Portland's Woodlawn Neighborhood

Book excerpt: Portlandas Woodlawn neighborhood has transformed from a small autonomous city at the end of the streetcar line to a large, firmly middle-class district of mostly midsized postaWorld War II homes and a few notable Victorian gingerbread-trimmed housesaformer farmhouses that once sat on muddy streets. Woodlawnas quirky angled streets remind residents of a time when the streetcar depot was a major feature of the city. Today an excellent bus service has replaced the streetcars, but most neighbors still enjoy the sounds of the trains at the bottom of the bluff bringing grain to the shipyards and the sweet fragrances wafting down from the cookie factory. The movie theater and firehouse are still standing, but both now serve different purposes. This is a neighborhood where new families are made welcome by the current ones, and where a new generation of volunteers is planning a vital and compassionate neighborhood.