The Northwest District is a densely populated retail and residential neighborhood in the northwest section of Portland, Oregon. Craftsman-style and Old Portland-style houses are packed tightly together with grand old apartment buildings and sleek new condominiums, within walking distance of restaurants, bars, and shops. The Portland Streetcar's first line (the NS Line) terminates there, connecting the district to the Pearl District, Downtown Portland and points south to the South Waterfront.
The district stretches west to east from the base of the West Hills (Tualatin Mountains) to I-405 (between NW 15th and 16th avenues), and north to south from NW Nicolai Street and the Willamette River to W Burnside St. It borders the neighborhoods of Forest Park and Hillside on the west, Northwest Industrial on the north, the Pearl District on the east, and Goose Hollow on the south.
This part of Portland is known more by names for various streets and areas within it than by its official name. These include:
- NW 23rd Ave. â€" Dubbed Trendy-third, this major shopping street is lined with swanky clothing boutiques and other upscale retail, mixed with cafes and restaurants. This area is also known as Uptown (particularly its southern end near W Burnside St.) and includes Nob Hill (centered on NW 23rd Ave. and NW Lovejoy St.). Music retailer Music Millennium, considered a local icon and national leader in the music-selling industry, operated what was then its main store on NW 23rd Avenue from 1977 until 2007. Portland-based record label and locally sourced concept-store Tender Loving Empire opened a shop in the 23rd district in September 2015, after moving from the Northwest district to downtown Portland in 2010. On October 19, 2016, a natural gas pipeline was breached, causing an explosion that damaged several buildings on Northwest 23rd Avenue.
- NW 21st Ave. â€" The neighborhood’s other main commercial district is a dining and entertainment destination, with popular restaurants, an independent film theater, and numerous bars, pubs, and nightclubs.
- The Alphabet Historic District, an area zoned for historic preservation extending roughly between NW 17th and 24th Avenues, and between W Burnside and NW Marshall Streets. Its naming scheme came about in 1865 when Captain John H. Couch platted his first subdivision. Each street on the plat was indicated by a letter of the alphabet. In June 1866, a city ordinance was approved to name "A" as "A Street", "B" as "B Street" and so on until "K Street". This was further extended to L, M, N and O Streets in 1869. This is how this area became known as "Alphabet District". From 1865 to 1891, this naming scheme was kept until they were assigned the street names, each beginning with its respective letter, that they are known by today. In 2000, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Beyond NW 21st and 23rd are residential districts and recreational areas, such as the forested Macleay Park (acquired 1897, in the Forest Park neighborhood). Parks within the Northwest District include Couch Park (1977) and Wallace Park (1920). Northwest District public schools include Chapman Elementary School and the Metropolitan Learning Center. Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital and Medical Center and Linfield College-Portland Campus are located between NW 23rd and NW 22nd avenues.
Several characters in Portland native Matt Groening's television show The Simpsons have names based on the alphabetically named streets in the Northwest District: Ned Flanders, the bully Kearney, Reverend Lovejoy, Mayor Quimby, Milhouse Van Houten (actually in North Portland), and possibly C. Montgomery Burns[ide] (also named for the large neon Montgomery Park, formerly Montgomery Ward, sign).
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Northwest Portland, Oregon
- Northwest District Explosion
References
