Portland Neighborhood Tour – Sellwood/Westmoreland

[Sekkle]

Portland has lots of interesting neighborhoods outside of the more frequently photographed downtown or the Pearl District. This is the first of what I hope will be a series of neighborhood photo threads I’ll do around my new home town.

Sellwood is a neighborhood along the east side of the Willamette River (Portland’s east/west dividing line) on the southern edge of the city. It began as a separate town and was annexed by Portland in 1893, though it still has a small-town feel. Westmoreland is the neighborhood immediately north of Sellwood.

This is not an extremely dense area, but the neighborhood is old enough that there is no cookie-cutter suburban feel. It is mostly single-family detached homes, with duplexes every so often and a few townhome infill developments. The neighborhood is very walkable, with a grid network of streets as is typical in many older neighborhoods in southeast Portland, and a couple main streets with local shops and restaurants. No office parks, strip malls or big parking lots.

The Sellwood Bridge is the only river crossing in the area and is in need of replacement. Trucks are no longer allowed over it.

These photos were taken in October and November…

Looking east across the Willamette at Sellwood.






Downtown Portland in the distance… if only I had a better camera!


View from on the bridge




What a poetic sign


On the Sellwood side of the bridge looking west
















Homes in Sellwood


























Newer stuff/infill










Share-it Square – a community-organized “square.” It’s the four corners of an intersection where people can post community news and leave/take books and various other items.










Spelling shop as “shoppe” really helps to give a place that old-timey feel.


























Tallest building in Sellwood. I think it’s low-income or senior housing, but I could be mistaken.












Sellwood Park




Downtown PDX in the distance again – in the foreground is the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge and Ross Island.


Milwaukie Ave shops in Westmoreland












Who needs “more” when you have clogs?








Hope you enjoyed the tour. I don’t know what neighborhood will be next, or when I’ll get to it… I think it’s supposed to rain from now until late March.