North Portland

Boise-Eliot: The Mississippi and Williams Avenue Neighborhood

As one of the more unique and upcoming areas of Portland, there are a couple other ways to recognize this area. Most people know it for its local shops, eateries, and drinking places along Mississippi and North Williams Avenues. They both fall in the same overall neighborhood, but are distinctly different in feel and personality.

A mix of all things old and new, Boise is a great neighborhood that was almost unknown a few years ago.   Modest homes, kids on bikes and dog walkers abound in this funky and urban self-sustaining neighborhood. You’ll feel right at home as you get to know the many independently owned coffee houses, pubs, music venues, nurseries and zesty local restaurants each boasting an individual flair.

Mississippi Ave can probably best be described as young, urban and hip. The streets are busied with bike traffic, foot-traffic and buses cruising by every few minutes. This area is a hot-spot for the 20-30ish Portland crowd looking for easy access to downtown.  Mississippi has just about everything the average urbanite could need: nearly a dozen great restaurants, great coffee shops, a recording studio and live music hall, several bars and pubs and a lot of retail and boutique shops.

Among the favorites are:

Mississippi Studios- a very intimate music venue reported to have the best sound in Portland.

Lovely’s Fifty-Fifty- a fabulous pizza and ice cream shop.

The Crow Bar- a local bar and hangout

Amnesia Brewing- a local brewer with a wonderful outdoor seating area in all weather conditions

Gravy- home of the massive breakfast. Get there early or wait for an eternity- you have been warned.

Por Que No?!- always flushed with locals and with excellent, fresh, authentic Mexican food

The Fresh Pot- one of the first stores on the street and first cafes in the North Portland area.

Pistils Nursery- a wonderful nursery and landscape design store that simply cannot be missed. They offer many classes on goat raising, chicken keeping, composting and more.

Located a few blocks east, North Williams Avenue offers another unique blend of locally owned favorites. Lompoc 5Q, which is a great local brewery and pub, Pix Patisserie which is an awesome local chocolate and sweet shop, Tasty n Sons is the famous little brother of Toro Bravo and Ristretto Coffee Roasters.

Portland Community College is a major presence in the Boise and Mississippi Ave area as many residents are also students or faculty. Additionally, head about five minutes north to Killingsworth Street for more really great local businesses to choose from such as Saraveza, a wonderful beer bottle shop, The Red E Cafe, E’njoni Ethiopian Cafe and CoffeeHouse-Five. Down the road on Interstate is a New Seasons Market which is a local area shopping staple and employer.

Kenton Neighborhood

Kenton has seen an influx of new residents to the area and new life on the “strip” which is Denver Avenue. Residents enjoy local businesses such as Posie’s Coffee, North Star Coffee Shop, The Kenton Pub, Pizza Fino, E-San Thai and The Cup and Saucer Cafe.  As one might imagine, Kenton has some wonderful areas with beautifully improved homes and neighborhoods and some still in transition.

Kenton is comprised of mostly modest homes with architectural styles such as Portland’s Craftsman style Bungalow, Cottages, Old Portland, Victorian, Foursquare and other mid-sized, one and two story homes.

There are some amazingly gorgeous homes in the area, especially on Denver Avenue, which begins the commercial district. True to Portland style, this neighborhood will reveal creative paint schemes, innovative landscaping, and attention-to-detail restoration efforts. This lovely neighborhood is truly a gem given some still affordable home prices and a neighborhood community that truly cares about the growth and overall livability of the area. We have no doubt that this is the next hot area in urban Portland. You can’t miss the fact that the homes for sale are eagerly snapped up by buyers and investors alike.

St. Johns Neighborhood

St. Johns has a charming, small town feel to it. The post office, coffee shops, breakfast places, restaurants, movie theaters, grocery stores, and several parks, are all within walking distance for residents who live close to the downtown strip.

St. Johns has a rich and interesting history. It seems St. Johns was established by James John (a kindly hermit) and the area is named after him. An 1843 pioneer settler of Linnton, James John, moved across the river and started St. Johns in about 1865. St. Johns became part of Portland in1915, two years before Linnton joined the growing city. There use to be a lot of streetcars here and many interesting old houses & buildings still remain.

It’s not possible to discuss St. Johns without singing the praises of the St. Johns bridge. It has a long, storied, and wildly rumored, history. It has been rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a 15 yr old murder victim. The bridge was NOT designed by the designer of the Golden Gate Bridge (an common misconception). In fact, the builder of the St Johns bridge was John Steinman, was a rival to the builder of the Golden Gate Bridge. Stating a connection between the two bridges is common, but incorrect historically.

The St. John’s bridge was meant to be all manner of biggest, widest, and/or tallest bridges West, East, prior to, or in the whole world ever (although it is true that at the time of construction, the bridge had the longest span of any suspension bridge west of Detroit). Rumors aside, the bridge is stunning, really, really stunning — it’s worth a trip to St. Johns just for the bridge, descriptions like “towering gothic arches” are inadequate. Local residents find the St. Johns bridge to be far more lovely than the Golden Gate Bridge.

Overlook Neighborhood

As a result of the Portland real estate market boom and like many other Portland neighborhoods, Overlook has seen an influx of new residents to the area. As one might imagine, Overlook has some wonderful areas with beautifully improved homes and neighborhoods and some still in transition.

This area feels a bit secluded as it is on the “other side” of Interstate Avenue but offers convenient access to other local neighborhoods, and the Max light rail train.  Local businesses thrive here- a few standouts are the wacky and ever popular Alibi bar, Pause, Miho Izakaya, Beaterville, Fire on the Mountain, The Overlook House and Dip Rima Dolci Italian Bakery.  Locals shop at New Seasons Market and Fred Meyer and also enjoy the retail and restaurant offerings in the nearby Kenton, St Johns and Mississippi Ave neighborhoods.