Downtown Portland, ME- great urban core for an underrated city

Downtown boundaries are a bit convoluted and debatable. I simply followed what Google Maps provided.

Downtown Portland is typical in many ways for a New England Dwtn. Great historic architecture dense, vibrant, and lots of retail remains. Streets are also a bit windy and confusing but much more legible here than Dwtn Boston. Dwtn Portland certainly experienced its own period of blight akin to most American Dwtns with the construction of the suburban Maine Mall in the 1970s. Yet this didn’t last too long and Dwtn Portland was largely sparred from major urban renewal efforts. Revitalization really started in the adjacent Old Port district with tourist and lots of local businesses blossoming. Since Dwtn and Old Port are so intertwined, Dwtn quickly began to see spill over revitalization as well. The industrial bayside district to the north of Dwtn has also seen lots of new development including a Trader Joe’s Wholefoods, and lots of higher end housing.

While statistically a very safe place, Dwtn still feels a bit rough around the edges partially due to its large homeless population, but also because there are some dead spots and underutilized buildings, especially in the eastern half of Dwtn. Dwtn could also use a better college age presence along with more affordable housing. Its also not a huge employment hub, but this may be a difficult deficiency to overcome given the fact that the City of Portland only has 66,000 residents even if the region is over 600K. But I like Dwtn Portland, ME overall and feel its a very comfortable and walkable place tying in nicely to several great adjacent urban districts. This is a very underrated urban place, that only New Englanders seems to know.

Click here to view my Downtown Portland, ME album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Great density for an American Dwtn and well integrated into several surrounding urban districts.
* High quality architecture, especially historic. In-fill is good as well generally with good urban form. Some of the 60s-80 buildings are pretty ugly though.
* Good transit service within Dwtn and surrounding neighborhood. Decent service to the rest of the City. Some service to inner ring suburbs.
* Good system of bike lanes Dwtn and out to Portland Neighborhoods. Some connections out to the suburbs and larger Metro. Dockless bike share system is in its pilot year.
* Great economic diversity Dwtn. Okay racial diversity.
* No larger parks or recreational spaces Dwtn but lots of nice small and medium sized plazas.
* Congress Sq Park is I would consider Dwtn’s best civic space. This is the most dynamic space with lots of events and even a “friends of Congress Sq Park”.
* Generally a pretty safe Dwtn but a fair amount of homelessness helping it to feel a bit edgy.
* Generally great urban form but a handful of surface parking lots on the eastern edge. Also good urban street form.
* Great cultural amenities include a nice array of restaurants, bars, & cafes, great array of theaters and music halls including (a cineplex, indie film theater, and several performing arts theaters), lots of art galleries, the Portland Art Museum, and several smaller museums and historic houses.
* Other Dwtn amenities include a dwtn library and post office, the Cross Arena, and plenty of courts and government buildings.
* Downtown has a safety ambassador program
* Great retail amenities Dwtn, especially if you include adjacent neighborhoods that are walkable… Trader Joe’s, Wholefoods & several smaller grocers, a drug store, good array of boutiques and unique stores, several bookstores, plenty of bank branches, and lots of home good stores.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Decent amount of rental product but generally runs expensive. 1-bedrooms lease anywhere in the $1,000s, 2-bedrooms in the 1K&2Ks, no 3-bedroom product available.
* Similar situation for for-sale product. Most are condos selling anywhere between 350-800K. Some cheaper condos selling in the 200Ks. Decent amount of affordable rentals dwtn.
* No much of a skyline but some nice historic mid-sized towers and chapels.
* Portland’s main high school is located Dwtn and several others walkable to Dwtn like Baxter Academy for Technology & Science. A couple others about a mile out.
* Only a small Art College Dwtn. University of Southern Main is about a mile away with around 5,000 students.
* No convention center and only one sporting center, the Cross Arena.
* Difficult to find any hard numbers but I don’t sense that Downtown Portland is a huge employment hub. Probably 10-20K jobs especially if you include the great Dwtn area.
* No Target or other larger retailers.

Maine’s Victorian Jewel… the West End of Portland

The neighborhood is home to many historic homes from all decades of the 19th century. Its considered one of the best preserved Victorian neighborhoods in the country. Other great qualities to Portland’s West End include its convenient access to Downtown and Old Port, strong walkability, safety, mixed use and dense character, and expansive Western Promenade Park hugging its western edge.

The major downside to the neighborhood is its expensive housing where for-sale options start at 200K for a modest condo and generally exceed 400K for a SF home. Surprisingly the neighborhood manages to have great economic diversity likely indicating a large cost burdened population. This is certainly not a great district for modern architecture lovers as its almost non-existent.

Click here to view my entire West End Album on my Flickr Page

URBAN STRENGTHS

* Very convenient access to Downtown.
* Expansive bike system connect the district to downtown and other adjacent areas.
* Great economic diversity.
* Nice array of smaller diverse parks and the expansive Western Promenade
* Great Tree Canopy.
* Gorgeous brick sidewalks fill most of the neighborhoods.
* Very safe district.
* Culturally many historic houses, convenient access to several Dwtn museums, music venues and cinemas; also many restaurants and some cafes and bars.
* Neighborhood amenities includes a couple smaller groceries, several drug stores, and a good amount of boutiques, and several book stores. The Congress Biz District is nearby and contains a good amount of retail amenities as well.
* North Light Mercy Hospital located here.
* Gorgeous historic architecture from all decades of the 19th century.
* Urban massing is generally good throughout except the Commercial St. on the West End’s southern border.

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* Public transit is decent but not great.
* Limited racial and generational diversity.
* Rentals are plentiful but generally expensive. One-bedrooms range in the $1,000s. 2-bedrooms in the high $1,000s and low $2,000s.
* 1-bedroom condos generally sell in the $200ks, 2-bedroom condos often in the $200s but plenty of product in the 300ks. 3-bedrooms homes anywhere from 300Ks-600Ks. Larger homes are easily over 600K.
* Curbs cuts at all intersections but generally not ADA standard.
* No art galleries in the district
* Modern architecture is very limited here.

Portland Maine’s East End, an Upper Class Community with Great Access to the Sea.

The East End was developed in the late 19th century with a mix of wood frame SF and small apartment buildings. Historically the neighborhood had a large Irish and Italian American population. This is a stable upper middle class district with convenient access to downtown without significant traffic, beautiful bayfront parks, several attractive urban business districts, and attractive historic architecture. The waterfront park, Eastern Promenade, was designed by the Olmsted Brothers as well as Baxter Boulevard, which rings part of Back Cove.

The district however lacks significant racial diversity, is very expensive to reside, and contains only a mediocre elementary school. Public Transit is also average.

Click here to view my Full EastEnd Album on Flickr.

URBAN STRENGTHS

* Very convenient access to Downtown.
* Expansive bike system connect the district to downtown and other adjacent areas.
* Great economic diversity and decent generational diversity.
* Lovely Historic architecture mostly wood frame housing from the late 19th century.
* Good amount of tree canopy and street trees.
* Generally high quality sidewalks with ADA ramps.
* The East End is well endowed with recreational spaces including its extensive waterfront parks and many small and medium sized parks throughout offering most types of amenities.
* Culturally a good # of restaurants, bars, and cafes, several theaters and music venues and art galleries. No museums but several historic sites.
* Amenity wise there are several smaller groceries but Wholefoods nearby, a Walgreens and a good offering of retail and boutiques along Congress St. and Washington Ave.

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* Public transit is decent but not great.
* Very Caucasian neighborhood with limited racial diversity.
* For Sale housing is very expensive starting at around 300K for a 1-2 bedroom condos. Most 3 & 4 bedroom SF homes selling between 500K-800K. Rentals are expensive too with studios starting around $1,000 and most 1-bedrooms in the mid to high $1,00s. 2-bedrooms rent in the high $1,000s and $2,000s.
* A decent grade school sits within the East End and the well rated Portland HS is about a mile away.

Old Port, Portland- Maine’s greatest port, now tourist destination.

This is the City’s oldest district between Commercial Street and Spring-Federal Street. East to West, Old Port runs from Franklin St. to York and Maple. After Portland was largely destroyed by the British in the Revolutionary war, Old Port was rebuilt with 19th century brick buildings and fishing piers becoming Maine’s leading port and economic center. Old Port was revitalized in the 1970s when real estate developers transformed derelict warehouses into apartments, condos, offices and retail space. Old Port emerged as a popular urban district filled with boutiques, restaurants, bars, cafes, and night life.

As much of Old Port’s historic fabric remains, it scores well in many urban categories including walkability, urban form, a wonderful streetscape, and beautiful historic architecture. Due to a plethora of local businesses and boutiques, Old Port contains most neighborhood retail amenities as well. Yet Old Port lacks amble access to green space (largely due to a privately controlled waterfront), expensive real estate, and mediocre public transit. There is still room for significantly more density to create a more well rounded district not so reliant on tourist and downtown workers.

Click here to view my Old Port Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS

* Pretty great bike system citywide and to many suburbs. Limited bike lanes within Old Port and dwtn, but easy access to them on the edge of the neighborhoods.
* Very economically diverse population.
* Great cultural amenities with tons of restaurants, bars, and cafes, live music venues, and easy access to a cineplex and theaters.
* Lots of neighborhood amenities with tons of boutiques and locally owned stores, drug stores, bookstores, and easy access to several grocery stores in nearby districts.
* Very safe district.
* Convenient access to a great high school and a solid middle school is about 1 mile away.
* Great ADA infrastructure, attractive sidewalks, and consistent street trees.

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* Even with great access to Downtown, mediocre transit access.
* No bike sharing but this seems to be on the way.
* No great racial or generational diversity.
* For sale housing is very expensive. 1 bedrooms condos selling in the 300s & 400Ks. 2-bedrooms above 500K.
* Rentals also expensive. Studios start around $1,000 and 1-bedrooms in the $1,000s. 2-bedrooms in generally in the high $1,000s and $2,000s.
* Recreation amenities a bit limited. Several plazas and parks but one needs to walk a mile to a large park. Unfortunately no waterfront park along the harbor.