Ideally, NE tips and tricks, but I'd like them all! I understand the quadrant system and know some basics. Such as in the NW street names are alphabetical as you go up / down and in NE the numbers increment East. What are some other tips and tricks to learn so I can begin navigating here without GPS?
Posted May 8, 2023, 3:36 PM UTC
The border of N/NE is actually Williams/Vancouver - not MLK like many people seem to think.
Fairly specific, but I've always like "Prescott's Going, Wygant Alberta?" as a way to remember what order those streets are in.
If you're headed east out Columbia to the airport, make a left on Cornfoot instead of the right on 82nd, for a small shortcut.
Ainsworth is always always always better than Killingsworth.
Going is great for bikes, but has a million speed humps for cars.
Ainsworth is always always always better than Killingsworth.
Would you mind breaking this one down for me please? What makes Ainsworth better than Killingworth? Do you mean for biking or driving or walking or all three?
Better for biking and driving for sure. Killingsworth has a lot of lights and can be real backed up at times. Ainsworth has very few lights and is almost always clear.
Why would you bike down Ainsworth? Holman or Going are both Greenways with no stop lights and way bigger lanes.
This is an alt route for me. Sometimes I do Killingsworth between MLK all the way to Greeley. BUT, using Ainsworth is like 1/3rd the time. Not as many lights. Depending on the weather and time of day there's lots of backup by PCC, so Ainsworth is a go-around for that.
Killingsworth is better than Ainsworth west of I-5.
While the center of the Burnside bridge is the nexus between the quadrants, and everything west of Williams is North Portland, South Portland evades such a simple definition.
As best I can tell, from north to south, South Portland is any west side address that's south of the Hawthorne Bridge and east of Naito until you get to S Curry St, then Nairo again for a few blocks, at which point S View Point Terrace becomes the divider, until that runs out, and then S Corbett becomes the divider, then S Iowa, Then S View Point Terrace reappears, then S Corbett again (with an exception of SW California St, which intersects and runs east of it and remains SW until S Virginia, somehow), then S View Point Terrace again, S Corbett one last time, then S Taylor's Ferry road, then View Point Terrace, then S Terwilliger Place, then S Southridge Dr, then suddenly Terwilliger Boulevard becomes S for a few blocks, then it's S Iron Mountain Boulevard, then it jumps over to S Fielding road until the madness finally ends a few blocks later in Lake Oswego.
They could have just said anything S of Hawthorne Bridge and east of Naito/Barbur/Terwilliger is South but that woulda been too easy.
Do you have a source on the boundary between N/NE? Not that I don't believe you, but when I Google I get all sorts of answers. I live in Piedmont and I'm never sure exactly, so I say I live on the border.
Checking Google maps, I indeed see addresses on Williams are N and Cleveland, one street east, are NE.
Can confirm, was a mailman in that area for a bit, delivered on williams. Everything east of Williams, north of mason is 97211 and the addresses are NE whatever, Williams and West, north of mason is 97217 and the addresses are N whatever, this tracks all the way up to N Williams/NE 1st off Bridgeton rd on the Columbia. Same south of mason but with 97227 and 97212.
Awesome, thank you!
If you follow where the bend in the river is it makes sense.
South of Williams is more or less where the Willamette starts trucking west.
So basically, the river splits us into east and west sides, except it turns so you get the funky fifth quadrant. But the boundary is still where the river would be if it didn’t turn.
Yeah, visually that makes sense for sure. And it does seem to be N Williams is the official divider.
Feels weird though, I've never thought about going out in Williams (or Mississippi) as going out in "North Portland." If I was at a bar and someone texted asking where I was I'd say NE.
Moda Center / Rose Quarter Transit Center are in "North Portland" which is really a brain bender
The city is a graph; the X axis is the Willamette River and the Y axis is Burnside. The first two digits of an address indicate how many blocks from Burnside or the river it is depending on whether it's a numbered street (west-east) or named street (north south). The next two digits indicate where on the block that house is and on what side of the street; numbers climb the further you get from the axes, with even numbers on one side of the street and odd on the other.
For example: 2124 NE 44th Avenue would be 21 blocks north of E Burnside, two houses down on the east side of the street 44 blocks east of the Willamette River.
Disclaimer: this system does not apply in North Portland or South Portland; the principle is the same but with different axes for the graph.
The system does apply in North Portland, they just aren't numbered streets. The numbers start at Williams and go west, so for instance Kerby is 600 and mason is 4100, same as NE.
Disclaimer: this system does not apply in North Portland or South Portland; the principle is the same but with different axes for the graph.
This hack is genius, I’ll never think of the house numbers the same.
It sounds complicated to write it out, but after a few decades it comes naturally when you read an address.
Shout out to the incredible Dick Cheek, the greatest teacher I've ever had and the man who taught me this and so many other useful tidbits!
Burnside divides north and south. The Willamette divides east and west. The blocks are numbered by 100s starting at the dividing road and river.
Most of the city is on a grid with exceptions such as Sandy, Foster, Ladds Addition and southwest.
We have half sized blocks here which generally means there are twenty blocks in a mile as opposed to other cities which are typically ten. Unmarked crosswalks are everywhere streets intersect. The alphabet district streets are on the east side too A through I at least. Greenways are great ways to avoid stop lights. I can get from Montavilla to North Portland only going through five intersections with traffic lights. Don't use them as a driver.
I use the acronym SEE NOW to remind myself that odd numbered addresses are on the north and west sides of streets and even addresses are on the south and east sides. Sandy is easy b/c the evens are on the SE side of the street but Foster fucks me up a little b/c the evens are on the SW side. Basically Foster is the devil's street that obeys no laws of acronyms in service to their weird Ukrainian Furniture Store That No One's Ever Gone To masters.
Although the store does have kind of an entertaining instagram b/c it doesn't answer the question of who shops there and why the store has been able to stay in business for so long without customers. https://www.instagram.com/euroclassic\_furniture\_pdx
Based on their Instagram they must keep the normal looking stuff in the back. I’ve never seen a piece of furniture in their window that isn’t covered in tiny mirrors of animal print, but apparently they do exist.
Also SHAG. A lot of leather and shag.
Odd people live in the north west. That’s how I learned to tell what side of the street things are on.
I use the phrase “the NW is odd” — North and West sides of the street are odd, S & E are even.
I live near Foster so I get you, but then it’s still north and south. Forget about it as a diagonal and it’s easier.
But remember it as a diagonal when you’re driving because you’re going to end up BLOCKS further south once you get out to 82nd or further.
edited: plurals
If you're plans are to make a left turn from W Burnside, don't. It's pretty hard to find a spot on W Burnside where left turns are allowed.
https://www.strava.com/heatmap#13.64/-122.64991/45.55358/hot/ride
See this strava heatmap to see how people like to bike around. If you like biking or walking, learn where pedestrian bridges will take you over highways and such. I like to plan routes around these because if nothing else they're cute and fun.
Google maps is always telling me to get on I5 when side streets will add maybe 1 minute. I hate getting on the highway for an in-the-city, 10 minute drive.
Otherwise, NE Portland is the same as anywhere; learn the order of arterial streets near you in big blocks first then increasingly smaller until you have a lot of familiarity. I definitely find myself on streets where I not 100% sure of my location, but I'm never more than a few blocks from hitting a street I know nomatter which direction I head.
N. Vancouver Avenue and N. Willams are one-way and good for commuting, even by bike (though the newer bike lanes can be confusing in some spots). N. Vancouver becomes two-way at Killingsworth when you’re traveling north bound.
Number streets run North-South. Name streets run West-East. The Willamette River divides the city W/E; Burnside Blvd divides N/S. The number streets increase the further you get from the river. NoPo is the "Fifth Quadrant." Each quadrant has its own unique vibe and neighborhoods. Give cyclists their due; we all share the road. Hope PDX is all you seek! :D
Second on the attitude that pedestrians rule the roads here. If you see someone at a solid bars crosswalk, you stop! Frankly if you see people at an intersection downtown that isn't Market or Broadway, it is customary to let them cross.
Second on giving bike's their space.
Downtown one ways - evens go north, odd goes south
One I have not seen mentioned is that Northwest's named streets are in Alphabetical order. (I wish the rest of the city did this)
Avoid the freeway whenever possible, especially around the boarder between NE and SE. I get pretty messed up by the small one way roads or small turns and it becomes frustrating and I max save 1-2 minutes than just taking main streets.
I'd just get to know which streets are the main travel corridors, such as 15th, 33rd, 39th, Columbia, Killingsworth, Fremont, etc., because if you don't know which streets will take you straight through you can get lost in a web of short blocks/stop signs/turns. Do use GPS around Woodlawn, Alameda and Laurelhurst, maybe also around some parts of Sandy and Cully too, streets are angled/not on a grid and it gets confusing every time.
I have definitely been in cars with experienced Portlanders, with GPS on, and we'll still make wrong turns in Alameda haha.
Yep! It's a crazy network of streets around there!
A good way to get to downtown from N. Portland is to take N. Albina which turns into Mississippi. It will take you to Interstate by the Moda Center.
greeley > interstate is way faster
True, but feels a little sketchy on a bike, or it has for me, at least. I’ve ridden on it a couple of times and cars are driving super fast. I think they’re also not expecting to see bikes on that road.
there are protected bike lanes on greeley now
Always check googlemaps before you go somewhere, even if it’s familiar. If there’s an accident or some other wrench in the route, you could get sucked in forever by the one-ways, dead-ends, impossible to re-route familiar paths. It’s best to check before you head out.
I understand the quadrant system
in NE the numbers increment East.
You need to know the dividing lines and the numbers increment away from them.
I keep in mind that Williams divides North from Northeast Portland.
https://images.app.goo.gl/cf6H3PrwfQJRUQUF7
There's a second side, look up Radio Cab cheat Sheet.
Learn every 10 or so blocks, and you'll be good.
Bike around if you can in your spare time on weekends. Easier to get a handle on the street names when you are not piloting a ton of steel and can look around more and stop anywhere.
Avenues run n/s There are more than four quadrants
The addressing system is also on grid. If you're at 1020 E Burnside than you're ten blocks east of the river. If you're on 300 SE 10th than you're three blocks south of burnside. Also, learn the Diagonals, Sandy, Foster and Cully.
10200 E Burnside is 100 blocks east.
3003 SE 10th is 30 blocks.
Oops, too many zeros. Thanks for the correction
Never plan a route through the train crossing at SE 12th or 11th. Always pick an alternate path.
If you're on foot or bike, you can always use the Bob Stacey Crossing!
Fun fact, if you get stuck near OMSI you can always go back across the Hawthorne bridge. Turn down second. Come back up Hawthorne bridge done at a million times.
And if you don't have a car, OMSI has Stations for Streetcars, MAX Orange Line, and Bus Lines FX2, 9, and 17 which go across Tilikum Crossing (or you can also walk across it.
WORD
There used to be a website that would tell you if there was a train there or not. B/c I lived a couple blocks away I had it bookmarked on my phone. But it doesn't seem to update anymore. Apparently the people running the site had to move offices so they couldn't keep the camera up.
I work in the Ford Building where they had their office. Can confirm, they moved offices.
I visited a couple of months ago and witnessed this chaos from Shoofly Bakery. It was stressful as a bystander!