The Northwest District is a densely populated retail and residential neighborhood in the northwest section of Portland, Oregon, United States. Craftsman-style and Old Portland-style houses are packed tightly together with old apartment buildings and new condominiums, within walking distance of restaurants, bars, and shops. The Portland Streetcar's first line (the NS Line) terminates there, connecting the district to the Pearl District, Downtown Portland and points south to the South Waterfront, and several TriMet bus lines also serve the district.
This part of Portland is known more by names for various streets and areas within it than by its official name. These include:
NW 23rd Ave. – Dubbed Trendy-third,[2] this major shopping street is lined with clothing boutiques and other upscale retail, mixed with cafes, restaurants and pubs. This area is also known as Uptown (particularly its southern end near W Burnside St.) and includes Nob Hill (centered on NW 23rd Ave. and NW Lovejoy St.). Music retailer Music Millennium, considered a local icon and national leader in the music-selling industry,[3] operated what was then its main store on NW 23rd Avenue from 1977 until 2007.[4] Portland-based record label and locally sourced concept-store Tender Loving Empire opened a shop in the 23rd district in September 2015,[5] after moving from the Northwest district to downtown Portland in 2010.[6] On October 19, 2016, a natural gas pipeline was breached, causing an explosion that damaged several buildings on Northwest 23rd Avenue.[7]
NW 21st Ave. – The neighborhood’s other main commercial district is a dining and entertainment destination, with popular restaurants, an independent film theater, and numerous bars, pubs, and nightclubs.
The Alphabet District is an area of streets running from below Burnside ("B Street") to Reed Street ("Z Street"). The naming scheme for the Alphabet District came about in 1865 when Captain John H. Couch platted his first subdivision. Each street on the plat was indicated by a letter of the alphabet. In June 1866, a city ordinance was approved to name "A" as "A Street", "B" as "B Street" and so on until "K Street". This was further extended to L, M, N and O Streets in 1869. This is how this area became known as "Alphabet District". From 1865 to 1891, this naming scheme was kept until they were assigned the street names, each beginning with its respective letter, that they are known by today.[8] Today, every letter is included alphabetically except for X, which was named Roosevelt Street after President Theodore Roosevelt, and Z, named Reed Street after Simeon Gannett Reed.[9]