wbamosiii

Fairly far South, this area is close to Reed College. The main "Woodstock" neighborhood is between 39th and 47th. There are a couple good restaurant/bars, the best being the Delta. They serve Southern soul food. You will undoubtedly run into many PBR swilling college kids when visiting the Delta or any of the bars in this neighborhood. It's a good place to live, quiet residential neighborhood and not as expensive as some of the other close in places.

Burnside has always been kind of a dump, but in the last few years it's been getting much better. On the close in West side, not far from the Burnside bridge, a lot of new bars have really revitalized the area. The Doug Fir, Union Jacks, etc. Definitely worth checking out as a place to party. The rest of Burnside is a mixture of residential and business.

If you want to live in a quasi-suburban environ, then definitely move here. If you're looking for a cosmopolitan, urban experience, forget about it. The Fred Meyer is the only attraction here. They have a large selection of stuff. That's about all the fun you'll have in these parts. I guess if you've got children this could be a nice place to live, if you don't die of boredom.

One of the most ghetto streets in Portland, Powell is Hwy 26 and runs all the way East to Gresham. It's pretty trashy the whole way through with a lot of sketchy people and a bunch of strip clubs. There's a lot of traffic and a bunch of strip malls. The one redeeming quality is a new brew pub named Hopworks Urban Brewing up on SE 35th(?) I believe. The one place on Powell to check out. The rest? Take it back.

If you're into little boutiques and shopping then make sure you check it out. There are also some excellent restaurants on the street. The main district runs from Burnside at the South end to Lovejoy at the North end. Parking is about as difficult as any place in Portland and would make living there kind of a pain.

I lived here for about six months. It's a great place. I rented a room from a friend who lived VERY close to forest park. No matter where you are on Savier you can walk to NW 23rd, NW 21st or be in Forest Park in a matter of 15 minutes. Unless you're super wealthy forget buying a house here.

You will definitely enjoy Lovejoy. I lived there, even though I'm not a yuppie, and really enjoyed it. A lot of people hate on the Pearl District, but whatever. I had a nice loft with my girlfriend at the time and our dog. I lived in a pretty ja-ja building, but my rent wasn't too expensive. Good luck finding that now however. The street car line goes right down Lovejoy, so getting to downtown isn't bad at all. There are a ton of restaurants in the neighborhood and NW 21st and NW 23rd are in walking distance. If you like urban and want to live in PDX, live here.

SE Clinton St. is a nice, quiet, residential neighborhood that happens to be close to a lot of other things. Depending on where you're located you aren't too far from some good restaurants and bars. There are many young single people and young couples with kids around. It can be kind of expensive to rent in this neighborhood as it is a very desirable place to live. If you're into cycling, Clinton is a major bike route and often bikes outnumber cars. If I could afford to live anywhere in Portland, or I had kids, this would be it.

The majority of Belmont St. is residential, but there is a neighborhood (the kind typical of SE Portland) that goes from about SE 25th-SE 39th. It's a lot like it's neighbor Hawthorne, offering a number of really fun bars including: the Side Street, Belmont Inn, Aalto Lounge, and many more. If you are down with the tattooed and the eternally hip, this is the place to be. There are also a number of coffee shops and a great, if not super expensive, grocery store called Zupans. Biking is big in SE Portland and Belmont St. has entire sections of street parking dedicated to bicycles. It's an awesome neighborhood to check out and one of the most desirable places to live in SE.

The Hawthorne neighborhood is a great place to live and hang out. The street between SE 30th and SE 39th offers a host of retail shopping establishments and many restaurants. East of 39th is the nightlife center of Hawthorne offering many great bars including on of my favorites: Bar of the Gods. There is also an excellent late night hot dog eating establishment known as Zach's Shack. Delicious! East of about 50th Hawthorne goes into a very nice and quiet residential area and is in walking distance of Mt. Tabor, an excellent destination for hiking.