Buckman is a neighborhood on the east side of Portland, just across the Willamette River from downtown. It is bordered by the river to the west, Burnside St. to the north, Hawthorne Blvd. to the south, and 28th to the east.
Interstate 5 runs along the western edge of the neighborhood and effectively cuts Buckman off from the river. There is a multi-use path along the river with great views of downtown, but it is tough to access from most streets in Buckman because of the freeway. Three bridges connect Buckman to Portland’s west side and downtown – Hawthorne, Morrison and Burnside (from south to north).
The western edge of the neighborhood, closest to the Willamette, is mainly warehouses up until the Martin Luther King/Grand one-way couplet, where retail is mixed in. There are plans for an extension of Portland’s Streetcar to the east side using MLK and Grand.
The retail/warehouse mix continues a few blocks to the 11th/12th couplet, where most of the housing begins. From there to the east edge of the hood, it is mainly residential, with a few commercial areas at major streets – Burnside, Belmont, Hawthorne. The whole neighborhood is on a grid (with the exception of Sandy Blvd, which begins here and runs northeast through Portland’s east side), and it is very walkable.
Buckman has a slightly grittier feeling than nearby
Hosford-Abernethy, especially in the western blocks, but I don’t know if it just felt that way because it was winter when I took these or what… None of it felt unsafe to walk around in, though.
I’m still amazed at east Portland’s housing stock. The volume of late 19th/early 20th century houses is very impressive (especially for someone who spent most of the past 17 years in Phoenix). There are plenty of walkup apartment buildings in Buckman, too.
I’m also impressed by how many bikes I see. It seems like almost every house has a bike on the porch or balcony, or chained to a street sign.
Here’s a map showing Buckman’s location with respect to Downtown
I’ll start at the west end of the neighborhood. Here is Burnside Skatepark under the Burnside Bridge
Highrises in the background are in downtown
The MLK/Grand couplet is where the neighborhood starts transitioning from warehouses to retail.
MLK Blvd. The highrises in the background are the Lloyd District.
Retail on Grand
Buckman’s tallest (I think)
Burnside, Portland’s N/S divider
Community Radio
I saw several tents set up where homeless people were sleeping, mostly in the warehouse area in the western end of the neighborhood. It was really cold that week (by Portland standards anyway).
Washington High School (abandoned)
Back on Burnside…
Lone Fir Cemetery
Belmont St. runs through the middle of the neighborhood with shops, restaurants and some infill condo development going on.
Steps…
Buddhist Preaching Association
Finally, on the southern edge of the neighborhood is Hawthorne Blvd. The Hawthorne District runs between Buckman and Hosford-Abernethy, and continues dozens of blocks further east.
Lucky Lab brewpub
Cheers!
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The Lucky Lab is a great brew pub. Great shots, as always! It's an interesting part of town -- I think the city designated that warehouse district as an 'industrial sanctuary' a couple decades ago to protect the jobs there. Don't think they intend on another Pearl District.
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