While the community struggles with issues such as rising rents, which recently forced one beloved cafe, Red and Black, to take its poetry readings elsewhere, its character and sense of itself remain strong. Defined by two important commercial streets, Division and Clinton, the area stretches from the Willamette River to the railroad tracks.
"For a long time, Portland's more affluent west side didn't cross the river to this neighborhood," says David Machado, whose restaurant, Lauro Mediterranean Kitchen, was one of the forces for change when it opened in 2003.
Situated in a long-vacant plumbing-supply house, Lauro proved naysayers wrong, and was named one of the country's best by Gourmet magazine in 2005, helping to define Division/Clinton as a destination for unique, authentic ethnic food. The neighborhood is home now to a melting pot of cuisines, including Thai, Mexican, and Indian.
"A restaurateur like David, who came from working-class roots himself, really understood the character of the neighborhood from the beginning. He wanted to be part of it, without changing it too much," says Robin Corrigan, who 20 years ago shocked her well-heeled Seattle father by buying a fixer-upper in Division/Clinton. She had strangers stop her on the street to say she'd been gouged. Today, the house has appreciated 600 percent. "We couldn't afford to move here now," she says.
While real estate spiked 67 percent between 2002 and 2007, attracting an influx of Californians who viewed the housing prices as a comparative bargain, Division/Clinton's personality is as pronounced as ever. Indie, edgy, fiercely green, and community driven, it's a place that (so far) has resisted the vanilla sheen of gentrification.
Stroll along Division Street, with its many shops and cafes, and it's hard to believe the street was facing the wrecking ball in the 1970s to make way for an eight-lane freeway. Local residents and business owners joined in protest, refusing to let Division be turned into a ghostly frontage road. Typical in this city where crunch is elevated to an art form and liberal sensibilities rule, grass-roots protest won out, with the city opting to put in a light rail system instead.
