Portland Neighborhood Tour - Irvington

Sekkle · #1 Posted **Dec 21, 2007, 8:34 PM**

The Irvington neighborhood is located in Northeast Portland between 7th and 26th Avenues west to east and between Broadway and Fremont south to north. The neighborhood is almost entirely residential, with houses (some of them huge) dating from the late 1800’s through the 1920’s. There are also several apartment buildings and complexes in the southern blocks of the ‘hood and some more suburban-looking housing in the northern portion. Irving Park is a couple blocks long by a couple blocks wide, and is located in the northwest corner of Irvington.

As in the last neighborhood tour thread, I went strictly by city of Portland neighborhood association maps, so in this case, I have photos of the north side of Broadway, although this street would probably be considered part of the Lloyd District (Irvington’s southern neighbor) by locals. Broadway has pretty much the only non-residential area in Irvington, and it’s the southern border (there is only one other small set of shops within the center of the neighborhood). With the lack of retail, especially in the northern part of the neighborhood, and all of the medium density residences concentrated in the southern blocks, there didn’t seem to be a lot of pedestrian activity, although it was nice and easy to walk around. The quiet feel is largely by design since, when Irvington was set up in the late 1800s, it was zoned as an “exclusive” neighborhood – nothing but residential was allowed, homes had to be a generous setback from the street and had a minimum cost, etc.

I took these photos on a few days earlier this month, and it was cloudy and/or rainy each time I went there… my camera’s not the greatest, and the place probably would have looked better if there was some sun or blue sky… or leaves on the trees. Anyway, here you go…

Starting at the south with Broadway

Possibly the only Hummer in the city of Portland…

Residential blocks north of B’way

There are several complexes like this at the southeast corner of the neighborhood… I thought it was probably only necessary to take a photo of one!

An old house… now a bed & breakfast I believe

More apartments

Some newer stuff

I think this is a b&b too

Irving Park at the far northwest corner of Irvington

That’s it!

PacificNW · #2 Posted **Dec 21, 2007, 9:40 PM**

Nice! Tks!

OhioGuy · #3 Posted **Dec 22, 2007, 4:28 AM**

Good lookin neighborhood.

hymalaia · #4 Posted **Dec 22, 2007, 4:58 AM**

Quote:

nothing but residential was allowed, homes had to be a generous setback from the street and had a minimum cost, etc.

This hurts Irvington a bit imo. The houses, although very nice, are too far apart. It lacks the cozy tight feeling of other Portland neighborhoods like Ladd's Addition. Very suburban feeling for being so close to downtown. Even some Portland suburbs have a lot more density than this. That said, it is quiet. On certain streets you can hear a pin drop. This neighborhood gets very little through traffic, even the distant hum of traffic can be suspiciously absent. So that, combined with big historic houses and it's easy to see this places appeal. The apartments closer to Broadway sure can be ugly though! But some are nice and they add density so I suppose it's a fair trade off...

WilliamTheArtist · #5 Posted **Dec 22, 2007, 5:14 AM**

Looks like a nice area. Its nice to have those quiet neighborhoods near a downtown, but its also nice if those areas have a bit more of a shopping/dining strip that is close by to walk to. Hard to tell in the pics what the balance is, but looks nice.

Sekkle · #6 Posted **Dec 22, 2007, 6:51 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by hymalaia

This hurts Irvington a bit imo. The houses, although very nice, are too far apart. It lacks the cozy tight feeling of other Portland neighborhoods like Ladd's Addition. Very suburban feeling for being so close to downtown. Even some Portland suburbs have a lot more density than this. That said, it is quiet. On certain streets you can hear a pin drop. This neighborhood gets very little through traffic, even the distant hum of traffic can be suspiciously absent. So that, combined with big historic houses and it's easy to see this places appeal. The apartments closer to Broadway sure can be ugly though! But some are nice and they add density so I suppose it's a fair trade off...

I agree. I didn't know what to expect when I went up to Irvington for the first time (I have only lived in Portland for ~5 months now). It was quieter than I expected given its proximity to downtown, and in comparison it to neighborhoods I've visited in southeast that are relatively the same distance from the city center. I felt almost out of place walking around the interior of the neighborhood. That said, it does feel somewhat "historic" (not in an east coast way, but in a Portland way), and reading the history of the way it was laid out, I think the original planners accomplished their objectives pretty well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WilliamTheArtist

Looks like a nice area. Its nice to have those quiet neighborhoods near a downtown, but its also nice if those areas have a bit more of a shopping/dining strip that is close by to walk to. Hard to tell in the pics what the balance is, but looks nice.

The balance is only there in the three (or so) blocks nearest to Broadway. That's where the multifamily, higher density stuff is concentrated. The rest, as hymalaia points out, seems almost suburban, although there aren't any cul-de-sacs, cookie-cutter developments or strip malls.

Just realized that I forgot to post a map showing this neighborhood in relation to downtown Portland... Downtown is on the left, outlined in red.

Okstate · #7 Posted **Dec 22, 2007, 8:27 PM**

Keep up the good work! I swear PDX must be America's Subaru capital.

ArchMadness · #8 Posted **Dec 23, 2007, 7:17 AM**

Some killer trees. Looks like a good biking area. Is it up hill or down hill to downtown?

pdxman · #9 Posted **Dec 23, 2007, 7:57 AM**

Nice pics forateoh...what neighborhood is next?

Sekkle · #10 Posted **Dec 23, 2007, 2:21 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArchMadness

Some killer trees. Looks like a good biking area. Is it up hill or down hill to downtown?

I guess downhill... it's kind of tough to tell since it is across the river, but Downtown is probably closer to the elevation of the river than Irrvington is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdxman

Nice pics forateoh...what neighborhood is next?

I don't know exactly. I'm thinking Goose Hollow just to get a more urban neighborhood to contrast with this one, but haven't decided for sure.

horatioalfonzo · #11 Posted **Dec 23, 2007, 9:25 PM**

For a year I lived two blocks away from Irving park, but in the King neighborhood. Biked through Irvington almost every day on my way to work on Broadway. Its a cool neighborhood. Very peaceful and very family oriented in the Portland/West Coasty way. It might be a bit dull itself but there is pleanty to do on Broadway, Fremont and such. I would love to own a cute little bungalow in Irvington or Alameda, which is the next neighborhood over.

denveraztec · #12 Posted **Dec 24, 2007, 12:41 AM**

Nice tour of some great homes, thank you!

SuburbanNation · #13 Posted **Dec 24, 2007, 6:30 AM**

looking at the housing and commercial districts, portland occasionally reminds me of a kansas city with a syringe labeled "balls out chicago juice" half injected in its hand.

Chelsea Spy · #14 Posted **Dec 24, 2007, 9:26 AM**

Looks like a very pleasant suburb... could do with more pedestrians, but some beautiful Victorian houses.

Okstate · #15 Posted **Dec 24, 2007, 9:55 PM**

It is not a suburb. This is a Portland Neighborhood Tour. This particular neighborhod, as noted by others, is popular for its quietness....so it doesn't need more pedestrians. There are plenty of pedestrian oriented neighborhoods in PDX. If Goose Hollow is next, perhaps we will see some of that.

#16 Posted **Dec 25, 2007, 1:20 AM**

Nice pics!

I always love a Portland thread. Even the public housing complexes looked good!

midwestcityfan · #17 Posted **Dec 25, 2007, 1:56 AM**

Looks like a very walkable, urban-minded neighborhood. Great photos!

MarkDaMan · #18 Posted **Jan 2, 2008, 6:48 PM**

might look like a quiet neighborhood but I SWEAR, every time I drive through the neighborhood I see all the bikers from Hollywood/NE/North turning those streets into Bicycle Boulevards. Not sure if you experienced the same ForAteOh as it is the off-season, but that area is really biker territory, and I see a lot of families biking together too on weekends...

nice pic thread BTW.

arbeiter · #19 Posted **Jan 2, 2008, 8:42 PM**

I visited Portland a few weekends ago, and it impressed me in many ways. I was going to try and visit this area but didn't have enough time.

i-215 · #20 Posted **Jan 6, 2008, 5:54 AM**

WOW!

Thank you so much for posting the photo tour! I was a Mormon missionary in the Irvington, Hollywood, and Cully neighborhoods back in 2004-2005, so I got to know a lot of people there - and I recognize a lot of the buildings too. Of all the places I worked in Oregon, only Sandy, Oregon was friendlier than Irvington. It was in this neighborhood I learned that I have more in common with open minded agnostics than I thought. The only difference is a belief in God. As opposed to the evangelicals I kept running into in Salem who kept reminding me I was going to hell. Uugh.

But I digress..... These photos make me want to go to PSU or something so I can live in that neighborhood again! Such a neat place. I think I can still remember the streets going north.... let's see: Burnside, Hoyt, Glisan, The Banfield, Halsey, Broadway, Knott, Fremont, Prescott, Killingsworth, and Lombard... (and without a map)!

And I still can remember this hideous thing was on the corner of 8th and Schuyler....

....but nothing compared to Dalkhe Manor across the street. Ugly ugly ugly!

Anywho ... thanks again!