7 Best Sights in Portland, Oregon

Arguably the first of Portland's several hipster-favored East Side neighborhoods to earn national attention, the Alberta Arts District (aka Alberta) has morphed from a downcast commercial strip into an offbeat row of hippie-driven counterculture and then more recently into a considerably more eclectic stretch of both indie arts spaces and sophisticated bistros and galleries. Extending a little more than a mile, Northeast Alberta offers plenty of one-of-a-kind dining and shopping. The area is also home to some of the best people-watching in Portland, especially during the Last Thursday (of the month) evening art walks.

This expansive 681-acre tract of mostly industrial and commercial buildings was largely ignored by all but local workers until shops, galleries, and restaurants began opening in the neighborhood's handsome, high-ceilinged buildings beginning in the 1990s. These days, it's a legitimately hot neighborhood for shopping, craft-spirits and wine-tasting, and coffeehouse-hopping by day, and dining and bar-going at night. The neighborhood lies just across the Willamette River from Downtown—it extends along the riverfront from the Burnside Bridge south to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) and Division Street, extending east about a dozen blocks to S.E. 12th Avenue. If you're coming by car, street parking is becoming tougher with all the new development but still possible to find, especially on quieter side streets.

Back in the early 1970s, Division Street (aka "Southeast Division") was earmarked for condemnation as part of a proposed—and thankfully never built—freeway that would have connected Downtown to Mt. Hood. For many years, this street sat forlornly, just a long stretch of modest buildings and empty lots. These days, Southeast Division—no longer threatened with condemnation—is one of the hottest restaurant rows on the West Coast, and sleek three- and four-story contemporary condos and apartments are popping up like dandelions. If culinary tourism is your thing, head to the 10 blocks of Southeast Division from about 26th to 39th Avenues. The main draw here is mostly food-and-drink related, and you'll also find a growing number of noteworthy restaurants and bars extending all the way to 12th Avenue to the west, and 50th Avenue to the east. You may hear some locals refer to the western end of the neighborhood as "Division/Clinton" referring to Clinton Street, a block south of Division, which has a clutch of great eateries and beautiful early- to mid-20th-century bungalows and houses, mostly from 27th to 20th Avenues.

Stretching from the foot of Mt. Tabor to S.E. 12th Avenue (where you'll find a terrific little food-cart pod), with some blocks far livelier than others, this eclectic commercial thoroughfare was at the forefront of Portland's hippie and LGBTQ+ scenes in the 1960s and 1970s. As the rest of Portland's East Side has become more urbane and popular among hipsters, young families, students, and the so-called creative class over the years, Hawthorne has retained an arty, homegrown flavor. An influx of trendy eateries and retailers opening alongside the still-colorful and decidedly low-frills thrift shops and old-school taverns and cafés makes for a hodgepodge of styles and personalities—you could easily spend an afternoon popping in and out of boutiques, and then stay for happy hour at a local nightspot or even later for dinner.

One of North Portland's strips of indie retailers, the liveliest section of North Mississippi Avenue stretches for several blocks and includes a mix of old storefronts and sleek new buildings that house cafés, brewpubs, collectives, shops, music venues, and an excellent food-cart pod, Prost! Marketplace. Bioswale planter boxes, found-object fences, and café tables built from old doors are some of the innovations you'll see along this eclectic thoroughfare. About a 10-minute walk east and running parallel to North Mississippi, the bike-friendly North Williams corridor is a more recently developed area of almost entirely new, eco-friendly buildings and condos rife with trendy restaurants.

Sandwiched between the Pioneer Square area and the upscale Pearl District, this triangular patch of vintage buildings—interspersed with a handful of contemporary ones—has evolved since the early 2000s into one of the city's most eclectic hubs of fashion, nightlife, and dining. Boutique hotels like the Ace and Sentinel rank among the city's trendiest addresses. Along Harvey Milk Street, formerly the heart of Portland's LGBTQ+ scene, there's still a popular gay bar, but now you'll also find noteworthy restaurants and lounges, and plenty of indie boutiques.

A roughly T-shaped dining and retail district that's less defined but no less popular and impressive than some of the East Side's other culinary and shopping hot spots (like the Alberta Arts District and Southeast Division Street), this diverse neighborhood comprises a slew of mostly food-related ventures along East Burnside Street from about 22nd to 28th Avenues. Then, where Burnside meets 28th Avenue, you'll find several blocks of first-rate eateries as well as a handful of boutiques in either direction, heading north up to about Glisan Street and south down to about Stark Street. The historic Laurelhurst Theater anchors the intersection of 28th and Burnside.