Portland’s Ladd’s Addition neighborhood was named one of the 2009 Great Places in America by the American Planning Association (APA).
According to the APA, the Great Places program celebrates places of exemplary character, quality, and planning. Places are selected annually and represent the gold standard in terms of having a true sense of place, cultural and historical interest, community involvement, and a vision for tomorrow.
One of ten 2009 Great Neighborhoods designees (the other categories are Great Streets, and Great Public Spaces), the APA notes that Ladd’s Addition is Oregon’s oldest planned community, the housing stock includes stunning examples of Old Portland architecture, such as Craftsman, Mission, Tudor, and bungalows, and is noteworthy for innovative street design, walkability, and environmental stewardship.
Past Oregon winners of the Great Places designation include Pioneer Courthouse Square (2008), and Lake Oswego’s First Addition neighborhood (2007).
Ladd’s Addition is, no question, a snazzy place. It deserves recognition. It’s of “exemplary character, quality, and planning,” for sure. But what might the APA have added to its description? The fact that people who’ve lived in Ladd’s for _years_ are still unable to find their way down some of its streets! I was walking to a friend’s house a few months ago, determined to find her Ladd’s abode without help.
I failed.
Frustrated/amused/but mostly frustrated, I asked a man stepping out of his own house whether he could point me in the right direction. To my shock, he could not! Said the man: “I’ve lived here for fifteen years! — but, um. . .actually don’t know how to get from my street to hers. Sorry: that’s Ladd’s for ya!”
Fifteen years! No joke.
michele – A couple times I’ve been on the 10 bus through Ladd’s with a new driver who was clueless at the roundabout. Fun stuff, circling around a few times (like Chevy Chase in European Vacation), and turning down the wrong street; most of the streets in Ladd’s are definitely not designed for Trimet buses.