Portland Neighborhoods: University Park

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Pros:

Still affordable homes
The area has definitely improved
Pretty quiet neighborhood

Cons:

Improving but still has a ways to go
Not a lot of attractions in the immediate neighborhood
Lombard Street still leaves somthing to be desired

University Park is in North Portland, near the small (but well known) private Catholic college, the University of Portland (UP) (enrollment of about 3,000 students). University Park is nowhere near Portland State University (enrollment of 25,000), which is in downtown Portland. For whatever reason, UP is one of the few places George W. Bush is welcomed in Portland on the rare occasions that he visits the area.

Despite the neighborhood's name, the university doesn't have an overwhelming impact on University Park (although the Portland Pilots sports teams do attract some minor attention), except for the fact that there's not much around. You will find a number of rental homes full of students, naturally more so than in other neighborhoods; there are surprisingly few apartment buildings around. But it's most definitely not a "college neighborhood" - you wouldn't know there was a college anywhere nearby unless you drive right past it. The campus sits at the south side of the neighborhood, overlooking the river, which is not the most picturesque due to the industrial nature here (it is PORTland, after all). A few views such as that of the St. Johns and nearby Railroad Bridge are nice.

The northern border of University Park is the trashy, high traffic Lombard Street (the main road through North Portland between I-5 and St. Johns), which is dotted with "Fast Cash" joints and fast food restaurants - but there are a few "decent" businesses sprinkled in. The street is starting to improve...starting to.

The houses are a mix of trashy to modest to improved, some pretty nice. Like the rest of North Portland, the area is slowly improving, because the closer-in Portland neighborhood home prices are shooting up, so the market is driving people here and to nearby Portsmouth and other North Portland neighborhoods. Realtors sometimes mention University Park as the next up-and-coming Portland area. But unlike St. Johns, there's no town center where people can congregate, and there are few interesting retail or restaurant options in the immediate area - perhaps a few right on Lombard. Hopefully that busy street will continue to improve.

Bus service to downtown Portland isn't too bad - there are a number of buses. Unfortunately, the MAX yellow line up Interstate Avenue is too far away to serve the university (except by bus connections). It's kind of tiresome drive to and from downtown Portland via Lombard and I-5.

Links:

University of Portland

Pictures are all copyrighted by Andrew Hall and may not be used or copied without permission.

Portland Neighborhoods Guide: University Park