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About Portsmouth

Portsmouth is north of Lombard, south of Columbia Blvd, east of St Johns Ave and west of Chautaqua....so pretty far north, and kind of in a no-man's land! It is a neighborhood in transition.

South of Lombard, the houses and neighborhoods are pretty high class. As you get farther and farther north, towards Columbia Blvd and the Columbia River, the area is more in transition- there are a lot of cute little bungalows, mixed with small ranches and the newer skinny houses! They have even put in some mixed neighborhoods, like New Columbia, which is a mixture of low income housing, condos, townhouses and single family homes.

One thing I do love about this neighborhood is that Columbia Park is right in the neighborhood. There isn't too much else to say about this neighborhood- it isn't by the Max, so it isn't really hot. And it's pretty far from the St John's Bridge- so it's kind of hard to get other places quickly. But it's definitely coming up and since it is affordable for new home owners, it isn't too far to get to businesses. Walk Score is 54 in the center of the neighborhood, and the transit score is 47.

Here is a collage showing some of the features of Mississippi- all the cool shops, the Victorian homes, the down to earth-back to nature feeling with the chickens....It is a unique, creative neighborhood full of vibrance and life! Lots of unique, quality, hip shops- none of the fast food or big corporate businesses!

Parks

There are several parks in this neighborhood- Columbia Park is huge and even has an indoor pool- There are 35 acres set up in 1891-Includes baseball field, disabled access picnic area, disabled access restroom, paths – paved, picnic site – reservable, picnic tables, playground, soccer field, softball field, tennis court – lighted, volleyball court, and water play feature. Columbia Pool is Indoor, 25-yard swimming pool, heated to 86 degrees. Water depths range from 1.5 feet to 8 feet. There are also several other small parks- Trenton Park,  University Park There is even a Community Garden- Portsmouth Community Garden at Courtney and Hunt And McCoy Park has a water feature! It is in New Columbia!

 
The Community Center on Foss has a basketball court – indoor, community center, computer lab, fitness room, gymnasium, meeting room – reservable, party room – reservable, rock climbing wall, stage – indoor, statue or public art, and weight room

Smith and Bybee Natural area

This neighborhood is so far north, it is almost up to the Smith and Bybee Lake Natural areas, which is the largest natural wetlands found in any city! Home to beaver, river otter, black-tailed deer, osprey, bald eagles and Western painted turtles, this 2,000-acre natural area offers accessible wildlife watching, a canoe launch and more. The reason I am including all this in the Portsmouth neighborhood, is that it is just across Columbia Blvd, and is such an awesome place! It makes this area special!

Schools

Portland Public School District- This is what is listed for New Columbia, but you should check the address to make sure you have the right school for any house you are looking at...
Grade School: Rosa Parks
Middle School: Cesar Chavez

You can find out information on how good the schools are by going to the School Report Card website at www.ode.state.or.us

Crime and more!

You can find all kinds of statistics about Crime- even exactly what happened where, if you go to Portland Maps There are lots of other things you can learn there- like census information, maps, school info, parks, environmental issues, permits on houses, nuisance complaints, transportation and taxes.