Olivia Fendrich/The Mossy Log
So you have made it to Portland. Congratulations! You are now living in a city where it rains nine months out of the year, there are more strip clubs per capita than any other city in the United States and people will line up for an hour to buy artisanal donuts topped with bacon. If you are looking to learn more about this quirked up town, you have come to the right place.
Lewis & Clark is perched on Palatine Hill, in South Portland, tucked into the woods. But beyond our Douglas fir bubble is a city divided into quadrants — South, Southwest, Southeast, Northeast and Northwest, plus the rebel child known as North Portland. Each area has its own neighborhoods, its own coffee shops and its own personality.
Without further ado, here is your crash course to Stumptown.
Southwest
Though you will likely become familiar with Sellwood, another nearby neighborhood is Multnomah Village. It is a small strip with just enough to keep you occupied on a lazy afternoon: indie shops, a legendary toy store (hello Jellycats) and a variety of restaurants to suit your needs — I recommend Marco’s Café and Espresso Bar. It is also quite walkable, which is a rare treat on the Southwest side. Stop by this weekend and poke around this cute area with some friends.
Another neighborhood that is technically in Southwest, Downtown Portland is largely what you would expect: tall buildings, food carts, people on Lime scooters zipping by at terrifying speeds. It is about a 15-minute drive from campus or can be accessed via the LC Shuttle. This is also where you will find Powell’s City of Books — Portland’s crown jewel — a bookstore so big they hand out maps. You can also find the Portland Art Museum, some solid thrift stores and grown adults feeding pigeons. If you are heading to see a movie at Regal Fox Tower, you can hit up a bodega or convenience store just a block or two away for cheap snacks. Check out Pioneer Courthouse Square for an urban park with events year-round. Downtown is not exactly the heart of Portland nightlife — that is a little more scattered — but it is where protests tend to happen, so keep that in mind if you are interested in politics. Or pigeons.
Southeast Portland
Cross the river and suddenly everything feels more alive. Southeast is funky, colorful and packed with some of the city’s best food. Hawthorne Blvd. is lined with vintage shops that smell like incense and denim. You can spend a solid day thrifting, eating and window-shopping your way down the street. Division St. is also a great place to check out more great restaurants, local shops and nearby theaters. Alongside the many shopping options, there are dive bars and more than enough coffee shops to keep you awake through finals week.
If Downtown is where Portland goes to work, Southeast is where Portland goes to play.
Northeast Portland
Head a little north and you hit Northeast, which is part historic, part hipster and entirely worth exploring. Alberta St. is famous for its murals and art galleries, plus it hosts “Last Thursday,” a street fair where artists, musicians and vendors turn the whole area into a block party. Mississippi Ave. is another hotspot — great food, funky shops and the kind of people-watching that “Portlandia” promised you.
Northeast also has more of Portland’s older architecture — Victorian houses with wide porches, tree-lined streets and corner bars that look like they have not changed since the 1970s. It is cozy but cool, which makes it a favorite for students looking for a weekend venture into the city.
Northwest Portland
Northwest, also known as the Pearl District, is basically Portland’s glow-up. Think chic boutiques, art galleries and bougie restaurants. 23rd Ave. is a stretch of shops and cafes where you can live out that romantic city vibe, sipping a latte while wearing an oversized sweater like the hipster you are now.
It is a little more polished than the rest of the city, but that is part of its charm. Sometimes you just need to pretend you are fancy, even if your bank account says otherwise.
North Portland
Then there is North Portland, which feels like its own kingdom separated from Northeast by the Willamette. It is a bit farther from campus but well-worth the trek. St. Johns is the star here: a neighborhood with a small-town vibe, complete with an iconic bridge that looks like it was designed by Tolkien. The main street has thrift shops, diners and just enough grit to make you feel like you are in “real Portland.”
North Portland is also home to Cathedral Park (underneath that magical bridge) where summer concerts, festivals and a remarkable number of very enthusiastic drum circles take place. If you ever want to escape the college bubble without actually leaving the city, St. Johns is your move.
Tips for Exploring
If you are balling on a budget, food carts are your best friend. Portland’s food carts are legendary and allow you to try cuisine from every corner of the globe without spending too much. Try out the iconic “Fried Egg, I’m In Love” cart in Pioneer Courthouse Square, or hop over to Hawthorne to explore the now gutted remains of the Hawthorne Asylum while snacking on deep-fried sushi burritos and sipping some freshly-made chai. Google is your friend when finding food carts, and even if your phone is dead and you are operating on pure instinct, chances are that you will run into one at some point on your journey because of how common they are throughout the city.
Rain is inevitable. Do not let it stop you. Get a rain jacket, or just pretend it is not there like the rest of the city and lean into it — sometimes getting out into the world is exactly what you need on a dreary day.
Transit is fine. TriMet will get you most places, eventually. Just budget extra time and keep podcasts downloaded. Transportation can also be an excuse to make some new upperclassman friends that you can leverage for rides — just know that they will charge you a cleanup fee for throwing up in their Corolla.
At first glance, Portland may feel like a collection of mismatched puzzle pieces: grungy bars next to artisanal donut shops, graffiti murals next to rose gardens, a bookstore so big it takes up an entire city block. But that is the beauty of it — there is a neighborhood for every mood, and each quadrant offers its own slice of weird, wonderful, rain-soaked life.
From Multnomah Village to St. John’s, you will find yourself building little rituals: a favorite food cart, a go-to thrift store — beware the Depop tweens —, a market you always come back to. And before you know it, you will stop saying you “go to school in Portland” and start saying you “live in Portland.” So grab your bus pass, your rain jacket and your sense of adventure. Welcome to Portland. It is weird here. You will fit right in.
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