Downtown Portland, Oregon
| Downtown | |
|---|---|
| Neighborhood | |
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 Downtown
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| Coordinates: 45°31′10″N 122°40′47″W / 45.51935°N 122.67962°WCoordinates: 45°31′10″N 122°40′47″W / 45.51935°N 122.67962°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oregon |
| City | Portland |
| Government | |
| • Association | Downtown Neighborhood Association |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.00 sq mi (2.58 km2) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 9,965 |
| • Density | 10,000/sq mi (3,900/km2) |
| Housing | |
| • No. of households | 6384 |
| • Occupancy rate | 89% occupied |
| • Owner-occupied | 525 households (8%) |
| • Renting | 5859 households (92%) |
| • Avg. household size | 1.56 persons |
Downtown Portland, the city center of Portland, Oregon, United States, is located on the west bank of the Willamette River. It is in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and where most of the city's high-rise buildings are found.
The downtown neighborhood is defined to extend 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). (The northeastern portion of this area is also part of 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.
By the early 1970s, parts of Portland's central city had been in decay for some time. New suburban shopping malls in the neighboring cities of Beaverton, Tigard, and Gresham competed with downtown for people and money. Unlike many downtown revitalization efforts around the United States at this time, Portland's plan did not call for widespread demolition and reconstruction. However, the creation of a downtown transit mall in 1977, a new waterfront park in 1978 (later named after Governor Tom McCall) in place of a freeway, the creation of the Pioneer Courthouse Square in 1984, the opening of the Portland–Gresham light rail line in 1986, and the opening of Pioneer Place mall in 1990 successfully drew or retained businesses and lured customers. Downtown, which had been a virtual ghost town after regular business hours, became more of an all-hours shopping, dining, and business venue. During the two decades starting in 1990, downtown Portland dominated city development, with 500,000 square feet (46,000 m2) more development there than on the east side (Lloyd District, Central Eastside Industrial District, and Lower Albina).
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