[mhays]

The bigger story in Downtown Portland is that the streets are narrow. Also they're generally tree-lined.

Downtown Bellevue, by contrast, has much larger typical blocks at about 500' (though they've been splitting many up into multiple blocks), and the main problem is that this focuses traffic on far fewer streets (by a gov't that historically prioritized traffic over people, and continues to do so to a lesser extent), so many streets have huge traffic volumes. (Also a function of transit...I've heard 20% transit mode share based on buses, with light rail from Seattle arriving in 2022 or so based on a 2008 vote.)

Portland's narrow streets work because there's decent transit, and the City has avoided "capacity" increases like narrowing sidewalks or taking away parking. The result is rare ambiance for a newer US city.