Dave Knows Portland

Top 5 Portland Neighborhoods for Car Free Living

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Good places to live in Portland without a car, a compendium of Census data, Walkscores, transit stats, and city surveys on the Portland Afoot wiki, is a great starting point for someone considering going car free in Portland.

Perusing it got me thinking about my own experience. Much of the time without a car, I’ve lived all over this fine city (I’ve called the following Portland neighborhoods home for at least one year-long stint: Reed, Creston-Kenilworth, Buckman, Goose Hollow, Hosford-Abernathy, Mt. Scott, Richmond, Downtown, and Boise). So I consider myself something of a car free Portland authority. I not so humbly submit to you my:

Portland NeighborhoodsTop 5 Portland Neighborhoods for Car Free Living

  1. Downtown
  2. Nob Hill
  3. Goose Hollow
  4. Pearl District
  5. Sunnyside (aka Belmont Neighborhood)

The key elements for car free livability for me are a full service grocery store within easy walking distance, transit, and eating and drinking establishments. (The first two are the reason I can’t place the Boise neighborhood, where I currently live, among this company, though it’s in my top 10 for drinking establishments!).

What are your criteria for car free livability? I know those who bicycle can rely less on transit and close grocery stores. Which neighborhoods would be in your top 5?

Video Interlude: Portland to Cannon Beach by Bicycle

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Portland To Canon Beach By Bicycle, July 2010 from goddestroyer on Vimeo.

Ahhh, remember July? Shawn Kilmer does. He road his bicycle from Portland to Cannon Beach.

And he made a video of the adventure: Portland To Canon Beach By Bicycle, July 2010 [sic]

At least a year of wanting to make the ride from the Willamette Valley to the Oregon coast by bicycle, finally decided I had the time. The ONLY drawback was not having a saddlebag rack setup and carrying everything on my back. I tried to go as minimal as I could, jersey for sun, thermal for normal weather, sweater for cold, bike shorts, jean shorts (for chillin’), sleeping bag, food, sunglasses. Just that small amount of stuff was still borderline on being too much weight to have on your back for a ride like this.

Streetfilms on Bike Boulevards in Portland

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Portland’s Bike Boulevards Become Neighborhood Greenways from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

Streetfilms‘ latest video showcases Portland’s Bike Boulevards.

In Portland, Oregon they’re taking their famous Bicycle Boulevards to the next level: by adding more routes, more traffic calming, and making them greener they’re now not only more attractive and useable for cyclists, but also for pedestrians, runners, children, and anyone using an alternative mode of transportation.

View the video above, and read the rest at Streetfilms.org: Portland’s Bike Boulevards Become Neighborhood Greenways

Via BikePortland on Twitter