a variety of styles and shapes so people can usually find what they are looking for in a home.

 Hawthorne Business District

Ask any Portlanders where Hawthorne is located and they will know.  The Hawthorne Business District is just a few blocks west of the Mt. Tabor neighborhood and Mt. Tabor Park.  Hawthorne's retail stores are small shops and locally owned except for the Fred Meyer superstore. It is one of the city's more interesting shopping areas. Hawthorne is not a "neighborhood" as such, but five neighborhoods converge on the area for shopping and dining.

 Mt. Tabor Park

Portland's Mt. Tabor was named after another Mt. Tabor, which sits six miles east of Nazareth in Israel. Our Mt. Tabor makes Portland one of only two cities in the continental U.S. to have an extinct volcano within its boundaries; the other city is Bend, Oregon.

At the top of the park is a bronze statue of Harvey W. Scott, editor of The Oregonian newspaper from 1865-1872 and from 1877 until his death in 1910. A gift to the city by Scott's widow, Margaret, and family, it was sculpted by Gutzon Borglum in the early 1930s while at work on his monumental sculpture of four American presidents on Mt. Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

 History

The neighborhood has a long history that goes back almost as far as Portland itself.  Dr. Perry Prettyman, a Methodist naturopath from Missouri, arrived in the area in 1849 and staked a claim on land between Stark and Division streets and 39th to 60th avenues.  Within a few years, farmers had turned the Mount Tabor area into a vast fruit orchard.

 Origin of Name

Plympton Kelly, a pioneer settler, named Mt. Tabor. Kelly read about an account of a battle fought between the French and the Muslims near the base of Mt. Tabor in Palestine so he adopted the name.

 More About Mount Tabor

Neighborhood Association Web Site  Mount Tabor Neighborhood Web site.
Location  From downtown cross over the Willamette River on the Burnside Bridge.  Drive out on East Burnside and when you get to SE 50th Avenue, the neighborhood will be on your right side.
Topography  Flat to hilly on east end of neighborhood. Mature trees on properties.  Parks are wooded.
Sidewalks and Streets  The street pattern is grid with sidewalks for walking.
2005 Livability Study  93.1% of Mount Tabor residents rated their neighborhood "good" or "very good."  See Livability Study.  The entire survey and response is available at the Mount Tabor neighborhood Web site.
Public Transportation  Bus routes 4, 15, and 20 run east/west and deliver passengers downtown.  Route 71 runs north/south.  See schedule and routes at the TriMet Web site.  Mount Tabor does not have a MAX light rail line or a streetcar line.
¹Drive Time to Downtown  11 minutes.
²2000 Demographics  Population: 10,037.  Area: 1,022 acres.  Average population density: 9 persons per acre.  Number of households: 4,705.  Percent of home owners: 65.  Percent of renters: 35. Diversity: 13.4% non-Caucasian.
³Crime Stats for 2007   13 violent crimes, 46 residential burglaries, and 181 auto thefts.  Total crimes per 1,000 people was 49.
Sex Offenders  Click here for the State of Oregon Sex Offender Inquiry System.  Scroll to the heading entitled "Location Information" and key "Portland" for the "City."  Insert the following zip code for the Mt. Tabor neighborhood in the "Zip" field:  97215.
⁴Shopping and Services  Number of supermarkets: 1.  Mount Tabor is all residential but surrounded on all sides by neighborhoods that have commercial centers.  The main business activity is just west of the neighborhood around SE 39th Avenue and SE Hawthorne.  You will find a Fred Meyers supermarket, bookstore, deli, boutiques, a movie theatre, and a few restaurants.  A natural food store is located at SE 40th and Hawthorne.
Eating Out  Just blocks (walking distance for the west end residents) to the west are two well-regarded restaurants: Three Doors Down at 1429 SE 37th Avenue and Bread and Ink at 3610 SE Hawthorne.  Close by is Cup & Saucer and Chez Machin (the main attraction is the crêpes).  Bridgeport Brewing at 3632 SE Hawthorne is the place for a cold one and a good burger.  Also in the neighborhood are pizza shops, BBQ, and a fish sandwich eatery.  See Willamette Week for reviews of these restaurants.
Walking Score  Addresses on the west side of the neighborhood have scores in the high 70s and low 80s because they can walk to the Hawthorne shopping but the rest of the neighborhood have walking scores in the low 70s (some walkable).  See Walk Score.
Parks  The 195-acre Mt. Tabor Park is one of Portland premier parks.  The park includes basketball court, park play area, park restroom, picnic area, dog off-leash area, picnic tables, playground, and tennis court.  This park is made for walking as it has miles of trails.
Public Library  The neighborhood does not have a public library but two libraries are about the same distance from the center of the neighborhood.  The Belmont Library at 1038 S.E. 39th Avenue or the Woodstock Library at 6008 S.E. 49th Avenue.
Who Lives in Mount Tabor  White collar singles and young married couples.  Because of the range of home prices, you will get affluent couples.  They tend their lawn and gardens, walk in the park, and stroll along Hawthorne Boulevard.
Cars in the Neighborhood  Loads of smaller Japanese cars with a few pickups and SUVs.  You'll see a luxury car at some of Mt. Tabor's more elegant homes.
Schools  Elementary schools: Glencoe  and Richmond.  Middle school: Mount Tabor Middle School.  High school: Franklin High School.
School Report Card Grades  Elementary schools: B/C. Middle school: B.  High schools: C/D. Click here for report card details.
Housing Styles  Single-family detached homes.  This is an older neighborhood so most homes were built in the 1900s.  You will see bungalows, cottages, tudors and a hand-full of ranch/modern styles.  

⁵Mount Tabor 2007 Home Prices

• Average price for homes sold in the Mount Tabor neighborhood in 2007:  $407,873.

• Median price for homes sold in the Mount Tabor neighborhood in 2007:  $399,500.

• 2007 price appreciation in the Mount Tabor neighborhood:  5%.

• 5-year price appreciation in the Mount Tabor neighborhood:  54%.

• 2007 metro area home prices:  The average price was $342,900 (6.3% appreciation from 2006) and the median price was $290,000 (7.2% appreciation from 2006).

Please be aware that the above figures are subject to error and are intended as guidelines only.

Sellwood-Moreland

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Sellwood-Moreland
Homes for Sale

Sellwood-Moreland Homes for Sale

Sellwood-Moreland Boundaries

North - Highway 99W/McLoughlin Blvd.
South - Clackamas County Line plus Garthwick.
 East - McLoughlin Boulevard.
 West - Willamette River.

Maps of
Sellwood-Moreland
Neighborhood

Click to enlarge

Map Showing
Sellwood-Moreland Boundaries

Sellwood-Moreland

Google Maps

Sellwood-Moreland

To learn more about the
Sellwood-Moreland neighborhood
visit Portland Maps.
It will provide you with demographic data,
crime stats, parks, schools, aerial photos,
elevation, etc.
All you need is a property address - use
"1015 SE Miller Street"

Sellwood-Moreland Photo Tour

Sellwood-Moreland

Westmoreland Park

Oaks Amusement Park

Frank Walsh , 82, skates with Jeanne Neale during a recent skating fitness class at Oaks Park in Southeast Portland. Walsh has skated at the park since 1936 and has witnessed floods that covered the rink in 1948, 1964 and 1996. The 100' x 200' wood floor can be unhinged to float on floodwaters, and Walsh says he and others are ready to save the smooth floor if floods threaten again.

Sellwood Bridge

The bridge links the Sellwood and Westmoreland neighborhoods of Portland on the east side with Oregon Route 43/Macadam Avenue on the west side.  It was built in 1925.

Upon discovery of cracks in both concrete approaches in January 2004, the weight limit on the bridge was lowered from 32 tons to 10 tons. This has caused the diversion of over 75 daily TriMet bus trips over the bridge. At present there is debate on whether the bridge should be repaired, rebuilt, closed altogether, or closed for automotive traffic but left open for pedestrians and bicycles. The cost to replace the bridge is estimated at $400 million.

In April of 2008, bridge engineer repeated that the bridge is in terrible shape, but it's still safe.

Sellwood-Moreland is located five miles south of downtown Portland on the east side of the Willamette River.  The Office of Neighborhood Involvement, the agency that oversees neighborhood associations, combines the neighborhoods of Sellwood and Westmoreland into Sellwood-Moreland.

 Historic Homes

Sellwood is a showcase for many restored Victorian houses and you will find a good selection of excellent eateries. This neighborhood has many outstanding homes and a small town main street called Tacoma full of shops and eating places.  It has numerous parks. Move out Starbucks and Subway and you would think it was 1975.  In 1990 it was evenly divided between home owners and renters with about 5,300 households, but we suspect the number of homeowners has doubled in the 90s.

 Over 50 Antique Shops

It's a neighborhood where two dozen antique stores stretch for several blocks along the main drag, 13th Avenue. A short distance away, three big antique malls—each packed with dozens of knickknack-crammed booths—cluster near the corner of Bybee Boulevard and Milwaukie Avenue.

 Barbara Roberts (Former Oregon
 Governor)

Carl Abbott has a write up about former Governor Barbara Roberts living in Sellwood-Moreland in his book Greater Portland. 

Barbara Roberts loves her neighborhood.  When she returned to Portland from Boston in 1998, she picked a modest Dutch Colonial in southeast Portland's Westmoreland neighborhood.  Built in 1911, the house is tucked onto a 5000-square-foot lot.  There is stained glass in the front door and wicker furniture on the wide porch.  A long established commercial street is only three blocks away.  Roberts can walk to the grocery, the hardware store, a movie theater, and a choice of banks and restaurants. 

Roberts returned home because she wanted "to feel connected." In Portland's Sellwood-Westmoreland district she found a small town ambience that reminded her of Sheridan, the Oregon town where she grew up.  Westmoreland, she says, "feels like a neighborhood should feel," with a mix of elderly, young couples, and children.  Residents are politically active, with high voter registration and turnout.  They notice what others do with their yards and gardens; when she took down an aging tree that threatened her house and her neighbor, everyone had a comment.  People in the neighborhood restaurant/bar treat her as family, shooing away belligerent customers who want to upbraid her for her mistakes in Salem (she backed a deeply unpopular sales tax to fund state services).

 Oaks Parks Amusement Center

Sellwood is home to Oaks Park, one of only a handful of continuously-operating amusement parks in the United States.  It was built as an attraction to the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition.

Sara Paulson, for her master's in history from Portland State University, wrote the history of the park which you can view at Oaks Park History.  If you are a carousel fan, Portland photographer Jim Lommasson has documented the Oaks Park carousel by taking photographs over the years.

 Westmoreland Park Casting Pond

Hand-dug by residents during the Depression as part of federal job-making efforts, the concrete pond  is consider to be one of only 2-3 manmade casting ponds in the USA.  It is three feet deep, about 350 feet wide and 410 feet long. The pond opened in 1936 with an international fly-casting tournament. In 1940, the federal Works Progress Administration poured a concrete bottom.

The pond is a magnet for everything from fly casting to floating model boats.  When it freezes over, you will even see some hockey on the ice. In years past, the Rose Festival has used it for milk carton races. 

 History

Sellwood Park, overlooking the Willamette River, is the site on the first Sunday each August, for the unique Sundae on the Park - a civic event presented by SMILE which features ice cream sundaes for a quarter, inexpensive hot dogs, old fashioned live entertainment, and displays and booths featuring historic topics related to the neighborhood. All of it, on the most unfailingly sunny weekend of the year, according to Oregon weather statistics!

Another source of information about this neighborhood is the Tacoma Street Project - it will be of interest to anyone considering Sellwood as their home.

 Walking Tour of the Sellwood-Moreland

This link is to a walking tour of historical homes in the  Eastmoreland and Sellwood neighborhoods:  Eastmoreland/Sellwood Historical Home Tour (PDF format).  The document provides a map, brief description of each home, and the address of each home.  Courtesy of Timber Press.

You can also explore the neighborhood via the Sellwood-Moreland Photo Tour.

 Origin of Name

The Sellwood part comes from Rev. John  Sellwood, an Episcopal minister who held the land for a few years.  Moreland is named after Julius Caesar Moreland, a successful real estate developer and also a prominent county judge.

 More About Sellwood-Moreland

Neighborhood Association Web Site  SMILE (Sellwood Moreland Improvement League).  Visit the Sellwood blog at OregonLive.com.
Location  Follow the Willamette River south of downtown and cross over the Sellwood Bridge. 
Topography  Flat with mature trees on properties.  Parks are wooded.
Sidewalks and Streets  The street pattern is grid with sidewalks for walking.
2005 Livability Study  96.2% of Sellwood-Moreland residents rated their neighborhood "good" or "very good."
¹Drive Time to Downtown  13-14 minutes.
Public Transportation  Bus route 65X is a direct downtown route - the neighborhood has six other routes.  See schedule and routes at the TriMet Web site.
²2000 Demographics  Population: 10,475.  Area: 1,157 acres.  Population density: 9 persons  per acre.  Households: 5,159.  Home owners: 53%.  Renters: 47%. Diversity: 9.3% non-Caucasian.
³Crime Stats for 2007  31 violent crimes, 44 residential burglaries, and 142 auto thefts.  Total crimes per 1,000 people was 55.
Sex Offenders  Click here for the State of Oregon Sex Offender Inquiry System.  Scroll to the heading entitled "Location Information" and key "Portland" for the "City."  Insert the following zip code for the Sellwood-Moreland neighborhood in the "Zip" field:  97202.
⁴Shopping and Services  Number of supermarkets: 2.  Number of health clubs: 2. Number of coffee shops: 6.  Sellwood-Moreland has two quaint commercial areas separated by a quarter mile. Coming off the Sellwood Bridge heading east, you encounter the first one at the intersection of Tacoma Street and 13th Avenue. It is the home of the Sellwood New Seasons Market - quality food, great service, and they even keep the shopping carts oiled so they don't squeak.  This area also has an "antiques district" plus restaurants and other shops.  The other commercial area is the Bybee/Milwaukee neighborhood and it has a quality market called QFC (division of Kroger's). Bybee/Milwaukee has the Moreland Theatre, Starbucks, a florist, clinic, and a great hardware store (they actually wait on you).
Eating Out  Sellwood has some of the best neighborhood  eateries in Portland:  Assaggio, Caprial's Bistro, Geno's, Saburo's Sushi, and others. Mike's Drive-in at SE Tacoma & SE 17th offers tasty burgers and malts. See Willamette Week for reviews of these restaurants.
Walking Score  The low 70s and high 60s scores are common in Sellwood-Moreland.  Some homes score in the 80s. The outer edges of the neighborhood score in the 80s.  See Walk Score.
Movies  The Moreland Theatre is the last single screen movie house in Portland.  A mix of first runs, art films, and lesser known treats. It seats 450 patrons and when the curtain rolls back, the movie begins.  You don't have to sit through the 15 minutes of "coming attractions".
Parks  The neighborhood has a perfect blend of parks.  From 1996 to 1998, the 42-acre Westmoreland Park experienced periodic flooding resulting from a multitude of conditions contributing to high water in the Crystal Springs Creek system. The rising waters inundated picnic areas, playgrounds, paths, and bench locations within the park.  After years of study, construction has begun in 2006 to solve the flooding problem.   Sellwood Park is located on the west edge of the neighborhood and it includes a baseball field, basketball court, park restroom, picnic area, football field, paths, picnic tables, playground, soccer field, softball field and tennis courts.  The 141-acre Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge is a birdwatcher's paradise. Hawks, quail, pintails, mallards, coots, woodpeckers, kestrels, and widgeons are just the start of the list of birds that one might encounter in Oaks Bottom. The star of the show, though, is the Great blue heron, the official bird of the City of Portland.
Public Library  The Sellwood-Moreland library branch is located on SE 13th Avenue just off SE Bidwell Street.
Who lives in Sellwood-Moreland  Blue collar, white collar, and increasingly young married couples.  They tend their lawn and gardens, walk in the parks, and sit on their porches.
Cars in the Neighborhood  Pickups, SUVs, Chevys, Fords, and a few Hondas/Toyotas/Nissans.  Just a handful of luxury autos in Sellwood.
Schools  Elementary school: Llewellyn.  Middle school: Sellwood Middle School.  High school: Cleveland HS.
School Report Card Grades  Elementary schools: A/B/ C. Middle schools: B/C.  High school: B. Click here for report card details.
Home Styles  Single family detached homes - most were built prior to WWII.  If you're handy and/or creative, you can find many small fixers in Sellwood-Moreland. Any homes built in the 50s-60s are ranch style.  It also has a few condos along the river. Sellwood Lofts with 16 units was built in 2001 and is located on 13th Avenue.

⁵Sellwood-Moreland 2007 Home Prices

Sunnyside

aka Hawthorne

View
Sunnyside
Homes for Sale

Sunnyside Homes for Sale

Sunnyside Boundaries

North - SE Stark Street.
South - SE Hawthorne Blvd.
 East - SE 49th Avenue.
 West - SE 28th Avenue.

Maps of
Sunnyside Neighborhood

Click to enlarge

Map Showing
Sunnyside Boundaries

Sunnyside

Google Maps

Sunnyside

To learn more about the
Sunnyside neighborhood
visit Portland Maps.
It will provide you with demographic data,
crime stats, parks, schools, aerial photos,
elevation, etc.
All you need is a property address - use
"3000 SE Belmont Street"

Since 1927, when Universal Studios spared little expense to build this ornate, balconied temple of entertainment, the Bagdad has featured an incredible array of performances ranging from bawdy vaudeville stage shows to Technicolor extravaganzas. Today, with nearly 700 seats, the theater offers a grand, well-designed forum for multimedia presentations.

Houses along the one block street in Southeast Portland's Sunnyside neighborhood are decked out in lights and other decorations every evening during the winter holiday season.  The Peacock Lane tradition goes back more than 70 years to 1929, when residents of the block bounded by Southeast Stark and Belmont streets decided to decorate houses as a show of civic pride.

This 2,592 square foot Victorian located at SE 31st Avenue sold for $272,000.  It was built in 1894.

Sunnyside begins just 28 blocks east of the Willamette River.  The lure of the neighborhood is accessibility, plenty of locally owned shops that keeps the neighborhood creative, and homes with character.

It is a young and vibrant neighborhood thanks to having two-thirds of the residents as renters.  They are attracted to Sunnyside's access to public transportation and affordable older homes.

 Hawthorne: Portland's Bohemian Area

Two business areas are located in the neighborhood, one on the north is called Hawthorne. All along a 10-12 block area, you will find eateries, coffeehouses, pubs, unique shops, bookstores, and the famous Bagdad Theatre & Pub.  It is also has a large Fred Meyer supermarket, one of the few chain stories in the area. 

Visit the Hawthorne Boulevard Business Association Web site for more information about the area.

 Belmont

Six blocks north of Hawthorne, Belmont Avenue is a historic corridor thick with boutiques and ethnic restaurants, centered around the neon lights of the Avalon Theatre located at 3451 SE Belmont Street. A dollar and a quarter gets you in. There are four screens; two will often carry first run flicks that cost a little more. Visit the Belmont Area Business Association Web site for more information about the area.

 Home Styles

Many vintage homes are located in the Sunnyside area.  The predominate styles are bungalows, four-squares, and Victorians.  The area's housing styles are changing as townhomes and condos are beginning to appear.  Developers can either buy a old home on a large lot and put up 2-3 townhomes or they buy two lots. 

 History

The neighborhood began as a stop on the city's first streetcar line when East Portland was a city in its own right in 1888.  It was the city's first suburban development and just a day trip away from downtown.  It started as a desirable residential neighborhood by 1890 and then morphed into a working-class enclave in the 1920s, when public transportation made it unnecessary for workers to live near their places of work.

 Origin of Name

The book, Oregon Geographic Names, states that a post office existed in the neighborhood in the 1890s.  It was located in the vicinity of SE Belmont Street between SE 29th and SE 37th Avenues and it was called Sunnyview.  Portlander Karen der Vee believes the neighborhood name "Sunnyside" comes from the Sunnyside farm, so named because it's not in the shadow of the west hills. Karen notes that a plaque on a building at 33rd and Belmont, across from Zupans Market, reveals this information.

 More About Sunnyside

Neighborhood Association Web Site  Sunnyside.
Location  Drive out of downtown on the Hawthorne Bridge and after a few blocks, you will be on SE Hawthorne Boulevard.  When you come to SE 28th Avenue, Sunnyside will be off to your left.
Topography  Flat with mature trees on properties.  Parks are wooded.
Sidewalks and Streets  The street pattern is grid with sidewalks for walking.
2005 Livability Study  93.8% of Sunnyside residents rated their neighborhood "good" or "very good."
¹Drive Time to Downtown  10-11 minutes.
Public Transportation  Five bus routes run through the neighborhood.  See schedule and routes at the TriMet Web site.
²2000 Demographics  Population: 7,155.  Area: 383 acres.  Population density: 18 persons  per acre.  Households: 3,487.  Home owners: 35%.  Renters: 65%. Diversity: 12.1% non-Caucasian.
³Crime Stats for 2007   33 violent crimes, 30 residential burglaries, and 115 auto thefts.  Total crimes per 1,000 people was 82.
Sex Offenders  Click here for the State of Oregon Sex Offender Inquiry System.  Scroll to the heading entitled "Location Information" and key "Portland" for the "City."  Insert the following zip codes for the Sunnyside neighborhood in the "Zip" field:  97214 and 97215.
⁴Shopping and Services  Number of supermarkets: 2.  Number of health club: 1. Number of coffee shops: 6.  Sunnyside has two commercial areas - one on the north side called Belmont and the other on the south side called Hawthorne.  The main business activity takes place from the hub at SE 39th Avenue and SE Hawthorne.  You will find a supermarket, bookstore, deli, boutiques, a movie theatre, and a few restaurants.  In other words, just about everything you would need can be purchased in the neighborhood.
Walking Score  Most of the addresses in Sunnyside have a score in the mid to high 80s (very walkable) as recorded by Walk Score.  Some parts of the neighborhood are in the 90s (walker's paradise).
Parks  The neighborhood does not have a park but it has parks within blocks on two sides of it and a community pool/sports field 10-12 blocks to the west of it.  The 195 acre Mt. Tabor Park is on the east side of the neighborhood and on the north side is the 28 acre Laurelhurst Park.  The Buckman Pool along with the 12 acre Buckman Field (athletic field) is on the west side of Sunnyside.
Public Library  The neighborhood's