Where Stumptown got its name. The OG Portland. This is where you’ll find Portlandia, a woman statue stretching her hand down to people walking by. It’s beautiful and grimy.
It is dirty and busy. The city’s dire homeless problem is right out in the open. But if you crave real city, you’ll love downtown Portland. It’s dense apartment-living. A one-block-wide park (aptly named The Park Blocks) stretch north and south. Another green space stretches along the river with a wide walkway and Salmon St Fountain. In the winter, the trees are festive with white lights. The main town square, Pioneer Square, is filled with bricks engraved with lovers’ names. Red brick sidewalks and 1800 architecture are squished together with towering modern buildings. (Towering in Portland-scale. With our height regulations, we’re still a toy city). Downtown Portland is geographically small, and packed to the gills with restaurants, bars, shops, exquisite old theaters, fountains, museums, and green spaces. There’s a mall. And a bus mall, meaning you can get anywhere in Portland on one bus.
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Portland Downtown can be described as
- Dense. Urban. Sweet.
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where the locals go
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where the tourists go
"I love the combo of old and new here. Old businesses, new restaurants, old library, long term neighbors."