Since you willingly scrolled down to the comments, now you have to endure this one: if you were on Nebula, you would've seen this video a few days early! (Also without ads, and, best of all -- WITH NO COMMENT SECTION.) Using my custom link gets you 40% off an annual subscription, and really helps the channel! go.nebula.tv/citynerd Lifetime membership deal still available too! go.nebula.tv/lifetime?ref=citynerd
Meanwhile in Seattle, we can't even agree to make the Pike Market a pedestrian zone. This is a street that can take about an hour to drive a block on a weekend.
As a Seattleite these days, that literally worked with advocates in Portland for years on many of these streets, I'm always frustated af with Seattle's potential that is buried in "Seattle process" and nonsense! Pike Market should have been a pedestrian zone a zillion years ago, the fact it's a 0.1 mph car street with marking just boggles my mind.
That last comment about idling engines hit me, its depressing how so much of the background noise of our every day lives is an internal combustion engine.
Eh. With mufflers, idling engines are pretty quiet, no worse than most air conditioners. Accelerating from a stop is when engines are the worst, and at speed, tire noise is much worse than engine noise.
@@jonathanstensberg Some guy today (Wednesday) in some kind of a fancy, souped-up Jeep was literally and quite purposefully roaring his motor up and down my generally quiet Denver city streets near North High (most of which predatie the automobile, as well) like he was both angry and yearning for big-time attention. He did have some kind of muffler, I think, and what he was doing may have somehow been within the limits of the law - but regardless, that stuff happens a lot more often than it needs to, legally or not, and no one is going to pick him up. It's just not going to happen. But to Ray's point, idling engines outside of schools is another bizarre but true issue in America, and not just for the noise.
any civilized car would just turn the engine off when stopped - but in those areas you see far to many "emotional support vehicles", where noise is seen as a feature…
I live in the Kenton neighborhood and I never want to leave .The fact that we have a MAX stop and good bus access as well as bike infrastructure really makes my life possible despite being poor. The East side neighborhoods in Portland is my favorite thing about the city I just wish they were still all as well connected as Kenton is.
You know, I kinda assume the Kenton line ran on Denver (it's marked as Derby Street in the old maps, which I think is the old name of Denver), but I wasn't going to get that far north anyway, so I also missed St. Johns & Dekum/Woodlawn. Didn't get as far east as I could've either!
One summer day many years ago I had a great time biking with friends from Buckman to old town for drinks; then bikes put on the Max to Kenton; and then a meandering evening ride back to Buckman, stopping at friends’ houses along the way.
You said something really important to me. I'm poor and I need a bike-able/walkable city. Mostly, I just really need to leave Texas. I'm in a blue-ish area,but i'm just about done. Portland seems really interesting.
@@bodhimind108The main issue with Portland… despite the best attempts of some people to devalue property in the city, it’s rather expensive. I’m not sure I can even point you to an exception that is anywhere near any of the neighborhoods in the video. The people mentioning Kenton here… maybe?
@@PCSPounder Thanks for the heads up. I notcied people were mention that area. I have friends in another part of Orepon. I should contact them. It's been a while. Thx
Great job! Seen on the left at 9:09, Bar Nina on NE Alberta is in the boiler room of what used to be the Victoria Theater (dates back to the silent era).The Victoria became a church in the 60’s I believe, and had to be demolished around 2007. Bar Nina is a hidden bar that stands as a relic of the original theater thanks to the builder’s efforts.
Attenborough voice: "The SUV nervously shuttles its young along the paved corridor. Not all of them are going to make it to driving school today. Hidden underneath the tarmac lies a silent killer - the hydraulic bollard."
I moved to the Sellwood neighborhood last year! Portland isn't perfect but it's such an improvement from where I was before. It was fun seeing my new home featured here.
Nice job, Ray. I especially liked your observation that cities that developed while streetcars were still in existence have this quality as opposed to the ones that developed during auto dependency.
Division street resident here! Thanks for showcasing some of my favorite Eastside streets. I'm going to use this video to show my friends and family why I like living here so much!
Speaking up to defend gray skies. Different courses for different horses. I've lived in desert areas. I find bright, sunny days glaring & oppressive. I much prefer gentle gray skies as a background. They make the flowers and moss POP. I understand that some people have Seasonal Affective Disorder. This is not the town for them.
I noticed that people in the southwest hide in air conditioning more than the NW coast people hide under roofs. I can do a lot more outdoor sports in 60d clouds than 90d sun.
Every city has their good weather season and their bad weather season. If you’ve ever been to Phoenix in July or Buffalo in January you know what I’m talking about! 😂
The Northwest is OK for people with winter SAD as long as you have a good bright light box and use it diligently. Turns out summer SAD is a thing too -- all the light and heat make some people anxious.
This was such an amazing video City Nerd. As someone who has lived in Portland my entire life, I've always recognized how these specific streets that attract people were streets established back when our trolley lines were around. I really hope one day we can bring them back
Portland was way ahead of the curve with their awesome trolley car network in the 1920's. I visited my grandmother in Philadelphia in the 70's and remember seeing all of the trolley tracks through the pavement....and wondering how great it would be to ride the trolley all over town.❤
I used to live outside Philly in one of the small towns. We had a trolley right down State Street. We could take that trolley right into Central Philadelphia to go Christmas shopping at Wanamaker's. That trolley is still there, too. I wish we hadn't left!
@@james-p Awesome 😎. I remember the Wanamaker's Christmas parade each year. My grandmother would take the train from Philly to our house in Westfield NJ in the early 70's. She always brought a turkey in her suitcase....lol. My grandparents lived in the Mt. Airy neighborhood in Philly..... I miss those days too.
Interesting wrinkle: the early development of electric trolley cars is directly related to the region's early development of hydroelectric power (specifically Willamette Falls). There was no good way to store the constant excess of electricity generated by the constant flow of water, so they sunk it into public transportation.
I moved to Portland a year ago and ditched my car when I moved. I live in Inner SE and it's definitely a great place to live and easy to get around without a car. Loving Portland!
Unfortunately my car was stolen but I found that it really didn't impact my life inside of the city!! I am happily biking all times of year and living near PSU.
Former long-term Sellwood resident here: The east side now draws some of the most insane housing prices + cost of living in the state. Our family (with our high 6 figure income) was forced out and will not likely be able to return. Only the lucky who bought cheap + wealthy families buying now can afford a family home in the area. It's frankly the best place to live on the west coast if you're into an urban life. It makes me sick that it's on the fast track to become the next exclusively wealthy, urban enclave. That we have to fight an impossible battle for this level of livability everywhere is beyond discouraging.
Feel you, I grew up on the east side, near what is now the division monstrosity that's celebrated, and there's no way I could ever afford to live in the house we had that was $80k in the early 90s and is over $700k now. Portland is great, but it should be great for everyone, and not just the wealthy that forced all of my local friends to far flung suburbs that suck.
*Inner Eastside* you mean. Sorry to break it to you but anyone living west of 52nd was already extremely privileged. There's still semi-affordable stuff way out east.
A high 6-figure income would be $700-900K. It can't be that kind of expensive there! I just found a nice little 2+1 in Sellwood for $575K. Here in LA, that would get me a burned-out vacant lot in Compton.
My daughter relocated to Portland a few years ago for graduate school. She hasn't left and has been able to make a solid living as an artist. Your video tantalizes people not living in Portland to visit the small neighborhoods with the shops, restaurants, and yes...gourmet doughnut shops. Thanks for your work.
Visited Portland last November, but due to time considerations, I was only able to see Downtown, Old Town Chinatown, the Pearl District and Washington Park. I penciled in North Mississippi and NW Albina as destinations if time permitted, but this was not to be. Now having seen these and some of the other neighborhoods of the Central Eastside through your video, I'm determined to include them the next time I visit the Rose City. Thanks!
CITYNERD!! Love seeing the Portland neighborhoods, being a resident in Parkrose, Belmont and frequenter of the Hawthorne neighborhood. Thanks for the quick splash of the Alberta Rose ...
I moved to Portland 8ish years ago and ended up on the downtown side in my first rental, not knowing that much about the neighborhoods yet. it didn't take long to realize the heart of the city was on the inner east side just a short walk over the river. I moved over there less than a year later and have been having the time of my life ever since. No-one goes downtown for anything but appointments and soccer games or maybe a brunch in NW.
Yay! Was hoping your recent appearance would result in a video and I am thrilled to see more bike bus coverage cause it really is what this city needs more of! My favorite part of Portland is in the early spring when all the roads are messed up from snow/ice/expansion and we get to see the cobbles and sometimes rails peeking out. They didn't even pull them up - its all still down there and just paved over every couple of years. Wish we could take a streetcar to Mt Tabor still, the amount of people who drive and fight for hardly enough parking to then only walk in the place about 1/2 mile, get their instagram shot and leave is one of the saddest things about spring. Thankfully if you are able to make it to the top its less crowded and completely car free.
Washington, D.C. used to have a robust electric streetcar/trolley network but, tragically, it was stopped in 1962 after a whole century of service. Ray’s assertion rings true here: the corridors where the streetcars traveled are now some of the D.C’s most vibrant, in-demand, and transit-friendly areas. And there are still remnants of the streetcar network, such as trolley turnarounds turned into parks and bus terminals.
Gahhh, neighborhood movie theaters are a godsend to me as a film buff and urbanist! I have fond memories of going to my neighborhood theater on Chalkstone Ave as a kid in the early 2000's, unfortunately most of neighborhood movie theaters in Providence have been converted into churches, including the one on Chalkstone, which was the oldest purpose built movie theater in Providence before in closed :(
This also applies to the mosquito fleet towns in the Salish Sea, where small urban nodes developed around docks where the old steam ships would stop instead developing on rail lines. Examples are Kingston, Langley, Coupeville, Friday Harbor, East Sound, and the biggest of all of them, Port Townsend
Lived in PDX over 20 years ago, in SE and then North Portland for awhile. Only visited a few times since. Was there last year, and the FX2 line was very handy. First time I had seen that transit bridge as well.
Observation from Texas, where a lot of people have the opinions you'd expect about coastal cities: The people who think of Portland (and Seattle, Chicago, New York, etc) as a smoldering craters, burned to the ground by Antifa and BLM, will champion the old fashioned main street small towns that figure heavily in the American imagination. But those places died decades ago. You find a lot of places like that around rural Texas that were probably charming 60 or 70 years ago but are basically abandoned now. The places that aren't ghost towns are now centered around Walmart, parking lots, and crumbling infrastructure.
@HarrisNewman0208 we briefly lived in Austin and loved the beauty, but it just didn’t fit our family. I've had fleeting thoughts about Portland, but have never been there and know little about it. Friends familiar with Portland think I'd like it. Do you miss living in Texas?
@@brucegoolsby1470 no, Austin is a desert with cactus and shrub trees. In Oregon there are trees 100s of ft and natural beauty everywhere. It's 80 degrees here in late August, we rarely close the windows. I can go anywhere by mass transit, don't even own a car! Food is fresh and local, most businesses are local too.
Thanks CN for the WaPo story link. From what I’ve seen, personal vehicles and school buses long ago settled into their current relationship: The bare minimum of buses and school lots filled to the brim with cars and trucks … especially high schools. And that’s even before the ridiculously long car lines. And I understand why. When we moved to a small rural town my kids had a 40 or 60 minute bus ride to school, reachable by car in about 10 minutes. It’s one bus that goes all around the town. My oldest didn’t mind so much because he reads his phone. My youngest couldn’t wait to drive to school. The H.S. is located on a major stroad. Everyday 2 cops manage traffic from the usual 50mph down to crawling speed. I realize there’s nothing at all unique about any of that, but remain astonished everyone puts up with it.
Been living here for 2 decades and visit these neighborhoods regularly. Never knew much about the history and why the neighborhoods look the way they do. Thanks.
Thank you for this video about my home city! I had no idea that all the wonderful Portlandy streets existed because of an old electric streetcars system. As a car-free transit rider, I wish that more extensive streetcars system still functioned today. Thanks also for pointing out the common features of beautiful movie theaters and all the Rudy's lol. I'll definitely be thinking of this channel when I go by one tomorrow. I appreciate your explanation of my environment, how it came to be the way it is. Portland is home to me, so it's really nice to have a better understanding of my home.
Aww, I love the Alameda bike bus! Such a lovely neighborhood to ride through, too, esp with all the flowers starting to bloom. Thanks for sharing this video. It's nice to see things in my old neighborhood, and to know that Portland is still as verdant, human-scaled, and bike-friendly as I remember it.
Except with your bike and car being stolen by force and assaults while said bikes and cars are being stolen being 10x as frequent now as 5-10 years ago. I’m a lifelong Portlander and it’s bad now
Incredible timing, thank you! My partner and I are visiting Portland for two days from Victoria! I've driven through previously, but I've never had the chance to stay! An urbanist travelogue by one of my favourite urbanists, before I travel there with someone who wants to study planning. What luck!
Cincinnati has lots of public stairways that seem to complement its old streetcar system as well. A local organization named Spring In Our Step that’s working to restore the stairways and alleyways across the city
I live in SE. There used to be a trolley line in front of my house. Now the closest bus lines are a half mile away. The closest b rail is nearly 3 miles away. There is a lot of new housing on Woodstock. Mostly one and two bedroom apartments.
Doing our tour of urban fabric in Europe these last two weeks, so striking to experience the brutal soundscape that is London sandwiched by weeks spent in the bustling but mostly gently human powered streetscape of Delft in the Netherlands.
Delft benefits from having an old downtown with canals and narrow streets that were just never going to be given over to cars completely, since that would have required razing the city and starting over, and even at the height of car mania in the '60s and '70s, that would have been out of the question. The university district, on the other hand, is very new, and it used to be very car-oriented when I went to college there in the late '80s, and has since been transformed into a much more bike- and pedestrian-friendly space (and greener, too), which makes so much sense since the area is compact enough that driving around there always felt a bit silly.
It may not feel like it, but London has made big strides in modal shift to cycling, low traffic neighbourhoods, quiet ways and school streets. The Mayoral election happens in early May, and it’s depressing that there’s still a lot of culture war rhetoric bleeding the campaigns. Luckily the incumbent is likely to sneak it, and four more years will probably be the tipping point that makes it irreversible at least in the inner boroughs.
@@richardwhatmough2702 There are plenty of signs of the transition to walk bike friendly streets. It’s going to be interesting to see what our big cities look and sound like in ten or twenty years.
I moved down from Marysville to Portland Piedmont neighborhood. I love going everywhere on my ebike. It's so nice to be back in PDX, but man, things have changed since the 1980s.
I moved my family to Portland (Sellwood) in early 2021. People who watched national TV news thought it was crazy but I studied urban planning and to me the many amazing successes of Portland (this video just being a small part) jumped out.
@@NarrowShouldersOpenMindthe theft and apathy about crime needs to stop. People need to support the police and actually call the cops when they see constant thefts and homeless assaults. I just saw a homeless man attack an employee in glisan Fred Meyer with a growler beer bottle and the people near me said “no we’re not calling the police we don’t support that” as the employee was assaulted. You know that’s only a Portland, SF etc kind of mindset.
I go to Reed College in southeast; the fact that there used to be a streetcar on Milwaukie Ave in Moreland and 13th in Sellwood makes so much sense. Ever since I moved here, it's driven me INSANE how the MAX orange line goes down the highway in the middle of nowhere, instead of any of the real destinations to the west of it.
Absolutely! If I want to go to the Rhododendron Garden across the street from Reed College, it's a bit of a hike from the MAX station in Milwaukie. Still haven't quite figured out how to do the bus faster from my neighborhood up in the NW Alphabet District.
once upon a time streetcars used to circle the loop in front of vollum and went all the way down reed college place and could get you to the interurban that ran on the springwater corridor. rumor has it that one of the junked trolleys from this route was used in the original old spaghetti factory.
Great vid! I have lived in Portland for almost twenty years now in almost every neighborhood and currently on Belmont. Just a few years ago it was pretty rough. Tons of homeless and tents and crazy ppl screaming and yelling all the time. Now it's just a couple chill homeless ppl and not as crazy. Feels like the city is really surprisingly improving in a lot of ways.
It’s slightly better than 2022 or so when things peaked in horrificness, but it’s still far worse with the break ins and homeless crime than other cities. People on the east side try to tell themselves it’s not very bad but it is, I just had my Thule roof box stolen off my car while stopped near 60th and Fremont at a friends for only 20 minutes. And I was just in Fred Meyer when a homeless guy with a growler bottle attacked an employee and left her with a broken wrist from wailing on her with the bottle while no one but me stopped him and most people refused to call the police because “they don’t believe in calling the police anymore” that’s some east side of Portland craziness ideology that other cities in the country don’t have. I’m liberal but Portland is nutty with the anti cop stuff so bad people won’t call the cops during an assault
Omg I live right by the Aladdin theater! I didn't realize you'd be there! Also it's cool seeing all the places I frequent on here, I love this city. I moved here a few months ago
I lived in the Alberta neighborhood from 1993 to 2000, and car-free the last two years. I miss those days. This video made me homesick. My husband worked at Metro from 1991-2000, and I sometimes wonder if you two crossed paths. He was Doug Weathers, in the IT department, and won several Oscars for great support to Metro's employees.
I live right off of that rainbow road that`s featured. It really is an amazing spot. You got ice cream, movies, coffee, drinks, amazing food, a whole foods, all on just one block. It`s part of the bike street that takes you directly downtown or further SE with ease. Plus you have amazing views of downtown and the SW hills if you got the right apartment 😉
Could you please make a video about Celebration, Florida, and other New Urbanism communities of the 1990s? I went to high school and community college in Celebration, and being one of the original families was definitely an experience. I recognized at a young age that I was fortunate to live there, and I recognized that it was not an affordable place to live compared to the rest of car dependent Orlando suburban sprawl. Most of the videos about Celebration focus on the Disney connection, the development process, how it was a “social experiment,” or the two murders that happened in the 25 year history of the town. It definitely inspired my love of urbanism, which is why I left Florida and went to UW-Milwaukee, which has an incredibly walkable urban campus.
Thanks for another great video! The "Bike Bus" portion of the video was especially entertaining, though the cargo bike with the tent for the kid in the red pants riding on the back seemed a bit over the top.
I lived in Forest Grove back in 2020. Spent summers back in the 80's with family living in Newberg which was a nothing town back then and not a prestigious wine producing area. Love your vids. From San Diego!
@@lanewalp8727 Right? I feel like a weirdo with my friends when they all want sunny weather and I'm very happy with a cozy rainy day sipping some tea by my fireplace.
another interesting video. I'd love to see you dive deeper into Tacoma, WA. LIke Portland it was designed and laid-out before the automobile, and with streetcars in mind. The Great Union Pacific railroad ended here, and we still have the old train station downtown. The city is extending its modern streetcar system. But we still struggle to provide transport services to much of the city, in large part because of the disaster of the I5, which literally split the city in half. Tacoma might be a great example of both the potential (walk-able neighborhoods, rail, street cars) and the dangers (the I5) of relying on the car. Oh, Tacoma also has "LeMay - America’s Car Museum" which is appropriately sandwiched between the Amtrak station, and a prominent hill along the 1000 lane wide I5.
Great video! I live in Montavilla and immediately recognize aspects of what you describe about these streetcar neighborhoods (e.g. Academy Theater). I was hoping you'd cover Montavilla (even our name originates from the streetcar stop!), but at least I saw it on the map.
I love the hidden stairs :) when I was training for a race, I would run up to the alameda ridge and pick those sometimes if I was feeling an extra challenge. Oh, man, I love the inner east side
I really loved this video! I really appreciate this type of content where you show how a place looks and demonstrate what's good (and sometimes not so good) about a place. The bike riding was really heartwarming. What great memories those kids will have from their daily commute. Loved it ❤
I lived near 17th and SW Stark in Portland from 89-91 and this brings back fond memories of the neighborhoods I spent a lot of time in. It is unfortunate how gentrification has caused so much displacement, but I remember that those areas were to be avoided in general at the time.
Great video and positive look at the islands of pre-war density in the sea of single occupancy buildings. I love visiting Portland for this reason, during a week long stay each day can be spent exploring one of these nodes. You can't do it by streetcar anymore but you can do it by bike. Although I can confirm you can cycle all the way out to these neighbourhoods and see absolutely nothing along the way since you're stuck on a greenway somewhere.
Also maybe I'm vengeful but I would love an app that records every business owner that goes out of their way to show up to city council and protest against a bike lane just so they can have 1 or 2 parking spots out front (usually filled with their own car all day) and sends me a notification if I walk into their store so I can make sure I never give them a single dollar.
Any chance you could ever talk about the St Johns neighborhood of Portland? (or if you already have which video?) I grew up in SW portland, and was never exposed to St Johns growing up, but ended up moving there after graduating from undergrad and have really fallen in love with it. Was hoping it would be mentioned in this video, the main street Lombard is a textbook example of these old trolley streets (I think!)
There are so many wide streets and odd intersections in Seattle that were built and originally used as streetcar corridors. It’s interesting how odd they end up as car storage and odd angled, giant intersections in otherwise residential areas. NW 85th street and 32nd ave NW is one giant streetcar intersection, and the nearby NW 80th street and 28th Ave NW is another.
This video was so incredibly helpful! My partner and I have been trying to learn how to bike properly in the city (we come from a small Midwestern town...and having lived in the country, I would just ride in the middle of the road until a car came XD. It was not a very long ride to the actual town we went to school at, so I used to bike there in the summer to see friends). I just literally found that refill store this week! Loved seeing so much of my regular stomping ground, but am still learning what's over on Broadway. While I'm still too much of country folk to feel I'm a good enough biker to ride there, I take the bus most of the time and love seeing all these buildings I ride by. Hearing some of the history was really nice. I appreciate the share. I have to giggle about the artistic liberties with bike racks. I have seen that glasses wrack, and I just thought it was a random art installation piece XD XD Love the outdoor seating, wish they hadn't taken a lot of it out on Stark Street (part of the reason for some removals is the city does charge the businesses for on street seating, at least that's what one tavern we asked told us. I prefer the enclosed seats to benches with flimsy umbrellas on the sidewalk).
As a Portlander, it would be tough to not have a car at all. I commute by bike some(only 8 miles round trip), but doing it by bike in 8 months of rain is just miserable. The train stops and traincars, in my area of North Portland anyhow, are more often than not pretty sketchy. Recreation in the surrounding mountains, forest, rivers, coast, and high desert are a main draw of living here and really only accessed via some kind of motor vehicle. I think a balance is possible.
It's eye opening to realize just how long ago the electric streetcar era was; by the time my grandparents sold their house in Irvington in the late 50s to move to the suburbs, the streetcar was gone or barely existed. I still wonder what could've been if they had stayed in this close-in neighborhood (99 Bike score, 73 Walk score), rather than becoming suburban pioneers and moving into that new ranch house a block from the freeway all the way out on 122nd in Parkrose Heights (Walk Score 40, Transit Score 38, Bike Score 66).
I am just here for the cat content at the end, but I enjoy watching the rest of the episodes as well. Never been to Portland before, added to bucket list.
Tualatin resident here...the car centric city you showed. Yeah, it's car centric for sure. The area you showed is the main street through town, and for pedestrians it's very dangerous. That said, I will at times walk to the public library (near that man-made lake you see), and just keep my fingers crossed I'm not run over when crossing that main road. Thankfully now there is a free shuttle bus that I can catch about a 1/2 mile from my house that will take me directly to the library and other places, and I am thankful for that.
@@jamesowendesignno it won’t, it will just make you that special brand of passive apathetic Portlander, I’ve lived here my entire 29 years and all I know agree Portlands weather gives us a weird disposition compared to folks from other US cities.
As Portlander who loves our public transit, man, that map of all of the rail lines we used to have makes me want to scream. It's brutal that so much was cut out and torn up. Public transit is practical for trips near the center of the city, especially where green/red/blue lines converge for five to seven minute service between stops, but it gets absurd to try and go further away from the city core.
As a semi-frequent bike commuter, I *love* the neighborhood greenways. They're so much less crowded than the commercial streets and are a wonderful ride when I'm actually going from A to B. If I want to shop/stroll, I'm locking up my bike and walking. Just my two cents.
Worst part about the east side is that you can’t actually stop to shop or eat anywhere with your bike because hardcore meth goblins will steal it in minutes and they’ll assault you and injure you if you try to stop them, and your fellow Portlanders will just shrug and say “we don’t support the cops so” sorry we’re not calling the police or helping the police with pictures of the thieves. Only in Portland and SF
I agree. I think bike routes & green ways are a fantastic solution to the bike-car conflict. It's better for both crowds. And there's always an artistically designed bike rack for you when you need to park it on Belmont, Hawthorne, & 28th. 😉
The al fresco/parking spot dining pods came into existence during the pandemic. It has been so successful that the city is standardizing and permitting them now. There's also a fair number of short blocks totally closed to car traffic too for expansion of dining areas adjacent to restaurants.
Oh I guess you did address that later on! But yeah the parklet and al fresco dining program is so popular and come summertime when it's 80-100 degrees every day, they are a life saver
Come on down! And remember, you can put your bike on a Max train downtown and travel to Kenton north, Sellwood south, or Hillsboro west and keep pedaling to the great green beyond.
It was great to see many of my favorite local streets on this video. It also confirms my resolve to always live in a neighborhood built before World War II.
I'm stuck in Southwest, which for the most part is completely car dependent. We do have Multnomah Village, but it's pretty much the only zone like this in a several mile radius.
I love living in Sellwood neighborhood! Walk or bike to nearly everything, and a family friendly, small town vibe. Our family has a car but it stays parked most days.
And when theft constantly happens, no one cares! And fun fentanyl issues on each corner 😊 such a small town vibe when there’s non stop vice everywhere on the east side, yes very small town vibe. Did you come from LA or the Bay?
Grew up in Portland, loved the video! Makes me miss home. Although I live in a decent part of Atlanta (in terms of biking/walking infrastructure), it still has years to go in terms of how easy it is to live without a car.
Also Atlanta resident here, the entire city has many years to go to get back to a functioning urbanism. Most everywhere I need to go is entirely car dependent, and traffic is too much. The city def has walkable areas but that's really in pockets while everything is divided but wide streets and freeways. Feels like the smaller towns are more walkable than the city itself. I'm hoping the new initiative to put a train along the beltline will pass, I think that will set a good example. Hopefully MARTA will be able to expand too.
@@danman1950 Agreed. Connecting the current biking infrastructure, finishing the Beltline, and improving MARTA (reliability and stations) will be key in having Atlanta reach its potential.
Born and raised in Portland. At retirement I couldn’t get out fast enough. I can’t believe how fast it changed from a pleasant place to live to such a shot-hole city.
Since you willingly scrolled down to the comments, now you have to endure this one: if you were on Nebula, you would've seen this video a few days early! (Also without ads, and, best of all -- WITH NO COMMENT SECTION.) Using my custom link gets you 40% off an annual subscription, and really helps the channel! go.nebula.tv/citynerd
Lifetime membership deal still available too! go.nebula.tv/lifetime?ref=citynerd
I'll have you know I already watched this on Nebula. I'm just here to interact with screen elements for the algorithm like a good viewer 🫡
I like the comments.
The comments on videos of this nature are often interesting and raise some worthwhile points; it's a shame that you should see them as a nuisance
And this urbanism can be yours for the low price of 3k a month rent for a studio
Jokes on you, I already watched this on Nebula!
The worst part about living in Philly is the constant feeling of abandoned trolley lines underneath your tires.
😭
Spooky... 👻
That clunk every time your tire rotates is annoying and those buried tracks cause most of the potholes on those streets.
Most of those streets still have the old bricks/pavers/cobbles down there too
I would've thought it would be the proximity to Philly sports fans
Meanwhile in Seattle, we can't even agree to make the Pike Market a pedestrian zone. This is a street that can take about an hour to drive a block on a weekend.
It’s really silly
It is actually being discussed this year but as always, Seattle is paralysis by analysis
There is 0 reason why automobile traffic is allowed on that street. They closed it off for the 2023 MLB All Star Game and the world didn't end
American main roads take about an hour to cross 😂
As a Seattleite these days, that literally worked with advocates in Portland for years on many of these streets, I'm always frustated af with Seattle's potential that is buried in "Seattle process" and nonsense! Pike Market should have been a pedestrian zone a zillion years ago, the fact it's a 0.1 mph car street with marking just boggles my mind.
That last comment about idling engines hit me, its depressing how so much of the background noise of our every day lives is an internal combustion engine.
Eh. With mufflers, idling engines are pretty quiet, no worse than most air conditioners. Accelerating from a stop is when engines are the worst, and at speed, tire noise is much worse than engine noise.
@@jonathanstensberg but when there's like 20 cars parked in a drive through i don't care how quiet they are. it's just dumb.
@@jonathanstensberg Some guy today (Wednesday) in some kind of a fancy, souped-up Jeep was literally and quite purposefully roaring his motor up and down my generally quiet Denver city streets near North High (most of which predatie the automobile, as well) like he was both angry and yearning for big-time attention. He did have some kind of muffler, I think, and what he was doing may have somehow been within the limits of the law - but regardless, that stuff happens a lot more often than it needs to, legally or not, and no one is going to pick him up. It's just not going to happen. But to Ray's point, idling engines outside of schools is another bizarre but true issue in America, and not just for the noise.
any civilized car would just turn the engine off when stopped - but in those areas you see far to many "emotional support vehicles", where noise is seen as a feature…
@@jonathanstensberg i have tinnitus so no noise is the worst possible situation
the idea of a neighborhood getting together and convoying the kids to school on bikes is way cool. you go PDX.
I live in the Kenton neighborhood and I never want to leave .The fact that we have a MAX stop and good bus access as well as bike infrastructure really makes my life possible despite being poor. The East side neighborhoods in Portland is my favorite thing about the city I just wish they were still all as well connected as Kenton is.
You know, I kinda assume the Kenton line ran on Denver (it's marked as Derby Street in the old maps, which I think is the old name of Denver), but I wasn't going to get that far north anyway, so I also missed St. Johns & Dekum/Woodlawn. Didn't get as far east as I could've either!
One summer day many years ago I had a great time biking with friends from Buckman to old town for drinks; then bikes put on the Max to Kenton; and then a meandering evening ride back to Buckman, stopping at friends’ houses along the way.
You said something really important to me. I'm poor and I need a bike-able/walkable city. Mostly, I just really need to leave Texas. I'm in a blue-ish area,but i'm just about done. Portland seems really interesting.
@@bodhimind108The main issue with Portland… despite the best attempts of some people to devalue property in the city, it’s rather expensive. I’m not sure I can even point you to an exception that is anywhere near any of the neighborhoods in the video. The people mentioning Kenton here… maybe?
@@PCSPounder Thanks for the heads up. I notcied people were mention that area. I have friends in another part of Orepon. I should contact them. It's been a while. Thx
Great job! Seen on the left at 9:09, Bar Nina on NE Alberta is in the boiler room of what used to be the Victoria Theater (dates back to the silent era).The Victoria became a church in the 60’s I believe, and had to be demolished around 2007. Bar Nina is a hidden bar that stands as a relic of the original theater thanks to the builder’s efforts.
For some reason, my brain chose to interpret "predates the automobile" as in "hunts and eats cars." That would have been a very different video. 😂
Came here to say this lol
Yeah, "Rapture" by Blondie: "And then you're in the Man from Mars, You go out at night, eating cars."
Attenborough voice: "The SUV nervously shuttles its young along the paved corridor. Not all of them are going to make it to driving school today. Hidden underneath the tarmac lies a silent killer - the hydraulic bollard."
@@vincelamb4063
Yesss! Love Rapture!
This wins the internet today! Ray, you better call this out mister.
I moved to the Sellwood neighborhood last year! Portland isn't perfect but it's such an improvement from where I was before. It was fun seeing my new home featured here.
I just lived there for about a year and moved out about last week over to downtown. Wonder if we've ever seen each other before lmao
@@BellaMirelli Maybe! I'm often walking my dog south of Tacoma. What made you decide to move to downtown?
@@serisaurusrex hey neighbor, I'm near the Sellwood middle school.
@@HarrisNewman0208 Me too!
Literally just stayed in the Mississippi area over the weekend, and it was fantastic. Love visiting Portland.
Nice job, Ray. I especially liked your observation that cities that developed while streetcars were still in existence have this quality as opposed to the ones that developed during auto dependency.
TIL his name is Ray
@@bagelized Ray Delahanty
I don't think it's debatable
Division street resident here! Thanks for showcasing some of my favorite Eastside streets. I'm going to use this video to show my friends and family why I like living here so much!
hello fellow division street resident! ^_^
I hate this place!
The streetcar legacy for so many cities is interesting, thanks for the Portland insight
Speaking up to defend gray skies. Different courses for different horses. I've lived in desert areas. I find bright, sunny days glaring & oppressive. I much prefer gentle gray skies as a background. They make the flowers and moss POP. I understand that some people have Seasonal Affective Disorder. This is not the town for them.
100% agree! I love a quote from the film V for Vendetta: "God is in the rain".😇
I noticed that people in the southwest hide in air conditioning more than the NW coast people hide under roofs. I can do a lot more outdoor sports in 60d clouds than 90d sun.
Every city has their good weather season and their bad weather season. If you’ve ever been to Phoenix in July or Buffalo in January you know what I’m talking about! 😂
The Northwest is OK for people with winter SAD as long as you have a good bright light box and use it diligently.
Turns out summer SAD is a thing too -- all the light and heat make some people anxious.
Definitely AGREE!
This was such an amazing video City Nerd. As someone who has lived in Portland my entire life, I've always recognized how these specific streets that attract people were streets established back when our trolley lines were around. I really hope one day we can bring them back
Portland was way ahead of the curve with their awesome trolley car network in the 1920's. I visited my grandmother in Philadelphia in the 70's and remember seeing all of the trolley tracks through the pavement....and wondering how great it would be to ride the trolley all over town.❤
I used to live outside Philly in one of the small towns. We had a trolley right down State Street. We could take that trolley right into Central Philadelphia to go Christmas shopping at Wanamaker's. That trolley is still there, too. I wish we hadn't left!
@@james-p Awesome 😎. I remember the Wanamaker's Christmas parade each year. My grandmother would take the train from Philly to our house in Westfield NJ in the early 70's. She always brought a turkey in her suitcase....lol. My grandparents lived in the Mt. Airy neighborhood in Philly..... I miss those days too.
@@Earthshaker1965 Yes, early '70s, that's right around the time! I loved it there.
Interesting wrinkle: the early development of electric trolley cars is directly related to the region's early development of hydroelectric power (specifically Willamette Falls). There was no good way to store the constant excess of electricity generated by the constant flow of water, so they sunk it into public transportation.
@@sadvipra31Now THAT is worthy of its own video.
I moved to Portland a year ago and ditched my car when I moved. I live in Inner SE and it's definitely a great place to live and easy to get around without a car. Loving Portland!
That'll fade soon. Portland during an election year is literally like the Purge
Unfortunately my car was stolen but I found that it really didn't impact my life inside of the city!! I am happily biking all times of year and living near PSU.
Former long-term Sellwood resident here: The east side now draws some of the most insane housing prices + cost of living in the state. Our family (with our high 6 figure income) was forced out and will not likely be able to return. Only the lucky who bought cheap + wealthy families buying now can afford a family home in the area. It's frankly the best place to live on the west coast if you're into an urban life. It makes me sick that it's on the fast track to become the next exclusively wealthy, urban enclave. That we have to fight an impossible battle for this level of livability everywhere is beyond discouraging.
sellwood is awful. no one should move here. I don't know what you are talking about.
Feel you, I grew up on the east side, near what is now the division monstrosity that's celebrated, and there's no way I could ever afford to live in the house we had that was $80k in the early 90s and is over $700k now. Portland is great, but it should be great for everyone, and not just the wealthy that forced all of my local friends to far flung suburbs that suck.
*Inner Eastside* you mean. Sorry to break it to you but anyone living west of 52nd was already extremely privileged. There's still semi-affordable stuff way out east.
Did you mean "high five figure income?"
A high 6-figure income would be $700-900K. It can't be that kind of expensive there! I just found a nice little 2+1 in Sellwood for $575K. Here in LA, that would get me a burned-out vacant lot in Compton.
As a Portland resident for 14 years, I am so happy to see a more realistic representation of my beloved city!
Great video!
My daughter relocated to Portland a few years ago for graduate school. She hasn't left and has been able to make a solid living as an artist. Your video tantalizes people not living in Portland to visit the small neighborhoods with the shops, restaurants, and yes...gourmet doughnut shops. Thanks for your work.
It's a lie, this place is a dump!
@@peterbelanger4094 leave
Most artists don't make a living.
I lived in Portland for three years in a few different neighborhoods. My favorite place was in between Hawthorne and Belmont districts.
Visited Portland last November, but due to time considerations, I was only able to see Downtown, Old Town Chinatown, the Pearl District and Washington Park. I penciled in North Mississippi and NW Albina as destinations if time permitted, but this was not to be. Now having seen these and some of the other neighborhoods of the Central Eastside through your video, I'm determined to include them the next time I visit the Rose City. Thanks!
CITYNERD!! Love seeing the Portland neighborhoods, being a resident in Parkrose, Belmont and frequenter of the Hawthorne neighborhood. Thanks for the quick splash of the Alberta Rose ...
I moved to Portland 8ish years ago and ended up on the downtown side in my first rental, not knowing that much about the neighborhoods yet. it didn't take long to realize the heart of the city was on the inner east side just a short walk over the river. I moved over there less than a year later and have been having the time of my life ever since. No-one goes downtown for anything but appointments and soccer games or maybe a brunch in NW.
Former PDX resident. Love to see this kind of stuff!
Yay! Was hoping your recent appearance would result in a video and I am thrilled to see more bike bus coverage cause it really is what this city needs more of! My favorite part of Portland is in the early spring when all the roads are messed up from snow/ice/expansion and we get to see the cobbles and sometimes rails peeking out. They didn't even pull them up - its all still down there and just paved over every couple of years. Wish we could take a streetcar to Mt Tabor still, the amount of people who drive and fight for hardly enough parking to then only walk in the place about 1/2 mile, get their instagram shot and leave is one of the saddest things about spring. Thankfully if you are able to make it to the top its less crowded and completely car free.
Hopefully the better bus service on Division will help encourage some people to look at alternatives.
Washington, D.C. used to have a robust electric streetcar/trolley network but, tragically, it was stopped in 1962 after a whole century of service. Ray’s assertion rings true here: the corridors where the streetcars traveled are now some of the D.C’s most vibrant, in-demand, and transit-friendly areas. And there are still remnants of the streetcar network, such as trolley turnarounds turned into parks and bus terminals.
I visited about a week ago, such a beautiful city and the nature surrounding is breathtaking
Gahhh, neighborhood movie theaters are a godsend to me as a film buff and urbanist! I have fond memories of going to my neighborhood theater on Chalkstone Ave as a kid in the early 2000's, unfortunately most of neighborhood movie theaters in Providence have been converted into churches, including the one on Chalkstone, which was the oldest purpose built movie theater in Providence before in closed :(
This also applies to the mosquito fleet towns in the Salish Sea, where small urban nodes developed around docks where the old steam ships would stop instead developing on rail lines. Examples are Kingston, Langley, Coupeville, Friday Harbor, East Sound, and the biggest of all of them, Port Townsend
Fascinating. This topic needs a video.
A1 commentary 👍🏿
Thank you for mentioning displacement
Lived in PDX over 20 years ago, in SE and then North Portland for awhile. Only visited a few times since. Was there last year, and the FX2 line was very handy. First time I had seen that transit bridge as well.
Observation from Texas, where a lot of people have the opinions you'd expect about coastal cities: The people who think of Portland (and Seattle, Chicago, New York, etc) as a smoldering craters, burned to the ground by Antifa and BLM, will champion the old fashioned main street small towns that figure heavily in the American imagination. But those places died decades ago. You find a lot of places like that around rural Texas that were probably charming 60 or 70 years ago but are basically abandoned now. The places that aren't ghost towns are now centered around Walmart, parking lots, and crumbling infrastructure.
I moved from Texas 3 years ago to Portland after living there 61 years, and have never looked back.
@@HarrisNewman0208where in Texas did you move from?
@@brucegoolsby1470 Austin, a smoldering overbuilt city with very little walk ability.
@HarrisNewman0208 we briefly lived in Austin and loved the beauty, but it just didn’t fit our family. I've had fleeting thoughts about Portland, but have never been there and know little about it. Friends familiar with Portland think I'd like it. Do you miss living in Texas?
@@brucegoolsby1470 no, Austin is a desert with cactus and shrub trees. In Oregon there are trees 100s of ft and natural beauty everywhere. It's 80 degrees here in late August, we rarely close the windows. I can go anywhere by mass transit, don't even own a car! Food is fresh and local, most businesses are local too.
Thanks CN for the WaPo story link. From what I’ve seen, personal vehicles and school buses long ago settled into their current relationship: The bare minimum of buses and school lots filled to the brim with cars and trucks … especially high schools. And that’s even before the ridiculously long car lines.
And I understand why. When we moved to a small rural town my kids had a 40 or 60 minute bus ride to school, reachable by car in about 10 minutes.
It’s one bus that goes all around the town. My oldest didn’t mind so much because he reads his phone. My youngest couldn’t wait to drive to school.
The H.S. is located on a major stroad. Everyday 2 cops manage traffic from the usual 50mph down to crawling speed.
I realize there’s nothing at all unique about any of that, but remain astonished everyone puts up with it.
I work in the inner east side and live downtown, it’s pretty great tbh
Describe the best places downtown…I have my own ideas, but love to hear other perspectives, especially by those who live there.
Thanks for the interesting archeology connecting former streetcar lines with stairs through residential neighborhoods.
Been living here for 2 decades and visit these neighborhoods regularly. Never knew much about the history and why the neighborhoods look the way they do. Thanks.
Thank you for this video about my home city! I had no idea that all the wonderful Portlandy streets existed because of an old electric streetcars system. As a car-free transit rider, I wish that more extensive streetcars system still functioned today. Thanks also for pointing out the common features of beautiful movie theaters and all the Rudy's lol. I'll definitely be thinking of this channel when I go by one tomorrow. I appreciate your explanation of my environment, how it came to be the way it is. Portland is home to me, so it's really nice to have a better understanding of my home.
Aww, I love the Alameda bike bus! Such a lovely neighborhood to ride through, too, esp with all the flowers starting to bloom. Thanks for sharing this video. It's nice to see things in my old neighborhood, and to know that Portland is still as verdant, human-scaled, and bike-friendly as I remember it.
Except with your bike and car being stolen by force and assaults while said bikes and cars are being stolen being 10x as frequent now as 5-10 years ago. I’m a lifelong Portlander and it’s bad now
This is awesome. Thank you for shedding some light on the neighborhood streets I frequent.
Thanks!
Wow, thanks so much!
Incredible timing, thank you! My partner and I are visiting Portland for two days from Victoria! I've driven through previously, but I've never had the chance to stay! An urbanist travelogue by one of my favourite urbanists, before I travel there with someone who wants to study planning. What luck!
Cincinnati has lots of public stairways that seem to complement its old streetcar system as well. A local organization named Spring In Our Step that’s working to restore the stairways and alleyways across the city
Awww you showcased my neighborhood!🥰
Saw mine too!
Portland, the city I call home! I love the old staircases throughout the city. I have been on a number of urban hikes seeking them out.
I live in SE. There used to be a trolley line in front of my house. Now the closest bus lines are a half mile away. The closest b rail is nearly 3 miles away.
There is a lot of new housing on Woodstock. Mostly one and two bedroom apartments.
Doing our tour of urban fabric in Europe these last two weeks, so striking to experience the brutal soundscape that is London sandwiched by weeks spent in the bustling but mostly gently human powered streetscape of Delft in the Netherlands.
Delft benefits from having an old downtown with canals and narrow streets that were just never going to be given over to cars completely, since that would have required razing the city and starting over, and even at the height of car mania in the '60s and '70s, that would have been out of the question. The university district, on the other hand, is very new, and it used to be very car-oriented when I went to college there in the late '80s, and has since been transformed into a much more bike- and pedestrian-friendly space (and greener, too), which makes so much sense since the area is compact enough that driving around there always felt a bit silly.
It may not feel like it, but London has made big strides in modal shift to cycling, low traffic neighbourhoods, quiet ways and school streets. The Mayoral election happens in early May, and it’s depressing that there’s still a lot of culture war rhetoric bleeding the campaigns. Luckily the incumbent is likely to sneak it, and four more years will probably be the tipping point that makes it irreversible at least in the inner boroughs.
@@richardwhatmough2702 There are plenty of signs of the transition to walk bike friendly streets. It’s going to be interesting to see what our big cities look and sound like in ten or twenty years.
We just got back from Delft and a two week tour of the Netherlands. US can learn a lot about livability from Netherlands. 🇳🇱
Plenty of quiet places in London. I take it you didn't stray from the tourist spots before passing judgement on the entire city?
I moved down from Marysville to Portland Piedmont neighborhood. I love going everywhere on my ebike. It's so nice to be back in PDX, but man, things have changed since the 1980s.
There is ALWAYS more than what you can see on the news. Even more than what you see when you visit.
Eternal optimism.
I moved my family to Portland (Sellwood) in early 2021. People who watched national TV news thought it was crazy but I studied urban planning and to me the many amazing successes of Portland (this video just being a small part) jumped out.
@@NarrowShouldersOpenMindthe theft and apathy about crime needs to stop. People need to support the police and actually call the cops when they see constant thefts and homeless assaults. I just saw a homeless man attack an employee in glisan Fred Meyer with a growler beer bottle and the people near me said “no we’re not calling the police we don’t support that” as the employee was assaulted. You know that’s only a Portland, SF etc kind of mindset.
I go to Reed College in southeast; the fact that there used to be a streetcar on Milwaukie Ave in Moreland and 13th in Sellwood makes so much sense. Ever since I moved here, it's driven me INSANE how the MAX orange line goes down the highway in the middle of nowhere, instead of any of the real destinations to the west of it.
Absolutely! If I want to go to the Rhododendron Garden across the street from Reed College, it's a bit of a hike from the MAX station in Milwaukie. Still haven't quite figured out how to do the bus faster from my neighborhood up in the NW Alphabet District.
once upon a time streetcars used to circle the loop in front of vollum and went all the way down reed college place and could get you to the interurban that ran on the springwater corridor. rumor has it that one of the junked trolleys from this route was used in the original old spaghetti factory.
Great vid! I have lived in Portland for almost twenty years now in almost every neighborhood and currently on Belmont. Just a few years ago it was pretty rough. Tons of homeless and tents and crazy ppl screaming and yelling all the time. Now it's just a couple chill homeless ppl and not as crazy. Feels like the city is really surprisingly improving in a lot of ways.
It’s slightly better than 2022 or so when things peaked in horrificness, but it’s still far worse with the break ins and homeless crime than other cities. People on the east side try to tell themselves it’s not very bad but it is, I just had my Thule roof box stolen off my car while stopped near 60th and Fremont at a friends for only 20 minutes. And I was just in Fred Meyer when a homeless guy with a growler bottle attacked an employee and left her with a broken wrist from wailing on her with the bottle while no one but me stopped him and most people refused to call the police because “they don’t believe in calling the police anymore” that’s some east side of Portland craziness ideology that other cities in the country don’t have. I’m liberal but Portland is nutty with the anti cop stuff so bad people won’t call the cops during an assault
Omg I live right by the Aladdin theater! I didn't realize you'd be there! Also it's cool seeing all the places I frequent on here, I love this city. I moved here a few months ago
I love this city!” Is not heard enough…
I lived in the Alberta neighborhood from 1993 to 2000, and car-free the last two years. I miss those days. This video made me homesick. My husband worked at Metro from 1991-2000, and I sometimes wonder if you two crossed paths. He was Doug Weathers, in the IT department, and won several Oscars for great support to Metro's employees.
The 90s were the golden age of Portland. Not that cool but very affordable. Quite different now.
I live right off of that rainbow road that`s featured. It really is an amazing spot. You got ice cream, movies, coffee, drinks, amazing food, a whole foods, all on just one block. It`s part of the bike street that takes you directly downtown or further SE with ease. Plus you have amazing views of downtown and the SW hills if you got the right apartment 😉
But, remember, it rains all the time. Soo depressing ;-)
Could you please make a video about Celebration, Florida, and other New Urbanism communities of the 1990s?
I went to high school and community college in Celebration, and being one of the original families was definitely an experience.
I recognized at a young age that I was fortunate to live there, and I recognized that it was not an affordable place to live compared to the rest of car dependent Orlando suburban sprawl.
Most of the videos about Celebration focus on the Disney connection, the development process, how it was a “social experiment,” or the two murders that happened in the 25 year history of the town.
It definitely inspired my love of urbanism, which is why I left Florida and went to UW-Milwaukee, which has an incredibly walkable urban campus.
Where are you living now, CityNerd? I am living in Portland and appreciated this video!
I think he lives in Albuquerque
Thanks for another great video! The "Bike Bus" portion of the video was especially entertaining, though the cargo bike with the tent for the kid in the red pants riding on the back seemed a bit over the top.
I lived in Forest Grove back in 2020. Spent summers back in the 80's with family living in Newberg which was a nothing town back then and not a prestigious wine producing area. Love your vids. From San Diego!
Thanks for showing us Portland!
Oh, man... These streets on a clear sunny day really make Portland look like an amazing place to live!
rainy days are amazing too, don't believe the lies
Expert resident here. It rains all the time. Prolly best not to come…;-)
@@lanewalp8727 Right? I feel like a weirdo with my friends when they all want sunny weather and I'm very happy with a cozy rainy day sipping some tea by my fireplace.
Gosh, I do miss my time living in the PNW. Good living with good people.
another interesting video. I'd love to see you dive deeper into Tacoma, WA. LIke Portland it was designed and laid-out before the automobile, and with streetcars in mind. The Great Union Pacific railroad ended here, and we still have the old train station downtown. The city is extending its modern streetcar system. But we still struggle to provide transport services to much of the city, in large part because of the disaster of the I5, which literally split the city in half. Tacoma might be a great example of both the potential (walk-able neighborhoods, rail, street cars) and the dangers (the I5) of relying on the car. Oh, Tacoma also has "LeMay - America’s Car Museum" which is appropriately sandwiched between the Amtrak station, and a prominent hill along the 1000 lane wide I5.
Great video! I live in Montavilla and immediately recognize aspects of what you describe about these streetcar neighborhoods (e.g. Academy Theater). I was hoping you'd cover Montavilla (even our name originates from the streetcar stop!), but at least I saw it on the map.
I love the hidden stairs :) when I was training for a race, I would run up to the alameda ridge and pick those sometimes if I was feeling an extra challenge.
Oh, man, I love the inner east side
13:18 man, i feel like I really would have loved that as a kid. That's just awesome.
Favorite video of yours in awhile, but its about Portland so how could it not be good!
What a great video to feature the beauty of my city!
I really loved this video! I really appreciate this type of content where you show how a place looks and demonstrate what's good (and sometimes not so good) about a place. The bike riding was really heartwarming. What great memories those kids will have from their daily commute. Loved it ❤
I lived near 17th and SW Stark in Portland from 89-91 and this brings back fond memories of the neighborhoods I spent a lot of time in. It is unfortunate how gentrification has caused so much displacement, but I remember that those areas were to be avoided in general at the time.
Great video and positive look at the islands of pre-war density in the sea of single occupancy buildings. I love visiting Portland for this reason, during a week long stay each day can be spent exploring one of these nodes. You can't do it by streetcar anymore but you can do it by bike. Although I can confirm you can cycle all the way out to these neighbourhoods and see absolutely nothing along the way since you're stuck on a greenway somewhere.
Also maybe I'm vengeful but I would love an app that records every business owner that goes out of their way to show up to city council and protest against a bike lane just so they can have 1 or 2 parking spots out front (usually filled with their own car all day) and sends me a notification if I walk into their store so I can make sure I never give them a single dollar.
Any chance you could ever talk about the St Johns neighborhood of Portland? (or if you already have which video?) I grew up in SW portland, and was never exposed to St Johns growing up, but ended up moving there after graduating from undergrad and have really fallen in love with it. Was hoping it would be mentioned in this video, the main street Lombard is a textbook example of these old trolley streets (I think!)
Thanks so much for covering the bike bus in your video!!!
There are so many wide streets and odd intersections in Seattle that were built and originally used as streetcar corridors. It’s interesting how odd they end up as car storage and odd angled, giant intersections in otherwise residential areas.
NW 85th street and 32nd ave NW is one giant streetcar intersection, and the nearby NW 80th street and 28th Ave NW is another.
This video was so incredibly helpful! My partner and I have been trying to learn how to bike properly in the city (we come from a small Midwestern town...and having lived in the country, I would just ride in the middle of the road until a car came XD. It was not a very long ride to the actual town we went to school at, so I used to bike there in the summer to see friends).
I just literally found that refill store this week! Loved seeing so much of my regular stomping ground, but am still learning what's over on Broadway. While I'm still too much of country folk to feel I'm a good enough biker to ride there, I take the bus most of the time and love seeing all these buildings I ride by. Hearing some of the history was really nice. I appreciate the share.
I have to giggle about the artistic liberties with bike racks. I have seen that glasses wrack, and I just thought it was a random art installation piece XD XD
Love the outdoor seating, wish they hadn't taken a lot of it out on Stark Street (part of the reason for some removals is the city does charge the businesses for on street seating, at least that's what one tavern we asked told us. I prefer the enclosed seats to benches with flimsy umbrellas on the sidewalk).
As a Portlander, it would be tough to not have a car at all. I commute by bike some(only 8 miles round trip), but doing it by bike in 8 months of rain is just miserable. The train stops and traincars, in my area of North Portland anyhow, are more often than not pretty sketchy. Recreation in the surrounding mountains, forest, rivers, coast, and high desert are a main draw of living here and really only accessed via some kind of motor vehicle. I think a balance is possible.
Lol no it's easy and you stack cash.
Coach Balto's bike bus is so beautiful. 😊
It's eye opening to realize just how long ago the electric streetcar era was; by the time my grandparents sold their house in Irvington in the late 50s to move to the suburbs, the streetcar was gone or barely existed. I still wonder what could've been if they had stayed in this close-in neighborhood (99 Bike score, 73 Walk score), rather than becoming suburban pioneers and moving into that new ranch house a block from the freeway all the way out on 122nd in Parkrose Heights (Walk Score 40, Transit Score 38, Bike Score 66).
I am just here for the cat content at the end, but I enjoy watching the rest of the episodes as well. Never been to Portland before, added to bucket list.
Tualatin resident here...the car centric city you showed. Yeah, it's car centric for sure. The area you showed is the main street through town, and for pedestrians it's very dangerous. That said, I will at times walk to the public library (near that man-made lake you see), and just keep my fingers crossed I'm not run over when crossing that main road. Thankfully now there is a free shuttle bus that I can catch about a 1/2 mile from my house that will take me directly to the library and other places, and I am thankful for that.
I've lived in Portland through two winter seasons now and I can confirm that the weather fucks with you
10+ years of residency will fix that.
Have you spent a winter in Fargo? At least you dont get cabin fever here
Yes it does f!ck with one. Best not to come, out of staters!
get a cheap flight and hotel in Vegas for 5 days in late January and soak up as much sun as possible. it will get you through to summer.
@@jamesowendesignno it won’t, it will just make you that special brand of passive apathetic Portlander, I’ve lived here my entire 29 years and all I know agree Portlands weather gives us a weird disposition compared to folks from other US cities.
love that you got to ride in Coach Balto's bike bus! his videos are such a pleasant bright spot in my algorithm-driven doom feeds
As Portlander who loves our public transit, man, that map of all of the rail lines we used to have makes me want to scream. It's brutal that so much was cut out and torn up.
Public transit is practical for trips near the center of the city, especially where green/red/blue lines converge for five to seven minute service between stops, but it gets absurd to try and go further away from the city core.
As a semi-frequent bike commuter, I *love* the neighborhood greenways. They're so much less crowded than the commercial streets and are a wonderful ride when I'm actually going from A to B. If I want to shop/stroll, I'm locking up my bike and walking. Just my two cents.
Worst part about the east side is that you can’t actually stop to shop or eat anywhere with your bike because hardcore meth goblins will steal it in minutes and they’ll assault you and injure you if you try to stop them, and your fellow Portlanders will just shrug and say “we don’t support the cops so” sorry we’re not calling the police or helping the police with pictures of the thieves. Only in Portland and SF
I agree. I think bike routes & green ways are a fantastic solution to the bike-car conflict. It's better for both crowds. And there's always an artistically designed bike rack for you when you need to park it on Belmont, Hawthorne, & 28th. 😉
The al fresco/parking spot dining pods came into existence during the pandemic. It has been so successful that the city is standardizing and permitting them now. There's also a fair number of short blocks totally closed to car traffic too for expansion of dining areas adjacent to restaurants.
Oh I guess you did address that later on! But yeah the parklet and al fresco dining program is so popular and come summertime when it's 80-100 degrees every day, they are a life saver
Now I want to take my bike to Portland, and spend a few days exploring all these neighbourhoods.
Come on down! And remember, you can put your bike on a Max train downtown and travel to Kenton north, Sellwood south, or Hillsboro west and keep pedaling to the great green beyond.
Do it! It's amazing. Wherever you wanna go is yours to explore. Take transit to it's very edge and go for a long ride!
I would REALLY love to hear your detailed thoughts on displacement.
Bike buses are a fantastic innovation
It was great to see many of my favorite local streets on this video. It also confirms my resolve to always live in a neighborhood built before World War II.
Ah, I too lived in gentrifying Alberta Street from 08-09. I do miss PDX sometimes but I don't miss the housing prices.
Interesting stuff. I think one spot that deserves mention is the corner of SE 72/Woodstock where the curve for the ROW is still present and preserved.
Woo, Sports Bra mentioned
That's a great Simpsons-level store name pun, right there
Sports Bra just got finding grant to expand to other cities this week! 👏👏👏
@@ratsbath😂
The ZoomCare building in Sellwood-Moreland (5:25) has a wide setback on the corner so the old street care could make the turn.
If you like public steps, that’s another thing you’ll find interesting in Pittsburgh. We actually got more than anywhere else
I love the bike bus thing, very cute.
I'm stuck in Southwest, which for the most part is completely car dependent. We do have Multnomah Village, but it's pretty much the only zone like this in a several mile radius.
I love living in Sellwood neighborhood! Walk or bike to nearly everything, and a family friendly, small town vibe. Our family has a car but it stays parked most days.
And when theft constantly happens, no one cares! And fun fentanyl issues on each corner 😊 such a small town vibe when there’s non stop vice everywhere on the east side, yes very small town vibe. Did you come from LA or the Bay?
Grew up in Portland, loved the video! Makes me miss home. Although I live in a decent part of Atlanta (in terms of biking/walking infrastructure), it still has years to go in terms of how easy it is to live without a car.
Also Atlanta resident here, the entire city has many years to go to get back to a functioning urbanism. Most everywhere I need to go is entirely car dependent, and traffic is too much. The city def has walkable areas but that's really in pockets while everything is divided but wide streets and freeways. Feels like the smaller towns are more walkable than the city itself. I'm hoping the new initiative to put a train along the beltline will pass, I think that will set a good example. Hopefully MARTA will be able to expand too.
@@danman1950 Agreed. Connecting the current biking infrastructure, finishing the Beltline, and improving MARTA (reliability and stations) will be key in having Atlanta reach its potential.
Bike bus! brilliant.
Have you done an episode comparing k-12 home-school distance and mode by decade (and by city, because ... you)?
Hey boss, great video. Keep up the good work.
Born and raised in Portland. At retirement I couldn’t get out fast enough. I can’t believe how fast it changed from a pleasant place to live to such a shot-hole city.