Laurelhurst is a neighborhood in Portland, OR, noteworthy for being an upper-middle class neighborhood surrounded on all sides by slightly less expensive neighborhoods. It is also the home of Laurelhurst Park.
According to the City of Portland, the official boundaries of the neighborhood are from 33rd to 43rd, and from Se Stark Street to The Banfield. The Western boundary is fairly noticable, as gigantic pillars on Burnside Street are inscribed with the words "Laurelhurst", but to the east and south the boundaries are a little more flexible. The actual layout of neighborhoods in Portland is not always what the City Government says it is.
Laurelhurst stands out in many ways from the surrounding terrain. Unlike the majority of East Portland, which is layed out on a fairly consistent grid system, Laurelhurst has many roads that run at diagonals and make curves. This is perhaps due to the fact that the entire neighborhood lies on a slight slope that would make thorough roads inconvenient.
Laurelhurst is home to some rather impressive architecture, and some very beautiful, well tended hoomes and gardens. This is especially striking considering that fact that on all four sides it is surrounded by some rather common mixed use residential\commercial districts, some of which are a little bit seedy.
The fact that Portland can have an upper middle class neighborhood in the middle of what could be considered the inner city is yet another thing that makes Portland a unique place to live.