PokeClaw Encyclopedia

Getting around Portland for a card run

Map · Directory · Airport · Getting around · Add a machine · Add a shop

Portland districtsThe seven districts of Portland on the City's boundaries; each links to its card shops and vending machines; the airport is marked in the northeast.North Portland: card shops and vending machinesNorthNortheast Portland: card shops and vending machinesNortheastNorthwest Portland: card shops and vending machinesNorthwestSoutheast Portland: card shops and vending machinesSoutheastSouthwest Portland: card shops and vending machinesSouthwestSouth Portland: card shops and vending machinesSouthEast Portland: card shops and vending machinesEastPortland International Airport: machines near PDX and getting therePDX ✈

The grid

The Willamette River splits east from west and Burnside Street splits north from south, so every address starts with NW, SW, NE or SE and the numbered avenues count outward from the river. North Portland is the peninsula north of Burnside and west of Williams; South Portland is below the west side's old SW numbering; East Portland is everything past 82nd Avenue. The district pages follow the City's own lines: North Portland · Northeast Portland · Northwest Portland · Southeast Portland · Southwest Portland · South Portland · East Portland.

Transit

Five MAX lines: Blue (Hillsboro to Gresham through downtown), Red (Beaverton to the airport), Green (downtown to Clackamas), Yellow (downtown to the Expo Center through North Portland), Orange (downtown to Milwaukie). Frequent buses run the main streets every fifteen minutes or better: Division, Hawthorne, Belmont, Burnside, Sandy, Interstate, Barbur, Powell. The streetcar loops the center. One fare covers all of it: tap a Hop card, a contactless card or a phone on every boarding; the day is capped at a day pass.

Bridges

Burnside into downtown; Hawthorne for bikes and buses; the Steel for MAX with a bike deck below; Broadway from the Rose Quarter to the Pearl; Tilikum Crossing for trains, buses and bikes, no cars. Two bridges reach Vancouver: I-5 (lifts) and I-205 (does not).

Bikes and walking

Flat on the east side, hilly on the west, rainy from October to May. Ride the neighborhood greenways (Clinton, Salmon, Going, Concord) rather than the arterials; Biketown is the orange e-bike share. Downtown blocks are two hundred feet, so a mile is about twenty blocks.

Driving and parking

I-5 north and south, I-84 east, I-205 the eastern loop that serves the airport, I-405 around downtown; US-26 through the Vista Ridge tunnel backs up both ways at rush hour. Downtown parking is metered with time limits by block; SmartPark garages are the city's own. Residential permit zones cover the close-in neighborhoods. Snow and ice close the west hills first.

Routes and fares change; TriMet and the City are the authorities.