Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
4
NORTHWEST 21ST AND 23RD
AVENUES:
FADED GLAMOUR
BOUNDARIES:
W. Burnside St., NW Raleigh St., NW 20th Ave., NW 24th Ave.
DISTANCE:
2 miles
DIFFICULTY:
Easy
PARKING:
Free street parking (with time limits)
PUBLIC TRANSIT:
TriMet Bus 20 (W. Burnside St. and NW King Ave.)
Northwest (the general term for 21st and 23rd Avenues and the surrounding blocks)
has seen easier times. Once considered the fanciest and most desirable part of Port-
land, it's now frequently mocked (NW 23rd has long sported the obvious nickname
“Trendy-third”) by people who live on the other side of the river; the glam boutiques
and upscale restaurants that defined it went either out of style or out of business as un-
employment grew and disposable income shrank. For years this was the undebated
first stop for any serious eating, drinking, or shopping to be done in Portland, but as
the city has matured and other neighborhoods have taken over as talked-up destina-
tions, Northwest has seemed to fade a little. In urban-planning magazine articles it's
outshined by the neighboring Pearl District, and in youth-approved cool it loses out to
Old Town, Alberta, and much of Southeast. Still, there's a lingering Euro-style beauty
to the tree-lined streets and vintage buildings, and there are plenty of other reasons to
seek out this area: one of the greatest art-house cinemas in the country, for one thing,
not to mention a killer gourmet-grocery market, an appropriately cranky New
York-style pizza joint, and several places in which one can sip a cocktail and feel like
an adult. Plus the whole thing is part of the Alphabet Historic District, which is listed
on the National Register of Historic Places and boasts some lovely residential build-
ings.
Start at the corner of W. Burnside St. and NW 21st Ave., heading north
along 21st. The junior of the two main streets in Northwest is also the
mellower one, with, generally speaking, more laid-back hangouts and
fewer upscale shops.
If you duck down NW Glisan St., to the right and two doors down, you'll
come to the very pretty Pope House Bourbon Lounge, a bar inside a
Victorian mansion that once housed the late, lamented Brazen Bean.
