Southeast Division Street

Twenty years ago, when I first moved to Oregon, SE Division Street was a pretty dreary place. Portland's city engineers had decided to try to fit four travel lanes onto a road really wide enough for only three at best. The street was a mix of commercial establishments and residences, but many of the business buildings were vacant, and most of the residences consisted of 1960's style two-story apartments with asphalt parking lots in the front along the street. But just in the past ten years this street, between Ladd's Addition and Mt. Tabor, has been transformed, both by city action in designing a more friendly street, and private development going in as the neighborhood's close-in location became an asset rather than a liability. This walk would have been quite different several years ago, and it would have been quite different in the summer of 2014 as many blocks along the street were one big construction zone, and it may indeed be a different walk several years from now as more new construction arrives. The route goes one way up SE Division from Ladd's Addition to the area around Cesar Chavez Ave. (formerly 39th Street), then returns via attractive residential neighborhoods and a short dip through the city's Clinton Street community. The walk is 2.8 miles, and is on flat terrain.

Our walk starts, where else, at a New Seasons Market, at the intersection of 20th Avenue and SE Division Street. This is the "Seven Corners" New Seasons location - so named because the meeting of the Ladd's Addition street pattern with Portland's grid makes for a complicated intersection. While New Seasons has a great local reputation, there are occasional blips in the publicity machine.

From New Seasons turn east and start heading up SE Division Street, on the right side of the street. At the corner of Division and 21st Avenue is the Mirador Kitchen & Home Store, located in what looks to have been originally built as a gas station. There's also a helpful directional sign to the People's Food Co-Op, located several blocks south on 21st. The store holds an eclectic collection of domestic items for sale.

As you will note as you continue walking up Division, this portion of the street retains a certain funky character. Two blocks after Mirador, on the right, is A Better Cycle, which is a "worker owned and collectively run bicycle repair shop." No self-respecting Portland neighborhood should be without such an establishment.

Right across the street from A Better Cycle on the left side of Division Street is an example of an older type of residential construction  - the 1960's era two-story wooden apartment structure with parking lot in the front. Until recently these were the only apartment structures along SE Division. However, being less desirable than the newer apartments means that these older buildings house units that are more affordable to individuals and households with more modest incomes.

Continuing past 24th Avenue on the left at the corner is an older home, and beyond are three brand new attached townhomes. The townhomes are located in what used to be the back yard of the older home. They do not appear to have any off-street parking garages or spaces.

Continuing to 25th Avenue, on the right is this 4-story structure, with commercial space on the first floor and residences above. This building could be considered a "pioneer" of what was to come along Division Street, as it was constructed way back in 2008. Unlike the newer structures up the street it consists of condominiums rather than apartments - 38 of them. It also includes a large off-street parking area on the first floor behind the storefronts.

Continue along Division Street. At 28th Place, on the right, is yet another sign of this street's transformation, a food cart pod with 24 vendors. This particular pod opened in the Summer of 2014, on the site of a former auto repair shop. The overall ambience of the site can be described as "cool ramshackle," as opposed to the "uncool ramshackle" of a typical auto repair shop.

Continue on Division Street to 30th, where you will see the Bollywood Theater. Despite the name, this is a restaurant, not a movie house, with locations here and along Division Street's cool progenitor, Alberta Street in Northeast Portland.  The restaurant is part of the brand new D Street Village complex, which includes commercial space, office space, and 85 apartments with rents ranging from $1275 for a studio to $2450 for a two-bedroom pad. Oh, and also 47 parking spaces - this isn't one of the "no parking" apartment complexes, although not every unit gets a parking space, and the proprietors undoubtedly charge extra to rent the spaces to tenants.

After crossing 31st Avenue, to the left is this building, at 3121 SE Division. At first I thought it was still under construction, but in fact the screen on the front of the structure is an exterior sunshade put on the building in order to get LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The screen does not add to the building's attractiveness, and would seem to also ruin the view out the big picture windows of the apartments behind it. The apartments have no off-street parking.

Continuing along Division Street, past 32nd Avenue is this colorful 4-story building on the left. Its most notable feature is the inclusion of a sex-toy shop, devoted to female instead of male customers, among the first floor commercial tenants.

Across the street, to the right, in this non-descript building (almost always with a line outside the front) is Pok Pok, which opened here in 2005, and became almost instantly recognized as one of the best Thai restaurants in the nation. The restaurant now has some New York locations, and also runs the Whiskey Soda lounge, right back down the street at 3131 SE Division.

After 33rd Street, this four-story mixed use building at 3339 SE Division appears on the left. The building has 37 studio and one-bedroom apartments on floors two through four, with no off-street parking. Making this building more interesting are two of the tenants on the first floor, St. Honore Bakery and Salt & Straw Ice Cream.  Both have grown from modest startups into Portland institutions - these stores are third in the metro area for each. Yet another new mixed use building, 3330 SE Division, is on this block to the right. It has 30 apartments and also no off-street parking, although tenants apparently can rent a 2012 Subaru Forester on a short-term basis from the building management.

Cross 34th Street, and a vision of the "old" division street appears on the right, All-Around Automotive. While it is a rare automobile repair shop that is aesthetically pleasing, such businesses serve lots of local needs at convenient locations, and if and when this shop disappears and is replaced by yet another four-story new building, its customers will have to drive farther to get their automobiles repaired. Which doesn't sound very "green" at all.

In addition to the private development along SE Division Street, the City of Portland has made major changes to the public right-of-way. One of the most notable changes has been the addition of "rain gardens" along the street to absorb storm drainage instead of putting it into storm sewers. A cynic might note that "rain garden" could be a euphemism for "swamp," but these workers are busy putting the appropriate plants into this particular facility between 34th and 35th Avenues.

Continuing past 35th Place, on the left is Emerson House, a three-story structure that is devoted to "memory care." This term has become the accepted euphemism for the treatment of the elderly who are suffering from Alzheimer's Disease or other forms of dementia. The building has a more "institutional" style than the newer structures along the street, although I'm not sure how old it actually is.

Right beyond the Emerson House on the left is a small shop with two green cross flags on its façade. This shop is home to the Brothers Cannabis Club, a medical marijuana dispensary. The green cross flag is a first aid symbol. While Oregon recently legalized recreational marijuana use, the law won't go into full effect until January 1, 2016, and any new retail outlets will be administered separately from the existing medical marijuana dispensary program.

The two-story building in which the Brothers Cannabis Club is located illustrates the fact that mixed use development with retail on the first floor and residences above is not an entirely new phenomenon - it just took an extended leave of absence from development types in the U.S. between World War II and the last few years of the 20th Century. The building beyond 37th Avenue is an example of the modern renaissance of such mixed-use development, and because the 81 apartments had no off-street parking, was the subject of considerable local controversy. Interestingly, the older two-story mixed use building in the foreground also has no parking for its upstairs residents. The general controversy over the construction of apartment buildings with no off-street parking is well-summarized in this article. Finally, note the sculpture of tiny little people in the picture foreground - an interesting addition to the SE Division Street mix!

Continuing down the street, at 3810 SE Division, on the right, is this 4-story mixed-use building, with 24 apartments on the top three floors and no off-street parking for residents. The building includes an attractive interior courtyard. The retail tenants on the first floor include Little Big Burger, a local chain with 4 locations in hip Portland neighborhoods (including this one).

Right beyond 3810 SE Division, on the right, is this grand old residence that has been converted into commercial space. Such conversions are another legacy of the "old" SE Division Street, and this one still stands. Its main occupant is a Tibetan gift shop.

Continue east on Division, crossing busy Cesar Chavez Avenue (formerly 39th Avenue). Proceed another long block to 41st Avenue, then turn right onto 41st. At the corner of Division and 41st is yet another new mixed-use building, this one with only two stories of residences above the retail first floor instead of three.

Once on 41st, proceed three blocks to Taggart Street. On the way you will see that 41st Street is designated as a bicycle route, and that the designation is exemplified by a bicycle sharrow. The City of Portland has developed a network of bicycle routes on lightly traveled residential streets, and has marked them with sharrows, which basically are a notice to motorists to watch out for bicyclists.

At Taggart Street turn right. As you go down this street you will notice fine examples of residential architecture from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At the corner of Taggart and Cesar Chavez, on the left, is the Joseph Kendall house, finished in 1889. Joseph Kendall was a cabinet-maker and architect who built this house for himself, designing it with a mixture of Richardson Romanesque and Queen Anne styles. The home's interior finishes include stained glass windows, hand-pressed moldings and a carved oak staircase. The house is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Carefully cross Cesar Chavez Avenue and continue on Taggart Street one block to 38th Avenue, then turn left. After one block turn right on Woodward Street. After two blocks you will see, on your left between 36th and 35th Streets, an unusual sight in central Portland - a new subdivision. It's called Waverly Commons, consisting of 18 single-family residences around a shared greenspace area. No, the site was not vacant previously, it was the location of the Waverly Children's Home, built in 1931 for homeless and orphaned children.

Continue down Woodward Street. At the corner of 33rd and Woodward, on your right, is this attractive home which is emblematic of the foursquare or "farm house" style of residential architecture from the early 20th century. The most prominent feature of such houses is the large front porch, often wrapping around the side of the house. This home was built in 1917.

Keep going on Woodward several more blocks to 26th Avenue, where you will turn right. In two blocks, at the corner of Clinton and 26th, is the Clinton Street Theater, showing quite an eclectic mix of unusual movies along with the Rocky Horror Picture Show every Saturday night at midnight for the past 35 years. This small but very lively commercial district was cool long before SE Division, but has been somewhat eclipsed by its neighbor street two blocks north. It's interesting to note that this great neighborhood would have been destroyed by the Mt. Hood Expressway if it hadn't been cancelled in 1974.

At Clinton Street turn left, go one block, and then turn right onto 25th Avenue. Right beyond the corner video store is this interesting establishment, Pedal PT, that specializes in "bicycle-friendly physical therapy." A niche business that might actually work in Portland!

After one block on 25th turn left onto Ivon Street. Between 24th and 23rd, on the right, is this new house under construction. Portland's older, hip neighborhoods are home to quite a few new homes such as this one, which looks like it is going to be a large (and expensive) establishment. Note that the house has only a one-car garage (unless it is an especially deep "tandem" for two cars in a row) - in the suburbs a house of this size and expense would probably have a three-car garage.

Right across the street, at 2324 SE Ivon, is the Buckler-Henry House, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built by Mr. Buckler for Mr. Henry, who was responsible for creating the original subdivision in this area. It is one of Portland's few remaining examples of 19th century brick residential construction. Interestingly, the house right next door to the left, at 2334 SE Ivon, is also of brick construction and was built in 1891. But at some point a garage was plopped in front of it along the street. While it detracts from the historic nature of this home, it probably adds a great measure of convenience to living there!

Continue on Ivon Street to 20th Avenue, then turn left and you will be back at your starting point - New Seasons Market.