East Side of Mt.Tabor aka Montavilla (SE)

On this day I decided to start at SE 72nd and walk one block west, and then all the blocks east to about 76th. The East Side of Tabor is a mish mosh of mostly mid-century homes, with a few bungalows and tudors thrown in for good measure. It has a stunning view of Mt. Hood and the East Valley and is actually a great treasure trove of realtively close-in midcentury architecture, which we all know is rare! The hipsters will actually live here! For the most part it's affordable and feesibly a short bike ride or meander to coffee and restaurants either on trendy Stark St in Montavilla, or Division and 52nd.

This was a very bright day and sort of difficult to get photos against the sun, but you get my drift!

Then as I was done with the backside of Tabor I decided to hit the Northside and wander up Yamhill and down towards 50th, and back up via Belmont.

These were the creme de la creme of that jaunt:

Reedwood (SE)

Last week I walked Reedwood. It's a 60's, 70's and 80's neighborhood just North of Reed College Campus. It has a rather interesting neighborhood history which you can read on the Reedwood Neighborhood Association's website. Essentially, it was a stand of trees that the pre-existing 50's neighborhood of Reed College Heights fought to keep from being developed into a shopping center. What is disheartening, is that the huge apartment complexes that take up the area from 28th/Steele up to 33rd were once the 250 acre Lambert Gardens "world renowned—with peacocks, flamingoes and cranes roaming about— attracted over two million visitors. The gardens closed in the 1960s, and apartment buildings were constructed on the site."

Across Steele, heading South, is Reed College Heights. A sweet neighborhood comprising of early 50's ranches, traditionals, cape cods, and salt boxes on nice winding streets that butt up against the wooded portion of Reed College Campus. I believe that the Crystal Springs runs through there as well, but haven't found it myself.

There are a lot more Trads and Cape Cods, but I must have been feeling especially 'Ranchy' that day!

Clifgate (NE)

Clifgate is a charming neighborhood of mostly mid-century houses including modern, standard, traditional, storybook, cinderblock, and split-level and tri-level homes under the 'ranch' umbrella. For this walk, I stayed mostly to the left (north) of Sacramento street, and east of 134th. Clifford Orth is believed to be one of the more prolific builders of the tract possibly hence the name Clifgate. It is not, as some believe, architecturally based off of Cliff May homes, though some of the homes are rather reminiscent of May's design.
It is a very quiet and sweet neighborhood with the median price range of $225K, with some houses being available for as little as $180K. The traffic noise from I-84 is minimal and boy the lawns are sure green. This is also where the Knotty Cakes Ranch is! What a cute hood!