Portland Oregon Is The 6th Best US City For Outdoor Recreation And Walkability
Are you planning on moving to Portland Oregon? Thanks to a recent study by Commercial Café, we know that Portland has been ranked at the 6th best city in the United States for outdoor recreation and walkability.
Locals have known this secret about Portland for years since the PDX area has always been a great place for outdoor activities like hiking biking and walking because living here means you can easily walk anywhere without having to spend a lot of time in the car.
About Portland’s Walkability
Portland, Ore., garnered a total score of 52.66 points out of 100 and landed in sixth. Oregon’s most populous urban center performed relatively well for its park area ratio and park spending. New York City earned the seventh-highest score (49.99 points), with its strongest suits being its park system size and park spending. The Big Apple also received a good score on its trail index. Albuquerque, N.M., followed close behind in eighth place with a total score of 49.59 points. The city’s nearly 300 parks carried its best-scoring strength — the park-to-city area ratio. Seattle’s performance across the metrics we analyzed added up to a total score of 47.18 points and landed the city in ninth place. The Emerald City’s strongest suit was its total park spending per city resident. Rounding out the top 10 was Cincinnati. The center of Ohio’s largest metropolitan area earned its best scores for park spending and trail index.
Portland’s Most Walkable Neighborhoods
North of Burnside adjacent to the downtown core. A neighborhood with a variety of living spaces forms brand new condos to funky renovated urban warehouses. The government rebuilding program breathed life back into the Pearl District. Powell’s Books, a Portland icon, and the world’s largest used bookstore is located here as well as a number of fabulous restaurants and great boutiques.
2. Downtown
Portland’s most walkable neighborhood because it is the center of the city. Full of beautiful historic buildings, museums, and monuments as well as Portland State University and Oregon Health and Science University. The downtown neighborhood is busting at the seams with nightlife, shopping, and activity. The Southwest Waterfront is the most popular spot to live with newer condos just steps away from the weekend farmer’s market.
3. Old Town/ Chinatown
The Downtown neighborhood’s next-door neighbor. Home of the popular Lan Su Chinese Garden and Portland’s oldest buildings full of gorgeous historic architecture. Another one of Portland’s top walkable neighborhoods it is also the most accessible with great public transit access and bike-friendly roads. This is also the home to world famous Voodoo Doughnut’s first store. Other great things to do include galleries, dining, and shopping.
4. Goose Hollow
Located on the east side of Downtown, outdoor lovers enjoy Washington Park with gorgeous rose gardens and the Oregon Zoo. A great place for first-time buyers looking for more affordable real estate and a family friendly neighborhood.
Gorgeous Victorian homes along 21st and 23rd just down the street from Forrest Park with a huge urban forest reserve. Shoppers’s love strolling through stores on 23rd and after all the walking through the neighborhood residents love to pop into Salt and Straw, the west coast’s most famous ice cream chain featuring unique flavors reflecting the best attributes of the city in which the store is located.
6. Hollywood
Named after the landmark Hollywood Theater, the main road running through the neighborhood is Sandy Avenue. A great place to grocery shop with Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. Full of great bungalows and craftsman homes.
7. Sunnyside
Two smaller neighborhoods make up Sunnyside: Belmont and Hawthorne. Belmont has a hipster vibe; it is home to one of the Stumptown cafes and Zupan’s the grocery store seen in the show Portlandia. Hawthorne’s second name is Funky Hawthorne because of its many vintage stores. Sunnyside residents have everything they need right in the two smaller neighborhoods and when they want to take a nature break, they can walk to Mt. Tabor Park with miles of hiking trails and an extinct volcano.
8. Hosford-Abernethy
Centered on a gorgeous rose garden, all the streets are diagonal. You will find some of Portland’s longest residents here. Homes are mostly historic dwellings built from 1900 to 1930. There are new businesses popping up often in the neighborhood and it’s very easy to use public transportation to get to further parts of town or anywhere you want to go.
9. Boise
A newly popular area that has seen a bit of revival and life breathed back into it. It has the Portland funky vibe while being picturesque. It is becoming Portland’s most in-demand neighborhood.
10. Buckman
Buckman is home of the music scene. Doug Fir restaurant is a great place to grab a bite and take in some live music. It is not the most walkable currently, but in the next few years is going to be made over with new urban planning initiatives. Buckman currently has the best public transit with a score of 99.
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