Portland, Oregon has a rather unique system of neighborhoods. Like every city, Portland has neighborhoods, where certain districts have a certain "air" or "feel" to them, based on common subcultures or economics. However, in Portland, their are also 89 different established neighborhoods that function as quasi-governmental organizations. They are further gathered up into seven different districts based on geographical location. The neighborhoods originally started in the 1960's and gained prominence in the early 1970's when they fought against some of City Hall's plans. One neighborhood went so far as to organize itself as a seperate city, and still exists as an enclave, the City of Maywood Park, totally surrounded by Portland on all sides. However, City Hall, realizing that the old truism You can't fight City Hall had been disproven, decided it would be easier just to organize the Neighborhood Associations and join forces with them. Today, thirty years later, the neighborhood associations are mostly conservative organizations, although they can still raise their fur when the City comes up with an extremely wacky plan.
The Neighborhoods are, by district:
- The Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods
- Alameda
- Boise
- Concordia
- Grant Park
- Humboldt
- Irvington
- King Jack
- Piedmont
- Sullivan's Gulch
- Vernon
- Woodlawn
North Portland Neighborhood Services
- Cathedral Park
- Hayden Island
- Arbor Lodge
- Kenton
- Overlook
- East Columbia
- Portsmouth
- Piedmont
- St. Johns
- Bridgeton
- University Park
Southeast Uplift
- Foster-Powell
- Eastmoreland
- Ardenwald/Johnson Creek
- Creston-Kenilworth
- CENTER
- Buckman
- Brooklyn
- Brentwood/Darlington
- Mt. Scott-Arleta
- Sellwood-Moreland
- Richmond
- Reed
- Sunnyside
- Kerns
- South Tabor
- Mt. Tabor
- Montavilla
- Woodstock
- Hosford-Abernethy
- Laurelhurst
Central Northeast Neighbors
- Beaumont Wilshire
- Cully
- Cully-Sumner
- East Columbia
- Hollywood
- Madison South
- Rose City Park
- Roseway
- Roseway-Madison South
- Sumner
- Sunderland
Neighbors West\Northwest
- Arlington Heights
- Forest Park
- Goose Hollow
- Hillside
- Linnton
- NINA
- NWDA
- Northwest Heights
- The Pearl District
- Sylvan-Highlands
Southwest Nieghborhoods, INC
- Bridlemile
- Hayhurt
- Maplewood
- Hillsdale
- Homestead
- Terwilliger
- Lair Hill
- South Burlingame
- Multnomah
- Collins View
- Markham
- Marshall Park
- Arnold Creek
- West Portland Park
- Ashcreek
- Far Southwest
- Crestwood
East Portland Neighborhood Office
- Argay
- Centennial
- Glenfair
- Hazelwood
- Mill Park
- Powellhurst-Gilbert
- Woodland Park
- Wilkes
- Pleasent Valley
- Parkrose
- Russel
- Parkrose Heights
- Lents
Unaffiliated Neighborhoods
- Southwest Hills
- Downtown
- Old Town\Chinatown
- Healy Heights
- Lloyd District
It should be pointed out that these are the names of the official neighborhoods, which have official boundary lines. However, in normal nomenclature, not all these neighborhoods are actually used in speech. While people from Laurelhurst often say they are from Laurelhurst, I have never had anyone come up to me and say "I live in Cully-Sumner". In addition, people may say they are from an area, without actually being from the official nieghborhood. Mount Tabor, for example, is much larger than the offical neighborhood named after it, so someone may identify themselves as being from there who does not live strictly inside the neighborhood. Thus, the term district is sometimes used for an area that has similiar characteristics but cuts across bnoderlines. Se Hawthorne Boulevard, for example, cuts across many neighborhoods, but has a similiar culture along its length, characterized by many headshops.
There, then, is an introduction to the diversity that is Portland, Oregon.