Urb Form Complete Web 1009

Urban Form
PORTLAND PLAN BACKGROUND REPORT

FALL 2009
Acknowledgments Urban Form
Urban Form Report
Bureau of Planning and Sustainability

(BPS) PROSPERITY AND BUSINESS SUCCESS
Mayor Sam Adams, Commissioner-in-charge
Susan Anderson, Director
SUSTAINABILITY AND THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
Joe Zehnder, Chief Planner
Steve Dotterrer, Principal Planner
Eric Engstrom, Principal Planner DESIGN, PLANNING AND PUBLIC SPACES
Gil Kelley, Former Director, Bureau of Planning
Primary Authors NEIGHBORHOODS & HOUSING

Bill Cunningham, City Planner/Project Manager, BPS
Mark Raggett, Senior Planner/Urban Design, BPS
Radcliffe Dacanay, City Planner, BPS TRANSPORTATION, TECHNOLOGY AND ACCESS
Allen Davis, Community Service Aide, BPS
Contributors EDUCATION AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT

Brian Campbell, Senior Advisor, BPS
Alexandra Howard, City Planner, BPS
HUMAN HEALTH, FOOD AND PUBLIC SAFETY
Ralph Sanders, Graphic Designer III, BPS
Alma Flores, Economic Planner, BPS
Kevin Martin, GIS Analyst, BPS QUALITY OF LIFE, CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND EQUITY
Liza Mickle, City Planner/Historic Resources, BPS
Liza Mylott, Community Service Aide, BPS
ARTS, CULTURE AND INNOVATION
Nicholas Starin, City Planner/Historic Resources, BPS
To help ensure equal access to City

programs, services and activities, the
City of Portland will reasonably modify
policies/procedures and provide auxiliary
aids/services to persons with disabilities.
Call (503)823-7700 with such requests.
ii www.PDXPlan.com
Summary
Urban Form Report

T
his report is one of a series of background reports for the Portland Plan. It focuses on the qualities of
place, which are not readily expressed in numbers, but which are often at the heart of Portlanders’
concerns about and hopes for the future of their city. The report describes Portland’s existing urban
form — the physical, on the ground reality of “what is here now” — as a reference document and starting
point for community discussion of aspirations, options and goals for Portland’s future urban form. The
report also identifies challenges and opportunities related to the continuing evolution of Portland’s urban
form, and suggests possible approaches to how we might plan that evolution.
The Urban Form report is organized around four topics, each addressed in individual chapters:
• Places — the prominent places, landmarks and features that shape the form, structure and identity
of Portland at the citywide scale. These include both natural and built elements - hills and bridges,
rivers and roads, open spaces and commercial districts. Examples of Portland’s prominent places and
landmarks include natural features such as the Willamette River, Powell Butte and the West Hills; built
icons such as Portland’s bridges and the Downtown skyline; commercial districts such as Gateway and
Hawthorne Boulevard; and signature open spaces such as Pioneer Courthouse Square and Forest Park.
This chapter describes the types of Places that are memorable parts of Portland and which together
help give our City its unique character.
• Patterns — the urban “fabric” of Portland’s neighborhoods and districts that these Places fit into
and that provides their context. Variations in street and block configurations, natural features, building
types and architecture across Portland contribute to the distinct character of the city’s neighborhoods
and districts. Whether a neighborhood’s streets are straight and lined by porches, or curve through
forested hills, their physical characteristics are fundamental to their sense of place.
This chapter identifies three basic patterns or neighborhood typologies: the Inner Neighborhoods,
with their main street commercial districts and compact street grid; the Western Neighborhoods,
whose urban form is shaped by hilly terrain, streams and other natural features; and the Eastern
Neighborhoods, whose diverse mix of urban and more rural forms is set against a backdrop of Douglas
firs and buttes. Beyond these three neighborhood urban forms are two other Portland patterns:
those of the Central City neighborhoods, Portland’s most intensely urbanized area; and the industrial
districts, with their own distinct urban form characteristics.
• Public Realm — the parts of our city that are owned by all of us together - the streets, public parks,
plazas and other open spaces where public life in the city is experienced. In Portland, public streets and
parks occupy nearly 30% of the city’s land area. They include the grid of narrow streets in the inner
neighborhoods, the trails in western areas, the wide variety of city parks and the multiplicity of ever-
changing community gathering spots.
This chapter provides basic information about the various kinds of public spaces, including different
types of streets, and introduces ideas for the future of the public realm and how streets, especially,
might fulfill a broader range of community purposes over time.
• Private Realm — the development that takes place mostly on private property, but that affects all
of us, producing the buildings that shape and bring activity to our streets and that are part of the
continuing evolution of neighborhoods.
This chapter summarizes some of the frequent results of private development, and the changes they
are bringing to Portland’s residential areas, main streets and urban forest. iii
Urban Form Report
Ideas for Future Consideration
Investigating the above topic areas brought up a number of issues and ideas that would benefit from
future consideration, analysis and discussion as the Portland Plan is developed. It is hoped that community
members will add their own ideas as to how growth might be guided in ways that preserve or enhance
community values or that foster new places that can be assets to the community. The following are “ideas
for future consideration” — four possible new approaches that together address key issues relating to the
topic areas:
1. Places: Portland needs a guiding, citywide urban form concept diagram to clearly describe where and
how the city intends to grow.
The concept diagram would illustrate the intended spatial organization of the city and the key places,
features and connections the community intends to continue or foster over time.
2. Patterns: “One size does not fit all” in terms of neighborhood character.
There are at least three fundamental patterns or types of Portland neighborhoods (Inner, Eastern and
Western), each with its own distinct characteristics, patterns and urban form aspirations. Specific
policies and implementation tools could be crafted that are responsive to the differing community
characteristics.
3. Public Realm: Consider how Portland’s streets might best serve the community as a key part of the
city’s system of public spaces.
It is critical to determine how both existing and new streets can complement the broader system of
public spaces — not only as conduits for transportation, but as places for community interaction,
environmental benefit, open space and other purposes. New strategies for street functions, design and
operations are needed to manage the competing demands for streets as part of the public realm.
4. Private Realm: Take a more intentional and targeted approach to guiding development.
Portland could be more intentional in guiding private development to achieve particular urban form
outcomes, such as street environments, development patterns, open space or urban forest characteristics
that are desired by the community. A more intentional approach to Portland’s future form could help
ensure that new development contributes to creating the kinds of places Portlanders want.
As part of the next steps for the Portland Plan, this report should be considered in relation to the broader
body of information found in the Portland Plan background reports, which present the interrelated
economic, environmental, housing infrastructure and other contextual issues.
iv
Table of Contents
Urban Form Report

Introduction Patterns Public Realm
Introduction �� 1 Introduction �� 25 Introduction �� 83
Background �� 2 Primary Pattern Areas �� 26 Portland’s Public Ream Considered �� 84
Approach and Structure �� 3 Urban Form Building Blocks �� 28 Facts about Public Realm �� 86
What is Urban Form? �� 4 Portland’s Block Structures �� 30 Two Basic Types of Space �� 88
Regional Context �� 5 Historic Development Eras �� 32 Movement Space �� 90
Residential Area Typologies �� 34 Staying Space �� 102
Places Inner-Ring Streetcar Era �� 36 Challenges and Opportunities �� 108
Introduction �� 7 Mixed Era “Mosaic” �� 40 Pattern Area Issues and Opportunities �� 110
Topographic Features �� 8 Mixed Form Hillside �� 43 New Options for Public Realm �� 112
Signature Open Spaces �� 10 Postwar Uniform Suburban �� 46
Built Icons �� 12 Clustered Topographical �� 48 Private Realm
Attractions �� 14 Mountainside �� 50 Introduction �� 121
Street Corridors �� 16 Mixed Use Centers �� 53 Development Outcomes �� 124
Centers and High-Capacity Transit �� 18 Central City �� 54 Examples of Development Outcomes �� 128
Freeways and Interchanges �� 20 Gateway Regional Center �� 58 Challenges and Opportunities �� 134
Challenges and Opportunities �� 22 Hollywood Town Center �� 59
St. Johns Town Center �� 60 Ideas for Future Consideration
Lents Town Center �� 61 Ideas for Future Consideration �� 136
Hillsdale Town Center �� 62
West Portland Town Center �� 63 Appendix
Industrial Areas �� 64 Significant Citywide Plans �� 138
Small-Block Urban Industrial �� 64 City Comparisons �� 160
Large-Block Industrial �� 65 Summaries of Community Concerns �� 162
Columbia Corridor Industrial �� 65
Major Street Typologies �� 66
Challenges and Opportunities �� 80
v
Urban Form Report
vi Portland’s intended urban form as expressed through a graphic depiction of Zoning Code allowances for building heights and mixed-uses (in red).
Introduction
P
ortlanders care deeply about the quality of their city’s distinctive places
and the character of their neighborhoods. This is reflected in policies of
Introduction
the 1980 Comprehensive Plan, in Portland’s many neighborhood and
community plans and most recently in the community values identified through
VisionPDX. Past planning processes have indicated that Portlanders cherish
places that nurture community life and identity. They want urban growth
guided in ways that enhance these places, contribute to walkable streets,
respect neighborhood character and keep nature in the city. That said, existing
policy guidance is often unclear about what specific places and community
characteristics are especially valued, what are the desired outcomes and how
this varies across the city. This makes it difficult to asses if existing trends are
contributing to the kinds of places Portlanders want.
Metro population projections indicate that a million more people will likely be
living in the Portland area by the year 2030. With this growth comes change.
Community members have expressed concern that this growth and change
might diminish what they like about their community and the places they value.
This report is intended to help initiate community discussion on identifying what
places and qualities of place are especially valued and should be continued into
the future.
At the same time, the community can take strategic actions that will change
how Portland evolves and functions in the future to better meet anticipated
challenges and needs. A central challenge will be to find ways to hold onto
what is cherished while accommodating future needs, in ways that nurture
current and future Portlanders’ pride for and identification with their city,
neighborhoods and places.
In order to support community discussion on these place-related issues, the
Urban Form Background Report focuses on the physical form and environment
of Portland’s places, streets and neighborhoods and the overall urban form
and structure of the city. This dialogue will inform consideration of how the
Comprehensive Plan might be updated to acknowledge these key places
and characteristics. In this consideration, growth can be guided in ways that
enhance what is valued or contribute to the creation of new places that can be
assets to the community.
1
Background
There are three main forces driving the creation of the Urban Form Background
Report:
Introduction
• State-mandated Periodic Review. In 2007 the state of Oregon

Department of Land Conservation and Development informed the City
of Portland that it must update components of the Comprehensive Plan’s
economic development, infrastructure, housing and transportation and
urbanization goals. The Urban Form Report will be used as reference
document by the public and staff during the completion of required Periodic
Review tasks. However, analyzing the city’s existing built form is not a direct
Periodic Review requirement.
• Staff-identified Policy Gaps. In 2006, the Bureau of Planning’s Regulatory
Rethink Advisory Council of Experts (ACE) evaluated the City’s approach to
regulating development. Their principle recommendation was to address
the city’s physical form and implement citywide design concepts through
the creation of an urban form plan, which would provide clarity regarding
the intended physical form of the city, its places and its street environments.
Additionally, the Infill Design Project (2005), the Land Division Code
Monitoring Report (2007) and the Citywide Tree Project (current) all identified
significant gaps in Portland’s existing urban form-related policies and
implementing regulations.
• Community Concerns. Over the past few years, Portlanders have expressed
concern that new development sometimes does not respect or continue
the established characteristics, patterns or scale of their neighborhoods.
Community members have also been concerned about the loss of
sunlight, informal places and trees as growth continues to change their
neighborhoods. In eastern and western Portland, residents are concerned
that the development and improvement of local streets and sidewalks is not
synchronized with development. There has also been emerging community
interest in fostering “20-minute neighborhoods,” where people can walk to
services, amenities and community gathering places. Many of the concerns
expressed by residents and community leaders through VisionPDX, in the
2005 Infill Design Project Report, at the March 17, 2007 Infill Development
Discussions, in the 2007 East Portland Review, at a October 2007 Planning
Commission retreat and as part of the on-going work of the City’s district
liaison planners, have revolved around how the City and the community
addresses, preserves, promotes and changes Portland’s shape and structure.
(See Appendix entitled “Community Concerns” on page 162 for more
details on these reports, discussions and engagements.)
Together, these three forces compelled the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability
to take a systematic look at the city’s existing urban form.
2
Approach and Structure
There are myriad lenses through which to view and understand a city’s urban Notes on Mapping Conventions
form. To begin to systematize the discussion of Portland’s existing urban
Introduction
This report relies heavily on simplified maps to convey key ideas. Underlying
form, this report breaks the analysis of the city’s shape and structure into the
each of these maps is the Portland city boundary, which merits some
following topics and corresponding chapters: places, patterns, public realm and
preliminary explanation here. Several features universally appear as white
private realm. A brief description of each topic is provided below:
against the grey background: water bodies, Maywood Park and a chunk
• Places. The places chapter focuses on identifying places and landmarks of of unincorporated Multnomah County near Forest Park. On select maps in
citywide prominence that provide orientation, community identity or are some portions of the document, additional features such as topography
hubs of community activity. They include natural and built landmarks, such and freeways also appear in white.
as topographical features, bridges or major streets that help community
members navigate and identify their place in the city. They also include
commercial districts and other places of concentrated activity where
Portlanders and visitors come together and that help define Portland’s sense Smith and
of place, as well as significant natural areas and key connections. Mapping Bybee Lakes Hayden Island City of Maywood Park
of these prominent places and features will be used to support community
identification of what places are especially valued, what should be enhanced
and what new or emerging places should be fostered. Columbia River
• Patterns. The patterns chapter focuses on identifying the basic physical
characteristics of Portland’s residential areas, mixed-use centers and industrial
districts. This information is intended to support community discussion on
what community characteristics are valued and should be continued into the
future.
• Public realm. The public realm chapter focuses on the city’s shared spaces
— streets and sidewalks, trails, paths and parks. It is intended to support
community discussion on the future of Portland’s streets, which occupy over
16,000 acres of land, and to consider how this vast resource might function
as part of the broader system of public spaces (the “public realm”) that
includes both streets and parks.
• Private realm. The private realm chapter begins to explore the range of
development outcomes that take place mostly on private property but that Unincorporated
interfaces with and shapes the public realm and are part of the continuing Multnomah
County
evolution of neighborhood patterns and characteristics.
Together, these topics look at the city from a sequence of scales. These scales
range from the citywide, where only the most prominent features and places
are apparent; to the urban fabric of the blocks, streets and building patterns
of neighborhoods; to the street-level environment experienced by people on a
daily basis. Willamette
River
While the focus of the Urban Form Report is on describing what currently exists,
it concludes with a chapter on Ideas for Future Consideration. To support further
community discussion on the report’s topics, this concluding chapter identifies
some possible new approaches to guiding Portland’s future urban form, with
ideas drawn from broader themes overlapping the topic areas.
3
What is Urban Form? Why is it Important?
Urban form is the physical shape and structure of the city. The form of a city is
shaped by natural features (such as rivers and hills) and by the myriad economic,
Introduction
transportation, housing, environmental, social and aesthetic choices made by a

city’s residents — past and present.
Urban form is important because it influences your everyday life. Whether you
live in an urban area like the Pearl District, a lush and hilly neighborhood like
Ash Creek, a neighborhood with ranch houses and tall Douglas Firs like Mill
Park, or in a neighborhood with closely-knit houses and active commercial
streets like SE Belmont Street, urban form influences whether you walk or drive
to the store, whether you take transit or whether you bike or drive to work. It
also influences how far local farmers must travel to reach neighborhood markets
and how long it takes to leave the city to explore wilderness areas.
A city’s form not only impacts residents’ daily lives and individual economic
choices; it affects citywide policy and financial decisions as well. A city’s urban
form is important because it influences how quickly a community can adapt
to changing environmental, economic and social conditions. For example,
a city with a very large and diffuse structure and without concentrations of
development might find it more difficult to adapt to a prolonged rise in fuel
costs and the need to increase transportation options. A city with a limited
tree canopy and little open space would find adapting to increased rainfall and
stormwater runoff more challenging and more costly than a city with ample tree
canopy and green spaces.
Urban form is important to think about because Portlanders can make choices
about how to guide and shape the city’s future form. The shape, structure and
organization of a city — its urban form — reflect a society’s values, needs,
opportunities and constraints. Portland’s urban form is the cumulative physical
result of numerous related and unrelated human decisions over time. Portland’s
existing urban form is an imprint on the natural landscape that tells us about
our past and present values and needs. Decisions made through the upcoming
Comprehensive Plan process will affect Portland for generations.
4
Regional Context
Portland can be defined in relation to the geographic features in its immediate represent powerful symbols of Portland’s strong connections to the surrounding
vicinity, as well as those at some distance from it. Frequently labeled a “river geography, the great outdoors and the region’s considerable natural resources.
Introduction
city”, Portland sits near the mouth of the Columbia River Basin, the massive Mt. Hood in particular serves as an iconic landmark for Portland, although its
watershed that feeds the West Coast’s most significant river. It flows for more location will not be found on any map of the city.
than 1,200 miles, from the base of the Canadian Rockies in southeastern While the mountains are arguably more identified with Portland, the rivers and
British Columbia to where it meets the Pacific Ocean at Astoria. Positioned other important topographic forms played much more critical roles in the siting
approximately 60 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, Portland is between the of the city. Portland was established along the banks of the Willamette River at
Cascade Mountain Range to the east and the Oregon Coast Range to the west. the furthest point upriver that was attainable by deep draft ships of the mid- to
Portland boasts a distinctive location at the confluence of the Willamette and late-19th Century. This location was also the closest port to the northern edge
Columbia rivers. Both waterways served as the life-blood for the city’s early of the very fertile Willamette Valley, a vast and critical agricultural resource to
development as a powerful West Coast distribution center and industrial hub, this day. In addition, the confluence of multiple rail lines at the city’s location
and both continue to provide important shipping channels today. meant that the transfer of goods between rail and maritime transportation
Inextricably connected to the image of Portland are the two prominent modes would be the most efficient.
mountains visible from many different parts of the city, Mt. Hood and Mt. St.
Helens. While both mountains are approximately 50 miles from the city, both
Perspective view of the Portland region, derived from satellite imagery (NASA). 5
Places
6 Oaks Bottom, with the Downtown skyline and OHSU in the background.
Distinctive Citywide Places
F
rom Powell Butte to Powell’s Books, Portland is full of significant and
distinctive places. Places where people like to walk, meet, play and eat.
Places that help people find their way around town: Mt. Tabor, Big Framework for Places
Pink and the St. Johns Bridge. This chapter focuses on the key places, major
landmarks and other features that shape the form, structure and identity of Portland’s places could be organized and
Portland at the citywide scale. categorized in nearly limitless ways. To provide
structure to this discussion of Portland’s places,
Places are both functionally and psychologically important for cities. On a this report separates places into the following
functional level, places are landmarks that tell you where you are in the city; seven categories:
they help residents and visitors orient themselves to navigate the city. On a
Places
psychological level, places are important because they contribute to the city’s • Topographical Features
identity — by physically representing the city’s history and aspirations and by • Signature Open Spaces
providing places to meet and interact with other people. They are part of what
• Built Icons
makes Portland Portland.
• Attractions
While individual citywide places serve as landmarks and focal points irrespective
of their relationship to other citywide places, good connections to and among • Street Corridors
Portland’s distinctive places give the city a spatial organization that improves • Centers and High Capacity Transit
both the functional role of places and creates a more cohesive city identity.
• Freeways and Interchanges
As Portland evolves, it will be important to understand Portland’s places of The seven place categories listed above are
citywide prominence: What are they? Where are they? What story do they based on the physical characteristics and
tell? Understanding Portland’s existing citywide places will help Portlanders functions of these places. Note that many of
agree which places to protect, which to enhance; and will inform discussion on Portland’s places could belong to more than one
what new citywide places might be created to address the evolving needs and of these place categories.
aspirations of Portlanders.
For information on Portland’s historic landmarks
The places and landmarks identified in this chapter are not intended to be an and resources, see the Historic Resources
exhaustive listing of Portland’s prominent places. Rather, they are intended to be Background Report.
a starting point for community discussion on the future of the city’s prominent
and distinctive places, to which community members will add their own ideas
as to what places are especially valued, should be enhanced, or created. While
the ability to change places and landmarks varies (hills and rivers will not be
moved), there are opportunities to foster development and connections that
acknowledge or capitalize on these key places.
7
Topographic Features
Many of Portland’s natural features speak to the area’s natural history and a
time long before it was urbanized into its current form. Much of the land area
on which the city is built was once under water and part of a much larger
confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. Over time, the land forms
shifted, gave way, receded or hardened into the area’s current distinctive palette
of a western edge of hills, a chain of eastern buttes, a large plateau and the
confluence of two major rivers.
Portland’s prominent topographical elements define much of Portland’s skyline,
serving as key landmarks and orientation features. These topographical features,
Places
as well as the rivers, have played a fundamental role in shaping Portland’s urban
form, constraining where and how streets, railways and urban development
could be built.
Many of Portland’s topographical features have major open space facilities
associated with them. For example, Mt. Tabor is not only one of the most
visually dominant central elements in the city, but also offers a wide variety of
passive and active recreational opportunities. Washington Park is within the
West Hills and features, among many other amenities, the Japanese Garden,
the Rose Test Gardens and direct access to Forest Park’s 5,000-plus acres. These
features not only serve as prominent visual wayfinding elements across the city,
but provide places for public gatherings and interaction.
Portland’s low-lying riverside areas are also a distinct component of the city’s
geography. They are places where land and water meet and mix, and where the
city’s port facilities and industry are concentrated.
Criteria for Topographic Features

• Prominent landscape features over 350'
in height
• Significant waterways and waterbodies
• Lowlands
These natural elements help to frame Portland’s
urban development and provide some of the
city’s most visible wayfinding and orienting forms.
Lower lying waterways or bodies, like Smith/Bybee
Lakes, are equally significant form-givers if not as
visible as the more vertical hills and buttes
The Willamette River and the West Hills
8
Topographic Features
Places
9
Signature Open Spaces
Portland’s signature open spaces, such as the Willamette River Greenway, Smith
and Bybee Lakes and the Springwater Corridor, offer multi-faceted waterfront
open space experiences, opportunities to experience natural habitat areas and
regional pedestrian and bicycle connections, respectively. These extensive open
spaces, together with topographically-prominent parks, such as Forest Park,
Mt. Tabor and Powell Butte, keep nature close-at-hand in the city. The broader
system of open spaces also includes neighborhood parks scattered throughout
Portland.
While these open spaces may not be visually prominent from all parts of the
Places
city, they are significant organizing features of the city and offer unique and
varied open space experiences. The idea of an interconnected system of open
spaces, originating with the Olmsted Plan of 1903, has been one of Portland’s
most enduring urban form concepts. This concept continues and has been
partially realized today with the “40-Mile Loop,” whose completed segments
include the Springwater Corridor, the Wildwood Trail through Forest Park and
trail segments along the Columbia River. Most of these open space connections
are located through the West Hills or along water bodies. Less green space
connectivity has been achieved within the urban grid of the city.
Criteria for Signature Open Spaces

• Parks and other public open spaces
greater than 4 acres in area
• Major streams and trails
These parks and natural areas offer the
widest variety of open space and recreational
opportunities. Many serve as local and community
focal points for the surrounding communities.
Major streams are significant environmental and
natural features, some of which are adjacent to
major pedestrian and bicycle trails, such as the
Springwater Trail.
Springwater Corridor (upper), Columbia Slough (right) and Waterfront Park (left)
10
Signature Open Spaces
Places
11
Built Icons
Built icons serve as visual markers throughout the city. Like natural topographical
features they help Portlanders orient themselves in the city.
The bridges of Portland, ranging from the Sellwood to Burnside to St. Johns
and Glen Jackson, represent a broad period of bridge design and engineering
and have become some of the most important icons of the city. They enable
multiple important connections across the water bodies that define the city.
Their inherently varied yet functional forms, from the graceful suspension
approach of the St. Johns, to the through-arch of the Fremont, to the intensely
complex telescoping-truss design of the Steel, serve as some of the city’s most
Places
enduring and visible landmarks.

Portland’s built icons also include buildings and groupings of buildings.
Downtown Portland’s cluster of high-rise buildings combine to serve as the
most prominent built element of the city’s skyline. This skyline is punctuated
by a small number of buildings, such as the US Bancorp Tower on W Burnside,
that stand apart in their visual prominence. Other built structures, such as
the Veterans’ Administration Hospital on Marquam Hill, offer a similar visual
presence across a wide geography. These buildings, due to both their scale and
locations, help identify the city center. They create clear focal points that provide
orientation and distinguish Central Portland within the broader city and region.
Criteria for Built Icons

• Portland Bridges
• Significant buildings and structures
taller than 125'
These are human-created or built structures that
are local icons for the city and its residents. The
city has some 15 bridges spanning either the
Willamette or Columbia Rivers, a concentration of
the tallest buildings in the central area and a few
outlying larger structures.
12 St. Johns Bridge (upper) and Downtown skyline (lower)

Built Icons
Places
13
Attractions
Attractions are single buildings, building complexes or facilities that draw thousands
of residents and visitors every year. Many are civic facilities like museums, libraries or
theaters. Some commercial streets around the city function as attractions to which
people come from all over the region to shop, dine and gather.
Many of Portland’s major attractions are located in or around Central Portland.
The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), the Portland Art Museum,
The Oregon Zoo and the Portland Center for the Performing Arts (PCPA) are
all located downtown or nearby. These attractions offer people experiences
they cannot easily find elsewhere in the city — like large theater and dance
Places
performances and world-class art and significant historic artifacts. Some of

these attractions are clustered, or co-located around each other, into small
‘districts’ of multiple facilities, creating unique places of concentrated activity.
Many commercial streets or corridors in the city are also attractions in their own
right. These are notable because a large part of their attractiveness is in the
character of their physical forms. NW 23rd Avenue is a reinvigorated Streetcar
Era commercial corridor that has become a regional attraction due to its
characteristically dense blend of mixed use, multi-story and pedestrian-oriented
buildings fronting a relatively narrow but active street. 82nd Avenue offers a
distinctly different commercial street form, one that is much more spread out and
oriented to the automobile, but one that also attracts large numbers of people.
Criteria for Attractions

• Commercial districts with over $100
million estimated annual retail, food and
drink sales (as an indicator of activity)
• Major tourist attractions identified
by the Portland Oregon Visitor’s
Association (POVA)
These are regional attractions that draw
thousands of residents, workers and visitors every
year. Tourist attractions like the Oregon Museum
of Science and Industry (OMSI) often play
multiple roles as educational institutions, while
the commercial districts also provide necessary
neighborhood-serving goods and services for
local workers and residents. Rose Garden Arena (upper left), Portland Art Museum (upper right) and
NW 23rd Avenue (lower)
14
Attractions
Places
15
Street Corridors
Corridors are the biggest and busiest streets in the city, moving thousands
of people between residences, jobs and services every day. While many of
these radiate out from Central Portland, others run outside the core of the
city, making other connections between centers and other destinations within
the region. Many of these corridors run between prominent attractions,
topographical features and landmarks.
The traffic volume alone on some of these corridors makes them distinctive
urban features that are known and seen daily by large numbers of people. SE
McLoughlin, running between Portland’s Central Eastside Industrial District and
Places
Milwaukie, is one of the city’s busiest corridors, accommodating some 60,000

vehicles daily. Much of the street’s broad and loose form is defined by the need
to move large amounts of cars quickly. Other busy streets, like W Burnside in
downtown Portland, must also deal with large numbers of cars but in a much
smaller space. Burnside’s form is as much about the buildings that enclose it as it
is about the number and direction of the cars along it.
Other corridors are distinctive due to their “off the grid” alignments or unique
right-of-way designs. NE Sandy and SE Foster are notable due to their diagonal
paths in an otherwise fairly consistent orthogonal street network system. Others,
such as NE Martin Luther King Jr. or SE Powell have medians, adding additional
green tree canopy to these streets. The designs of these streets, their traffic
volumes and configurations, strengthen their abilities to provide local and visitor
wayfinding functions in addition to their specialized transportation services.
Criteria for Street Corridors

• Arterials with greater than 20,000
average daily vehicle trips (ADT)
• Frequent service transit routes identified
in the Primary Transit Index (PTI)
These corridors are the city’s busiest, most
visible streets that serve as wayfinding features
for adjacent neighborhoods. They serve many
different modes of transportation: automobile,
transit, pedestrian and bicycles.
E Burnside (upper), SE Hawthorne (right) and SE Powell (left)
16
Street Corridors
Places
17
Centers and High-Capacity Transit
Portland’s system of mixed-use centers and light rail lines are intended to play a
key role in Portland’s future urban development and its evolving urban form. As
designated in the Metro 2040 Growth Concept, Portland’s mixed-use centers
include the Central City, the Gateway Regional Center and the town centers of
Hollywood, St. Johns, Lents, Hillsdale and West Portland. Portland’s greatest
concentrations of residential and commercial development are intended to take
place in and around these centers, as well as in the broader system of light rail
station communities. The centers, in particular, are intended to be places that
are hubs of activity for the surrounding community, and, in the case of the
Places
Central City, for the entire region.

As the centers and light rail station communities continue to develop into
relatively intensely urbanized places, it is anticipated that they will increasingly
stand out in their urban form from the surrounding urban fabric. However, the
actual amount and scale of development that has occurred up to now in the
centers and station communities varies greatly.
Criteria for Centers and

High-Capacity Transit
• Metro-designated centers per the 1995
Metro Region 2040 Growth Concept
• High capacity transit corridors and
stations (currently MAX light rail)
Centers are the parts of the city that are
anticipated to accommodate the most growth
and experience the most change as the city and
the region’s populations increase. Station areas
along high capacity transit corridors are locations
of higher density, mixed use development patterns
that provide a variety of services and uses for the
surrounding communities.
Light rail in Downtown (upper) and on Interstate (right), Centers Commons at the
60th Avenue light rail station
18
Centers and High-Capacity Transit
Places
19
Freeways and Interchanges
Freeways carry hundreds of thousands of people into, out of and through
Portland every day. These key transportation throughways serve residents,
workers and visitors alike. They have had a major influence on the imageability
of the city, as they offer numerous unique and signature views of the city and
regional landmarks. Views east to Mt. Hood from the Interstate 84 freeway,
near its interchange with Interstate 205, are a signature part of the eastbound
freeway traveler’s experience. The obstruction of views from US 26 across
downtown Portland to Mt. Hood became an issue in the early 1980s with the
construction of the high-rise KOIN Center tower.
Places
Freeway access points have played a role in urban form by attracting

concentrations of commercial development and are sometimes among the
transportation facilities that serve mixed-use centers, as is the case with
Gateway and the Hollywood District. As physical elements in the urban
landscape, the impacts of freeways have a more mixed reputation. They
function as physical barriers separating one area from another and have
significant visual impacts. Nearby residents also suffer from vehicle noise and
the air-quality impacts from vehicle emissions. Freeways consume large amounts
of space and their roadway, access ramps, landscaped buffers and other
interstitial areas have created swaths of natural and artificial topography across
the urban landscape.
Some of the freeways or highways have integrated pedestrian and bicycle trail
components within their envelopes. Most notable is Interstate 205, which
includes a trail that connects the Springwater Corridor northward and across the
Columbia River to Vancouver, Washington’s riverfront trail system.
Criteria for Freeways and

Interchanges
• Limited-access freeways
• Locations of freeway
entrance and exit points
Freeways and their access points have played
major roles in shaping the form and experience
of the city. Besides their pivotal transportation
roles, they influence the location of commercial
development, divide neighborhoods, provide or
obstruct views, serve as edges and landmarks and
sometimes incorporate trails.
Junction of I-5 and I-84 (upper), over and under I-405 (lower)
20
Freeways and Interchanges
Places
21
Challenges and Opportunities
The primary purpose of this chapter has been to identify existing places and 3. Lack of a place-making hierarchy for Portland’s major streets or clear
landmarks of citywide prominence to support community discussion regarding guidance for adjacent development. Portland has over 100 miles of major
the city’s future urban form. Also intended to support this community street corridors serving thousands of residents, workers and visitors every day.
discussion, this section identifies some challenges and opportunities related These are the busiest and most visible vehicular corridors in the city, featuring
to the Places topic, and raises some preliminary ideas for future approaches to space for automobiles, trucks, buses, bikes as well as pedestrians. Despite their
enhancing Portland’s key places and their role in the city’s urban structure. additional width (the majority of these are at least 80'-wide) and the fact that
1. Lack of a citywide urban design concept or strategy. Portland does many have “boulevard” in their name, few have been developed as distinctive,
not have an overall framework for approaching design in the city and lacks a iconic or unique streets that would reflect their significance to the city. Most of
citywide approach to identifying the city’s important places. Instead, Portland these major corridors have not been developed at urban densities that could
Places
has tended to consider and implement design policies and guidelines on a contribute to their achieving identities as distinctive urban places, besides just
neighborhood- or district-scale. A more intentional, citywide urban design functioning as through routes, although they could potentially serve important
framework could enhance the ability of Portland to prioritize, improve and roles in accommodating growth.
create places of civic importance. A diagrammatic, citywide urban design Prominent boulevards with unique streetscapes exist in many other cities.
concept could clarify and augment Portland’s current text-based approach to its Developing a hierarchy that describes the different roles and intended
citywide urban design policies. characteristics of these corridors would help to organize the city as well as
2. Need for better open space connections. Compared to other similarly- prioritize the expenditure of public funds for improvements. A descriptive
sized cities, Portland features numerous parks and a diverse network of open hierarchy would illustrate special street designs for these streets, potentially
spaces. This open space system includes an extensive scheme of pedestrian and strengthening their roles in placemaking and wayfinding, and could prioritize
bicycle trails that connect many of the parks and open spaces together, primarily them as places for concentrated development and commerce.
around the periphery of the city. Many of the city’s most distinctive parks 4. More strategic development at activity hubs. Portland has numerous
and open spaces are located on some of the city’s most visible topographic distinctive activity hubs throughout the city. The forms of these hubs vary
landmarks, such as Mt. Tabor, Washington Park in the West Hills or Rocky Butte, widely, and they include the Central Portland area, local commercial districts
to name only a few. While some opportunities exist to emphasize powerful along busy streets and some transit center areas, among others. Some of these
connections between these open space destinations, Downtown and other are regional attractions, drawing people from all over the region to live, work,
higher-density areas, few connections have been realized. Also, despite the key shop and gather. Other activity hubs play important roles that are more local in
roles of Portland’s rivers in the city’s form and identity, few neighborhoods are nature, serving as places of focused activity for surrounding neighborhoods.
oriented on or have strong connections to the rivers. Over time, and as different neighborhoods have evolved, some activity areas
Creating or strengthening connections between different open space amenities have grown in areas where they were anticipated, others have occurred where
and high density parts of the city (with a recreational or green emphasis, or they were not intended and some have seen only minimal development. Most
other enhanced design treatments) achieves multiple objectives. At the citywide notably, development in many of the city’s identified “centers” has lagged
scale, developing strong connections along Foster/Powell, for example, between behind other less-targeted parts of the city. A more strategic approach to the
the West Hills/Downtown and Kelley Butte strengthens the importance of designation and development of activity hubs could better focus density and
the city’s natural topography and provides strong anchors at either end of accompanying activity where it is most appropriate.
the corridor. At the neighborhood scale, safe and distinctive connections
among open spaces that offer different recreational experiences (team sports,
natural habitat, children’s playground, etc.) make more efficient use of public
infrastructure and reduces the need to travel outside of the community to find
open space opportunities.
22
23
Places
A Note on Chapter Structure
This chapter is divided into several sections. The
initial pages of this chapter provide background
information on:
• Portland’s urban form geography of five
primary pattern areas;
• The urban form building blocks used in this
report to describe Portland’s urban patterns;
and
Major Streets
• The historic urban development eras that
shaped the city’s urban form.
Following the background items, the core of this
chapter consists of four distinct sections:
Section 1. Residential area typologies
describing the urban fabric of neighborhood
Patterns
residential areas;
Centers +
Section 2. Mixed-use centers, including the
Central City, the Gateway regional center and Industrial Districts
Portland’s five designated town centers;
Section 3. Industrial districts; and
Section 4. Major streets typologies describing
the various kinds of major streets found
throughout the city.
Residential Areas
Overall Urban Fabric
24
Urban Patterns and
Neighborhood Typologies
P
ortlanders value the distinct character of their neighborhoods and districts,
but existing plans and policy documents often lack clarity about what
contributes to this character and what aspects are especially valued.
While most adopted neighborhood plans call for new development in existing
residential areas to be “compatible” with existing neighborhood character, most
areas are subject to the same zoning code regulations, despite the differing
characteristics and aspirations of neighborhoods.
This section focuses on identifying the physical characteristics of Portland’s
residential areas, mixed-use centers, industrial districts and major streets. This
information is intended to be used to support community discussion on what
Patterns
characteristics are valued and should be continued into the future, as well as
to help identify what opportunities there might be to manage change in ways
that enhance community identity. The descriptions in this chapter also identify
urban patterns (such as block and lot structure) that set a framework for the
form of future development and briefly describe how this framework has
tended to shape new development. While community aspirations for established
neighborhood residential areas have often emphasized continuity, aspirations for
places that are intended to be a focus of growth and change, such as mixed-use
centers, have typically placed a priority on fostering a desired future character.
Ultimately, this chapter is intended to inform the development of policies,
investments and regulations responsive to the distinctive characteristics of
Portland’s neighborhoods, urban centers and districts.
25
Patterns Primary Pattern Areas
Portland can be characterized as having three Western Neighborhoods Inner Neighborhoods

fundamental neighborhood geographies, or
• Development patterns shaped by the area’s hilly • Urban form shaped during the Streetcar Era.
“pattern areas,” each with its own distinct patterns
terrain and other natural features. • Consistent pattern of rectilinear blocks.
and characteristics. The concept of these three
neighborhood pattern areas — Inner, Western and • Small number of major streets or highways, which • Highly interconnected street system with mostly
Eastern — emerged during community discussions wind through the area following topography. fully-improved streets.
regarding the design of infill development, in • Only a few commercial areas, mostly located on
relation to the idea that different design approaches • Extensive system of Streetcar Era main street
multi-lane highways. commercial districts.
were needed to honor and continue the distinct
character of different areas of Portland. The physical • Residential streets are often curvilinear, following • Fine-grain pattern of development on small lots,
form of each of these pattern areas is composed hill contours, with poor connectivity in many with buildings oriented to the street.
of both natural features, such as topography and areas.
streams and built elements, such as block patterns • Dispersed system of neighborhood parks, typically
• Most residential streets lack sidewalks, and a intensely landscaped, located on major streets
and street systems. Some of these natural and relatively large number of streets are not paved.
built characteristics will continue to shape future and rectilinear in form to fit into the area’s urban
development for decades to come, while others have • Trees and lush vegetation are often more grid.
futures that are less certain. Description of these prominent than buildings in residential areas. • Occasional areas and streets break from the grid
characteristics is intended to help identify issues, • Large amount of natural area park land. pattern, creating distinctive places.
constraints and opportunities related to the current • Parks, streams and preserved natural areas
and future physical environment of Portland’s provide a network of green that courses through
neighborhood areas. the pattern area.
To provide a more complete description of the city,
the Central City neighborhoods and Portland’s large
industrial districts, which have urban patterns distinct
from the residential neighborhood areas, are included
here as two additional pattern areas. The three
neighborhood pattern areas are delineated into six
“residential area typologies” that focus specifically on
26 the urban fabric of residential areas (see pages 34–52).
Patterns
Eastern Neighborhoods Central City Industrial Districts
• Diverse range of urban patterns, reflecting • Portland’s most intensely urbanized area with • Concentrated in low-lying riverfront areas.
incremental development. its largest concentration of tall buildings and • Variety of industrial districts with distinct urban
• Poor street connectivity in many areas, with high-density residential development. forms.
vehicles dependent on a small number of major • Building types reflect its role as the region’s • Inner areas share Central City’s pattern of small
streets for through connections. center for finance, commerce, government and blocks.
• Commercial areas are in the form of culture.
• Large-block industrial districts shaped by
automobile-oriented strip commercial areas • 200' by 200' block structure and highly- industrial needs and functions.
located on multi-lane streets. interconnected street system.
• Block structure and building forms in some
• Most residential streets, and some major • Predominance of full-block building coverage areas shaped by railroads, rail spurs and harbor
streets, lack sidewalks. contrasts with the fine-grain pattern of facilities.
• Large, deep lots common in many areas, subject detached structures in surrounding residential
neighborhoods. • Columbia Slough, levee and greenery course
to much recent infill development. through the Columbia Corridor districts.
• Trees and other vegetation, rather than • Extensive system of urban parks.
consistency in built patterns, serve as character- • Downtown’s location between the Willamette
giving aspects of many residential areas. River and West Hills provides a strong sense of
• Neighborhood parks are usually located in orientation, boundaries and transition.
the middle of superblock areas surrounded by
single-family houses.
• Buttes and Douglas Firs a distinctive Note: The descriptions and boundaries of the pattern areas and the subsequent residential area
characteristic of the area’s skyline typologies should be considered to be generalizations. These descriptions are of common characteristics
within the pattern areas, and are not intended to capture all the variations and exceptions that exist. The
pattern areas as shown on these diagrams are not intended to represent strict boundaries, as in reality
there is often a gradual transition in prevalent characteristics.
27
Urban Form Building Blocks
The urban environment is composed of several “building
blocks” that together give the city’s districts and
neighborhoods their shape and built character. These
include: block structure and street patterns, street design,
lot patterns and building placement, building forms and
landscaping, vegetation and natural features. Each of these
building blocks contributes to shaping the urban environment
that is experienced by people on a daily basis.
• Block structure and street patterns provide the
urban framework, or “bones,” of the city.
• Street design, the configuration of elements within the Block Structure and Street Patterns Street Characteristics
street right of way, such as roadway, sidewalks, street Block structure, sometimes called the DNA of Sidewalks and curbs, roadway width, pavement
trees and landscaping, plays a key role in how places are a city, is the fundamental framework for the and surface materials, street trees, landscaping
Patterns
seen and experienced. form of the city and the initial lens in which and medians are among the many physical
• Lot patterns and building placement play a to examine urban patterns. Street pattern and elements that may contribute to a street’s
significant role in defining the physical character of a block structure are heavily interrelated (in fact physical environment. While these street
place, whether it is a main street lined by continuous inseparable), as one dictates the configuration elements provide essential transportation system
rows of buildings located next to the sidewalk, or of the other. functions and influence how the street space is
a street lined by houses and a green edge of front Block structures may be defined by a tight grid used, they can also contribute to the character
gardens. of rectilinear streets, by a loose network of and sense of place of the broader neighborhood
curvilinear streets, by large superblocks with or district. The presence of sidewalks and street
• Building forms and types, including the scale of trees can be a significant part of the character
buildings and architectural characteristics, can provide fewer streets, or may dissolve into a more
rural pattern of winding rural roads. Block of more urban neighborhoods, where in some
places with distinct identities. areas street trees are a major component of
and street systems may also include alleys,
• Vegetation, landscaping and natural features, the urban forest. In other areas, the lack of
pedestrian pathways, stairways and other
whether they include front gardens, rolling hills, sidewalks can impart a more rural sense of
secondary circulation networks. An area’s block
stream corridors or skylines defined by towering place. Street characteristics are also sometimes
structure and street patterns influence the
Douglas Firs, greatly influence the feel and character of a reflection of other characteristics of a place,
shape and location of development, define how
neighborhoods. such as hillside streets that are narrow to fit into
people move about and influence which travel
These urban environment building blocks provide both a modes are most effective in a given place. For the constraints of steep topography.
simple way to describe and understand the physical city and example, in an area with small blocks and many This report uses street characteristics as one
they comprise the set of analytical lenses used to develop the intersecting streets, walking may be an efficient way of describing and classifying Portland’s
neighborhood pattern areas and typologies in this report. and enjoyable travel mode, but in an area with neighborhoods. The descriptions of street
For the residential area typologies, staff used two additional large blocks and few pedestrian connections, characteristics are not intended to indicate
categories to provide additional layers of information: traveling by car may be most practical. The whether or not these street characteristics
• Distinctive place elements, such as public stairways block and street structure also influences how are desirable or to suggest that their role in
in the West Hills and curbside horse rings in inner places are experienced. Rectilinear blocks and shaping community character should override
neighborhoods; and streets can provide a sense of urban order transportation considerations or the needs of
and consistency, while winding curvilinear pedestrians.
• Intensification, which summarizes how existing streets can contribute to a more picturesque or
patterns have shaped new development, highlighting naturalistic sense of place.
how community patterns and characteristics are not
only about what exists now, but about how they shape
28
the future.
Lot Patterns and Building Placement Building Forms and Types Vegetation, Landscaping, Natural
Lot configurations vary widely across the city and In addition to how structures are placed on their Features and Open Spaces
are largely determined by the block structure in lots, the scale and architectural characteristics of Landscape characteristics can also be a
Patterns
which they are contained. Compact, rectilinear buildings contribute to the physical environment distinguishing factor for discerning neighborhood
blocks often have regular patterns of small lots of neighborhoods and districts. An example of patterns and characteristics. This analysis considers,
with closely-set structures arrayed along the street the relationship of building scale and form to at a very basic level, a variety of cultivated
frontages. Areas with large blocks may have neighborhood character is the contrast between landscape and natural features in its identification
correspondingly larger lots on which unbuilt and areas in which closely set, vertically-oriented of area characteristics. These include front setback
often vegetated space predominates, or which Victorian buildings emphasize architecture as a landscaping patterns and street trees, and the
have provided opportunities for new development. defining element of the street environment, in forested hillsides, stream corridors, ravines and treed
The size and shape of lots and building placement comparison to other areas where low-lying houses skylines that are prominent elements in some areas.
patterns establish the “grain” of the urban fabric with deep front setbacks emphasize landscaping and Although broad areas of the city can be described
and the “rhythm” of development along the street. trees as the visually dominant elements. Differing according to the prominence or recurrence of
How buildings relate to the street can be a key characteristics such as these can apply even in areas these characteristics, the specifics of vegetation,
aspect of the physical environment of streets and with similar development densities. landscaping and natural features vary widely, often
how it is experienced by people. Considerations used In any given area, architectural styles are often block-by-block.
in this analysis include building setback patterns more variable than building forms and types. Some The pattern area and typology descriptions also
along the street and the orientation of structures on areas, however, are characterized by predominant briefly note park and open space characteristics.
their lots. Differences in lot patterns and building architectural styles and building forms, reflective These range from extensive natural parks to
placement manifest themselves in the contrasts of the building practices and architectural trends small neighborhood parks, and are influenced by
between the built environments of main streets of the historical periods when they were originally topography and block structure. Open spaces can
characterized by a “hard edge” of a continuous developed. This analysis notes some architectural be contained by the rectangular grid or course
wall of buildings located close to the street, which styles that are especially common in certain through a network of streams and hillsides. Note
contrasts with nearby residential streets lined by geographies, but is not intended to serve as a that the physical form of natural features, such as
a green edge of landscaped front setbacks and comprehensive assessment. Note that building stream corridors, riverfronts and hillsides, reflects
by street-oriented houses and their front porches. forms, scale and architectural characteristics tend to the development practices of the historic periods
This in turn contrasts with other areas where street be subject to more frequent change and evolution during which urbanization occurred. Corresponding
frontages are lined by trees and vegetation, with than the other urban form building blocks. to changes in development practices, some urban
houses set far back. This analysis also considers development patterns ignore topographical
the setbacks between buildings and patterns of constraints or streams, while others are shaped by
backyard, mid-block open spaces. them. This highlights the interplay between the
various urban form building blocks.
29
Beyond the 200 x 200: Portland’s Various Block Structures
A city’s structure of streets and blocks serves as its urban DNA, shaping its development long into the future. While Downtown Portland’s system of
compact 200' by 200' blocks is sometimes seen as Portland’s fundamental pattern, Portland includes a diverse and varied range of urban patterns. These
examples highlight the wide range of block structures found in Portland (they are not intended to represent what is typical or most common).
Original Square Rectangular Rectangular with

Average Size: Average Size: Alleys
200' x 200' 200' x 350'–600' Average Size:
Dominant Location: Dominant Location: 210'– 220' x 350'–600'
City Center, Central Streetcar Era Dominant Location:
Eastside Neighborhoods North, Northeast
Patterns
Rectangular with Large Rectangular Right Triangular,

Simple Diagonal with Simple Diagonal 45 Degree Tilt
Average Size: Average Size: Various, Average Size:
200' x 350'–600', 270'–350' x 300'–800' 200'–400' x
Symmetrical Triangles Dominant Location: Various x Various
Dominant Location: Cully, East Portland Dominant Location:
Streetcar Era Woodlawn, Random
Neighborhoods Areas
Uniform Curvilinear Organic-like Curve Modified

Modified Rectangular Modified Rectangular Large Rectangular
Average Size: Average Size: Average Size:
200' x 400'–700' 200'–300' x 400'–500' 270'–350' x 600'–800'+
Dominant Location: Dominant Location: Dominant Location:
Laurelhurst Eastmoreland Mixed Era, Outer East
30
Large Rectangular Mega-Blocks with Mega-Blocks with
Average Size: Developed Perimeter Frequent Development
270'–350' x 300'–600' Average Size: Intrusions
(up to 1,200') Various, 600'–700' x Average Size:
Dominant Location: 1,000'–1,200' Various, 600'–700' x
Streetcar Era Dominant Location: 1,000'–1,200'
Neighborhoods Mixed Era and Outer East Dominant Location:
Patterns
Outer East Portland
Symmetrical Sharp Triangular, Topographically

Diagonals with Multiple Grid Influenced Curvilinear
Alleys, Ornamental Orientations Diagonals
Average Size: Average Size: Average Size:
210' x 115'–820' x Extremely Various 250'–300' x Various
Various Dominant Location: Dominant Location:
Dominant Location: St. Johns Area Southwest
Ladd’s Addition Neighborhoods
Disconnected Curvilinear Modified Topographically

Suburban Curvilinear Rectangular with Defined Curvilinear
Average Size: Various Cul-de-sacs Average Size:
Dominant Location: Average Size: Extremely Various
Southwest, Outer East, 200'–300' x Various Dominant Location:
Edges Dominant Location: Western Hill
Southwest, Outer East Neighborhoods
31
Historic Urban Development Eras
Portland’s built form, including the location of its
major roads, commercial and industrial districts and
the varying characteristics of its neighborhoods, is
the result of development that occurred over a range
of eras. Each era has left its own distinct mark on
the city, introducing change that, in combination,
makes Portland what it is today.
The fundamental forces that shaped Portland’s
urban form involved the evolution of transportation
technology. In turn, river transportation, trails,
railroads, streetcars, the automobile and light rail
have all played key roles in shaping Portland. The
way people travel determines where they can live
From Trails to Early Streetcars Streetcar Suburbs
and work. 1846–1904/1905–1914 1915–1928
Patterns
Across the urban fabric of the city, different Population in 1900: 90,426 Population in 1920: 258,228
development eras produced differing block
and street arrangements, usually in response to Early European American settlers come to Portland Eastside neighborhoods fill in with new housing on
transportation technologies or topography, but also by water and establish settlements along the the grid of blocks near streetcar lines, along which
sometimes due to changing ideas about the design Willamette River. Thomas Brown plats the first town develop main streets lined by small storefronts.
of communities. The locations of major streets also site in 1845 in what is now Downtown Portland Streetcar lines make the eastside accessible to
often follow original pioneer farm property survey using a grid of 200-foot square blocks that establish downtown workers, and thousands of houses are
boundaries. Related as they are to street, block and Portland’s urban development pattern for the next built on the eastside’s rectilinear blocks within 3–6
lot patterns, the property ownership system and 150 years. Commerce and industry is concentrated miles of Downtown. Most people walk to reach their
land divisions establish urban patterns that are not along the Willamette riverfront. Trails used by native destinations or catch the streetcar. The West Hills
easily undone. Each era of development also saw peoples and later as farm-to-market routes by early initially limit expansion westward, but interurban
changes in building types and left Portland with settlers develop into major roads (including Foster, rail lines reaching east and west create pockets
a legacy of a diverse range of architectural styles Sandy, West Burnside and Canyon Road). Bridges of development further out. After World War I,
reflective of their development periods. cross the Willamette River (first the Morrison in automobile ownership proliferates, providing access
1887) and open Portland’s eastside to development, to formerly remote areas during a building boom
which follows an expanding streetcar system that lasts from 1922–1928. Beginning in 1926, major
that reaches its peak in 1912. The building boom streets such as Sandy Boulevard are improved to
from 1905–1913 coincides with the popularity of accommodate cars. Portland’s first zoning ordinance
bungalows and foursquare or “Old Portland” style is adopted in 1924 (dividing the city into four zones:
houses. Small-scale builders construct houses a single family, single and multifamily, business and
few lots at a time, so that streets feature a variety manufacturing and unrestricted), which is followed
of houses. Once independent towns (including by expansion of apartment, commercial and
Albina, East Portland, Sellwood, St. Johns, Lents and industrial development. Houses increasingly include
Montavilla) are absorbed into Portland as it expands detached garages for cars. Popular residential
in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, architectural styles include Craftsman, Colonial and
leaving their mark in the form of neighborhoods and Period Revival styles such as Tudor, English Cottage
commercial districts that continue to the present day. and Mediterranean.
32
Great Depression/ Postwar Suburbanization Modern Suburbs and
Early Automobile Suburbs 1946–1965 Contemporary Infill
Patterns
1929–1945 Population in 1960: 372,676 1966–1985/1986–present
Population in 1940: 305,394 Population in 2000: 529,121
After World War II, veterans and Federal Housing
By the end of the 1930s, private automobiles Administration (FHA) programs fuel a single-family The car continues to shape urban form: the I-5
eclipse the streetcar as the dominant form of housing construction boom at and beyond the freeway is completed in 1966, facilitating development
transportation. Burnside is widened in 1931. Barbur edges of the city, turning farmland into subdivisions. far from central Portland, and I-205 is completed
Boulevard opens as a motorway in 1933 and once FHA guidelines promote housing construction in 1982. However, Portlanders reject the Mt. Hood
rural roads, such as 82nd Avenue, become paved standardization and economies of scale. Guidelines freeway through Southeast Portland in favor of the
highways. Blocks near streetcar lines continue to promote picturesque community design, emphasize Eastside light rail line, which opens in 1986. In the
fill with new houses, but the popularity of the open space, deep front yards and curvilinear 1980s and 1990s, annexations expand Portland’s
car encourages development at the city’s fringes. streets. The automobile is pivotal in shaping urban boundaries to include much of East Portland, where
Forest Park is established, neighborhood parks are expansion: the Sunset Highway is completed in the Mid-County Sewer Project extends sewer
developed and a series of picturesque boulevards 1949, the last streetcar stops service in 1950; and service and facilitates increased urbanization. In the
are created. Housing construction stagnates during the Banfield Expressway, Oregon’s first freeway, early 1990s, renewed interest in urban living and
the Great Depression. World War II brings 54,000 opens in 1955. Housing development takes off community planning efforts spur residential infill
people to Portland, providing labor for the war in Southwest Portland, much of which Portland development in close-in neighborhoods. House lots
effort. To meet demand for housing, apartments annexes between the 1940s and 1970s. Large multi- are smaller than in the Postwar period and houses
are built near industrial areas, large houses are block subdivisions become common in areas beyond are often two-stories in height. Rowhouses and
converted to multi-tenant housing and simple the Streetcar Era grid. Car access allows larger lots “skinny houses” become common housing types.
one-story houses are built on empty lots. Historic and streets without sidewalks. New subdivisions are The Metro 2040 Growth Concept Plan (1995) calls
Period Revival architectural styles, such as Tudor and self-contained and include cul-de-sacs to provide for concentrating growth Downtown, in mixed-use
English Cottage, continue to be popular during the quiet environments free of cut-through traffic. centers and along main streets and transit corridors.
1930s, but by the 1940s Colonial styles predominate. Shopping centers with large parking lots become In the late 1990s, the Pearl District emerges as a new
Portland architects introduce the Northwest Regional the predominant commercial development type. downtown neighborhood on former railyards. In the
variant of Modernist architecture to the West Hills. New parks and elementary schools are located at 2000s, renewed construction of mixed-use buildings
Increasingly, buildings cater to the automobile: the center of neighborhood residential areas. In the takes place along the old main streets and the high-
houses typically include attached garages and Postwar period, small, one-story houses, often in rise South Waterfront neighborhood begins to take
commercial buildings now often include parking lots. the Cape Cod style predominate. Ranch-style houses shape. Increased awareness of nature’s important role
become more popular in the 1950s, followed by elevates the prominence of the rivers and streams as
larger split-level houses. key elements in the city’s form. 33
1. Residential Area Typologies
A Systematic Grouping of Portland’s Underlying Neighborhood Fabric
The residential area typologies described in the
following pages focus on the urban patterns and
characteristics of neighborhood residential areas.
Analysis of Portland’s residential areas, based on
the characteristics of the urban form elements
shown on pages 28 to 29, yielded identification of
six distinct neighborhood types. While generally
falling within the parameters of the three general
neighborhood pattern areas described previously,
the more focused residential area typologies analysis
resulted in division of the broad geographies into a
greater number of residential area types, some of
which occur across more than one of the broader
Patterns
geographies.
A great amount of attention was paid to the
residential areas in acknowledgement of the
consistent emphasis of most neighborhood plans
on the desirability of continuing neighborhood
character, especially in established residential
areas; and to explore the possibility of providing
clarity in the citywide Comprehensive Plan as to
what neighborhood characteristics are especially
important to continue or enhance into the future, in
the midst of ongoing change.
The range of characteristics identified in
the typology descriptions is not intended to
indicate that they are all valued and should be
continued. Rather, their inclusion is intended to
aid community discussion in identifying which of
these characteristics are especially valued; and to
1. Residential Areas
encourage community members to consider if there

might be other valued characteristics that might not
have been identified, but should be.
34
Inner-Ring Streetcar Era Mixed Era “Mosaic”
• Consistent pattern of rectilinear blocks, (typically 200'-deep) • Highly variable urban patterns reflective of a range of development eras
• Streets with sidewalks, planting strips, street trees • Residential streets typically lack sidewalks
• Fine-grain pattern of development, based on lots commonly 50' x 100' • Poor street connectivity in many areas
• Street-oriented buildings • Low-lying houses predominate
• Green-edge of front setbacks • Douglas firs a unifying aspect of the skyline
Patterns
Mixed-Form Hillside Postwar Uniform Suburban
• Gently rolling hills and occasional stream corridors • Consistent pattern of curvilinear streets, cul-de-sacs
• Mix of rectilinear and curvilinear block types • Regular pattern of wide lots
• Block and street structure often defies topography • Uniform, deep front setbacks and generous side yards
• Unimproved street segments sometimes include trail connections • Low-lying houses: 1-story ranches, split levels
• Abundant trees and vegetation • Lawns, ornamental landscaping, occasional Douglas Firs
Mountainside Clustered Topographical
• Dramatic topography and views • Curvilinear “rural” roads follow topography
• Curvilinear streets follow hill contours • Streams, forested slopes, natural areas course through the area
• Trails and stairways cut through blocks • Lacks an urban block structure
• Narrow streets, moderate connectivity • Houses set apart on large lots or clustered in cul-de-sacs
35
• Building orientation and forms vary with terrain • Topography, trees and vegetation dominate, rather than buildings
T
he urban form of Portland’s inner residential neighborhoods reflect their Streetcar Era origins.
Portland’s most geographically extensive neighborhood typology, these areas were originally
1a. Inner-Ring Streetcar Era platted in conjunction with the late 19th- and early 20th Century expansion of the streetcar system.
Streets where streetcar lines were located sometimes include “main street” business districts, where
streets are lined by clusters of storefront buildings directly abutting the sidewalks, in contrast to the
landscaped building setbacks typical of surrounding residential areas. Most of the urban fabric of the
inner neighborhoods is characterized by a consistent pattern of rectilinear blocks, with residential lots
approximately 50'-wide by 100'-deep (blocks with narrower lots and closely-set houses are common in
the innermost neighborhoods that originally developed during the Victorian era). This original platting
provides a fine-grain pattern of relatively small-scale buildings, the majority of which are detached
houses. Multifamily structures are most frequently found along or near the former streetcar lines or in
neighborhoods close to Downtown, and were often built on individual residential lots, continuing the
established development pattern.
Patterns
• Consistent pattern of rectilinear

blocks, typically 200'-deep
• Streets with sidewalks, planting
strips, street trees
• Fine-grain pattern of
development, based on lots
commonly 50' x 100' Block Structure and Street Patterns Ladd’s Addition, Montavilla and in the Foster-Powell
and Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhoods). Where alleys
The street system is typically rectilinear, with blocks
exist, they are typically narrow (from 11'- to 16'-
• Street-oriented buildings predominantly around 200'-deep. The oldest,
wide) and in varying levels of improvement (some
closest-in neighborhoods feature a continuation
• Green-edge of front setbacks are unimproved and do not provide vehicle access).
of Downtown Portland’s 200' by 200' block
system. The majority of the Inner Neighborhoods,

however, are characterized by elongated blocks that
Street Characteristics
continue the 200'-width in only one dimension, Residential street right-of-way is usually 50'- or 60'-
with the longer dimension of variable length, most wide, with paved roadway flanked on both sides
frequently between 400' and 600'. This fine-grain with concrete curbs, planting strips with street trees
pattern of blocks provides a highly interconnected and sidewalks. While a high degree of consistency
street system with frequent intersections. The in paved streets with sidewalks is characteristic of
inner neighborhoods are the only typology area in this typology, some areas toward the edges of the
Portland that includes mid-block alleys, although typology area (particularly toward the south and
they appear in only a minority of the area’s north) include street segments that are not fully
neighborhoods (there are notable concentrations improved.
36 of blocks with alleys in North Portland, Concordia,
Lot Patterns and Building Placement
Houses and other residential structures are most
commonly located on lots approximately 50'-wide
by 100'-deep, providing a consistent rhythm of
development along most street frontages. Houses
are typically detached and located toward the front
of their lots, providing for modest backyards. Small
accessory structures, most commonly detached
garages, are often located in this backyard area.
Houses on lots narrower than 50' are common in
close-in neighborhoods originally developed during
the Victorian Era (such as the Northwest District, Lair
Hill, Buckman and Eliot), where houses on lots as
narrow as 25' are often closely set with minimal side
setbacks. Side setbacks are more generous in most
other areas (around 5' from side property lines, and
wider where driveways are located to provide access
to rear garages). Other building setbacks also vary
Patterns
according to location and development era. Front
setbacks are shallow (approximately 5'-deep) in the
close-in Victorian neighborhoods. In neighborhoods
developed in the early 20th Century, front setbacks
are more typically around 10'. Deeper front setbacks
(around 25'-deep) are typical in areas originally
developed as affluent neighborhoods (Irvington,
Alameda, Laurelhurst, Eastmoreland, etc.) and in
outer portions of this typology area (developed in
the 1930s onward).
Street Right-of-Way
Variation in setback patterns and architecture: from closely-set Victorians in the inner-most neighborhoods to successively deeper setbacks along streets developed in the 1910s, then 1920s
and finally low-lying 1940s houses in outlying areas with generous front yards
37
Building Forms and Types Intensification
Detached houses predominate in most residential Development intensification in this typology area
areas. Buildings are typically oriented toward the has typically occurred on blocks originally platted
street, with prominent entry elements such as for detached houses. Up through the middle of the
porches or stoops, common in most areas. Building 20th Century, the fine-grain pattern of development
scale varies from one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half established by this platting was typically continued
stories in close areas, to lower-scale houses of one in the massing of multifamily structures, which
to one-and-a-half stories in outer areas. Common were often built individually on standard lots.
architectural styles and forms include various Larger structures, often built on double lots that
Victorian styles, Craftsman, Colonial and English had been occupied by large houses, also typically
and other 1920s eclectic styles in close-in areas, continued street frontage patterns by being divided
with bungalow and foursquare forms (often termed into building wings separated by courtyards.
“Old Portland” style) especially common in many Apartment development from the 1960s–1970s
neighborhoods. Cape Cods and Ranch houses are was characterized by greater discontinuity from
more common in outer areas. existing patterns, often occupying larger sites and
featuring front surface parking areas. The largest
Vegetation, Landscaping, concentrations of multifamily structures are located
and Natural Features in neighborhoods close to Downtown (such as the
Patterns
Northwest District) and along and near major streets

Residential streets are typically characterized by a
that originally served as streetcar lines. More recent
“green edge” of landscaped front setbacks, which
infill development has included rowhouses as well as
— in combination with planting strips and street
detached houses on 25'-wide lots (the latter often
trees — clearly differentiate residential streets from
built in areas originally platted in increments of 25'-
the hardscape of the typology area’s commercial
wide lots, but which had originally been developed
main streets. Raised lots are common in many areas.
with houses on combined lots).
Abundant neighborhood parks, typically planted
with trees and other vegetation, reinforce the green
character of neighborhood residential areas.
Other Distinctive Place Elements

Inner areas, developed during the early 20th
Century, feature horse rings imbedded in street
curbs. Inner residential areas also sometimes feature
occasional “corner store” type structures, located up
against sidewalks at corner locations (only a minority
of which still function as commercial uses).
Streetcar Era characteristics and details. From left: graphic shows common pattern of canopy created by street trees spanning the street space and parks located within the block structure,
street trees in Northeast Portland, former corner store (now housing), horse ring and main street storefronts in Northwest.
38
Notable Pattern Variations of
the Streetcar Era Typology
Ladd’s Addition St. John’s and Woodlawn

Ladd’s Addition was platted in the late 19th Century The street grids of the St. Johns and Woodlawn
in a distinctive geometric pattern that is unique areas stand out in contrast to the usual north–south
in Portland. With a formal symmetry echoing compass orientation of the inner neighborhoods
Renaissance cites and gardens, it is organized into block structure. Woodlawn’s grid is canted at a 45
a series of diagonal and right-angled streets that degree angle from the surrounding grid, reflecting
radiate out from a circular central park, with four its original orientation to the railway around which
secondary diamond-shaped parks planted with it was laid out. The St. Johns area has no less than
roses. Blocks are wider (ranging from 250' to 270') five different street grid orientations, four of which
Patterns
than is typical in the inner neighborhoods, and reflect early land claims that were oriented to
include narrow mid-block alleys that are 14'-wide different segments of the Willamette River. Junctions
and paved in concrete. between these different grids create irregularly-
shaped blocks, wedge-shaped lots and buildings and
bends in the street system that provide unusually
The following are examples of variations from varied streetscapes.
the usual block structure of the Streetcar Era
typology. Despite their differences, they generally
continue the typology’s characteristic right-of-way
elements, building types and its 200'-deep blocks
lined by 50'-wide lots.
Laurelhurst and Eastmoreland Alameda Ridge and Mt. Tabor
Blocks in the Laurelhurst and Eastmoreland Areas along the Alameda Ridge and near Mt.
neighborhoods generally have the 200' width typical Tabor include streets that depart from the Inner
in the inner neighborhoods, but depart from the Neighborhood grid in response to topography.
strict rectilinear grid that predominates elsewhere. Appearing from the air as wrinkles in the urban
Instead, streets are curvilinear, following Olmstedian fabric, some of these streets are curvilinear,
principles calling for winding streets with sweeping following hill contours. Along Alameda Ridge, other
curves that provide a picturesque streetscape. These streets are rectilinear but are oriented along the
areas’s deep front yards (typically at least 20'-deep) direction of the ridge. On some streets along steep
and broad planting strips with large street trees, slopes, houses are located close to the street with
contribute to a park-like environment. minimal front setbacks, and sometimes have only
small setbacks from adjacent houses.
39
T
he urban form of the majority of the residential areas of Eastern Portland (primarily east of Interstate
205, but also including the Cully neighborhood) is highly variable, reflective of incremental
1b. Mixed Era “Mosaic” development that occurred in different development eras, each period leaving its own distinct imprint
on the area’s street, block and lot structure. These areas were largely outside the city boundaries until the
1980s, before which development was often not provided with urban infrastructure such as sidewalks
and sewers. The major streets in this typology area began as rural roads, between which agricultural
holdings were urbanized in a patchwork manner over time, sometimes with only limited connectivity
between different developments. The area remains dependent on the widely-spaced, once rural roads for
through-street connections. The area includes some clusters of blocks that are continuations of the 200'-
deep block structure of the inner neighborhoods. During the Streetcar Era, the Springwater interurban line
near Johnson Creek provided access that resulted in the creation of large “junior acre” lots (sometimes
as deep as 400'), often built with modest bungalows. These large lots continue to provide opportunities
for new infill development. Much of the area’s former farmland, particularly in the north, was developed
incrementally in the Postwar Period with a mix of rectilinear and curvilinear street patterns and blocks,
typically developed with single-family lots larger than was typical in the Inner Neighborhoods.
Patterns
• Highly variable urban patterns

reflective of a range of
development eras
• Residential streets typically lack
sidewalks
• Poor street connectivity in many
areas
Block Structure and Street Patterns Street Characteristics
• Low-lying houses predominate The area includes a diverse patchwork of block Most residential streets are paved, but lack
structures and street patterns. It includes a few sidewalks. Right-of-way width of residential streets
• Douglas firs a unifying aspect of scattered areas, primarily toward the west, with is typically 50'-wide, and less frequently 60'. Many
the skyline rectilinear blocks following the Streetcar Era pattern areas lack curbs, and feature gravel shoulders or
(200'-deep). Other areas have oversized rectilinear have residential yards extending into the street
blocks (larger in dimension than the Streetcar Era right-of-way, blurring distinctions between private
blocks, with block widths ranging from around 270' property and street space. Because the area lacks
to 400'), curvilinear street systems with cul-de-sacs planting strips, street trees are uncommon, except
or consist of superblocks (sometimes more than in front of new development with sidewalks (the
600'-deep) — often with inserted subdivisions area’s trees are therefore mostly located in yards or
accessed by dead-end streets. The discontinuity in parks).
of the block and street system, with some blocks
over 1,000' in length (and occasionally up to 2,500'
long), results in a low-level of street connectivity in
40 large parts of this typology area.
Lot sizes and configurations are highly variable.
Modest residential lots are common, although
they are typically wider and larger than the inner
neighborhood pattern. Also common, in areas with
large blocks, are very deep lots that can range from
around 200' to even 400' in depth (these large
lots were needed to accommodate on-site septic
systems, which were necessary before sewers were
extended to the area in the 1980s and 1990s).
Flag lots and other irregularly-shaped lots are
widespread, particularly in areas with large blocks
and deep lots. Houses are typically located toward
the front of lots, leaving space for relatively large
back yards, except where flag lots and other mid-
block development has occurred. Front setbacks vary
by area and block, but are often at least 20'-deep
(and may be 50' or more in areas with deep lots),
Patterns
leaving ample room for trees and other vegetation.
Street Right-of-Way
From left: Unpaved street with Douglas Firs located within the street right-of-way, graphic showing common pattern of trees in mid-block areas, 1920s house set among Douglas Firs, newer
infill house and discontinuous sidewalk.
41
Building Forms and Types Other Distinctive Place Elements
Detached houses predominate, and are typically Several buttes (including Kelly, Powell and Clatsop
low-lying in form (often one to one-and-a-half buttes and Mt. Scott) serve as prominent landmarks,
stories, although recent development is often two whose trees also help reinforce the area’s green
stories in height). Postwar architectural styles and skyline.
forms, such as Cape Cod, ranches and split-level
houses, are most common; although bungalows Intensification
and other early-20th Century house types are This typology area has been the location of a large
found in some areas. Front garages are common, portion of Portland’s residential infill development,
but the wide lots allow most street frontage to be due to opportunities provided by the area’s relatively
landscaped and for houses to include front doors large, deep lots after sewers became available in the
and windows that provide an orientation to the 1990s, after annexation. Much of this development
street. Flag lots and other mid-block development intensification has occurred in mid-block areas,
result in many buildings that do not face the public sometimes replacing clusters of trees. Frequently,
street. this new development preserves existing houses
toward the front of sites, with new structures
Vegetation, Landscaping, inserted into the middle of the block, sometimes on
and Natural Features flag lots. Dead-end streets or private drives provide
Patterns
Ample trees and other vegetation are often the access to these mid-block buildings, sometimes
most visually prominent elements along residential occupying large portions of site area. Higher-density
streets, due to the frequently wide lots, deep residential development is concentrated along
setbacks and low-lying houses. Groves of Douglas or near major streets, sometimes in the form of
Fir, often spanning multiple properties, are a clusters of low-rise buildings on large sites.
defining feature of the area’s skyline (the David
Douglas School District, located in this typology
area, honors the Scottish botanist for whom the
Douglas Fir was named, highlighting the importance
of these trees to the area’s identity).
From left: Kelly Butte, ranch house and firs, infill development brings contrast and a mid-block grove of Douglas Firs
42
T
his typology area covers a large portion of Southwest Portland, to the west of the steep slopes of the
West Hills. Much of this area consists of gently rolling hills, with occasional forested stream corridors.
1c. Mixed-Form Hillside Primarily residential, most of the area was developed with houses on modest lots during the Postwar
period, made possible by the expanded access provided by widespread automobile ownership, although
some of its urban fabric dates from the Streetcar Era. Characteristic of the urban form of this area is a
mix of rectilinear and curvilinear block types, whose streets often defy topographical limitations. Much
of this variability is the result of the many small subdivisions created when small farms urbanized in the
1930s–1950s. The area includes a considerable amount of unimproved streets, some of which provide trail
connects between streets or through natural areas.
Patterns
• Gently rolling hills and occasional
stream corridors
• Mix of rectilinear and curvilinear
block types Block Structure and Street Patterns Street Characteristics
• Block and street structure often This typology includes a few areas that were platted The area’s streets typically do not have sidewalks
defies topography near interurban rail lines during the Streetcar Era, and usually lack curbs. Right-of-way width of
with the 200'-deep block structure typical of the residential streets is typically 50', although widths
• Unimproved street segments period. Most of the area, however, is characterized of 40' or 60' are also common in some areas. Paved
by a mix of block types. The area has a fairly even areas are usually narrower than the right-of-way,
sometimes include trail mix and distribution of large rectilinear blocks into which lawns and vegetation extend from
connections (which are often 280'-deep and sometimes 300'- or adjacent properties. The connectivity of the area’s
400'-deep) and curvilinear blocks. The area’s block street grid is interrupted by a large number of street
• Abundant trees and vegetation and street structure is occasionally interrupted by segments that are not paved, sometimes providing
streams. Blocks are often relatively lengthy, providing no through connection for vehicles. Some of these
only a moderate level of street connectivity. unimproved street segments have trail connections,
Street and block patterns in the area often do not providing additional connectivity for pedestrians and
correspond to topography. Curvilinear blocks are access to parks and natural areas.
frequently located in relatively flat areas, while
rectilinear street grids sometimes march up hillsides;
the latter sometimes results in straight, steep streets
with expansive views and a vertical dynamic.
43
Lot patterns and shapes vary according to block
type, but are usually of moderate size (commonly
ranging from 7,000 to 10,000 square feet) and
relatively wide. Houses are typically located toward
the front of their lots, leaving room for backyards.
Front setbacks vary by area, but are usually at least
20'-deep. Houses are separated from side property
lines by setbacks that are usually at least 5'-deep.
Most houses are located along streets, although
there are also occasional flag lots.
Building Forms and Types

Detached houses predominate and are often
low-lying in form (frequently one to one-and-a-
half stories, although more recent construction is
typically two stories). Postwar architectural styles
and forms, such as Cape Cods, ranches and split-
Patterns
levels are common, as are more contemporary

styles. These houses are often oriented with their
longer dimensions facing the street and include
attached front garages. Also found in some areas
are bungalows, English Cottage and other early 20th
Century house types.
Street Right-of-Way
These images capture some of the diversity of housing in the mixed-form hillside typology. Left image shows a house along a creek ravine. The diagram shows common block structure and
open space characteristics, such as tree canopy that is mostly within private property due to the lack of street trees.
44
Vegetation, Landscaping, Intensification
and Natural Features Most of the area is platted into modest lots with
The area is characterized by rolling hills with single-family houses, a pattern that is largely
abundant vegetation, a context provided by groves supported by the area’s predominantly single-
of Douglas Firs and other trees, together with dwelling zoning. Multifamily housing exists primarily
occasional stream corridors and ravines. Along in the form of complexes of low-rise apartment
residential streets, relatively wide lots and deep front buildings on large sites, located along or near
setbacks provide ample opportunity for a green major streets or highways. Where development
street edge of front lawns and gardens. While few intensification has occurred on sites within the urban
streets have planting strips with street trees, some fabric of residential streets, it has been in the form
major streets are lined by a dense tunnel of trees of the development of infill houses on oversized or
and other vegetation. vacant lots, replacement of modest houses with
larger structures, occasional flat lot development on
Other Distinctive Place Elements deep sites, or rowhouse or duplex development on
small sites near commercial areas.
A network of urban trails and pedestrian
connections, sometimes using unimproved
right-of-way, are a distinct feature of the area,
Patterns
highlighting this area’s integration of nature into the
urban grid of streets and blocks.
These images include a variety of street views typical of neighborhoods in this typology area and show the impact of hilly typology on the streetscape
45
T
his typology includes areas in both Eastern and Western Portland that were developed as cohesively
planned communities during the Postwar period and onward. At this time, automobile ownership
1d. Postwar Uniform Suburban was becoming more widespread, so development could continue in areas distant from Downtown
and transit lines. These communities reflect Federal Housing Administration guidelines that recommended
curvilinear street patterns and generous, landscaped setbacks. Houses typically include attached garages,
and this typology’s relatively wide lots, separation of single-family areas from commercial districts, and lack
of sidewalks in some areas reflect their development during a period in which access by private automobile
was prioritized. Reflecting their origins as planned communities, some areas within this typology include
systems of open spaces and recreational walkways.
Patterns
• Consistent pattern of curvilinear

streets, cul-de-sacs
• Regular pattern of wide lots
• Uniform, deep front setbacks and Block Structure and Street Patterns Lot Patterns and Building Placement
generous side yards The areas within this typology are characterized Residential lots follow a consistent pattern of
by curvilinear streets with relatively infrequent relatively wide lots, typically ranging from 7,000
• Low-lying houses: 1-story intersections, organically-shaped blocks of variable to 9,000 square feet in size. Uniformly deep front
ranches, split levels dimensions, and occasional cul-de-sacs. Some setbacks and generous side setbacks and backyards
areas, notably in the Argay neighborhood, include are reflected in the Glendoveer Plan District
• Lawns, ornamental landscaping, networks of mid-block green spaces with walkways. regulations, which require lots to be at least 70'-
occasional Douglas Firs wide with 30'-front setbacks and 10'-side setbacks.
Streets are paved and feature concrete curbs. Building Forms and Types
Residential street right-of-way is usually 50', and Detached houses predominate, and are typically
sometimes 60'. Presence of sidewalks varies by low-lying in form (often one to one-and-a-half
neighborhood. Some streets include narrow planting stories, although recent development is often two
strips, which are usually planted in grass and have stories in height). Mid-20th Century architectural
few trees. A relatively high portion of the right- styles and forms, particularly ranches and split-level
of-way is occupied by paved roadway, providing the houses, predominate. Front garages are common,
appearance of broad, sweeping streets. but the wide lots allow most street frontage to be
landscaped and for houses to include front door and
windows that provide an orientation to the street.
46
Vegetation, Landscaping,
and Natural Features
Lawns and ornamental landscaping are predominant
features along street frontages. Combined with the
deep front setbacks, low-lying houses, residential
driveways and lack of street trees, this provides a
very open streetscape. Street layout and lot grading
sometimes emphasizes a setting of gently-rolling
hills.

“Atomic-age” architectural details in mail boxes,
railings and fences are recurring features. Occasional
Douglas Firs and other evergreen trees provide
vertical elements in the skyline.
Intensification
Patterns
Relatively little infill development has occurred
within these areas, because of their uniform platting
into modest residential lots and due to zoning
that typically supports continuation of the existing
patterns. Multifamily housing exists in clusters or
“pods” of garden apartments on large sites, typically
adjacent to major streets or highways, and is not
typically found on blocks platted for single-family
housing.
Street Right-of-Way
From left: Curvilinear streets, carefully-planned street and open space systems, ornamental landscaping and mid-century architectural details (shown on a school) are common in the postwar
uniform suburban typology areas.
47
T
his typology includes southern portions of Portland’s West Hills (Tualatin Mountains) as well as parts
of the Pleasant Valley area of Eastern Portland. Characteristic of these areas are hilly, forested terrain
1e. Clustered Topographical with a rural character. They include frequent, large patches of lushly-vegetated hillsides and stream
corridors. Residential development is typically in the form of houses on large, forested lots or clusters of
houses on cul-de-sacs. Winding “rural” roads provide transportation connections in these areas, which
generally lack an interconnected urban block structure or sidewalks, but have a rich network of forested
natural areas and corridors. Street environments in these areas are typically defined by trees and lush
vegetation, rather than buildings.
Patterns
• Curvilinear “rural” roads follow

topography
• Streams, forested slopes, natural
areas course through the area Block Structure and Street Patterns Lot Patterns and Building Placement
The areas within the Clustered Topographical Houses set among trees on large lots are
• Lacks an urban block structure typology generally do not have an urban block characteristic of this typology. These houses often
structure of interconnected streets. Instead, winding have deep, heavily vegetated front setbacks and
• Houses set apart on large lots or rural roads provide access to houses on large lots frequently have little orientation to the street. Recent
clustered in cul-de-sacs or to groupings of houses on cul-de-sacs, clustered development typically consists of houses clustered
to minimize environmental impacts (housing on modest lots arranged around cul-de-sacs, often
• Topography, trees and vegetation developments often include conservation tracts set set into natural areas. These clustered houses are
dominate, rather than buildings aside to preserve natural areas). typically large, with high lot coverage and often
relatively small building setbacks.

Streets are typically curvilinear in response to Building Forms and Types
topography, streams or other natural features. Most The area’s detached houses include a wide variety of
streets are paved but typically do not have curbs or forms and architectural styles, predominantly from
sidewalks. Sidewalks, often curb-tight, exist primarily the second half of the 20th Century. These include
in the newer cul-de-sac developments. Residential ranches, split-levels, rustic and International modern
street right-of-way is usually 50', and sometimes 60'. examples and large contemporary houses; ranging in
Lawn and vegetation often extends from private scale from one to two-and-a-half stories.
property into the right-of-way. In southwestern
areas, trails complement the street system, providing
48 connections through and between natural areas.
Stream corridors (including Tryon, Arnold and
Johnson creeks) and forested hillsides define the
form and character of the areas within this typology.
Houses or clusters of houses are set within forest,
providing a context in which trees, rather than
buildings, predominate.

The trees, lush vegetation and winding roads
combine to provide a setting that is more rural than
urban.
Intensification
Development intensification typically consists of
compact clusters of houses oriented around cul-
Patterns
de-sacs, often edged by preserved natural areas.
Although this clustered development is distinct in
form from the area’s older houses on large lots,
they share the characteristic of being placed within
a natural setting. The low-density zoning and the
environmental overlay zones that apply to stream
corridors in the areas within this typology foster a
continuation of these characteristics (the clustered
developments were typically created as planned
communities, or “PUDs,” and regulations continue
to encourage clustering of development outside of
sensitive areas).
Street
Street Right-of-Way
Right-of-Way
These images show some of the contrast common in neighborhoods with clustered topographical characteristics, such as tight clusters of newer houses adjacent to forested natural areas,
low-lying older houses set among trees and the very different scale of much larger newer houses.
49
T
his typology is located in portions of the West Hills (Tualatin Mountains) located close to Central
Portland. The steep topography of the West Hills shapes the form of the built environment of this
1f. Mountainside area, which is characterized by narrow, curvilinear streets that follow hill contours; houses whose
form and placement is shaped by hillside conditions and view opportunities; and by stairways and trails
that provide pedestrian connections where street connectivity was not practical. Incremental development
and redevelopment from the early part of the 20th Century through today provides a great diversity of
residential architecture, including notable houses designed by Portland’s most prominent architects. The
area’s forested hillsides provide a background of green for the Central Portland neighborhoods below.
Patterns
• Dramatic topography and views

• Curvilinear streets follow hill
contours
Block Structure and Street Patterns Lot Patterns and Building Placement
• Trails and stairways cut through The area’s street system is shaped by the topography Residential lots are usually moderate in size, and
blocks of the West Hills. Streets are curvilinear, following are often wedge- or irregularly-shaped, rather than
contours of the hills. Stairways and trail connections rectilinear. Building placement, orientation and
• Narrow streets, moderate provide additional pedestrian access up steep slopes setbacks vary according to topography. On lots that
connectivity and through blocks. Most of the area does not have slope downward from the street frontage, houses
a rigid system of urban blocks, but the winding are frequently located close to the street with
• Building orientation and forms streets are arranged in relatively tight clusters, minimal front setbacks. On lots that slope upward
vary with terrain providing a moderate level of street connectivity. from the street, houses are sometimes set high up
and away from the street. In many areas, houses are
Street Characteristics closely-set, with narrow side setbacks. Backyards are

Streets are typically paved, but many streets lack sometimes minimal, or are steeply-sloped with little
curbs or sidewalks. Sidewalks exist in some areas, useable or accessible area.
usually in older neighborhoods in eastern portions
of the typology area. Streets are often narrow (40'-
and 30'-wide right-of-way are common), reflecting
constraints of the steep slopes. Where sidewalks
do exist, they are often curb tight, without planting
strips or street trees or exist on only one side of the
street.
50
Building Forms and Types
Detached houses predominate, but vary significantly
in their form in response to topography. Houses
on lots that slope downward from street frontages
often appear as modest one-to-two story houses
along the street, but can be up to four stories at
their rear elevations. Conversely, houses on lots
that slope upward from streets may tower high
over the street, but have a single level up against
slopes to their rear. Many houses are set up on
stilts, extending over downward portions of slopes.
This typology area includes a great diversity of
architectural styles, ranging from Craftsman,
Colonial and Tudor and other Period Revival styles
built in the first decades of the 20th Century to
Northwest Regional and other modern housing
styles from more recent decades. Houses from
the earlier periods typically have a strong street
Patterns
orientation, with prominent main entrances and
windows facing the street. More modern houses
are often oriented toward views with carports or
garages serving as primary features along the street
This typology area is very much defined by its steep
topography, forested hillsides and networks of parks
and forested open space. Along residential streets,
gardens and ornamental landscaping are common,
particularly in older neighborhoods.
Street
Right-of-Way
From left: steep hillsides with sweeping views; narrow, winding streets; occasional stairway connections; and
hillsides covered with trees are characteristic of the mountainside typology areas.
51
Other distinctive aspects include dramatic views, 1g. Riverfront Communities and other Anomalous Areas
mossy stone retaining walls (sometimes with garages
set into them) and streetscapes defined by tightly-
curved streets.
Intensification
Slopes closest to Downtown include some
multifamily structures or attached housing on
relatively small sites. As with the area’s houses,
the form and orientation of these structures are
highly variable, in response to topography and view
opportunities. A unique example of intensification
on the area’s narrow, tightly-curved streets is found
in the Northwestern corner of King’s Hill, where
multifamily structures are located up against narrow,
winding streets only 25'-wide, providing streetscape
characteristics evocative of Italian hill towns.
Patterns
Not all of Portland’s residential areas are imbedded within the neighborhood typologies described
in this section. Among these are a diverse variety of riverfront communities scattered along different
parts of the Willamette and Columbia rivers (including the Sellwood waterfront, John’s Landing area,
Bridgeton and Hayden Island). They include house boat communities, clusters of waterfront apartment
or condominium buildings and riverside manufactured home complexes. These areas generally do
not have an urban block structure or street orientation. Instead, they are oriented to the waterfront
(or, in the case of houseboats, are on the water) and generally accessed by private streets or drives.
Apartment or condominium buildings in these areas are typically arranged in complexes on large
waterfront sites, sometimes adjacent to marinas.
Housing on Hayden Island (left) and a waterfront community in Bridgeton
Houses set close to the street (upper) and a narrow lane

52
on King’s Hill
2. Mixed Use Centers
Central City and Other Centers
The mixed-use centers described in the following
pages are relatively intensely-urbanized areas of the
Regional Hierarchy of Centers:
city that stand apart in their form from surrounding
residential areas. These pages provide summary Central City
descriptions of the basic urban form characteristics
2d Portland’s most intensely urbanized area. Serves
of Portland’s mixed use centers, including the
the entire region as its most prominent center for
Central City, the Gateway regional center and its
finance, commerce, government and culture.
five town centers (this does not include the Raleigh
Hills town center, only a small portion of which
is in Portland). All these centers are intended to 2c Regional Centers
be transit- and pedestrian-oriented places where 2a Intended to serve an area of hundreds of thousands
commercial services, housing, employment and 2b of people.
community amenities are concentrated.
Patterns
2f
Town Centers
Typically located at major transportation crossroads,
the urban form of many of the centers reflects 2e Intended to provide localized services to tens of
their roles as transportation hubs and places of 2g thousands of people in surrounding neighborhoods
concentrated commercial activity. Outside of within a two- to three-mile radius.
the Central City, Gateway and Hollywood allow
buildings significantly taller (more than 100'-high)
than what is allowed in nearby commercial corridors
and residential areas. The other centers are intended
to have low- to mid-rise buildings (mostly limited
to 45' in height) similar in scale to that allowed in 2a. Central City 2e. Lents
mixed-use main streets and corridors. A broader,
less linear geographic coverage and larger areas
zoned for multidwelling housing, differentiates most
of the centers from the mixed-use main streets and
corridors. The following pages briefly describe their
basic urban form characteristics as they currently 2b. Gateway 2f. Hillsdale
exist, as well as their intended future forms. Most
of the centers have been the focus of community
plans, which can be referenced for more detailed
information.
2c. Hollywood 2g. West Portland
2. Centers
2d. St. Johns
53
2a. Central City
Portland’s Central City is the region’s most highly urbanized area. Its
characteristics are complex and are a focus of the Central Portland Plan
and previous planning documents, which should be referenced for more
information. The descriptions below summarize basic elements of the Central
City’s urban fabric that differentiate it from the rest of the city. In turn, this
provides a comprehensive perspective of Portland’s overall urban form, of which
the Central City is a part, and provides information on how the form of the
Central City and the surrounding neighborhoods interrelate.
A fundamental characteristic of the Central City is its 200' by 200' block
structure and corresponding highly interconnected street system. Multi-story
buildings typically occupy most of each block, with little or no setback from
sidewalks. This full-block building coverage, and the sense of urban enclosure
Patterns
it provides, contrasts with the patterns of detached structures prevalent in

surrounding neighborhoods. Streets are fully improved with roadway, curbs,
tree wells and sidewalks.
The Downtown core of the Central City is distinct from the surrounding
neighborhoods not only in its scale and urban patterns, but it is also separated
by geographic boundaries: to the east, the Willamette River, across which
bridges provide a limited number of entry points into Downtown; westward,
the West Hills provide a very different boundary as well as a green backdrop for
Downtown. The limited number of major roads that come into the Central City
from the west (including W Burnside, Highway 26, Terwilliger and Barbur) are
flanked by forest through the West Hills, providing the effect of a green belt
around Downtown and reinforcing a sense of transition and entry. Some of the
variation within the Central City is summarized in the following descriptions.
2. Centers
54
Central City Pattern Areas
The Central City is composed of numerous smaller
areas that each have their own urban form
characteristics. Each are explored here:
A. Downtown Core
B. River District
C. Goose Hollow
D. South Auditorium
E. South Waterfront A. Downtown Core B. River District
F. University District • Includes Portland’s primary concentration of • Includes the Pearl District with its full-block,
G. Lloyd District and Coliseum Area high-rise buildings. warehouse-scale buildings, industrial loading
Patterns
• Has less of a hierarchy of major and minor docks on 13th Avenue, newer buildings with
H. Lower Albina and Central Eastside mid-block courtyards and emerging series of
streets compared to other parts of the city
due to a relatively consistent pattern of street park blocks (including Jamison Square and
widths. The right-of-way of Downtown’s east- Tanner Springs Park).
west streets is typically 60'-wide, while most • Also includes the Old Town area, with its finer-
north-south streets in the Downtown core are grain pattern of smaller, historic partial-block
H 80'-wide. buildings.
• Streets prominent due to their size and
distinctive role in the Central City’s street
G system include Burnside and Naito Parkway,
while the transit mall on Fifth and Sixth avenues
B serves as the transit spine for Downtown and
the River District.
• Downtown’s street grid is oriented to the river’s
C alignment, which is particularly apparent where
A
this grid meets the north-south oriented grid
H in the River District that begins at Burnside,
resulting in triangular blocks and buildings.
F • Other prominent features include the public
D spaces of the Willamette Riverfront, Pioneer
Courthouse Square, the South Park Blocks with
their concentration of cultural institutions and
2. Centers
churches and the Lownsdale Square area to
E which City Hall and other civic buildings are
oriented.
• Downtown’s pattern of full-block building
coverage becomes less consistent in the West
End sub-area.
55
Patterns
C. Goose Hollow D. South Auditorium E. University District

• Provides a transition from the full-block • Features a network of pedestrianized streets • The location of Portland State University,
building coverage of the Downtown Core that largely continue the street grid. oriented around the southern end of the South
to the finer-grain pattern of surrounding • The pedestrian ways connect a series of parks Park Blocks. The streets flanking the South
neighborhoods; partial-block building massing, distributed in a north-south axis through the Park Blocks in this district have mostly been
detached structures and landscaped setbacks center of the district. pedestrianized, providing a strong interface
become more prevalent in Goose Hollow’s between the park space and adjacent buildings
western areas. • Buildings are set back behind front landscaping, that is unusual in Portland.
and include a combination of mid-20th Century
• A distinguishing characteristic is its topography, residential towers and horizontally-oriented • The Central City block structure is continued,
which slopes upward into the West Hills. commercial buildings. but with most streets in its western portion
• Includes large superblocks occupied by Lincoln pedestrianized. These pedestrian ways
• The district’s major streets (Lincoln, Harrison incorporate landscaping and small plazas in
High School and PGE (Civic) Park stadium. and First Avenue) are boulevards with treed what was once street area.
and vegetated center medians and planting
strips. This, combined with the landscaped
setbacks, park vegetation and rows of trees
along the pedestrian ways, provide the district
with a lushly green environment that contrasts
with the hardscape of the Downtown core.
2. Centers
56
Patterns
F. South Waterfront G. Lloyd District and Coliseum Area H. Central Eastside and Lower Albina
• This emerging district is characterized by • Distinguished from the rest of the Central City • Primarily small-block industrial districts (see
narrow high-rise towers, typically set atop low- by its many superblocks, sometimes the size Industrial Districts typology).
rise podiums. of multiple standard Central City blocks and • The Grand & Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard
• Features a distinctive hierarchy of rights-of-way, correspondingly larger buildings. corridor serves as the Central Eastside’s north/
with a series of streets extending from the • The largest superblocks are occupied by the south commercial spine.
riverfront that have a landscaped character Lloyd Center shopping mall (mostly separated • Lower Albina includes the Russell Street
with limited vehicle access. from surrounding streets by structured Conservation District, a small main street cluster
• The aerial tram and its supporting towers serve parking), the Oregon Convention Center and of mostly small commercial buildings that is a
as an iconic feature. the Rose Quarter sports complex. remnant of the historic downtown of the City
• Buildings along the river are oriented to the • Most blocks include a low-level of building of Albina. It also includes some a large-block
greenway. coverage, with surface parking lots a common heavy industrial area near the riverfront.
feature.
2. Centers
57
2b. Gateway Regional Center
Existing
• Located at the junction of the I-84 and I-205 freeways, and served by three
light rail lines, Gateway occupies a key transportation crossroads.
• Anchored at north and south ends by “big box” retail centers with large
areas of surface parking.
• Large blocks predominate, providing relatively infrequent street
connectivity.
• Several multi-lane streets provide connectivity through Gateway. Many
secondary streets lack sidewalks.
• Between the north and south retail areas is a highly-parcelized, mixed
residential and industrial area.
• Low-rise buildings predominate, including single-level retail with large
Patterns
surface parking lots, an area of small storefront buildings along NE Halsey,

light industrial sites, small office buildings, clusters of older low-rise
multifamily buildings, newer mid-rise housing and low-lying single-family
houses at its edges.
• Gateway’s southern end includes a medical center, schools and senior
housing situated in landscaped, campus-like settings.
• Public open spaces are concentrated in the center’s southeast corner and
include the East Portland Community Center, the adjacent Floyd Light
Middle School and a nearby pocket park at the junction of Stark and
Washington streets.
Future
The Gateway Regional Center is Portland’s only designated regional center. The
area is envisioned to redevelop into a highly-urbanized, pedestrian- and transit-
oriented center, with an overall built size and scale second only to Portland’s
Central City. Reflective of this intention, buildings are allowed up to 150' in
height in parts of Gateway’s core. The district’s public realm is intended to
feature improved pedestrian facilities and connections and additional public
plazas and parks.
2. Centers
58
2c. Hollywood Town Center
Existing
• Features relatively large commercial buildings adjacent to sidewalks,
clustered along and north of Sandy Boulevard.
• Includes large areas occupied by surface parking lots.
• The center’s grid of rectangular blocks is cut through by Sandy Boulevard
(80'-wide, 5 lanes), creating triangular street corners and buildings.
• A light rail station is located at its southern edge.
• Located adjacent to I-84, which provides direct freeway connections,
but freeway access courses through the district and — combined with
the Sandy Boulevard diagonal — complicates circulation, wayfinding and
compromises the pedestrian environment.
• Residential blocks with typical Streetcar Era development patterns at edges.
Patterns
• Public spaces include the light rail station area, Harold Kelley plaza (a
converted street segment) and several triangular public properties — some
of which feature stormwater gardens. The weekly Hollywood Farmers
Market occupies a portion of a surface parking lot and public street space
when open.
Future
Plans for the Hollywood Town Center call for Hollywood to become the location
of a concentration of commercial and residential uses in multi-story buildings,
with the tallest buildings (up to 120'-high) focused near the light rail station
and a future public plaza. The center’s commercial core would continue to be
located along and north of Sandy Boulevard. Buildings should transition in
height to the surrounding residential areas. Building design and orientation
is intended to foster a pedestrian-oriented environment, complemented by
additional pedestrian amenities and urban green spaces.
2. Centers
59
2d. St. Johns Town Center
Existing
• Owes its existence and some of its civic buildings to its origins as the
downtown of the once independent City of St. Johns.
• Located at the confluence of several street grids with contrasting
orientations, providing a distinctively varied block and street structure.
• Commercial uses are clustered along the Lombard main street spine, which
is lined by small storefront buildings (mostly one or two stories tall).
• The center’s larger or attached buildings and surface parking lots set it
apart from the form of the surrounding residential areas, which feature
typical Streetcar Era development patterns.
• Features the iconic St. John’s Bridge toward the west and views of the
West Hills.
Patterns
• An added visual dynamic is created by the slope downward toward the

river.
• Public spaces include Cathedral Park, a small corner plaza at the center of
the Lombard main street area, a landscaped triangular “gateway” island at
the eastern end of the Lombard main street and school grounds.
Future
Plans for the St. Johns Town Center call for additional commercial and residential
development to be accommodated in ways that enhance St. John’s identity as
a “small town within a city.” Buildings in the town center are generally limited
to 45'. The Lombard main street is intended to be reinforced as the focus of
the area’s commercial activity, new development should respect community
scale and patterns, and the pedestrian environment and public places should be
enhanced. Toward the west, the area’s hillside character and connections to the
river should be fostered.
2. Centers
60
2e. Lents Town Center
Existing
• Anchored by a small commercial core, which includes storefront
commercial remnants (along SE 92nd) from its origins as a Streetcar Era
commercial district.
• Lents’ commercial core is dwarfed in size by the nearby 82nd Avenue
commercial corridor.
• Buildings are primarily one to two stories, with a few newer multi-story
buildings.
• Large areas are occupied by surface parking lots.
• I-205 and access ramps cut through the center, providing convenient
freeway access but compromising the pedestrian environment.
• Future light rail station to open along I-205.
Patterns
• Large undeveloped industrially-zoned area (“Freeway Lands”) toward the
southeast.
• Residential blocks with typical Streetcar Era development patterns at edges.
• Public spaces include a small corner plaza at 92nd and Foster, where the
Lents International Farmers Market is held, and Lents Park is nearby to the
north.
Future
The Lents Town Center is intended to become the location of a concentration of
commercial, residential and employment uses, with new development and street
amenities designed to support a pedestrian-oriented environment. Buildings in
portions of the core of the town center can be up to 65'-high.
2. Centers
61
2f. Hillsdale Town Center
Existing
• Focused on a small commercial core of single-level retail buildings with
surface parking lots along SW Capitol Highway.
• School grounds (Wilson High School, Rieke Elementary) occupy a large
portion of the center’s core.
• Includes a few large sites with clusters of low-rise multifamily buildings
near the core toward the west.
• Residential blocks with a typical variety of “Mixed Form Hillside” block
types and development patterns are located at the center’s edges
(including rectilinear blocks with a variety of compass orientations and
areas with curvilinear streets).
• Fanno Creek and other streams course through parts of the town center.
Patterns
• Public spaces include large school grounds and the nearby Terwilliger
Boulevard green spaces. A school parking lot is used for the weekly
Hillsdale Farmers Market.
Future
Plans for the Hillsdale Center call for its enhancement as a pedestrian-oriented
vibrant hub for the community with additional amenities and services and a
concentration of housing. Buildings in the center’s core are limited to 45' in
height and are intended to be compatible with Hillsdale’s scale and character.
Policies place an emphasis on preserving and enhancing the Hillsdale area’s
natural setting, its greenery, trees and parks.
2. Centers
62
2g. West Portland Town Center
Existing
• Located at the heavily-trafficked crossroads of three multi-lane highways
(the I-5 freeway, Barbur Boulevard, Capitol Highway).
• Low-rise commercial buildings with large surface parking lots are scattered
along Barbur Boulevard, separated by the intersecting highways.
• The center is part of, and not clearly differentiated in its form from, the
Barbur Boulevard commercial corridor.
• Includes a park-and-ride transit center with a large area of surface parking
located on a site near the middle of the center.
• Low-rise apartment building complexes with surface parking lots are
clustered toward the center’s southwestern end.
• Residential blocks with single-family houses predominate at the center’s
Patterns
edges.
• The center area includes two creeks (Woods and Falling).
• Public spaces include the forested Woods Memorial Park to the north
and the nearby Jackson Middle School and Markham Elementary school
grounds.
Future
The West Portland Town Center does not have policies specific to its future.
Policies applicable generally for town centers in Southwest Portland call for
them to accommodate the area’s highest density of residential and employment
uses, provide commercial vitality, evolve into transit- and pedestrian-oriented
places, provide transitions to the scale and character of adjacent neighborhoods,
and protect creeks and waterways. Development allowances in the town center
limit building heights to 45', the same as applies to the rest of the Barbur
Boulevard commercial corridor.
A Note on Other Commercial Areas

Other large commercial districts include Cascade Station, Jantzen Beach and
Delta Park. These areas are large-format retail centers anchored by “big box”
2. Centers
retail and feature large surface parking lots. Unlike the mixed-use centers,
main streets and corridors, these retail centers are not closely integrated into
urban neighborhoods, but instead, they stand apart from the urban fabric
and serve a primarily regional retail function.
63
3. Industrial Districts
The Urban Pattern of Portland’s Working Districts
Portland’s industrial districts have their own
distinctive urban patterns and characteristics,
which the Comprehensive Plan calls for continuing.
Some industrial areas include natural resource
features, such as riverbanks and other wetlands,
whose continuation and enhancement are a focus
of existing policies and regulations. There is less 3a. Small-Block Urban Industrial
clarity as to what, if any, characteristics of the
built environment of industrial districts should be These industrial districts, Portland’s oldest, are
continued or fostered in the future. Continuation located in, or close to, the Central City. These
of industrial district characteristics has tended to districts share the Central City’s pattern of small,
become a priority only after a district transitions 200' by 200' blocks. Most streets include sidewalks,
to other uses, such as in the case of the formerly and sometimes include street trees. However, streets
Patterns
industrial Pearl District. This is due, in part, to the that include (or formerly included) railway tracks
importance of providing flexibility to accommodate typically do not have sidewalks, and instead feature
the functional needs of industrial uses; although it raised loading docks. Buildings typically occupy most
may be possible to also continue some urban form of each block, and are built up to the sidewalk with
characteristics that may be particularly valued by the no setbacks, providing a sense of urban enclosure to
community. the street environment. Building scale ranges from
single-level to multi-story.
While each industrial district includes a great degree
of variability in its physical characteristics, reflective • Concentrated in low-lying The Small-Block Urban Industrial Districts include the
of the functional needs of a wide range of industrial riverfront areas. Inner Eastside, southern portions of the Northwest
activities, this section classifies districts according Industrial District and Lower Albina. Much of the
to some basic, shared characteristics. The industrial • Variety of industrial districts with Pearl District, now a mixed use area, shares their
districts referred to in this section correspond to distinct urban forms. urban form characteristics. These districts are
those described in the Industrial Districts Atlas. This generally located in close proximity to non-industrial
section focuses on the larger industrial districts in • Inner areas share Central City’s areas, to which their street systems are sometimes
the inner city and the Columbia corridor, and does pattern of small blocks. closely integrated.
not address the small industrial areas scattered in
other areas of Portland. • Large-block industrial districts
shaped by industrial needs and
3. Industrial Areas
functions.
• Block structure and building forms
in some areas shaped by railroads
and rail spurs.
• Columbia slough and greenery
courses through the Columbia
Corridor districts
64
Relationship to
Industrial Districts Atlas
The Industrial Districts Atlas uses a typology that
classifies districts based on industrial function,
rather than by their urban form characteristics as
described in this section. Specifically, the Atlas
3b. Large-Block Industrial 3c. Columbia Corridor Industrial classifies districts as either “Freight Hub Districts”
or as “Mixed Industrial/Employment Districts”.
These industrial districts are characterized by large These districts share some characteristics with the The classifications used in this section of the
blocks, with a mix of large-footprint industrial Large-Block Industrial Districts, but are distinguished Urban Form Report are not intended to minimize
buildings (warehouses, manufacturing facilities, by their juxtaposition with the natural areas that the importance of a functional classification, but
etc.) and large paved areas. Riverfront areas include course through them and by other green, vegetated are intended to complement this information by
marine loading and moorage facilities, while features. These natural areas include the Columbia bringing attention to the industrial districts’ urban
Patterns
northern portions of the Northwest Industrial District Slough, Smith and Bybee Lakes, Kelley Point Park form characteristics. The Industrial Districts Atlas
are occupied by petroleum storage tanks. They also and other preserved green spaces. The green, should be referred to for more comprehensive
include large areas devoted to rail yards, and rail vegetated context of these districts is reinforced information on Portland’s industrial areas.
spurs course through these districts in curvilinear in some areas by campus-type layouts, especially
alignments. Most of these districts consist of a toward the east, where buildings and paved areas
hardscape of buildings and paved site area, although are set among landscaping (large paved, open-air
some riverbank areas are vegetated and the streets facilities are more predominant in western areas).
in some areas, especially in Swan Island, are edged Also contributing to this context in some areas are
by landscaping and rows of trees. curving streets lined by trees and landscaping, levees
The Large-Block Industrial Districts include most and the river views provided by Marine Drive.
of the Northwest Industrial District and the Swan The Columbia Corridor Industrial Districts include
Island area. These districts are located in low- the Airport, Columbia Corridor East and Rivergate
lying areas along the Willamette River, separated districts. These districts are generally separated
topographically from nearby residential areas located from residential areas by Columbia Boulevard,
on the bluffs above. although there are also a number of commercial and
residential areas set within the Columbia Corridor.
3. Industrial Areas
65
4. Major Street Typologies
A Systematic Grouping of Portland’s Major Streets
Portland’s major streets and the development that lines them are among
the city’s most prominent and most frequently seen built features. Some Summary of Major Street Types
major streets, such as main streets and other commercial corridors, serve as This section focuses on major streets outside the Central City (the latter
a major focus of activity for surrounding neighborhoods, while others are is described in the Mixed-Use Centers section). With the exception of the
heavily-trafficked thoroughfares that are barriers to pedestrians and divide Greenway Streets, the street descriptions are grouped in correspondence
neighborhoods. Major streets also include corridors that are primarily residential with the predominant zoning classifications that apply along major streets.
or that pass through forest or other natural areas. All these differing functions
express themselves in distinct ways in the physical form and environment of Storefront Commercial Streets
streets. These major streets tend to stand out in their physical form from the
urban fabric of surrounding neighborhood residential areas. Includes the majority of Portland’s Streetcar Era main streets
and other streets intended to become pedestrian-oriented
The Metro 2040 Growth Concept Plan classifies most major streets as either commercial districts.
“main streets” or “corridors.” Main streets are intended to be pedestrian- and
Patterns
transit-oriented places that provide retail and other services to neighborhoods,

while corridors are intended to be well-served by transit and have transit- General Commercial Streets
supportive densities. Portland’s designated main streets include a wide variety
These streets are generally more auto-oriented than the
of streets, including traditional main streets such as SE Belmont, auto-oriented
CS-zoned streets, with large amounts of surface parking.
strip commercial areas such as 82nd, as well as some streets that are (and are
zoned) primarily residential. Similarly, designation of streets as corridors does
not provide much guidance as to their existing or intended future function or
built form, as corridors include commercially zoned streets as well as purely Multi-Dwelling Streets
residential streets, and some segments that are flanked by forested slopes and
other natural features. These streets are intended for multi-dwelling residential
development and typically include a mix of houses and
In order to support community discussion regarding the future of the Portland’s multi-dwelling structures, with a more vegetated street
major streets and what should be preserved or fostered, this section describes edge than the commercial zones.
their characteristics, focusing on the development types, forms or natural
features that line them, containing and defining the street environment. Single-Dwelling Streets
These descriptions are grouped by the predominant types of zones that apply
to the major streets and that, to a large extent, correspond to their general While most major streets are intended to have commercial
characteristics (see sidebar). This analysis focuses on major streets, as the or multi-dwelling residential development, there are also
characteristics of other streets are described in the Neighborhood Residential many segments that are zoned for single-dwelling houses.
Area Typologies and the other Patterns sections of this report.
Greenway Streets
4. Major Streets
This analysis includes:

Not necessarily major streets, these are distinctive streets
• All segments identified in the 2040 Growth Concept Map as main streets
lined by forested areas or other natural open space or that
or corridors.
have center medians with trees.
• Other streets included in the Commercial Districts Corridors Study.
• Other streets classified in the Transportation Element as regional or major
city traffic streets.
• Additional, less major streets that have a distinctive “greenway” character.
66
67
4. Major Streets
Patterns
Wide Rights-of-Way
This diagram identifies streets according to their
right-of-way width (which includes sidewalks as well
as roadway and other street elements). Wide streets
may present opportunities for larger buildings due to
urban design and solar access considerations. Streets
with wide rights-of-way may also allow additional
street features, such as enhanced pedestrian,
bicycle or stormwater management facilities,
especially in the case of streets not intended to
accommodate high traffic volumes and that may
have excess right-of-way area that is not needed for
vehicle circulation. Such streets may be appropriate
candidates for improvement as “green connectors,”
Patterns
if they serve as routes between significant parks or

natural areas.
4. Major Streets
68
Clusters of Direct Street Frontage
This diagram identifies locations with concentrations
of storefront buildings or other building types that
are located adjacent to sidewalks with minimal front
setbacks, a pattern associated with traditional main
streets. The diagram identifies those street segments
where the majority of buildings are located adjacent
to the sidewalk along at least two contiguous blocks
or 400'. These segments provide a more urban
street edge and clearly defined street space than is
typical elsewhere, and often serve as the cores of
main street commercial districts.
Patterns
4. Major Streets
69
Storefront Commercial Streets (CS Zone)
Streets with CS (Storefront Commercial) zoning include the majority of
Portland’s Inner Neighborhood commercial “main streets,” most of which
originally developed along streetcar lines. CS zoning also applies in more auto-
oriented corridors, primarily at major intersections that are, or are intended to
become, commercial hubs. Existing buildings typically range from one to three
stories high. Only a portion of street segments with CS zoning have the classic
main street configuration of continuous rows of storefront buildings located up
against sidewalks. Many street segments typically include a mix of:
• Storefront buildings located adjacent to sidewalks
• Houses or apartment buildings with landscaped setbacks
• Buildings set behind or alongside surface parking lots
Patterns
Street segments with concentrations of storefront commercial buildings are

shown on page 69. These segments serve as the cores of bustling main street
business districts, such as Hawthorne, NW 23rd, Belmont and Mississippi, that
have become a focus of community life and identify. Most streets segments are
fully improved with sidewalks and lined with street trees. CS zoning typically
applies to only a narrow band that commonly extends one-lot deep (often just
100') from the street frontage, and frequently directly abuts residentially-zoned
properties. Most Storefront Commercial Streets are designated in the 2040
Growth Concept as Main Streets, with some notable exceptions (including SE
13th in Sellwood and NE 28th north of Burnside). However, not all designated
Main Street segments have CS zoning, but may instead have the more auto-
oriented General Commercial zoning or residential zoning.
Intended future characteristics

Policies and zoning regulations encourage streets with CS zoning to be
developed with a continuous street wall of storefront buildings located adjacent
to sidewalks, continuing the Streetcar Era storefront commercial pattern and
fostering a pedestrian-oriented street environment and a sense of urban
enclosure. While commercial buildings are required to include storefront
windows, this does not apply to residential development. Development is
4. Major Streets
generally allowed to be up to 45'-high (four stories), taller than most existing

buildings.
70
Major Streets: Storefront Commercial
Patterns
Designated Regional
Mainstreets
4. Major Streets
71
General Commercial Streets (CG Zone)
Streets with CG (General Commercial) zoning are Portland’s most geographically
widespread commercial street type. They are not only the primary commercial
street type in outer neighborhoods that developed in the Postwar period,
but are predominant along wide commercial streets in inner neighborhoods,
including Sandy, Powell and Foster. General Commercial Streets are generally
more auto-oriented, with larger areas devoted to surface parking, than
the Storefront Commercial Streets, and typically have a wide right-of-way
with multiple vehicle lanes. Single-story buildings are common, which — in
combination with the wide streets — provides little sense of urban enclosure.
Most General Commercial Streets do not have a high degree of consistency in
their built form, but typically include a mix of:
• Buildings set behind surface parking lots
Patterns
• Buildings located up to sidewalks (usually alongside surface parking)

• Occasional low-rise multifamily buildings or house-type structures
Some General Commercial Streets, especially in close-in areas, are fully improved
with sidewalks and street trees, but many streets in outer neighborhood areas
have curb-tight sidewalks, or may have segments that entirely lack sidewalks.
An example of a street with General Commercial characteristics for which a
distinct street treatment has been fostered is SW Macadam Avenue, where
treed center medians, planting strips and landscaped building setbacks provide
a greener, more vegetated street environment than is typical on Portland’s
commercial streets. In the 2040 Growth Concept, General Commercial Streets
are classified variously as Main Streets (including 82nd Avenue and Sandy
Boulevard) or as Corridors (including Powell and Barbur boulevards). These
CG-zoned streets typically feature larger sites than is typical for the CS-zoned
streets, and include areas that rival or exceed some designated town centers in
terms of existing commercial activity or the amount of land zoned for mixed-use
development.

Policies and zoning regulations foster a continuation of the existing street
4. Major Streets
frontage mix of storefront buildings and parking lots, and do not require the
continuous street wall of buildings that is the intended outcome of the CS zone.
Purely residential buildings, with no commercial component, are also allowed
and are a common development outcome on these streets. Buildings are
generally limited to 45' in height (four stories).
72
Major Streets: General Commercial
Patterns
4. Major Streets
73
Residential Streets (Multi-Dwelling)
A large portion of Portland’s major streets are zoned for multi-dwelling
development. These streets are typically lined with residential structures with
landscaped setbacks, although some multi-dwelling structures are located
adjacent to sidewalks, while others are separated from the street right-of-way
by surface parking lots. Detached houses, typically with landscaped front
setbacks, are also common and remain predominant along many major streets
with multi-dwelling zoning. An issue related to residential buildings located on
major streets are the negative impacts from high-levels of vehicle traffic.
Most the Multi-Dwelling Residential Streets are classified in the 2040 Growth
Concept as Corridors, although some lengthy segments are also classified as
Main Streets.
Patterns

Some multi-dwelling residential zones require a continuation of prevalent
patterns of landscaped front setbacks. However, the higher-density multi-
dwelling zones common along many major streets (R1 and RH) allow buildings
to be built close to sidewalks, while also allowing deeper setbacks. This range
of allowances provides little predictability regarding the future character
of the street frontages that will emerge along these residential streets as
redevelopment occurs. The predominant multi-dwelling zoning on these major
streets are the medium-density R1 and R2 zones, which allow buildings up to
four stories tall, which could potentially contribute to a strong street edge of
buildings (most construction, however, has been two- to three-stories tall). City
street design classifications do not differentiate between residentially-zoned
and commercially-zoned major streets. Currently, there is little policy or design
guidance regarding the intended built form of Portland’s multi-dwelling zoned
corridors.
4. Major Streets
74
Major Streets: Multi-Dwelling Residential
Patterns
4. Major Streets
75
Residential Streets (Single-Dwelling)
Many segments of major streets are zoned for single-dwelling housing.
Development patterns and street frontage characteristics along these segments
are typically similar to those of the contiguous neighborhood residential areas
(see the Residential Area Typologies section) and usually feature landscaped
front setbacks. In the Western Neighborhoods, however, houses are usually set
back further from major streets than is typically on other streets, and are often
further separated by steep slopes or thick vegetation.
Most of these major streets with single-dwelling residential zoning are
designated as Corridors in the 2040 Growth Concept.

The intended future characteristics of these major streets is the same as
Patterns
generally applies to the single-dwelling zones.

4. Major Streets
76
Major Streets: Single-Dwelling Residential
Patterns
4. Major Streets
77
Greenway Streets
Greenway Streets are those streets that have a distinctly green, vegetated
character that sets them apart from other street types. These streets include:
1. Greenscape Streets, as designated in the Transportation Element of the
Comprehensive Plan, which are arterials lined by natural areas and other
forested or landscaped settings.
2. Parkways, which are streets with center medians planted with trees.
3. Other greenscape-type streets, that have similar green edge features to
Greenscape Streets, but are not designed as such in the Transportation
Element
Some Greenway Streets, such as Cornell, Burnside, Terwilliger, Barbur and
Macadam, provide the sense of a green belt around the western approaches
Patterns
to the Central City, enhancing a sense of transition and entry and of a city
surrounded by nature. Some Greenway Streets are adjacent to creeks, so that
the vegetation also serves an important environmental function. Some more
minor streets are notable as intensely-vegetated “tree tunnels,” more natural
than urban, such as SW Lancaster and Arnold and SE Deardorff and Barbara
Welch roads. Parkways such as Reed College Place and Ainsworth serve as
distinctive linear green features through more urban neighborhoods, and could
potentially become part of a system of green connectors through the city. Other
streets, such as Willamette Boulevard, offer unique opportunities for open
space and views, as well as providing possibilities for important recreational
connections.
Many of the streets identified here, such as the Parkways and designated
Greenscape Streets (the latter primarily located in the Western Neighborhoods),
have supporting policies and implementation; others do not.
4. Major Streets
78
Major Streets: Greenway
Patterns
4. Major Streets
79
Residential Areas 4. Future possibilities for Eastern Portland’s block structure. In Eastern
Portland, larger blocks and ongoing redevelopment provide an opportunity
1. Compatibility. Existing community plans call for new development in
for fostering block structures that can accommodate a broader range of uses
residential areas to be compatible with and respect existing neighborhood
(open space, secondary or alley access, variety of development types, etc.) than
characteristics. Is this compatibility with existing characteristics still a priority for
are possible on the smaller 200' by 200' blocks of central Portland. The area’s
community members?
longer blocks, with fewer vehicular intersections (and fewer vehicle conflicts
a. If so, what characteristics are especially valued by community members? with pedestrians and bicycles) than in central Portland, could also provide
What should be continued into the future? benefits. An in-depth analysis could identify new approaches for the future of
b. The current citywide Comprehensive Plan document does not provide Eastern Portland’s large blocks and street system. This could include an analysis
guidance regarding aspirations for the future built form and character of international block types, in comparison to Portland’s, to gain insight on
of neighborhoods. This topic is left to the City’s many community and block structure models that could inform consideration of opportunities for
neighborhood plans. Should an updated citywide Comprehensive Plan Eastern Portland.
provide some guidance on how desired neighborhood characteristics vary
across the city? Mixed-Use Centers
Patterns
c. Despite significant differences in neighborhood characteristics and 1. Designated centers in the right places. Should there be a reconsideration
neighborhood aspirations, regulations that guide the form of new of the geographic distribution of designated centers to address gaps in the areas
development usually apply the same way across the city. Should more of the city to which they provide services?
be done to ensure that our implementation tools result in outcomes that 2. Relationship between centers and corridors. What is the relationship
respond to the distinct character of different parts of the city? between the major street corridors and adjacent designated town centers, such
d. Design-related development standards now focus largely on the public street as Lents and West Portland? The Interstate Avenue Corridor and its sequence
frontages of buildings. In most residential areas, the mid-block realm of of light rail station areas is a corridor which has assumed a prominent role in
backyards is a characteristic feature. Should a greater priority be placed in Portland’s urban form and growth, and whose intended development scale
continuing these patterns of mid-block open spaces? and concentration of uses dwarfs many designated centers. Some centers
are relatively undifferentiated in their allowed scale of development from the
2. Balance between compatibility, sustainability and other priorities. broader commercial corridors of which they are a part (e.g., the West Portland
What relationship is there between priorities for new development to continue Town Center and Barbur Boulevard). Should more be done to prioritize
existing characteristics and community interest in fostering sustainable development in the centers?
development practices? Are there conflicts that need to be resolved or relative
priorities that need to be discussed? (For example, a topic that has been raised Industrial Districts
is that past development practices and the urban patterns that have emerged
1. Hardscape character and sustainability. Are there ways to respect
have not been responsive to solar access needs, and that new development, as
the “hardscape” character of the small-block urban industrial districts,
part of an emphasis on sustainable development practices, should be designed
while accommodating prioritization of vegetated stormwater management
around solar access, departing from existing patterns if need be.) How should
approaches?
priorities for community-responsive design be balanced with priorities for
housing affordability, accomplishment of density objectivities, design innovation, 2. Role of street standards. What is the role of the City’s street design
etc.? standards in fostering the continuation or enhancement of the distinct urban
form characteristics of the industrial districts?
3. Role of street standards in responding to community characteristics.
The same residential street standards, based on inner neighborhood street
characteristics, apply citywide. Are there opportunities to foster additional street
design approaches that are more responsive to the distinct characteristics, built
and natural, of different areas of the city — accommodating, for example, the
treed or vegetated street edge arrangements common in some Western and
Eastern neighborhoods, or the constraints on street width that result from the
80
steep slopes of the West Hills?
Major Streets 4. Taller buildings on wider streets. Should consideration be given to
allowing or fostering taller buildings on wider streets? This could take advantage
1. Clarity regarding Main Streets and Corridors. The current 2040 Growth
of efficiencies provided by their typically greater transportation capacity and
Concept designations for major streets, typically designated as either “Main
the solar access and urban design opportunities their greater width provides.
Streets” or “Corridors,” do not provide clear guidance as to their intended
Currently, the same scale of development is allowed along streets regardless of
future urban form or land uses, particularly when considered in combination
street characteristics.
with their Portland Comprehensive Plan map designations. Should more be
done to provide clarity regarding the future intended urban form of Portland’s 5. Form-based design along Storefront Commercial Streets. Should more
major streets, especially given that there is often a significant gap between the be done to provide predictability that development along Storefront Commercial
scale of existing development and allowed development capacity? Streets is designed to accommodate retail or commercial activity, contributing
to a storefront commercial street environment? Currently, development can be
2. Reconsideration of role of major corridors. Given their development
designed to be purely residential, with no accommodation for the possibility of
potential, large sites, commercial uses and key transportation functions, some
future commercial uses.
major street corridors have enormous potential for a key role in the form and
function of the city. Some of these corridors, moreover, are under consideration 6. Greenscape streets. Should consideration be given to fostering green,
Patterns
for future streetcar alignments. Currently, there is little clear guidance regarding vegetated edges along some major streets, subject to community interest and
the future urban form and street environment characteristics of these key urban design considerations? Current citywide regulations tend to encourage a
corridors, although there has been emerging community interest in cultivating hard edge of buildings located up to sidewalks along transit streets zoned for
these areas as more pedestrian-oriented, community-supportive places. The commercial or higher-density residential development. Vegetated street design
most prominent corridors that lack a clear vision are the East 82nd Avenue/I-205 elements, such as planting strips, medians or landscaped building setbacks,
corridor (where light rail is now located), Southeast Powell/Foster and could respond to neighborhood characteristics or contribute to Portland’s
Southwest Barbur. Should a priority be placed on examining the future of major network of designated “Greenscape” streets, without necessarily precluding
street and corridors such as these? Can these corridors assume a greater role in density or a quality pedestrian environment. Related to this is the opportunity
uniting and knitting together the city, in ways that focus on their potential as of additions to the system of Greenscape Streets that are currently designated
places and focused activity rather than serving primarily just as transportation in the Transportation Element of the Comprehensive Plan. These additions could
through routes? be used to expand the system beyond their primary focus on streets located in
the West Hills, acknowledging and fostering greenscape characteristics where
3. Differentiation between commercial and residential corridors. Existing
they exist and are valued elsewhere in the city.
street frontage development standards and right-of-way standards often apply
similarly to both commercially- and residentially-zoned major streets. Should
more be done to cultivate different street environments and building-to-street
relationships for these types of streets, given their different functions and
needs? Should the “Corridors” designation be divided into commercial and
residential classifications to clarify fundamental differences in their intended
futures?
81
Public Realm
SE Belmont Street at 34th Ave. The street is used by people young and old, to get from one place to another, hang out or just be. Bicycles share the road with cars, even in the parking bay.
82
Public Realm
T The public realm is the public- and
he public realm is the system of public spaces, streets as well as parks
and other open spaces, along with the public frontage of buildings and
other edge features that together form the physical environment in semi-public spaces that “belongs to
which public life is experienced in the city. Besides publicly-owned spaces, the everyone and yet no one in particular.”
public realm also includes privately-owned spaces that are used or allowed to
be used by the general public. — Peter Rowe, Civic Realism
In this analysis, the public realm includes:

• Streets
• Sidewalks
• Parks
• Squares
• Plazas
• Alleys
• Trails
Public Realm
These public realm spaces do not exist in isolation. They are framed and shaped
by, and interface with, adjacent development on private property – the “private
realm” that is the focus of the next chapter in this report. The arrangement and
configuration of buildings in the private realm help to delineate the edges of the
public realm, providing shape to its spaces. The public and private realms act in
concert to form the physical environment of Portland’s places.
The public realm is where placemaking traditionally happens. The public realm
of streets and parks represents a large amount, nearly 30%, of Portland’s land
area. Choices regarding the public realm’s future use, design and expansion
therefore provide the community with key opportunities for directly shaping
Portland’s future. This chapter provides basic information about the public
realm as it currently exists and introduces ideas for how these public spaces,
particularly streets, might fulfill a broader range of community purposes over
time.
83
Portland's Public Realm Considered
This section is a preliminary and broad-brush and function, both for people and for nature. This
assessment of Portland's public realm, including includes the possibility of “green connectors” that
the public realm in the neighborhoods beyond help improve movement and safety for pedestrians
Downtown. It describes the varying characteristics of and bicyclists while helping to manage stormwater
the public realm in different parts of the city as it is and connect more of the city to parks, natural
in 2009. areas and schools. The section also takes a look at
This chapter's main purpose is to provide basic how more urban plazas could be created as public
information about the public realm and to spark community gathering places in areas that are a focus
conversation about how the collection of public of community activity.
spaces, publicly- or privately-owned, might evolve As the city’s population grows, not only can
or be transformed — or not — in the upcoming these ideas help improve travel options and safety
decades. Given existing conditions and projected between meaningful places within the city’s
increasing population in different parts of the neighborhoods, but it can also help address climate How might the public realm
city, how might the public realm be modified, change, air and water quality and health issues. be modified, transformed and
transformed and managed over time to meet the Improving the overall experience in the public realm
needs of the additional residents and allow a wider for walkers and bicyclists can help in reducing sole managed over time to allow
range of activities? reliance on the automobile. While driving will likely a wider range of activities?
This assessment looks at streets, sidewalks and other remain a preferred mode of transportation for
Public Realm
public spaces predominantly used for movement. longer distances (three miles or greater), walking
The linear form of these types of public spaces and bicycling can increasingly become the preferred
suggests movement or moving through the space. way of getting around town for shorter distances,
Streets and sidewalks, though, can also be used as which constitute the majority of trips. City policies,
space for staying, as one would at a sidewalk café regulations and actions that increase attractive
or while interacting with neighbors at a street fair or opportunities for a variety of travel options and
block party. This sub-section also takes a brief look reduce automobile travel can, in the long run, result
at alleys and trails. in less pollution and healthier, more active citizens.
It is followed by a section that focuses on parks — In the right places at the right time, a high-quality
a part of the public realm that is characteristically public realm can also foster increased social and
non-linear space and that covers a broad area. The economic interactions, exchanges which are vital for
type's form suggests a space for staying, sitting or good living, no matter what part of the city. Overall,
just being. This sub-section also takes a closer look appropriate investments in the public realm in a few
at the range of publicly- and privately-owned public key locations can make a big difference in improving
spaces, including parks, squares and plazas. how Portlanders’ experience day-to-day life in the
city and in their neighborhoods.
The last sub-section looks at the future challenges
and opportunities — based on existing achievements
here and elsewhere — to improving and expanding
the public realm in different parts of the city. It
offers some ideas on how the public realm might
be re-imagined or re-purposed in strategic locations
throughout of the city. It looks at how the city might
enhance streets to improve their physical space
84
Recall the Pattern Areas
Public Realm
The Patterns section of this report introduced
Downtown/Central City East Portland
the concept of five primary pattern areas, or
Southwest Close-in North/Northeast geographies, in Portland; each with its own
distinct urban form characteristics that continue
to shape the way development occurs. The
neighborhood pattern areas include:
• Inner neighborhoods, with a consistent
pattern of rectilinear blocks;
• Eastern neighborhoods, where irregular
blocks and large, often deep, lots are
common; and the
• Western neighborhoods, whose form is
shaped by hilly terrain, streams and other
natural features.
Different patterns of development across the

city, creating differences in the public realm
environment of streets and in the other open
spaces between buildings. 85
Facts About Portland's Public Realm
1. Portland has a diverse and expansive public realm. Presented here are • Trails provide over 100 miles of walking- and bicycling-specific recreation
its various components: or connection opportunities. Most notable include the Springwater Trail,
• Streets make up most of the city’s public realm: 16,000 acres, about Eastside Esplanade, Columbia Slough Trail, Wildwood Trail and Marine
18% of the city’s land area are in streets. About 120 miles are Drive trail, all of which are part of the larger regional 40-mile loop.
unimproved. 2. Portland has prioritized its planning toward supporting publicly-
• Sidewalks are an extension of the street, its edge. About 2,400 miles owned public spaces and toward fostering buildings that
of sidewalk — but of varying quality and distribution — contribute to complement and interface with this public realm, which is a key
the city’s public realm. Older, closer-in Portland neighborhoods have Portland design value. Portland regulates against gated streets, limits
more completed sidewalk systems. Over 70% of streets have sidewalks the use of private streets and encourages building fronts to face the public
on both sides. East Portland and Southwest neighborhoods have far realm.
fewer completed sidewalk systems. In East Portland, about 20% to 3. Portland has concentrated on moving toward a multi-functional
30% of streets have sidewalks on both sides of the street; in Southwest public realm, with some notable successes. The city has transformed
neighborhoods, just over 10%. In some cases, sidewalks are on at least some of its public realm into “great places”, most of which are concentrated
one side of the street. Much of the sidewalk system in East and Southwest in Downtown — Pioneer Square, Jamison Square, Keller Fountain, the
Portland is discontinuous. Esplanade, the transit mall. Beyond the Central City, however, Portland has
• Parks are the next major part of the city’s public realm: about 10,000 fewer examples of remarkable public spaces or grand boulevards. Within
acres, occupying 11% of the city’s land area. Parks are used for a the closer-in neighborhoods, the city has produced some multi-functioning
Public Realm
variety of purposes, ranging from passive uses to more active recreation. residential neighborhood streets, but the city’s major streets are still
Parks and schoolyards often work in conjunction with one another (albeit primarily for vehicle traffic. Major streets’ typical right-of-way width, 60'- to
under different property owners) to serve the local community with 80'-wide, leaves little room for boulevard treatments or other amenities
playgrounds and green open space. found in the world’s great streets.
• Squares and Plazas are most prominent downtown: including 10-plus 4. Placemaking traditionally occurs in the public realm. Given the city’s
whole-block squares (Pioneer Courthouse Square, Keller Fountain and multitude of streets, the best chances to foster remaking parts of the city
Jamison Square among others), the multi-block Park Blocks and numerous into more remarkable places lie in pursuing opportunities to rethink and
privately-owned plazas at the entryways of buildings. Fewer smaller- reprioritize the use of the space of city streets. This could include a shift
scaled squares and plazas are located in neighborhoods, including Harold away from primarily transportation-only, automobile-dominated uses
Kelley Plaza in the Hollywood District (publicly-owned) and the courtyard towards a more multi-modal use of the right-of-way.
at Mississippi Commons (privately-owned). Other notable plazas include 5. The characteristics of the public realm play a key part in defining
community-enhanced intersections, including Sunnyside Piazza near SE the form of different neighborhood types. Differences between the
Belmont and Sherrett Square in Sellwood. Western, Inner and Eastern neighborhoods are evident in the general
• Parking Lots (privately-owned) abound in the city and sometimes patterns of streets (see map opposite page) and related issues regarding
function as extensions of the public realm. Some transform into farmer’s street connectivity and the availability of sidewalks. As described in the
markets a few hours a week (Ecotrust Building/Pearl Farmers Market , neighborhood typologies section of the Patterns chapter, these differences
Alberta Food Co-op/Northeast Farmers Market). Some even function also express themselves in the detailed aspects of the public realm, such
as a de-facto public square or plaza in the form of a food court (e.g., as whether or not planting strips and street trees are part of the street
the food-cart cluster at SE 12th and Hawthorne). And some have even environment. Also as noted in the Patterns chapter, there are opportunities
been re-purposed completely into a bona-fide square or plaza (Pioneer to design future improvements to streets and other parts of the public realm
Courthouse Square). in ways that acknowledge valued community characteristics.
• Alleys make up over 100 miles of the public realm. Often underutilized,
they may provide opportunities for new pedestrian and bicycle
connections or new ways of using the public realm beyond trash
86 collection or rear driveway or garage access.
Portland's Public Realm
Public Realm
87
Two Basic Types of Space
The public realm can be categorized into two very basic types of space:
• Movement Space = Streets + Sidewalks + Alleys + Trails
• Staying Space = Parks + Squares + Plazas
Public Realm
Sidewalk Downtown Sidewalk adjacent to cafe in Southeast
Movement Space
Streets and sidewalks are the most common “movement spaces.” Movement
spaces tend to be linear in form. They are pathways that connect together
destinations: places or buildings to where people want to get. Although the
linear nature of theses spaces invite movement through space, they can often
be used as place for lingering, sitting or standing, such as sidewalk cafés.
In this assessment, alleys and trails are also viewed as movement spaces.
88
Public Realm
Pioneer Square Strolling through the South Park Blocks
Staying Space
This classification includes parks, squares and civic and commercial plazas.
Most are publicly-owned. These spaces tend to encourage people to sit,
stand, linger, gather and other forms staying activities. This type of space is
also used for movement such as walking or other movement type activities.
89
Public Realm Movement Space = Streets + Sidewalks + Alleys + Trails
Movement Space
90
Public Realm
Streets and sidewalks are the lifeblood of a city. They enable people to of the city are more often oriented towards ease of travel for cars and trucks
get from one destination to another — and back again. They are the most than they are for pedestrians or bicyclists. Minor streets in residential areas
Movement Space
frequently used form of public space. They also make up the majority of the also sometimes serve as places where neighbors interact and children play,
public realm. Portland streets cover approximately 16,000 acres of land. particularly where traffic is low.
But not all streets and sidewalks are created equal. In more densely-populated Alleys and trails are also movement spaces. Like streets and sidewalks, alleys
parts of the city, streets are often narrow. Sidewalks are wide and tree-lined. in Portland vary in function, design and use depending on location in the city.
Buildings are built right up to the edge of the sidewalk or property line. Notable clusters of alleys can be found in the North, Northeast and Southeast,
Beyond the inner neighborhoods, most major streets are relatively wide. Major including Ladd's Addition. Trails make up a smaller part of the movement
streets in many cases are four or more lanes wide, including a center turn lane. spaces, but provide vital space for recreation and pedestrian-oriented “green
Conversely, sidewalks tend to be narrower or even non-existent, especially in connections.”
outer East Portland and Southwest. They are often “curb tight,” or have minimal 91
buffering from adjacent traffic. Streets and sidewalks in these less urban areas
Public Realm Variation in the Streetscape
In Portland, the streetscape varies widely. In Beyond the inner neighborhoods, in less urban then-newly urbanizing areas tended to be framed by
Movement Space
Downtown Portland and close-in neighborhoods, and lower-density areas, the streetscape arcs more low-lying buildings with wide parking lots between
the streetscape is clearly defined by streets with toward automobile-oriented features and scale. them and the street. And sidewalks — places for
sidewalks on both sides and buildings set closely to These are parts of the city that were developed or pedestrians — were often not built. The pattern and
the property's edge. As previously described in the platted with the car specifically in mind. After the style of development still persists today.
Neighborhood Typologies section, this urban form Second World War, buoyed by a cultural ethos that Notably in East and Southwest Portland, sidewalks
is rooted in the dominant modes of transportation embraced the automobile (it provided new found are still few and far between. Where there are
when they were created: walking and streetcar. mobility and freedom), decades of development sidewalks, they are often narrow, “curb tight” and
Slower speed was the norm. Thus, clusters of places followed that required more space for cars and frequently discontinuous. Literally and figuratively,
to live, work and conduct other daily business were trucks. Freeways, highways, arterials, turn lanes, these areas are where the sidewalk (system) ends.
92 built much closer together. driveways, drive-throughs and parking lots became
the norm. The prevailing streetscape in these
MORE URBAN
Downtown/Close-in
“Streetscape” Defined
The streetscape, in its simplest form, is defined
by the street frontage: the ensemble of the street,
sidewalks and surrounding buildings defining the Downtown/Close-in
edge. It is what the street looks like in cross-section
from edge to edge (building-edge to building-
edge). The character of the streetscape varies from
Public Realm
more urban Downtown and close-in neighborhoods
to less urban edge neighborhoods (parts of the
North, Northeast and Southeast districts and much
of East and Southwest Portland).
Close-in neighborhood
Movement Space
Edge neighborhood
93
Edge neighborhood LESS URBAN
Major Streets Major Street ROW Width
Portland’s major streets serve as throughways for traffic but also as settings
for commercial districts and for higher-density residential development. The
public realm environment of major streets is distinct from that of surrounding
neighborhood areas and is highly variable among the different types of major
streets. As described in the Patterns chapter, these streets include traditional
main streets, auto-oriented commercial corridors and residential corridors.
The public realm of commercial streets, such as main streets lined with
storefronts, have often been the area in neighborhoods where pedestrian
activity is most concentrated, providing opportunities for community interaction
and often serving as the focus for public life in neighborhoods. Traditional main
streets, with storefronts immediately adjacent to sidewalks, provide a strong
interface between the activities inside and outside the buildings. Outdoor café
and restaurant seating, when located on or adjacent to sidewalks, also helps
activate the public realm, strongly integrating the street with its edges.
“Strip commercial” streets developed in the post-WWII period were designed
primarily for traffic movement and have a poorly-defined public realm which
is typically dominated by multiple lanes of traffic. Rather than sidewalks with
Public Realm
adjacent storefronts, buildings are often separated from sidewalks (which

sometimes do not even exist) by parking lots, thus lacking an active interface 0 - 70
with the public realm. 71 - 90
Major streets that go through residential areas present different public realm 91 - 160
issues. Their design and the extent to which this mitigates traffic impacts has
significant impacts on the livability of adjacent residences. These streets also
serve as the public space and setting for adjacent housing, which is often
multifamily with limited outdoor spaces.
Movement Space
Streetcar Era main street: strong interface between café and street activity. Auto-oriented commercial street: little cross-activity between street and buildings.
94
Major Streets
N
M
AR
IN
ED
N LOMBARD ST
R
RD
A ND
ST
R TL
H
FESS
PO
ELE
END
N
EN
N S
CEN
TRA
L
LO COL
MB UM
AR BIA
D
LOMBARD
INTERSTATE
ALBINA
GREELEY
KILLINGSWORTH
ALBERTA
42ND
Public Realm
PRESCOTT
SAND
MLK
Y
WILLIAMS
GR
EE
FREMONT
LE
122ND
Y
NE 102ND
Y
39TH
21ST
ND
SA
57TH
BROADWAY
THURMAN HALSEY
NW 14TH
WEIDLER
23RD
HALSEY
60TH
GLISAN
BURNSIDE
BURNSIDE
GRAND
ITO BELMONT
STARK
NA
HAWTHORNE
4TH
82ND
122ND
DIVISION
DIVISION
50TH
POW
ELL
POWELL
POW
ELL
BEAVERTO HOLGATE
N HILLSDAL FO
E STE
R
52ND
39TH
MACA
ITOL
CAP
BARBUR
MILWAUKIE
MCLOUGH
Movement Space
DA
WOODSTOCK FOSTER
M
MULTNOMAH
13TH
LIN
UR
RB
MA
17TH
BA
CA
DA
M
RY
FER
NES
49TH
BOO
95
Minor Streets and Sidewalks Minor Streets
Minor streets (primarily residential and not intended for major through traffic)
make up most of Portland’s streets. As described in the Patterns section,
the characteristics of residential streets vary in different parts of the city. In
closer-in neighborhoods, primarily built or platted before the 1930s, most of the
residential streets have sidewalks, planting strips and street trees on both sides
of the street. In contrast, in much of Eastern and Western Portland the sidewalk
system is discontinuous and fragmented.
The notable rise of development in these parts of the city, mostly during the
post-war period of auto-oriented suburbanization, began when these areas
were still outside the City’s jurisdiction. Sidewalks were not required in these
areas before they were annexed to Portland. As a result, many streets do not
have sidewalks. Where there are sidewalks, many end abruptly or front only the
edge of a single property. In some cases, a sidewalk may be on one side of the
street but not the other.
The public realm of residential streets is often where neighbors most frequently
interact on a casual basis. Children play on sidewalks as well as in the roadway
of quiet streets, and play activity often takes place across sidewalks and front
Public Realm
yards. In older neighborhoods, this public realm area of interaction also includes
the porches and stoops of residences. Planting strips are sometimes extensions
of front gardens, or are used to grow vegetables, blurring distinctions between
the publicly- and privately-owned parts of the public realm.
Movement Space
Street in Northeast. Complete street with sidewalks on both Street in East. Incomplete street; no sidewalks on either side Street in Southwest. Sidewalk ends abruptly. Current
sides of the street. A row of on-street parking, street trees of the street. Are sidewalks necessary, given the relatively regulations require new developments to include sidewalk
and a planter strip buffer pedestrians from traffic. low-density development pattern in the area? improvements in the R.O.W. abutting the property.
96
97
Movement Space
Public Realm
Sidewalks
Alleys
Not unlike streets and sidewalks, alleys in Portland vary in function, design and
use depending on location within the city. In older, more established parts of
the city, the alleys in these areas (especially in Ladd's Addition) are often paved
and maintained. They function not only as access ways to rear garages but as
utility lanes (for garbage collection) and unintentional alternative pedestrian
connections as well. Most other alleys, notably ones located in the Northeast
and the deep Southeast areas of Portland, are often unpaved and rarely used
other than for garage access.
Public Realm
Movement Space
98
99
Movement Space
Public Realm
Alleys
Trails
Trails provide over 100 miles of walking- and bicycling-oriented pathways
throughout Portland. They range from paved trails to gravel to dirt. Most often
trails are used for recreation — walking, hiking, bicycling — but are increasingly
used for commuting, as is the Springwater Corridor from Sellwood to the
Central City.
In Southwest Portland, an urban trail system and stairways provide walking and
hiking opportunities, sometimes using unimproved street right-of-way. It also
helps with making difficult pedestrians connections. The trail and way-finding
system helps make safer and quicker connections to otherwise disconnected
streets in hilly terrain, often without sidewalks.
Public Realm
Movement Space
100
101
Movement Space
Public Realm
Trails
Public Realm Staying Space = Parks + Squares + Plazas
Staying Space
102
Public Realm
Staying spaces — parks, squares and plazas — typically cover a broad expanse. public spaces for staying or gathering tend to be parks and commercial
They are less linear in form than movement space. Staying spaces can still be plazas (courtyards and common areas). In a few neighborhoods, low-traffic
used for moving through (walking through a square or park) and often times for intersections have been artfully painted over by the local residents and public
Staying Space
recreation. space advocates (City Repair). They have turned a few intersections into small,
Generally, these include parks (the largest staying type in Portland), squares and but notable neighborhood plazas.
plazas, either publicly- or privately-owned. These are places where the general The following pages discuss in more detail the variety of public- and semi-public
public can commonly “just be.” It is where strangers meet and mingle with one spaces typically used for staying activities.
another.
Staying spaces characteristics vary by geography. In downtown Portland,
squares and civic or commercial plazas are often the common staying places.
Thus, it is no surprise that most of the city’s recognizable squares and publicly- 103
used plazas are located in the central part of the city. Beyond Downtown,
Public Realm Parks
Staying Space
104 Urban-type park: Tanner Springs in the Pearl District

After streets, parks make up the second-largest type of the city’s public realm.
They range in character from urban to neighborhood to natural.
• Urban-type parks — city squares for the most part — typically have
a balanced mix of hardscape and manicured greenspace. Couch Park in
Northwest and Tanner Springs Park in the Pearl are good examples. Another
example is the Park Blocks, a unique type of park that functions as a broad
green pathway connecting a series of staying places from the University
District to the Pearl. Sections of the Park Blocks can be used for sitting and
relaxing, eating, for farmers markets and even recreation or sport (lawn
bowling and basketball in the North Park Blocks).
• Neighborhood-type parks consist mostly of greenspace with much less
hardscape. A typical neighborhood park contains a mix of the following: a
playground for children, a broad lawn area that often doubles as a sports
field, trees large and small, walking paths and picnic tables and benches.
Prototypical examples include Raymond Park in East Portland, Oregon Park in
Northeast (Kerns Neighborhood) and Custer Park in Southwest. Examples of
larger versions of these parks that serve the broader community include Pier,
Public Realm
Mt. Tabor and Gabriel parks. Natural-type park: Forest Park
Some neighborhood parks abut schools and often function in tandem with
schoolyards. The combination provides a larger park for the community
when school is not in session and a larger playground for students when in
session. Examples include Albina Park and Harriet Tubman Middle School in
Albina, Wellington Park and Harvey Scott in Northeast, Gilbert Heights Park
and School in East Portland and Sunnyside School Park in Southeast. Some
schoolyards even function as de-facto neighborhood parks or playgrounds;
examples include Alameda School, Sellwood Middle School, Rigler School in
Cully and Duniway School in Eastmoreland.
• Natural-type parks consist predominantly of large expanses of natural or
wooded areas. Some serve primarily as wildlife refuges. Notably, these parks
usually do not have playgrounds or ball fields; more often they have trails.
Examples include Kelly Butte Natural Area, Powell Butte Park, Marquam
Nature Park, Maricara Natural Area and Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge.
Staying Space
Neighborhood-type park: Sunnyside School Park 105
Parks
City squares are generally perceived as the archetypical urban public space.
Pioneer Courthouse Square is the quintessential example. In Portland, city
squares are mostly hardscape with less space devoted to landscaping, and
they often include a water feature. Squares in the Central City include Jamison
Square and Tanner Springs Park in the Pearl; Lovejoy and Keller Fountains in
the South Auditorium area; and Chapman and Lownsdale squares in the civic
center, adjacent to nearby major civic buildings and institutions. The Park Blocks
string together a number of whole-blocks that serve on their own as de-facto
squares, especially adjacent to major institutions, the University, museums and
churches.
Squares are typically located in the Central City area where the density of
potential users is highest and where people who live and work have little access
to personal private outdoor space. These large public squares or urban parks
provide access to outdoor space — and a respite from being indoors — to many
Downtown residents and employees.
Public Realm
South Park Blocks

Staying Space
106 Keller Fountain

Plazas are similar to city squares but are smaller scale. They are most often
on private property, but the general public is commonly allowed to access this
semi-public open space. Some of these semi-public spaces are located on decks
or rooftops of buildings. These types of plazas are often referred to as POPOS
— Privately-Owned Public Open Space.
The typical plaza is located at the entryway, or serves as the courtyard, to
prominent buildings or commercial complexes. Successful plaza spaces are often
associated with business or activity dependent on foot-traffic, like coffee shops,
restaurants, convenience stores and transit stops.
Notable examples in Downtown include the entry plazas at 200 SW Market
Street, the Urban Center at Portland State University and the World Trade
Center Building at SW Salmon and 1st Avenue. Beyond Downtown, notable
privately-owned commercial plazas include the courtyard at Mississippi
Commons in the North district and the entry plaza at People's Co-op in close-in
Southeast.
Small-scale, publicly-owned plazas are few in number in the neighborhoods.
Harold Kelley Plaza in the Hollywood District, built on surplus street space, is
one of the more recognizable.
Public Realm
Semi-public plaza at Mississippi Commons Other publicly-owned spaces include Sunnyside Piazza in the Sunnyside
Neighborhood and Sherrett Square in Sellwood, both in Southeast Portland.
These spaces were created by neighborhood activists and citizen volunteers
through a grassroots effort coordinated by City Repair, a local ecologically-
oriented placemaking advocacy group. They transformed these low-traffic
volume intersections into neighborhood public squares.
Staying Space
Sunnyside Piazza 107
The Portland Plan provides a key opportunity for the community to consider
choices for the future of both the existing public realm and additions to the
public realm. However, the challenges of meeting community objectives for
improvements and expansions to the public realm of streets and parks are many.
Also problematic is the task of balancing and prioritizing competing demands
on the use of the public realm.
Challenges
The lack of sidewalks and street connectivity in eastern and western parts of
the city compromise Portland’s ability to foster walking as an attractive option
in these areas. Public resources are insufficient to address these shortcomings,
while current dependence on property owners and new development
for additional sidewalks and street connections has made little progress.
Community members have been concerned that the creation of new open
space amenities have not kept up with growth and the open space needs
of new residents, but funds generated by the parks system development
charges and other funding have been insufficient to make much progress
toward meeting City objectives for having park facilities within a half mile of
Public Realm
all residents or for creating urban parks in Portland’s mixed-use centers. These
challenges suggest that new approaches are needed for meeting Portland’s
public realm needs.
Opportunities
Given that a large portion of the city is already part of the public realm, one
overall approach to meeting these challenges is to explore how the existing
public realm might be used to serve a broader range of community needs. The
range of choices for the future of the public realm varies. With 16,000 acres
of the city devoted to streets, some of the best opportunities may involve the
streets the public already owns. New approaches are limited for streets that are
major through-routes for traffic and for streets that are already fully improved.
Opportunities to enhance the design and expand the function of streets tend to
be greater for substandard or unimproved streets or in areas where the street
network is still emerging. Opportunities also lie where excess street segments
are not needed for connectivity and in areas of concentrated community activity
such as main streets and centers.
The following concepts and examples are meant to stimulate ideas. They are
for discussion purposes only and are not proposals. They are meant to facilitate
thinking about potential future improvements to the public realm appropriate
for different areas and places in the city.
The pages that follow begin with:
1. A summary of issues and opportunities as they vary geographically, followed by;
108 2. A series of pages on new approaches to the use and design of the public realm.
Public Realm
Pearl District adjacent to Jamison Square. A portion of street grid turned over to a pedestrian pathway with plenty of room for walking, sitting and standing.
109
1. Pattern Area Issues and Opportunities
Inner Neighborhoods Western Neighborhoods

Inner neighborhoods have a highly-developed grid of streets typically featuring The street system of the Western neighborhoods is often shaped by the hilly
sidewalks, planting strips and street trees. These neighborhoods include several terrain and networks of streams and other natural features, with many streets
commercial main streets and concentrations of higher-density housing (such as unusually narrow (30'- to 40'-wide, compared the more usual 50' to 60'
the Northwest District) with limited access to outdoor space. dimensions) to fit into the constraints of the topography. Large portions of the
street network lack sidewalks and do not meet connectivity standards. There is
Opportunities: a relatively large amount of right-of-way that is not paved, sometimes providing
• Some inner neighborhood areas have up to 40% of land area devoted no transportation function.
to street rights-of-way, with street connections every 200'. This could
provide opportunities for closing portions or segments of streets to vehicle Opportunities:
through-traffic to enhance opportunities for community functions, while • Improvement of existing street deficiencies provides opportunities for new
preserving connectivity for pedestrians and bicycles. The large amount of street design approaches responsive to the characteristics of the area.
street area could provide opportunities for turning surplus street area to • A distinctive characteristic of this area are the unimproved right-of-
non-transportation functions, such as pocket parks or community gardens, ways used for trail connections. The City could do more to prioritize and
particularly in higher-density areas where outdoor amenities are scarce. facilitate more trails and connections within unimproved street right-of-
• Because streets are typically fully improved, major changes to the design ways and through natural areas.
of most existing residential streets are not likely. Some unimproved street
Public Realm
• This area has relatively poor street connectivity but good natural system
segments, in areas such as the Woodstock neighborhood, provide greater connectivity. This could present an opportunity to foster street connectivity
opportunities for new approaches to street use and design. goals that differ from other areas, perhaps prioritizing trail system and
• Improvements to the pedestrian environments of commercial main streets natural area connectivity, over connectivity for vehicles.
have been, and remain, key community priorities.
Eastern Neighborhoods
Eastern neighborhoods typically lack sidewalks along residential streets and
have relatively poor street connectivity. The street system continues to evolve
with new development bringing extensions to the street system.
Opportunities:
• The incremental construction of streets, in conjunction with new
development, provides opportunities for new approaches to street design.
Current street standards call for continuation of street design elements
common in inner neighborhoods (variants on the roadway/curb/planting
strip/sidewalk sequence), but there may be possibilities for new green
street design approaches more responsive to the distinct character of
eastern neighborhoods that also manage stormwater.
• New development and the large size of existing blocks provides
opportunities for more strategic extension of the street system and Low volume street with no sidewalks in East Portland. Alternative street standards could apply
possibilities for the introduction of alleys or other secondary circulation to this street as infill development occurs incrementally over time. Instead of building out the
systems. Street system expansion is currently happening in an opportunistic sidewalk system property-by-property, allowing planting of trees, placement of stormwater
way, without clarity as to the future of the area’s street and block management features or more prominent demarcation of pedestrian space would help to
structure. improve the public realm.
110
Connectivity
Portland’s sidewalk system. Areas with missing or
discontinuous sidewalks also typically do not meet
street connectivity standards.
Public Realm
geographies, in Portland; each with its own
common; and the
natural features.
111
2. New Options for the Public Realm
Portlanders have been interested in creating more public gathering places and
green places that bring more natural elements into the urban environment, but
Public Realm
public resources for creating new parks to serve these functions are limited.
Publicly-owned streets occupy large amounts of land throughout Portland that
could provide opportunities to help meet these demands and other place-
making objectives. They have historically served multiple community functions.
A key consideration is to determine how both existing and new streets might
complement the broader system of public spaces, not only as conduits for
transportation, but as places for community interaction, environmental function,
open space and other purposes.
Streets already have multiple, sometimes competing, demands placed on them.
Trucks, cars, bicycle lanes, pedestrians, vehicle parking, bicycle parking, street
trees, stormwater facilities, café tables and public art are among the many
things already competing for space within the limited right-of-way of streets.
Determining where and when to accommodate or prioritize other community
uses, together with these functions, will be a challenge and may require new
approaches to how streets are designed and managed.
The following pages illustrate various ways that streets and other spaces might
be used to help meet a broader range of community needs.
112
A. Green Connectors and Urban Trails
Public Realm
With the concept of sustainability at the forefront of integrated city “Custer Steps” connect Taylors Ferry Rd. to Kelly Street. It
infrastructure improvements, “green connectors” provide combined offers a safer and quicker walking connection in an area
opportunities for increased safety, connectivity, stormwater drainage functions, with few sidewalks and hilly terrain. Signage marks the trail,
helping with wayfinding.
identity and overall citizen neighborhood satisfaction. These could range from
simple retrofitting to include tree plantings and stormwater enhancements, to
full corridor enhancements to link together parks, schools, the waterfront and
other urban amenities.
In Southwest neighborhoods, their Urban Trails Plan aims “to increase
pedestrian access … for recreation and transportation.” The proposed urban
trails network would improve linkages for pedestrian to schools, parks, transit,
shopping and recreation. This could be achieved by continuing to incrementally
improve select public roads, sidewalks, stairs, trails and walkways along with
way-finding signage. The proposed network primarily utilizes unimproved public
right-of-ways and traces across parks and schools.
113
B. Pedestrian-Priority Shared Streets
Some streets could be considered for public realm

improvements that create public space or help to
increase identity in a neighborhood or district.
Streets with low-volume of traffic close to civic
institutions like schools or libraries could double
as neighborhood plazas by closing off streets on
occasion. Taking inspiration from the shared-street
in Chinatown (above right), North Commercial Street
at Killingsworth (below) might be a good candidate
for such a treatment. Over time, it could potentially
transform into permanent urban plaza or public
open space.
Public Realm
114
C. Temporary Use of Parking Lots
Parking lots, both publicly- and privately-owned, abound in Portland. Their

potential use as public space is often overlooked but is increasingly being tapped
by entrepreneurial foodies. Increasingly, a number of parking lots double their
utility by allowing other activities to occur beyond just parking cars. The most
common and popular alternative is allowing for food-cart service. In Downtown,
over a dozen parking lots are locations for food carts.
A critical mass of carts locating in one parking lot injects the adjacent public
realm with active street life. Some parking lots have completely transitioned into
a food court-only use. The food carts at SE 12th and Hawthorne have corralled
a parking lot that turns into a bustling evening food court.
Parking lots also often provide space for farmers markets. The temporary use
of the parking lot as an urban plaza gives local residents an opportunity to
access fresh food, rub shoulders with other members of their community and
experience the vibrant public life.
Other times, parking lots are simply used impromptu by the public. They self-
define how to use the space (see skateboarder below).
Public Realm
Food carts downtown Portland.
115
12th & Hawthorne. Food cart cluster corralling the parking lot.
D. Parks, Park Blocks and Neighborhood Plazas
Focal points in high-traffic areas could be incorporated into the urban fabric Gateway. NE 102nd Avenue (left),
through major public investments related to surrounding higher-density Downtown. South Park Blocks (right)
redevelopment. Consider the potential to integrate park blocks to connect the
northern and southern ends of the Gateway district, similar to the park blocks in
downtown Portland.
Public Realm
Additional opportunities for neighborhood squares or plazas could be created in Mississippi Commons. A well-used semi-public urban plaza
collaboration with private property owners. Using incentives, developers could or courtyard along the Mississippi Avenue commercial
set aside a portion of their private property for semi-public urban plazas that main street. Once a loading dock, this space now includes
a stormwater planter as its centerpiece in addition to the
can be used for sitting, eating and drinking or sometimes even farmer’s markets.
outdoor seating.
These spaces are particularly successful when carefully designed and combined
116 with surrounding commercial activities.
RD
Neighborhood Plaza Opportunities
BA
LO
M
This map, from the Neighborhood Plazas report,
highlights the wide range of possibilities for
neighborhood plazas. To realize them will require
prioritization of limited funding and/or new, creative
approaches.
!
Linnton!
Bridgeton Promenade
St Johns Plaza MA
RIN
! E
! Portsmouth
Cathedral Park
!
33RD
LOMBARD Kenton
ST
HEL
EN
! School Site
COLU
MBIA
S
ROSA PARKS
LLY
CU
Alberta
05
! KILLINGSWORTH
SK
I2
AIR
POR
! Main Street
YL
T
Killingworth Cully Main Street
IN
Public Realm
E
MLK
Main Street PRESCOTT
YE
ON
! Sandy Main Street / Parkrose
SAN
FREMONT DY
Sandy Main Street
!
82ND
@ 72nd / Rose City
21ST
I84
! Siskiyou Square
122ND
Y
NW Plan District Area Hollywood SA
ND
! Town Center ! HALSEY Halsey / Gateway
N
Priority Level*
12TH
A
! HALSEY
IT
O
23RD
LINE East Burnside/ GLISAN

Central Gateway
High
SKY
! NE Sandy BURNSIDE
!
! CLA
STARK
BELMONT
Sunnyside
!
!
122nd
BURNSIDE
STARK
!
!
60TH
Y
Montavilla 148th MAX Station
! Medium MAX Station
I205
SUNSET
42nd
76TH
148TH
Tabor
162ND
7 Corners & Division Division
! Low !! ! ! Commons ! MAX Station DIVISION
39TH
SE 26th POWELL
& Clinton ! ! Powell
136TH
82ND
Raleigh HIlls Town Center Foster-Powell MAX Station
*Priority level is based on a quick assessment ! Dewitt HOLGATE
28TH
! 122nd Main
K
UC
Park
T
Mt. Scott
111TH
of readiness, political and community
AT
! !Johns
52ND
Street Corridor
45TH
SH
support, and other factors. The priority level SW Capitol Hwy

!! ! !
Sunset Landing FOSTER
associated with the opportunities on this map Lents Town Center
72ND
92ND
BYBEE
Triangle
is not intended to express the result of a
detailed analysis or decision-making process. UR
RB
MA
BA
CA
DA
M
West Portland Park

!
35TH
117
E. Flexible Event Streets
Streets might also be used more flexibly as occasional event or recreational

space. Expanding access to parks and open space and gathering place
opportunities throughout the city (per goals in Parks and Recreation Vision
2020) could be achieved by regular street openings for non-motorized means
of transportation only. Examples of the occasional use of streets for community
use include events such as Last Thursday on Alberta Street, Sunday Parkways,
farmers markets, various street fairs, parades and block parties.
Expanding these kinds of opportunities to more neighborhoods and districts
throughout the city would be an effective way to share streets and public space,
and to use them for more than just motorized mobility.
See www.streetfilms.org/archives/portlands-sunday-parkways.
Public Realm
118
Sunday Parkways, Farmers Markets and Street Fairs
Public Realm
119
Private Realm
120 Portland’s “default” urban form, showing what building heights and mixed-use areas (red) would result if all properties were to be developed to the maximum allowances of the Zoning Code.
Private Realm
This Private Realm chapter begins to explore the range of development What is the role of the private realm?
outcomes that take place mostly on private property, but that interface
The private realm topic is about the development that takes place on private
with and shape the public realm and are part of the continuing evolution of
property. Changes within the private realm, however, do not occur in
neighborhood patterns and characteristics. Ultimately, private development
isolation. Changes on one piece of property may affect views, sunlight and
shapes the many places, such as main streets and mixed-use centers, that are
shade on multiple adjacent properties. Changes on a few properties in a
often a key part of community identity.
strategic location may bring the density needed to support local services and
This chapter is not intended to be an exhaustive analysis of development trends, bring benefits to the broader community. The buildings in the private realm —
but it provides some examples that highlight the range and variability of what their shape, massing, locations and relationships — are some of the primary
is being built, it reviews the unpredictability of development outcomes and it building blocks, along with street and block structure, of urban form.
provides information on where additional development and change can be
Much of the focus of the Urban Form Report has been on presenting
expected. These outcomes have implications for the future of Portland’s places,
information to support community discussion on its aspirations for the future
its neighborhood characteristics and the quality of its public realm. A key
of Portland’s key places, its neighborhood and district characteristics and the
purpose of this chapter is to provide information to support initial community
public realm. By looking at development outcomes, this chapter begins to
consideration of issues related to development outcomes and change, especially
provide answers to the question of: “What does the evolution of Portland’s
as these relate to the future form and character of Portland. The focus here is on
urban form look like today and where are we headed?”
areas outside the Central City as detailed information on the latter is the focus
of the Central Portland Plan. This chapter includes:
• Summary information on zoning and the development capacity provided
by zoning allowances;
• A brief discussion on the general types of changes that Portlanders should
expect to see in the coming years; and
Private Realm
• Examples of the range and variability of development outcomes.
The private realm information provided in this chapter is one part of a larger
discussion about the shape and structure of the city. In order to develop a
more robust understanding of Portland’s existing conditions and of the effects
changes identified in this section may have on Portland’s built environment,
the reader should consider this discussion in context with discussions about
patterns, places and public realm included in other sections of this report.
Bearing in mind development outcomes in the context of these other topics will
help the community members consider what types of changes they would like
to encourage or discourage.
121
Private Realm
Generalized Zoning Development Capacity

The generalized zoning map shows where different types of uses are permitted The development capacity map shows areas of Portland where existing
across the city. Typically, Portland permits larger buildings and a mix of development is less intense than current policies and regulations permit. This
commercial and other uses along major streets, such as Interstate Avenue, map was prepared to meet specific Department of Land Conservation and
Powell Boulevard and Sandy Boulevard; and in mixed-use centers such as Development standards for Periodic Review (please see other the Portland Plan
Gateway, Lents and Hollywood. Zoning guides the tallest buildings and most background materials specifically related to growth and population forecasts
intense development to Downtown, and to a lesser extent to some of the for information on the methodology used to develop the development capacity
centers and light rail corridors. The city’s industrial areas are generally located map). The purpose of including this map here is to identify areas where greater
near the Willamette and Columbia rivers and next to rail yards and major development intensity is allowed and where change might be expected to occur
transportation thoroughfares. Employment areas are typically adjacent to over time. It is not intended to predict the actual feasibility or likelihood of
industrial and mixed-use areas. Zoning for apartments and other multidwelling redevelopment, or to suggest that all properties shown as having development
housing is located throughout the city, primarily along transit corridors, with capacity should be developed to their maximum permitted size.
notable concentrations in Northwest Portland and in areas east of I-205. Single-
dwelling zoning, intended for houses and sometimes duplexes, is Portland’s
most widespread type of zoning and applies to large areas of the city between
major streets.
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Changes are Happening assess with any degree of confidence what building
forms, development patterns or street environments
As many Portlanders know, significant changes
will ultimately result. Besides the role of zoning
are happening across the city. East of I-205,
and other regulations, development outcomes are
single-dwelling houses on large lots are becoming
shaped by a multitude of factors, including the
subdivisions and townhouses. On streets like
intended functions of buildings; site conditions;
SE Belmont and SE Hawthorne, new four-story
development economics; building technologies;
mixed-use buildings are sprouting where one- and
the needs and preferences of residents or tenants;
two-story buildings once stood, and apartment
and an array of choices and prioritizations made by
buildings are appearing adjacent to light rail stations
owners, builders, developers, designers and lenders.
on Interstate Avenue and Burnside Street. Some of
this change is bringing renewed commercial vitality Provided on the following pages are short
to main streets and is making it easier for residents descriptions and examples of some of the range
to walk to local shops and services. However, and types of changes that have been taking place
some of these changes are significantly altering in Portland, from development on small infill sites
neighborhood character, sometimes replacing trees to the incremental transformation of main streets.
or green spaces and making Portlanders wonder These examples are not a complete listing of the
about the future of cherished local landmarks. possible changes, but the examples provide a
As Portland grows and changes, it is important snapshot of some of the changes that are occurring
for residents to have open conversations about and may continue to incrementally change Portland.
the types of changes they desire and the types While this chapter focuses on the forms that
of changes they would like to avoid. Portlanders development is taking in the context of the future
need to direct change in ways that benefit the of Portland’s places and community characteristics,
community, the environment and the economy.
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it is important to also take into account other
Together, the generalized zoning and development community priorities. Decisions regarding the form
capacity maps provide a snapshot of where and design of development can have impacts on
development is both permitted and likely given things such as the affordability of new housing,
Portland’s current regulatory structure. Depending the ability to accommodate growth and economic
on the zoning regulations, the areas shown on development and the flexibility for development
the development capacity map indicate where to respond efficiently to current and future needs.
there is potential to locate new jobs and housing, Development outcomes and the changes they
expand businesses and generally accommodate new bring should thus be considered in the context of
Portlanders. the great challenges Portland will continue to face,
such as climate change, accommodating population
Portland’s zoning code includes development Change has been part of the ongoing evolution of Portland’s
growth and maintaining a thriving economy.
standards that set general parameters regarding neighborhoods, whether Northwest Portland in the early
the allowed form and scale of development. For 20th Century or Mississippi Avenue in 2009.
most zones, these parameters allow a wide variety
of development forms, so that it is not possible to
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Development Outcomes
These pages provide brief descriptions of some of the common development outcomes that are bringing changes to Portland’s built
environment. They focus on areas that are part of the typical mix of neighborhoods: areas of single-family houses, medium-density
areas with multidwelling housing, main streets and other commercial corridors and the urban forest that spans these areas.
Single-Family Areas
Single-family zoning is the predominant type of residential zoning in Portland’s neighborhoods. As most
areas with this zoning have a fairly close match between existing and allowed densities, development
capacity mapping indicates relatively little potential for additional growth in most of these areas. Changes,
however, have been happening, even in areas not zoned for additional density. Common examples of
changes in single-family areas include:
• Additions to existing houses, including second-floor additions, sometimes to accommodate growing
families.
• New houses built on vacant or oversized lots which exist in scattered locations across the city.
• Replacement of small houses with sometimes much larger houses, especially in high-value locations.
Some community members, especially in Southwest, have been concerned that this brings a loss
of affordable housing options. In areas where most existing housing is low-scale (one to one-and-
a-half story houses are common in many neighborhoods), community members have also been
concerned about the scale contrasts between existing houses and new, larger houses — which can
be up to three-stories in height and are sometimes perceived as “towering” and incompatible in
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scale by neighbors.
• Narrow-lot houses, typically 15' in width built on 25'-wide lots, have become a predominant
infill development type in inner neighborhood areas that were originally platted out in 25'-wide
increments (most of these areas have R5 zoning generally intended for 50'-wide lots, but have
entitlements related to their original platting).
• Rowhouses, duplexes, narrow-lot houses and flag lot development are built in some areas with
R2.5 zoning, typically located near commercial streets. This infill housing is often built on typical
residential lots, often as two units on a 5000 square foot lot. This new housing is sometimes
designed in ways that continue existing patterns, such as by including two units in a single house-
like building form; but it can also introduce new patterns, such as the lengthier stretches of
continuous building frontage brought by rowhouses, the more divided development patterns and
vertical proportions of narrow-lot houses and the addition of houses into back yard areas through
flag lot development.
• Portions of the Eastern and Western neighborhoods include areas with large lots that can be further
subdivided. Larger sites typically involve the creation of new streets. A common outcome in Western
neighborhoods, with their many stream corridors, involves the clustering of housing on a portion of
the site with sensitive environmental areas set aside in preservation tracts. In Eastern neighborhoods,
small two-to-four lot subdivisions and flag-lots in mid-block areas are common outcomes on the
area’s narrow, deep lots.
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Multidwelling Residential Areas
Residential areas with multidwelling zoning are typically located along or near transit corridors or at the
edges of mixed-use centers, providing opportunities for development that can help meet housing needs
and can contribute to vibrant communities. As single-family houses are dominant in most of these areas,
there is often a large gap between existing and allowed density and the potential for change that can be
considerable. In some such areas, the multidwelling zoning may have been in place for decades, but higher-
density development has only become economically-feasible more recently. This dynamic will likely extend in
the future to more areas, bringing change even when no changes are made to zoning. Changes that can be
expected include:
• Changes in scale and massing from existing patterns, as the new higher-density development
is typically taller and occupies more lot area (often extending into what had previously been back
yard). As in other areas where change occurs, neighbors are often concerned with the impacts larger
structures have on solar access, privacy and neighborhood character.
• Variability of building form. Development in multidwelling zones can take many forms, including
rowhouses, narrow-lot houses, tight clusters of detached houses, plexes, courtyard housing and
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block-shaped apartment buildings. This infill development often takes place on standard residential
lots, especially in inner neighborhoods. In outer neighborhoods, new development also takes place on
larger sites, sometimes in the form of building complexes and large areas of surface parking, or it may
involve the creation of new streets.
• Changes to street edges. Development in multidwelling zones can bring significant changes to
neighborhood street environments. Front building setbacks may be as little as 3', but can be much
deeper, and may or may not be consistent with existing patterns or other new buildings. Some housing
types, such as rowhouses and narrow-lot houses, may result in multiple front garages and driveways,
providing additional unpredictability regarding what street edge environments will emerge in these
areas as they continue to change.
• Variable open space characteristics. The predominant multidwelling zones limit building coverage
to 50% to 60% to provide opportunities for outdoor space. The characteristics of this unbuilt space
can vary considerably. It can be grouped into a landscaped courtyard, divided into small setbacks
between buildings or devoted largely to surface parking or driveways. This space may or may not
provide room for larger trees. On the deep lots of Eastern Portland, the majority of contiguous unbuilt
space is typically devoted to paved vehicle and fire access.
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Main Streets and Other Commercial Corridors
Portland’s main streets and other commercial streets have become places of change, as once vacant lots
are developed and small buildings are replaced by larger, mixed-use buildings. These commercial main
streets provide residents with access to services within walking or biking distance from their homes, and the
residents allow small, local business the patronage they need to flourish. They are also places where growth
is intended to be concentrated. However, the evolution of main streets to more vibrant commercial and
community places also brings challenges. There is considerable potential for change in these areas, since
existing development is often low scale (often one to two stories), and zoning typically allows four-story
buildings. This change often involves:
• Mixed-use development of residential over ground-floor commercial, often four-stories tall, has
become a common development type along close-in main streets. This increase in scale and additional
housing helps accommodate growth and provides a sense of enclosure to the street, but some
community members have been concerned about scale contrasts with nearby lower-scale buildings.
Contributing to this issue is that commercial zoning along most neighborhood commercial streets
directly abuts single-family residential areas and adjacent houses are often low-scale.
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• Along other commercial corridors, such as those with General Commercial zoning that have fewer
requirements for pedestrian-oriented development configurations, development outcomes can be
highly unpredictable. On streets such as 82nd Avenue, Powell Boulevard and Barbur Boulevard,
while mixed-use buildings are sometimes built, other common outcomes include single-level
commercial development with large areas of surface parking as well as purely residential projects.
This unpredictability is sometimes a concern for community members who have hopes for these
corridors to develop into key places for the community — for example in situations where residential
development takes place on a commercially-zoned site in areas with few other opportunities for
commercial development.
126
The Urban Forest
Trees provide multiple, valuable environmental functions and are also often a cherished part of community
character. Inner neighborhoods have seen increases in the urban forest canopy due in large part to the
growth of established trees and the planting of new trees in planting strips within the street right-of-way.
Outer neighborhoods provide fewer opportunities for street trees, as these streets typically lack planting
strips or sidewalks, thus making them more dependent on what happens on private property for the future
of their urban forest. Along with new developments have come community concerns about the loss of
trees. Trees and green spaces are often lost when subdivisions are platted and built, new housing is added
to lots or additions are constructed. Examples of issues related to the impacts of development on the urban
forest include the following:
• Community concern about the loss of trees has been greatest in areas experiencing residential
development such as Southwest and Eastern Portland. An ongoing issue in Eastern Portland has been
the removal of remnant stands of Douglas Fir to make room for infill development.
• While proposals for land divisions require a tree preservation review process, multidwelling and other
development has no such review requirement.
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• There has been a tendency to remove large tree species and to replace them with smaller species that
will not provide the same canopy coverage. New development, especially at higher-densities, often
does not provide sufficient space to accommodate large-canopy tree species.
127
Examples of Development Outcomes
A. Development Variability Residential Infill Examples
These examples highlight some of the variability and
unpredictability of development outcomes that can
occur within the same type of zone. The commercial
examples, for instance, illustrate projects that have
all been built in the General Commercial zone,
but take very different forms and do not all even
include commercial uses. Are some outcomes more
desirable than others?
Duplex or semi-detached houses

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Narrow-lot houses
128 Flag lot

Multifamily Development Examples Commercial Development Examples
Apartments oriented around courtyard Mixed-use building, providing an urban street edge
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Apartments oriented around parking Commercial development with prominent surface parking
Clustered detatched units Residential development in a commercial zone

129
B. Geographic Variability
These examples highlight how development outcomes vary geographically. Even though the zoning may
be the same, differences in existing lot and block patterns and natural features often result in very different
outcomes. These examples highlight common differences between residential development outcomes in
Inner, Eastern and Western neighborhoods. The varying issues and outcomes associated with these areas
were documented in the 2007 Land Division Code Monitoring Report, from which the inset graphic, below,
and the caption text are taken.

geographies, in Portland; each with its own
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common; and the
natural features.
From the Land Division Code Monitoring Report (2007)
130
Inner Eastern Western
Small sites within existing block structure. Narrow, deep sites, often resulting in backyard infill. Clustered subdivisions on large sites, often with
Issues include compatibility of scale Issues include street connectivity, lack of existing environmental protection tracts (represent a transition
and design, parking impacts. infrastructure, tree preservation. from previously predominant patterns of individual
houses on large forested lots). Issues include
topography, streams, tree/habitat protection, lack of
infrastructure, traffic impacts on rural road systems.
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131
C. Types of Change 2000 2007
The speed and amount of change, and the contrast
with what was once familiar to neighbors, can be an
issue with development. These examples show the
impacts development can have on neighborhood
patterns, the public realm and the urban forest.
Narrow house infill in North Portland
2000 2007
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Mid-block forest replaced by housing in Eastern Portland
132
D. Main Streets
Mixed-use development, often of three- or four-story buildings, have become
a common development type along Portland’s close-in main streets. These
projects bring additional services, amenities and residents to neighborhoods,
contributing to more vibrant main streets. They have also generated community
concern about scale contrasts with the houses that typically are adjacent to
main street commercial zones, as well as concerns that their design is sometimes
not compatible with the character of existing architecture.
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Main Street Infill in Southeast Portland
Potential evolution of SE Foster Boulevard. As with other main streets, zoning

along Foster allows a more urban level of development than currently exists, in
keeping with policies that call for main streets to become vibrant, pedestrian-
oriented places where growth and commercial services are concentrated.
133
This chapter is intended to be only a brief introduction to issues related to development in the private realm.
More detailed analysis of trends, issues and opportunities will take place in later phases of the Portland
Plan. This section identifies some initial conceptual approaches that may merit early consideration regarding
future approaches for guiding development in the private realm.
1. Greater clarity regarding the zoning code development allowances. Residents are often
surprised by the type and scale of development that takes place in their neighborhoods, even in
areas that have long been zoned for commercial or multidwelling development. Those more familiar
with zoning and development, such as builders, are also sometimes uncertain about the intended
development outcomes of Portland’s zoning. Currently, the Comprehensive Plan map and zoning maps
are the primary ways Portland conveys development allowances as they apply across the city, but
viewing these maps does not provide a clear picture of the intended scale or form of development.
An idea to consider is the possibility of using more graphically-communicative tools, such as three-
dimensional diagrams or online resources, that can more clearly and intuitively communicate the scale
and form of development allowed by the zoning code.
2. More intentional development outcomes. Zoning regulations allow a broad range of development
forms and configurations within most zones, creating uncertainty about the form and characteristics
that development will take. This can compromise the ability to implement community aspirations for
the future built environment of neighborhoods and streets. A possibility to consider is whether Portland
should be more intentional in guiding development to achieve particular outcomes that are desired
by the community. A recommendation of the Regulatory Rethink Advisory Council of Experts, which
in 2006 evaluated Portland’s approach to regulating development, was that Portland should provide
greater clarity regarding desired outcomes. This council also advised that the City should provide
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implementation tools that would state intentions for different types of places and streets, showing
intended development intensities, building massing and the relationship of development to the street.
134
135
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Ideas for Future Consideration
T
his report has focused on describing Portland’s existing urban form (“what is here now”) to provide a starting
point for community discussion on the future of our key places, neighborhood patterns and characteristics
and public realm. As a conclusion to this report and a beginning to the “next steps” for the Portland Plan, this
chapter identifies potential new approaches to addressing key issues in each topic area.
Places
A Guiding, Citywide Urban Form Concept Diagram.
While the City has taken a very specific and methodical approach to its zoning pattern (effectively
established with the 1980 Comprehensive Plan), an accompanying, more general and more aspirational
urban form concept plan has not been developed. Concept diagrams are important as they illustrate a
plan’s major components and highlight intended outcomes.
Because the Comprehensive Plan includes no concept diagram, the “big picture” of the Comprehensive
Plan and its major organizing themes and ideas regarding the future form of the city were never made clear.
In addition, the Comprehensive Plan also lacks extensive three-dimensional imagery that would illustrate for
the community the intended or potential physical forms of its zoning designations.
Idea for new approach: create a guiding, citywide urban form concept plan diagram to clearly convey
where and how the city intends to grow, identifying the key places, features and connections that should
be continued or fostered over time. The diagram could illustrate intentions for different levels of new
development, based on priorities for the city’s designated major corridors, transit centers, open spaces and
other important city facilities.
Patterns
Three Neighborhood Pattern Areas, because “One size does not fit all.”
Ideas for Future
Although there are at least three fundamental types of Portland neighborhoods (Inner, Eastern and
Western) with distinct urban form characteristics and differing aspirations, existing development regulations
tend to follow a “one-size-fits-all” approach.
This mismatch occurs at the regional level, as the Metro 2040 Design Concept identifies all of Portland’s
neighborhood residential areas as “Inner Neighborhoods,” providing no sense of their fundamentally
different existing or desired characteristics. And at the city’s neighborhood planning level, while Portland
has over 40 adopted neighborhood or area plans, each with its own urban design policies and visions,
creating development standards specific to each of these has not been practical.
Idea for new approach: Create policies and implementation tools that acknowledge the distinct
characteristics and urban form aspirations of the three Portland neighborhood geographies. Providing such
a policy framework could also open up opportunities for the City to target improvements, such as street
improvements, in ways that are designed to respect the distinct built and natural characteristics of the
pattern areas.
136
Public Realm
Public Streets as Part of the Public Realm.
The public realm of streets and parks represents a large amount, nearly 30%, of Portland’s land area.
Choices regarding the future use, design and expansion of these public spaces therefore provides the
community with key opportunities for directly shaping Portland’s urban form. While streets are the largest
component of the public realm and have historically served multiple community functions, they have been
treated and managed by the City primarily for transportation. Portland lacks clear policy guidance on the
role of streets as part of the broader public realm. Portlanders have been interested in creating more public
gathering places and green places that bring more natural elements into the city, but public resources for
creating new parks to serve these functions are limited. Streets could provide opportunities to help meet
such needs.
Idea for new approach: determine how streets might complement the broader system of public spaces,
not only as conduits for transportation, but also as places for community interaction, environmental benefit,
open space and other purposes.
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More Intentional and Targeted Development Outcomes.
Zoning regulations allow a broad range of development forms and configurations within most zones,
Ideas for Future

creating uncertainty about the form and characteristics that development will take. This can compromise the
ability to implement community aspirations for the future built environment of neighborhoods and streets.
Idea for new approach: take a more intentional and targeted approach to guiding private development to
achieve particular urban form outcomes, such as street environments, development patterns, open space or
urban forest characteristics that are desired by the community. A more intentional approach to Portland’s future
form could help ensure that new development contributes to creating the kinds of places Portlanders want.
137
Significant Citywide Plans
Over a Century of Big Ideas and their Influence on Urban Form
Appendix
P
ortland has a long history of city planning. This appendix analyzes the
urban form impacts of the City’s most significant urban plans. Each
of these plans sought to address current issues while also considering
possibilities for Portland’s future, contributing elements to its infrastructure that
have cumulatively made up many of its enduring places. These plans addressed
urban form and transportation at a variety of scales in accordance with the
popular planning trends of the day — from City Beautiful to Modernism. The
Olmsted Brothers’ parkways, Bennett’s Parisian style grand boulevards and
Robert Moses’ network of expressways reflect the thinking and resultant
infrastructure improvements occurring in other North American cities during
their time. To plan for both the present and our future, it is important to
understand the basis for these places. Many of the underlying concerns for
these plans underscore issues that remain relevant today.
Readers should note that each of these plans are linked in a cumulative way,
where implementation occurred through several iterations of plans. These
plans featured ideas for features such as large natural parks, a freeway loop
and additional bridges that exist today and were essential to Portland’s growth.
Most of these ideas, however, were not manifested until planning phases
beyond their initial conception.
The plan elements are represented in a common graphic format for better
comparison and understanding of key points. Also, this analysis of Portland’s
past and relatively recent plans is simplified in order to highlight essential
elements that have influenced the city’s urban form over time. The maps
presented are intended to be diagrammatic and highly generalized. Note that
the “Immediately Implemented” diagrams identify only those elements from
each plan that were implemented prior to subsequent plans, and do not identify
other ideas that may have persisted but were implemented much later.
The chapter is divided into two main sections: historic plans and contemporary
plans. Historic plans largely occurred the before 1970s, the decade that
revolutionized Portland planning with creation of Senate Bill 100, the 1972
Downtown Plan, the establishment of the Urban Growth Boundary and the
highly symbolic removal of Harbor Drive. All of these have had a tremendous
effect on Portland’s urban form. The second section highlights contemporary
Past Plans
plans, those that directly influence decision making today at the regional,
citywide and neighborhood scales.
138
Historic Plans
Appendix
Olmsted Plan, 1903 Greater Portland Plan, 1912 Major Traffic Street Plan Boulevard
and Park System, 1921
Proposed System of Major Streets and Portland Improvement, 1943 Comprehensive Plan (Not Adopted), 1966
Development of Waterfront, 1932
Contemporary Plans
Past Plans
Comprehensive Plan, 1980. Metro Region 2040 Growth Concept, 1995 Community, Neighborhood and Area Plans,
1972–Present 139
Olmsted Plan
John Charles and Frederick Law Olmsted, 1903
At the turn of the 20th Century, civic and business leaders were working to
Appendix
solidify Portland’s leading position among Northwest cities (a position then

being rapidly eroded by Seattle). The spirit of boosterism was evident in the
1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition and also in Portland’s first city plan completed
in 1903. City leaders turned to the emerging city planning profession to guide
expansion on the East Side and reshape development on the West Side.
Influenced by the City Beautiful Movement, which emphasized stately parks,
grand boulevards and plazas, they wanted a plan that would inspire
civic loyalty and bring Portland to par aesthetically and culturally
with other American and European cities.
“A good park system is a

manifestation of the intelligence,
degree of civilization and
progressiveness of the citizens.”
Learning from examples set by other cities, Portland leaders

recognized the importance of establishing public facilities,
including parks, schools and government offices, before
large scale population growth occurred. Private investment,
it was believed, would be shaped by intentionally planned
public infrastructure, a central tenet that continues to underlie
planning efforts in Portland and across the nation.
The first step to creating a City Beautiful out of Portland was
a parks system. In 1903, the Park Board of Commissioners
hired John Olmsted to plan a park system for the city.
The result was a comprehensive system of parks and
parkways that form the core of Portland’s modern park
system. When the plan was written, Portland already had
a number of large public parks, many of which Olmsted
incorporated in the plan with directions for improvement
and preservation. These included the North and South Park
Past Plans
Blocks, Macleay Park, the Plaza Blocks (Chapman and Lownsdale

Squares), Governor’s Park, Washington Park and Columbia Park. While
not all of the parks recommended in the plan were built, many were, including
Sellwood Park, Mt. Tabor Park, Terwilliger Parkway and Peninsula Park.
140
The Olmsted Plan emphasized topography, views and connections. Its main Immediately Implemented
concept, a connected system of parks and parkways throughout the city, has
• Park improvements
continued to be a guiding principal and has been featured in one form or another in
Appendix
every subsequent city plan. This is evident in the parks identified in the Olmsted plan • New parks
but not built until years later, including Forest Park, the Columbia Slough, Rocky • McLoughlin Blvd. parkway
Butte and Willamette Park, as well as the region’s “40-Mile-Loop” system of trails
and open spaces. In addition to parks, the system included parkways where service
vehicles were allowed as well as more formal scenic boulevards.
“Parks not only add to the beauty of a

city and to the pleasure of living in it,
but are exceedingly important factors in
developing the healthfulness, morality,
intelligence and business prosperity.”
Past Plans
141
The Greater Portland Plan
Edward H. Bennett, 1912
In 1912, the year Edward Bennett released The Greater Portland Plan, the
Appendix
city was experiencing large-scale population growth, a real estate boom and
changing land patterns. Early Portland’s open meadows and forests continued
their historical transformation — first to squared, surveyed farms, then to
unevenly developed subdivisions and city lots and eventually to contiguous,
dense urban/suburban neighborhoods. Envisioning continuous growth,
Bennett wrote an ambitious plan for a city of two million residents
(the population was then about 210,000) that would enhance
the city’s natural beauty. Bennett’s plan was more
comprehensive than Olmsted’s, addressing circulation,
civic centers, parks and rail and water terminals, with
an emphasis on the separation of functions for greater
efficiency. The plan used an “Organic City” analogy, with
the central business district acting as the heart, the streets
as the arteries and the parks as the lungs.
Traffic circulation was addressed with a spider web design
of traffic circuits, including wide diagonal boulevards that
shortened the distance between nodes and connected to
a radial suburban highway system. Grand boulevards were
designed with viewpoints and street vistas. Several of the
main streets identified for improvement in the Plan remain
major streets today, including Foster Road, E Burnside,
Union Avenue (now Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard) and
Sandy Boulevard.
Bennett planned to bolster civic identity and pride with civic
spaces at key intersections and an expanded park system.
Three municipal centers were planned as anchors for the
central business district. While the plans were not realized
in full, the existing concentration of government offices
around Lownsdale and Chapman squares; transportation
facilities centered around Union Station; and Civic Stadium/
PGE Park were envisioned by the plan. For the park
system, in addition to expanding the Park Blocks, Bennett
recommended adding neighborhood parks, forest reserves
and a hilltop vista on Council Crest.
Past Plans
Bennett recommended a number of waterfront changes to benefit

industry, anticipating an increase in marine business resulting from the
completion of the Panama Canal. St. Johns and Linnton were chosen to site
dock and harbor facilities for wholesale and light industry, while Guild’s Lake and
Swan Island were identified as good locations for ship slips and a deep water
harbor. A railroad clearing yard at Kelley Point would link water and rail freight
142 to complete the transportation system. The central waterfront would be used for
freight wagons and railroads serving downtown wholesalers and Burnside would Immediately Implemented
act as the divider between the retail and the wholesale districts. Bennett’s plan
• Port facilities
for the waterfront happened gradually, but it was not until the naval shipyards
Appendix
were built during WWII that the plan was fully realized. It would be more • Major street improvements
than 30 years before the riverside park and pathways were realized with the
completion of Waterfront Park in 1978 and the East Bank Esplanade in 1998.
“The idea is the organic city with its parts and

activities closely related and well defined, but
not conflicting; wisely and economically built,
not a cluster of villages, each with its center,
and with boundaries accidentally merged.”
Past Plans
143
Major Traffic Street Plan Boulevard and Park System for Portland, Oregon
Charles H. Cheney, 1921
The shipbuilding boom Portland experienced during WWI fueled the creation of
Appendix
more than 30,000 jobs in less than two years. The resulting population growth
led to a housing shortage. At the same time, automobile ownership increased
significantly, causing congestion and safety problems.
Cheney gave special attention to the Central Business District (CBD). In order to
relieve congestion while strengthening connections to outlying areas, Cheney
designed a system of major traffic streets that formed the backbone of the
city’s arterial highway system and drained other traffic streets leading onto
them. A diverting traffic loop designed to alleviate congestion in the
CBD was included in the Plan, later realized with the construction of
I-405 in 1969. To improve traffic flow, Cheney recommended a
number of new and rebuilt bridges and elevated approaches.
Improvements to the central waterfront were proposed to
remove “dilapidated” older commercial buildings that posed
a fire hazard, along with a seawall for flood protection.
These actions would later be realized.
Cheney recognized the need to protect housing quality
while maintaining stable neighborhoods. Believing that a
poor mixture of land uses led to blight, he undertook a
comprehensive survey of housing needs and proposed a
zoning code intended to control land use, building height
and open space around buildings. Recommendations
were made for industrial development, economic use and
regulation of the subdivision of land, housing, transportation,
power, water and sewer and parks, boulevards and tourism.
Due to strong opposition from the real estate sector, the
zoning code was not adopted. However, the City’s first
zoning code would be adopted by a popular vote a few years
later in 1924. Zoning has remained as an important tool in
land use planning in the city through today.
Past Plans
144
The plan also addressed the park system. A ten-year program of playground Immediately Implemented
and park acquisition included definitions of park types and an acquisition
• New/replacement bridges
schedule. In a move away from traditional concepts of pleasantly landscaped
Appendix
(Sellwood, Burnside and St. Johns)
areas for passive recreation, Cheney’s plan focused attention on natural parks.
The plan recommended four large wild parks at the corners of the city. This
concept exists today as Powell Butte, Forest Park, Rocky Butte and Oaks Bottom.
Cheney’s vision of mountain parks along the Columbia River with auto camping
grounds for tourists has also been realized through the extensive state park
system in the Columbia Gorge.
“The skyscraper is the stepbrother of the

vacant lot . . . it is unhealthy and uneconomic.”
Past Plans
145
Report on the Proposed System of Major Streets and Development of Waterfront
Harland Bartholomew and Associates, 1932
By the end of the 1920s, automobile use was effecting the way planners
Appendix
thought about the physical form of Portland. Rapidly increasing traffic

congestion and an expanding urban form were changing the way people moved
around the city and were presenting new challenges for infrastructure and
service provision. Bartholomew’s plan was tailored to the interests of economic
growth and real estate development, emphasizing improved traffic flow and
waterfront development. It provided a comprehensive analysis of the city and
its region with detailed data. By this time, Portland’s policy makers had new
planning tools available to them including the City Planning Commission
established in 1918, the 1924 zoning code and Oregon’s 1919 City
Planning Law authorizing local comprehensive planning, which
withstood legal challenge in 1924.
In Bartholomew’s plan, the Willamette River waterfront was
the city’s “front door,” and it called for rehabilitation of
blighted areas (the original commercial section of Portland,
including today’s Skidmore/Old Town and Yamhill Historic
Districts). Recreation areas were planned to improve the
appearance of the waterfront but were not realized until
Waterfront Park and the Eastbank Esplanade were built in the
last quarter of the 20th Century.
Recognizing that accessibility is the key to a strong Central
Business District, Bartholomew recommended a number of
changes to improve traffic flow. A new transit plan for the
Central Business District, which would be expanded to the
waterfront, recommended moving rail lines and changing
routes so that only alternating streets would be used for
transit. Several rapid transit routes were recommended,
including one between Union Station and Sullivan’s Gulch.
This concept would later be realized by the Blue and Red Max
light rail lines. A diverting traffic loop designed to alleviate
congestion in the Central City was included in the Plan and
finally realized in 1969 with the construction of I-405.
Past Plans
146
The Bartholomew Plan was not well-received by the general public or City Immediately Implemented
politicians and bureaucrats, in part because it lacked support from real estate
• Industrial waterfront improvements
interests and was long, cumbersome and overly detailed. The City Council
Appendix
refused to publish the plan. However, the City did subsequently focus attention • Downtown expansion to waterfront
on the West Side waterfront section of Portland, particularly in the need to • West side approach to Steele Bridge
widen Front Street.
“The lack of a well defined and integrated

main thoroughfares has resulted in
tremendous economic waste, not only from
delays and inconvenience but also from
the shifting of property values. Cities have
learned the costly lesson that there can be
no stability without a definite and complete
plan to control urban development.”
Past Plans
147
Portland Improvement
Robert Moses, 1943
Anticipating both an economic boom and a housing shortage after the war,
Appendix
Portland hired Robert Moses to create a new city plan in 1943. “Portland
Improvement” emphasized upgrading infrastructure to carry Portland into
the modern era. It called for an arterial program consisting of
throughways elevated at grade and below grade, along with
other major municipal improvements including sewers,
schools, a civic center, railroad, bus and truck facilities,
fire stations, water, airport and port upgrades.
“The community which meets

the problem early, squarely
and with no ducking, dodging
and buck-passing and, on the
other hand no false pride which
scorns state and federal aid, will
somehow find the answer.”
Although it had been included in Portland city plans

for more than 30 years, it was not until after Portland
Improvement was implemented that the diverting
traffic loop around Downtown (I-405) was built. The
final piece of the loop was completed in 1973 with
the opening of the Fremont Bridge. In addition to
the traffic loop, the plan also called for strengthened
connections between Portland and the Lake Oswego
Highway (Macadam Avenue) and improvements
to Pacific Highway West (Barbur Boulevard/99W),
Tualatin Valley Highway, Oregon Route 10 (Beaverton
Hillsdale Highway) and the Columbia River Highway.
It called for an extension of Harbor Drive as a
throughway from its existing southern terminus
Past Plans
at Caruthers Street to a connection with the Ross

Island Bridge. The decision in 1974 to remove Harbor
Drive to make way for Waterfront Park would be an
important step in the urban renaissance that the city
has since experienced.
Several improvements to existing bridges were made as a result of the
148 Moses plan including new elevated ramps to the Burnside and the Hawthorne
bridges. Elevated approaches were also included on the new Morrison Bridge.
Portland Improvement included detailed descriptions of the location and
proposed use of nearly 40 new parks. While not all were built, many were and
are part of today’s park system, including Forest Park, Oaks Bottom, numerous
neighborhood parks, Council Crest and the Park Block at SW College. Land
for several parks in North Portland would be cleared through the removal of
temporary war housing. The Moses plan also included recommendations for
Immediately Implemented
schools, including a new location for Lincoln High School in Goose Hollow. • Numerous neighborhood parks
Appendix
The Moses plan was applauded by The Oregonian, the Oregon Journal and the • Forest Park
City Club of Portland. Commissioner of Public Works, William Bowes, wrote to • Freeways and expressways
Moses there was “a real disposition on the part of the agencies to make full use
of the recommendations.”
Portland Improvement was an early local exemplar of large-scale, freeway-
oriented, major infrastructure planning that came to the fore in post-war
America, epitomized by the mega-projects championed by Moses and Ed
Logue in the Northeast. The concurrent “Great Projects” era of urban renewal
was characterized by an analogous top-down, large-scale, land-clearing
approach. Examples in Portland include the South Auditorium Urban Renewal
Area (URA), which leveled much of the poor, densely-populated, immigrant
neighborhood of South Portland by 1963 and the Emanuel URA of the early
1970s that had devastating effects on the African-American community and
landscape of Eliot. In the 1960s and 1970s, citizen activists — and eventually
planners and politicians — increasingly came to reject the heavy-handed and
disruptive paradigm of the freeway construction/urban renewal approach.
Many subsequent Portland planning efforts have struggled to undo some of the
legacies of the Modernist era, from tearing out Harbor Drive for a park, to the
still dreamed of relocation of the Eastbank Freeway and the continuing effort
to create more inclusive and equitable planning and development processes.
Recently, urban designers and historians revisiting this period have encouraged
a more nuanced understanding of Modernist cityscapes. Some of the Portland
examples, for instance the Lawrence Halprin designed landscapes of the South
Auditorium area, have been a part of that reevaluation.
“We ought to invent something which

spells unified effort to improve the
community, something which will arouse
enthusiasm, something with which the
worker will be proud to be connected. At
Past Plans
the moment I can think of nothing better
then the words “Portland Improvement.”
149
Comprehensive Plan (Not Adopted)
City of Portland, 1966
By 1958, the Portland Development Commission (PDC) had been formed to
Appendix
help implement Federal Housing Act mandates with tools that included urban
renewal strategies. Following the completion of the South Auditorium Project,
the 1966 Plan was developed by the City on short notice to underscore desired
relationships between housing, commercial activity, education, open space
and transportation. The 1966 Plan was the first time neighborhoods were
talked about as clearly defined units. The city was divided into different
neighborhoods where commercial space was designated if it
did not already exist. New schools were recommended in some
neighborhoods, and in others, it was recommended that existing
schools be moved to new buildings. Each neighborhood was
also intended to have its own park. The plan also included an
extensive system of freeways or expressways. Other proposals
included extending Forest Park to Skyline Boulevard. The
downtown core was also expanded; industrial uses on Swan
Island were reinforced; and a public and a semi-public area were
proposed for the Rose Quarter in Northeast Portland.
This plan was neither widely promoted nor adopted by the
City, but it is notable for reflecting the “Neighborhood Unit”
planning paradigm which emphasized inward-oriented,
cellular residential neighborhood forms, each centered
around a school/park, sheltered from incompatible uses and
traffic, with limited vehicular access, yet interconnected by a
rationalized arterial network bounding the units. Examples of
this approach are evident in several post-war Portland areas
such as Argay in Outer East Portland. In addition, aspects of
neighborhood unit planning are still influential, such as park
planning objectives for every neighborhood to be served by
an easily-accessible park with active recreation facilities and
playgrounds.
Past Plans
150
Immediately Implemented
The 1966 Comprehensive Development Plan
Appendix
was “directed toward restructuring our residential
sections into secluded units protected from the
encroachment of conflicting urban uses.”
(Planning Commission President Harry Sroufe)
Past Plans
151
Comprehensive Plan
City of Portland, 1980
The Comprehensive Development Plan of 1980 was
Appendix
a major departure from previous plans in two ways:

transportation and public involvement. Previous
plans were designed to accommodate and promote
automobile use and did not include community
involvement. The 1980 plan, however, focused on
public transit and non-motorized transportation and
included the goal of improving citizen participation
in the ongoing land use decision-making process,
including review, implementation and amendment
of the adopted Comprehensive Plan.
The Plan had four key objectives: to “promote a
range of living and employment opportunities for
Portland residents in order to attract and retain
a stable and diversified population; improve and
protect the city’s residential neighborhoods while
allowing for increased density; reinforce the
Downtown’s position as the principal commercial,
service, cultural and high density housing center
in the city and region; and provide a mixture of
activities along major transit routes.”
Subsequently, high density and mixed use
development along the waterfront and near mass
transit have provided new and expanded living and
employment opportunities. Union Station continues
to serve as a multimodal transportation hub, the
primary passenger rail and intercity bus terminal in
the Portland metropolitan area. The MAX Green
Line completes the link between intercity and local
transit, as provided by light rail, the streetcar and city
buses.
Improved access and safety for bicycle transportation
was realized under the plan through the
development of more bike routes across bridges and
Past Plans
to a variety of destinations, including Downtown,

the river and parks. The Plan also included a system
of trails, realized partly through the 40-Mile Loop
and the Willamette River Greenway. In architectural
developments, the construction of the Portland
Building in 1982 helped “to complete an informal
civil center in the location specified by planners since
152 the time of Edward Bennett.”
Nodes and Noodles
Shown here is a generalized version of
Appendix
the “Nodes and Noodles” concept, which
concentrated development in centers and along
corridors. This map served as a basis for the
Comprehensive Plan Map. The latter, however,
is essentially a map of intended zoning and
does not convey these underlying concepts.
Past Plans
153
2040 Growth Concept
Metro, 1995
The 2040 Growth Concept establishes a long-
Appendix
range growth management strategy for the

Portland metropolitan region. It provides guidance
that includes an emphasis on identifying where
growth should be concentrated, based on goals
for making efficient use of land, protecting natural
areas and farm land and promoting a multi-modal
transportation system. In Portland, the 2040 Growth
Concept calls for concentrating residential and
commercial development in and around mixed-use
areas that include the Central City, the Gateway
Regional Center, six town centers (Hollywood, St.
Johns, Lents, Hillsdale, West Portland and Raleigh
Hills), main streets, corridors and in light rail station
communities.
As part of Portland’s efforts to implement the
2040 Growth Concept, centers and light rail station
communities have been a primary focus of several
recent major planning projects. Since adoption
of the growth concept in 1995, compact, often
mixed-use development in these centers and light
rail station communities has contributed to the
continuing evolution of Portland’s urban form.
This growth has been directed both to places that
have long served as commercial centers as well
as to areas along light rail lines where higher-
density development is a new phenomenon. The
amount, and rate, of growth and change has
varied considerably among Portland’s mixed-use
centers, main streets, corridors and light rail station
communities.
The 2040 Growth Concept functions in conjunction
with Portland’s Comprehensive Plan Map to provide
guidance on where growth should be concentrated,
and it has provided the additional benefit of a
Past Plans
nomenclature and hierarchy of places that provides

greater clarity regarding Portland’s future urban
form than is provided by the Comprehensive Plan
Map’s more technical, zoning-based designations.
154
2040 Growth Concept
Appendix
Past Plans
155
Various Community, Neighborhood and Area Plans
1980s and 1990s
In addition to the vision, goals, policies, objectives
Appendix
and actions contained within community plans,

neighborhood and area plans often include
recommendations on land use mapping changes
and historic district designations, and were intended
to encourage citizen involvement.
Many of these community and neighborhood plans
include urban design concept diagrams intended
to provide guidance regarding key places (such as
attractions, focal points and gateways), corridors
and other community features that should be
enhanced or fostered. The map shown on the
Portland has relied on community, neighborhood opposite page is a consolidation of the urban
and other area plans to provide guidance regarding design concept diagrams from adopted community,
Portland’s urban form. While Portland does not neighborhood and other area plans.
have a citywide urban design concept diagram
This consolidated map generalizes the urban design
that identifies the city’s key places and urban form,
symbols from each map to arrive at a common
most of these plans include urban design concept
graphic language. For example, all major and minor
diagrams for their specific portions of the city.
focal points were consolidated, nodes were derived
Subsequent to adoption of the 1980 Comprehensive from various sources and symbols (which are defined
Plan, the Portland’s Community and Neighborhood in different ways among the plans) and major and
Planning Program was intended to provide area- minor corridors were established based on attention
specific refinement of the Comprehensive Plan given to these within the plans.
using a series of eight community plans, each
The consolidated map clearly illustrates the gaps
accompanied by various neighborhood plans.
in community, neighborhood and area planning
The 1988 Central City Plan and the 1993 Albina
throughout the city, especially from a citizen-
Community Plan were to be used as models for
involved urban design perspective. It also highlights
other community plans, with all eight intended to
the incomplete consideration of urban form and
be complete by 2005. As of today, four of the eight
design across the city and the lack of citywide urban
Community Plan Areas have not undertaken the
form guidance.
Community Plan process (Inner Southeast Portland,
Peninsula Area, Northeast Portland and Northwest
Portland), while the Southwest Community Plan did
not include component neighborhood plans or an
urban design concept. Since 2000, most planning
Past Plans
has occurred at the neighborhood, center, transit

corridor or other smaller or focused scales, rather
than at the community plan scale. Examples include
the Hollywood and Sandy Plan, the Northwest
District Plan, the St. Johns and Lombard Plan and the
Interstate Corridor Plan.
156
Various Community, Neighborhood and
Area Plans
Appendix
(Detailed views are provided on the next page.)
Past Plans
157
Various Community, Neighborhood and Area Plans
(Map Details)
Appendix
1
3
Past Plans
158 1 Central City, Albina Community and Central Eastside

Appendix
2 Northern Albina and St. Johns/Lombard
Past Plans
3 Brooklyn, Creston-Kenilworth and Outer Southeast Community
159
City Comparisons
Seeing Portland in the Context of Other Cities
Appendix
This section provides comparative information on the land area and population
of various cities to provide a global perspective regarding Portland’s size and
density. A city’s density can be a key factor in determining the nature and
character of its urban form. Many of the development challenges facing a
city today are related to the ways in which that city will accommodate future Portland, OR
density. In some cases, a city’s density as expressed in its urban form can
be consistent, while in others, the predominant character can be somewhat City Area
variable. 85,760 Acres
Paris, France, is an example of a city with relatively consistent urban form 134 Sq. Miles
and density. Paris is composed of a compact system of winding streets lined
Population
with a very consistent pattern of five- to eight-story buildings. Its significant
population density generates a high-level of pedestrian activity on its streets, in 536,000
its parks and open spaces and at its corner grocery stores and cafés. In contrast Population Density
to Paris’s consistent form, Portland’s older, higher-density neighborhoods,
such as Northwest Portland or areas around SE Hawthorne Boulevard, feature 6 Persons/Acre
a highly-diverse collection of building types, scales, styles and forms. On a
broader scale, many of Vancouver, British Columbia’s neighborhoods feature
a similarly eclectic mix of architectural forms, scales and styles, but with a
particularly high concentration of population and tall buildings on its downtown
peninsula. Vancouver’s population density is more than three times Portland’s;
it has roughly the same population as Portland in one third the area. Los
Angeles, California, has a higher population than Portland across a larger area,
accommodating much of its higher density in the form of low-rise, multi-family
buildings spread broadly across the city.
The figures on the following pages are approximate and should be used for
general comparative purposes only. The population figures are for residential
population within city boundaries.
City Comparisons
160
Appendix
Denver, CO Austin, TX Sacramento, CA Seattle, WA
City Area City Area City Area City Area
98,560 Acres 189,440 Acres 63,360 Acres 53,760 Acres
154 Sq. Miles 296 Sq. Miles 99 Sq. Miles 84 Sq. Miles
Population Population Population Population
598,000 743,000 475,000 592,000
Population Density Population Density Population Density Population Density
6 Persons/Acre 4 Persons/Acre 7 Persons/Acre 11 Persons/Acre
Los Angeles, CA Vancouver, BC Paris, France Mexico City, Mexico
City Comparisons
City Area City Area City Area City Area
318,720 Acres 28,160 Acres 23,680 Acres 366,720 Acres
798 Sq. Miles 44 Sq. Miles 37 Sq. Miles 573 Sq. Miles
Population Population Population Population
3,800,000 575,000 2,200,000 8,800,000
Population Density Population Density Population Density Population Density
12 Persons/Acre 20 Persons/Acre 93 Persons/Acre 24 Persons/Acre
161
Summaries of Community Concerns
Urban Form Issues Identified in Recent Planning Projects
Appendix
Infill Design Project Report (2005) Community Concerns Identified by District Liaisons
The Infill Design Project engaged the community in assessing design issues In 2004, the Bureau of Planning began developing the existing District Liaison
related to infill development in neighborhoods outside the Central City. The program. Through this program, Planning assigns a planner to one of six areas
2005 Infill Design Project Report summarized this assessment. The report of the city, called districts. Each planner acts as the Bureau’s primary contact
indicated community concern that the design of new higher-density residential between communities, city agencies and nonprofit groups on planning and
development often did not respect or continue the established characteristics, development matters in the district. The liaisons are the Bureau’s lead on issues
patterns or scale of neighborhood residential areas. While “compatibility” was that address district livability and vitality such as economics, development,
a frequently recurring policy objective for residential infill development, City design and long-range planning. As a result, the District Liaisons are in constant
policies and design regulations lacked clear guidance as to what neighborhood contact with neighbors in order to begin to understand some of the more
characteristics were important to continue, or how design priorities should vary prominent neighborhood concerns. Portland Plan staff asked the District
in differing areas. Liaisons questions about some of the more common neighborhood concerns.
Based on recommendations by the project’s community advisory committee, Many of the concerns the District Liaisons reported to Portland Plan staff revolve
the report recommended the “creation of a hierarchy of design principles around the size, shape and mass of development. Key neighborhood concerns
highlighting how design approaches should differ between areas intended to forwarded by the District Liaison staff include: lack of predictability with respect
be places of change, such as mixed-use centers and main streets and areas to what can be developed in the R5 zone; difficult and abrupt transitions
intended to be places of relative stability, such as neighborhood residential between commercial streets and neighborhoods; and a lack of commercial
areas.” The report also suggested that “the City needs to help counteract the opportunities in certain parts of the city.
prevalent “one-size-fits-all” approach to infill design by emphasizing how design
responses should differ for infill projects in Streetcar Era neighborhoods with Regulatory Rethink (2006)
urban street grids, versus design on curvilinear streets in Southwest Portland In 2006, the City completed the Regulatory Rethink White Paper. The Bureau
and in other areas where a greener neighborhood character predominates of Planning initiated the Regulatory Rethink project to implement a 2002 City
and is valued.” The report suggested the creation of a street and urban area Council mandate to “update and improve City building and land use regulations
typology, identifying what building types and design responses are appropriate that hinder desirable development.” In the Regulatory Rethink White Paper, the
for each. Bureau of Planning’s consultants evaluated the City’s approach to regulating
development and recommended new approaches to promote higher-quality
Other recommendations from the Infill Design Project Report related to the
development, while continuing to implement City plans and policies and meet
Urban Form Plan were suggestions for:
state and federal mandates. The consultants’ principle recommendation was
• Targeting new park development in areas with large amounts of multi- to address the city’s physical form and implement citywide design concepts
dwelling zoning to accommodate the needs of families and other residents through the creation of an urban form plan. The report stated that:
living in apartment buildings, which typically lack private yards and
The Urban Form Plan would expand on Metro’s concepts for mixed-use
frequently provide little usable outdoor space.
centers, provide clarity about what the city’s future physical form should
• Exploring possibilities for designing major streets to be supportive of be, and include a street typology with links to transit and bike systems,
adjacent multi-dwelling zoning, such as by including on-street parking, prototypical street cross-sections for each street type identified in the
trees and landscaping to foster a quality residential environment. plan and an urban vocabulary for these places and street types, showing
• Policy and regulatory recognition of the importance of trees as cherished intensities, massing (building height and bulk), pedestrian systems and the
aspects of neighborhood character, especially in areas in East and relationship of development to the street.
Southwest Portland, where the predominance of trees play a greater role
than the architectural consistency in defining the physical environment of
some neighborhoods.
162
Appendix
Another key component of the Urban Form Plan will be concepts and VisionPDX (2007)
standards for the design of public open spaces, the “community living
Through the visionPDX process, community members shared aspirations
rooms” of the city. It is crucial to go beyond traditional concepts of parks
for the future of Portland. Community connectiveness and distinctiveness
and begin laying out a system of public open spaces, designed at a variety
were identified as top community values, reflective of community members’
of scales and sizes and arranged to form a significant spatial hierarchy and
appreciation for “public spaces where neighbors interact” and the “varied
sequence. The walls that enclose these public outdoor rooms are formed by
neighborhoods that make Portland a special place.” The visionPDX Report called
the exterior facades of the surrounding buildings. The zoning will then serve
for a future Portland in which historic architecture is preserved alongside new
to implement the creation of these spaces.
buildings with creative design, neighborhoods that are well-connected by public
transportation, dense development that takes place in centers and along retail
Community Forum on Infill Development (2007) corridors, neighborhoods that have goods and services within walking distance
On March 17, 2007, community leaders and city staff held a forum to discuss and communities that have many pocket parks, community gardens, natural
neighborhood change and character, neighborhood engagement, gentrification, areas and other green spaces.
equity and inclusiveness, natural area protection and business development
issues. In addition to concerns about engaging more people in the planning Planning Commission Retreat (2007)
process, a critical concern was the need to effectively communicate what can or
On October 30, 2007, the Planning Commission and staff from both the Bureau
cannot happen through infill development and to develop clear ideas about the
of Planning and the Mayor’s office met to discuss a host of issues ranging from
roles of infill development and what the community expects it to achieve.
the Comprehensive Plan to Planning’s three-year work plan and development
of the upcoming budget submittal. While the conversation topics were diverse,
Land Division Code Monitoring Report (2007) the retreat minutes indicate that a significant amount of time was dedicated to
In May 2007, the Bureau of Development Services produced an assessment of discussing the current state of Portland and ways to approach the development
the as-built result of land divisions approved by the City after the adoption of of the Portland Plan. One key direction was to be bold in the pursuit of major

the revised land division zoning code regulations of 2002. The Land Division ideas and to be more intentional regarding Portland’s identity and future
Code Monitoring report identified some trouble spots within the Zoning Code development. Another major concern was that new pressures are threatening
and other issues that could be ameliorated by improved coordination between Portland’s way of life, but that it is not clear whether community members are
policies and bureaus. Some of the significant issues include poor relationships aware of the pressures or what resources will be needed in the future. Planning
between buildings on adjacent properties, particularly on flag lots; use of Commission members also talked about the need to foster quality design
flexible development standards to gerrymander lot lines to create lots that and to engage the community in making choices about what development
meet the minimum lot areas, but that also create remnant lot portions that are is appropriate. They also discussed the idea of recognizing the different
often unusable; inconsistency between the land development tree preservation characteristics of Portland’s neighborhoods and the importance of planning
requirements and the urban forestry regulations; and unpredictability about with nature.
whether a connecting street will be required or if a private street will be
permitted.
163
Appendix
East Portland Review (2007)

The East Portland Review (November 2007) identified a broad list of issues and
concerns for this part of the city, generally located east of 82nd Avenue. A
few of the major overarching issues include infrastructure that is disjointed and
incomplete, incompatible infill housing development and limited commercial
development. The report indicated that, as this fast-growing area continues
to evolve, the challenges will be to complete and provide street and sidewalk
connections; encourage new development that offers housing choices for
different types of households while at the same time fitting into the context of
existing neighborhoods; and to cultivate districts with a “sense of place” that
offer residents more options to locally carry out daily activities, whether it is to
work, eat, shop or play.
This report related that development issues in East Portland differed significantly
from inner Portland areas, where planning efforts reinforce the existing
community structure by mostly focusing development in established centers
and main streets. In East Portland, however, planning for higher-intensity
development introduces an essentially new, more urban form into areas that are
relatively low-scale and spread out. The report relates that reconciling existing
community character with the change brought about by new development has
therefore been a major issue in East Portland.
Citywide Tree Project (in process)

The Citywide Tree Project has identified numerous community concerns
regarding the future of the urban forest, especially in relationship to the loss of
trees accompanying new development. The project has found that:
• Community concern about the loss of trees has been greatest in areas
experiencing residential development, such as Southwest and Eastern
Portland. An ongoing issue in Eastern Portland has been the removal of
remnant stands of Douglas Fir to make room for infill development.
• While proposals for land divisions require a tree preservation review
process, multidwelling and other development has no such review
requirement.
• There has been tendency to remove large tree species and to replace
them with smaller species that will not provide the same canopy coverage.
New development, especially at higher-densities, often does not provide
sufficient space to accommodate large-canopy tree species.
164

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Urban Form

PORTLAND PLAN BACKGROUND REPORT

Bureau of Planning and Sustainability

Primary Authors NEIGHBORHOODS & HOUSING

Contributors EDUCATION AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT

To help ensure equal access to City

Urban Form Report

Urban Form Report

• State-mandated Periodic Review. In 2007 the state of Oregon

transportation, housing, environmental, social and aesthetic choices made by a

Criteria for Topographic Features

The Willamette River and the West Hills

Criteria for Signature Open Spaces

enduring and visible landmarks.

Criteria for Built Icons

12 St. Johns Bridge (upper) and Downtown skyline (lower)

performances and world-class art and significant historic artifacts. Some of

Criteria for Attractions

Milwaukie, is one of the city’s busiest corridors, accommodating some 60,000

Criteria for Street Corridors

E Burnside (upper), SE Hawthorne (right) and SE Powell (left)

Central City, for the entire region.

Criteria for Centers and

Freeway access points have played a role in urban form by attracting

Criteria for Freeways and

Overall Urban Fabric

Portland can be characterized as having three Western Neighborhoods Inner Neighborhoods

Original Square Rectangular Rectangular with

Rectangular with Large Rectangular Right Triangular,

Uniform Curvilinear Organic-like Curve Modified

Symmetrical Sharp Triangular, Topographically

Disconnected Curvilinear Modified Topographically

encourage community members to consider if there

• Consistent pattern of rectilinear

system. The majority of the Inner Neighborhoods,

Northwest District) and along and near major streets

Other Distinctive Place Elements

Ladd’s Addition St. John’s and Woodlawn

Laurelhurst and Eastmoreland Alameda Ridge and Mt. Tabor

• Highly variable urban patterns

Building Forms and Types

levels are common, as are more contemporary

• Consistent pattern of curvilinear

Other Distinctive Place Elements

• Curvilinear “rural” roads follow

relatively small building setbacks.

Other Distinctive Place Elements

• Dramatic topography and views

Street Characteristics closely-set, with narrow side setbacks. Backyards are

Housing on Hayden Island (left) and a waterfront community in Bridgeton

Houses set close to the street (upper) and a narrow lane

2c. Hollywood 2g. West Portland

it provides, contrasts with the patterns of detached structures prevalent in

C. Goose Hollow D. South Auditorium E. University District

surface parking lots, an area of small storefront buildings along NE Halsey,

• An added visual dynamic is created by the slope downward toward the

A Note on Other Commercial Areas

transit-oriented places that provide retail and other services to neighborhoods,