South Portland, Oregon facts for kids

South Portland is an area within Portland, Oregon. It's like a special section of the city, located next to North Portland. These areas are defined by natural features like rivers and parks.

South Portland is bordered on the east by the Willamette River. To the west, its boundaries include Southwest Naito Parkway, Southwest View Point Terrace, and Tryon Creek State Natural Area. This part of Portland is home to about 10,000 properties. It includes neighborhoods like Collins View and South Waterfront. You can also find parts of the Lewis and Clark College and Oregon Health & Science University campuses here.

History of South Portland

Before South Portland became its own distinct area, it was part of the larger Southwest Portland section of the city.

Why South Portland Was Created

The Willamette River makes a curve as it flows past downtown Portland. Because of this curve, some addresses to the east of Naito Parkway used to start with a zero (like 0100 SW). This was done to tell them apart from addresses on the west side of the same street (like 100 SW).

However, this system caused problems for emergency services and mapping programs. It was hard for them to quickly find locations with these "leading zero" addresses. To fix this, city leaders decided to create a new area called South Portland.

When the Change Happened

The Portland City Council officially approved the creation of South Portland on June 6, 2018. After this, addresses that used to have a leading zero in Southwest Portland were changed. For example, 0100 SW became 100 S.

City workers started putting up new street signs in May 2020. The older signs were removed by 2025. The United States Postal Service allows mail to be sent using either the old or new address system.

References