Guide to Neighborhoods in Southwest Portland

For in-depth information about the below Southwest neighborhoods, just click on them

Bridlemile  ♦  South Portland  ♦  Hillsdale  ♦  Multnomah  ♦  Sylvan-Highlands

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SWCCpoolIf you asked a hundred or so Southwest Portland residents why they chose to live on the “West Side” instead of the “East Side,” most would give you three reasons: schools, they like hilly terrain, and it all seems “close in.” You may also hear things like “safe neighborhoods” and “parks.”

The area of Southwest Portland is home to many of the city’s attractions such as the International Rose Test Garden, Japanese Gardens, Hoyt Arboretum, Children’s Museum, and Oregon Zoo. And they are only minutes from downtown.

Where is Southwest Portland?

West Burnside Street is the boundary on the north and the Willamette River is the east boundary. The south boundary going from east to west is Lake Oswego and Tigard. The city of Beaverton is the west boundary.

Southwest Portland Neighborhoods

Southwest Neighborhoods (SWNI) is a nonprofit coalition that provides support services to sixteen Southwest Portland, Oregon neighborhood associations, and three business associations. SWNI is governed by a board of directors with representation from each neighborhood association and local business association.

These are the sixteen neighborhoods: Arnold Creek, Ashcreek, Bridlemile, Collins View, Corbett-Terwilliger-Lair Hill, Crestwood, Far Southwest, Hayhurst, Hillsdale, Homestead, Maplewood, Markham, Marshall Park, Multnomah, South Burlingame, and West Portland Park. Click here to view a map of the neighborhoods.

The neighborhoods of Healy Heights, Southwest Hills (Portland Heights and Council Crest) and Arlington Heights are also in the Southwest sector of Portland. Healy Heights and Southwest Hills are not members of a neighborhood coalition and Arlington Heights belongs to the Neighbors West/Northwest coalition. Arlington Heights and Southwest Hills are profiled as West Hills neighborhoods.

Deciphering the difference between official neighborhood names as maintained by the Office of Neighborhood Involvement (ONI) and what Portlanders call a neighborhood can be confusing. For example, “Raleigh Hills” is referred to as the “Raleigh Hills neighborhood” but it is not an official neighborhood. Rather it is a shopping area (plus other commercial enterprises) along SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway (Route 10) and SW Scholls Ferry Road (Route 210). Two other southwest areas that Portlanders seem to think are Portland neighborhoods — Garden Home and West Slope — are actually in Washington County.

Walking in Southwest Portland Neighborhoods

Walk Score helps you find a walkable place to live. Walk Score is a number between 0 and 100 that measures the walkability of any address. Portland is the 12th most walkable city in the U.S. We have created a Walk Score for each of the neighborhood profiles below. Please note that we use an address in the center of each neighborhood to determine the Walk Score. Scores will vary in a neighborhood depending upon the address.

  • Historic South Portland  This 4.7-mile walk explores historic South Portland, site of immigrant Jewish and Italian communities in the early 1900s, and then loops back along the Willamette River Greenway Trail and into the evolving South Waterfront District. Along the way are parks, beautiful 19th-century homes, quiet streets, and views of Ross Island.
  • The SW Trails Group is a committee of Southwest Neighborhoods Inc that uses volunteer efforts to make trail improvements, lead walks, work with Safe Routes to School, plan and advocate for pedestrian and bicycle safety and other improvements in SW Portland Their walks are the second Saturday of each month, meet at 9 a.m. sharp under the Hillsdale Oak, behind the Dance Studio at SW Sunset Blvd and SW Capitol Highway near the concrete bleachers of the Wilson football field.

Transit Score provides a 0-100 rating indicating how well an address is served by public transportation. Ratings range from “Rider’s Paradises” to areas with limited or no nearby public transportation.

In 2009, the nonprofit Transportation for America named the Portland-Vancouver area as the ninth-safest metro area for pedestrians. 

Portland Monthly Magazine Neighborhood Guide

PDXMonthlyMag_April2014In their April issue every year, the Portland Monthly Magazine features the past year home prices along with other information about Portland neighborhoods and suburban communities. 

The numbers on the website and the printed magazine are divided into four sections (real estate, people, crime, and lifestyle) on each of the Portland 90 plus neighborhoods as well as about 25 suburban communities. The website offers over 50 items of information about each Portland neighborhood and suburban community. There is more data online than in the printed magazine. 

The magazine added a feature on their website for homes sold in 2014 and it’s also available for homes sold in 2015 — an interactive map where you can click on a neighborhood and a pop-up displays five items (1-year median price change, 5-year median price change, median gross rent, walkability score and percent of newcomer) for a Portland neighborhood as well as a suburban community. 

To visit the magazine’s website latest stories and numbers visit their Real Estate section — click on “Neighborhoods” to view the numbers for the Portland neighborhoods and click on “Suburbs” for the numbers on communities in the metro area. Note the detailed numbers for each of the four sections for homes sold in 2014 and 2015 are displayed below the map. To access the Portland neighborhoods and metro communities demographic data and home prices by year:

Search for Homes in Southwest Portland

sherlock_homeTo search for homes in Southwest Portland, go to SpatialMatch®, a real-time interactive geo-spatial search platform that delivers a totally new way to search for real estate online. Every aspect of the search process is conducted on the map, creating a fluid and entertaining user experience.You can just specify the criteria and obtain all the current listings that match in Southwest Portland as well as a specific neighborhood.

Detailed Profiles of Southwest Neighborhoods

For more information on all of the 17 Southwest neighborhoods visit the Southwest Neighborhoods website. Here are five neighborhoods in Southwest Portland that have details profiles. The profiles include housing costs, crime stats, history, etc.