Downtown Portland, Oregon
Downtown Portland is the central business district of Portland, Oregon, United States. It is on the west bank of the Willamette River in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and where most of the city's high-rise buildings are found.
Downtown | |
|---|---|
Neighborhood | |
Downtown Portland, viewed from over Interstate 5 | |
Location in Portland | |
| Coordinates: 45°31′10″N 122°40′47″W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oregon |
| City | Portland |
| Government | |
| • Association | Downtown Neighborhood Association |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.00 sq mi (2.58 km2) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 12,801 |
| • Density | 13,000/sq mi (5,000/km2) |
| Housing | |
| • No. of households | 8,353 |
| • Occupancy rate | 87% occupied |
| • Owner-occupied | 1,099 households (13%) |
| • Renting | 6,171 households (74%) |
| • Avg. household size | 1.53 persons |
The downtown neighborhood extends west from the Willamette to Interstate 405 and south from Burnside Street to just south of the Portland State University campus (also bounded by I-405), except for a part of northeastern portion north of SW Harvey Milk Street and east of SW 3rd Ave that belongs to the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood. High-density business and residential districts near downtown include the Lloyd District, across the river from the northern part of downtown, and the South Waterfront area, just south of downtown in the South Portland neighborhood.
Portland's downtown features narrow streets—64 feet (20 m) wide—and square, compact blocks 200 feet (61 m) on a side, to create more corner lots that were expected to be more valuable. The small blocks also made downtown Portland pleasant to walk through. The 264-foot (80 m) long combined blocks divide one mile (1.6 km) of road into exactly 20 separate blocks.
By comparison, Seattle's blocks are 240 by 320 feet (73 m × 98 m), and Manhattan's east–west streets are divided into blocks that are from 600–800 feet (183–244 m) long.