Portland%2C Oregon

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Portland is the largest city in the state of Oregon, and hosts an active Couch Surfing community with over 1,000 members.

Getting Oriented

Portland is divided into five regions: N, NE, SE, SW, and NW. The city is divided East from West by the Willamette River, and North from South by Burnside Street. North Portland lies between the Willamette River and N Williams Avenue. Image:Portland.png

The streets of Portland are for the most part laid out on a grid, with named "streets" running perpendicular to the Willamette River and numbered "avenues" running parallel to (and with numbers increasing with distance from) the river. The grid breaks down in hilly regions, particularly in the West Hills, where roads follow the contours of elevation. The "logic" of the grid also breaks down slightly in the North section: it's the only section on the east side where address numbers go higher towards the river. In the rest of the east side, the numbers go higher away from the river.

The grid system makes it quite simple to locate most addresses. Street addresses coordinate with the two axes (Burnside and the Willamette River) and are designated by one of the five sections. For example, 3402 SE Division Street is located in Southeast Portland, roughly thirty-four blocks East of the Willamette River, at the corner of SE 34th Avenue and SE Division Street. Locating addresses on numbered streets is even easier. For example, 1616 NW 23rd Avenue is located in Northwest Portland, sixteen blocks north of Burnside Street, and twenty-three blocks west of the Willamette River. One thing to keep in mind is that Portland's city blocks generally are much smaller (200 ft./60 m. per side) than those of other cities in the United States.

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