Portland Neighborhoods: Mt. Scott Park (#2 in a series)

Portland Neighborhoods: Mt. Scott Park (#2 in a series)

No alt text provided for this image

When I first moved to Portland 13 years ago, I was told to stay away from this area. People called it Felony Flats. A lot of the yards had pit bulls chained up in them, next to the carcasses of dead cars and appliances. 

Oh how things change. 

It’s still one of the more affordable neighborhoods in the city, but according to Portland Monthly the median home price is now $384,999. Felony Estates, more like. 

It’s the area between SE 52nd and SE 82nd, north of Woodstock and south of Foster. (Cool fact: Foster Road was named for Philip Foster, who owned a trading post near Estacada in the late 1800s and was married to Mary Charlotte Pettygrove. Another cool fact: Foster Road was built on top of the northern fork of the Oregon Trail.)

No alt text provided for this image

The centerpiece of the Mt. Scott Park neighborhood is… wait for it… Mt. Scott Park. 

It’s a quiet, family-friendly park (which is code for homeless people tend not to camp out in it and I can let my kids run loose there because there aren’t any places for creepy people to hide). Just about every weekend there’s a birthday or graduation or something being celebrated in one of the picnic areas. A couple of years ago, the World Naked Bike Ride started in the park. So yeah, totally wholesome.

No alt text provided for this image

Okay, I lied. The Mt. Scott Community Center is the centerpiece of the neighborhood. It’s adjacent to or maybe in the park and has two swimming pools –– one that’s great for lap swimming and water aerobics and the other that’s built just for kids, with a slide, whirlpool, buckets that splash water on top of you, and a wading area that graaaaaaaadually gets deeper and deeper until the water comes all the way up to your knee.

No alt text provided for this image

There’s even a hot tub that always seems to have people from all over the world in it (the neighborhood has a pretty substantial Russian population, as well as Mexican and Vietnamese). It’s like a melting pot. The neighborhood is. Not the hot tub because that would be ew.

In addition to the pools, the community center has a basketball court, a gym, meeting rooms, and a skating rink. For real. A skating rink with wood floors and posts which I know from first-hand experience are placed perfectly for you to run into when you’re trying to teach your kid how to skate and not paying close attention to where you’re going.

Someone told me that in the old days, the Mt. Scott Trolley ran from downtown Portland up to the town of Lents and no, I have no idea why it was called the Mt. Scott Trolley, but because that was the name of the line, that became the name of the park. 

No alt text provided for this image

I was also told that the Arleta Triangle, a weird orphan of land that’s cut off form the southwest corner of the park at SE 72nd and Woodstock, came about because trolley tracks were laid to cut the corner of the park, leaving a little triangle of land all sad and lonely out there in the middle of the intersection. It sounds convincing, but according to the 1943 Trolley route map I dug up, the trolley didn’t go anywhere near that corner. And also, it wasn’t called the Mt. Scott Trolley. 

Anyway. 

Speaking of things that are named for what they aren’t, across the street from the park is the Arleta Library, which isn’t a library, but a breakfast place that got famous because some TV chef ate there once. It’s good, but good enough to wait in line to get in? Yeah, actually it is. 

Next door to the Arleta Library is Space Monkey Coffee where I have a secret crush on a barista named Amy. If you go there, tell her hi for me.

Okay, I lied. The centerpiece of the neighborhood is the Portland Mercado at SE 72nd and Foster. It’s a collection of Hispanic food carts –– everything from Colombian to Peruvian to Oaxacan to Cuban –– plus a tiendita for groceries, a carniceria for meats, a cafeteria for coffee, and a bar. 

No alt text provided for this image

You know what? For real, the centerpiece of the neighborhood is Milo, the Best Puppy Ever?. He lives across the street from the park and loves to invite neighborhood dogs into his yard for play dates. If he’s not out by the gate when you come by, ring his doorbell on the little free library and he’ll come out to say hello. Unless he’s gone to work with his dad. Who's a real estate agent. And a damn fine one, at that. 


要查看或添加评论,请登录

Brian Belefant的更多文章

  • Asbestos Was Banned In 1973, Wasn't It? Um, No.

    Asbestos Was Banned In 1973, Wasn't It? Um, No.

    In 1973 the Clean Air Act made asbestos illegal to use for fireproofing and insulating purposes. Then in 1989 the EPA…

    2 条评论
  • Portland Neighborhoods: NW 23rd

    Portland Neighborhoods: NW 23rd

    Whenever I work with clients moving to Portland from LA, the first place I take them is NW 23rd. It’s Portland’s…

  • Portland Neighborhoods: SE Division (#1 In A Series)

    Portland Neighborhoods: SE Division (#1 In A Series)

    Note: This is not the definitive history, but my version, which includes maybe a little hearsay, a little mythology..

  • In Which I Call Bullshit On A HousingWire Study

    In Which I Call Bullshit On A HousingWire Study

    Did you see the headline from a couple of months ago? “It costs more to own a home than to rent one in every U.S.

  • Houses And Lead And Autism

    Houses And Lead And Autism

    Up until my son was three, just about everything went into his mouth. Slugs he found in the garden.

  • You Get Used To It

    You Get Used To It

    My son used to be a runner. When he was two I installed one of those chains at the top of the front door, thinking it…

    1 条评论
  • If Your Kid Has Special Needs, You Have Special Needs

    If Your Kid Has Special Needs, You Have Special Needs

    My son is on the spectrum. ASD and SPD.

  • The Difference Between What And Why

    The Difference Between What And Why

    The difference between What and Why is the difference between plot and story and by the way, is also the difference…

    1 条评论
  • A Bad Decision Is Better Than No Decision

    A Bad Decision Is Better Than No Decision

    Remember George W. Bush? Yeah, those were the days, huh? I never liked him much, but there’s one thing about him that…

  • How To Tell A Producer From A Producer From A Producer.

    How To Tell A Producer From A Producer From A Producer.

    You know that thing about how eskimos have 21 words for snow? I used to think it was because they spent so much time…

    1 条评论

社区洞察

其他会员也浏览了