Adventures from Eliot on Bus 24

By Monique Gaskins

Good news! Eliot residents have a new way to approach local adventures. Earlier this year, TriMet extended Bus Line 24 – Fremont to run between the East Side and North West Thurman Street. The 24- Fremont’s new route makes it the first TriMet bus route to cross the Fremont Bridge since the bridge opened in 1973. With the route extension, the Fremont bridge shuttles residents quickly across the river connecting them to nature, shops, restaurants, and Max lines.

Leaving from North Vancouver Avenue, bus riders can find themselves on the West Side of the river in just two stops. If you are looking to take advantage of Portland’s commitment to nature, a quick ride on the 24 Bus will land you within hiking distance of Lower Macleay Park or Leif Erikson Trail. If you instead would like to try one of our city’s other Spanish restaurants, Atuala, or a French Bakery, St. Honoré, you could also take Line 24. Finally, Line 24 provides access to additional services by connecting Legacy Health System’s Emanuel and Good Samaritan hospitals and the North West branch of the Multnomah County Library on NW Thurman Ave.

The 24 line extension provides an easy way to reduce car trips and support bus infrastructure. The next time you’d like to explore beyond Eliot’s boundaries, just jump on the 24 Bus for fast, inexpensive access to a different part of Portland. Line 24 runs every day of the week, from as early as 6:00 am to after 9:00 pm. You can check out the route and schedule at trimet.org.

Barbecue Soul

Sign for Barbecue Soul Food Cart
Barbecue Soul

A series of short posts about food carts in and around our amazing neighborhood. Portland is becoming known for its mobile food and we have a number of tasty options!

The scent of roasting meat from BBQ Soul made my mouth water as I approached the cart, and  wasted no time in ordering a pulled pork sandwich, selecting the maple-infused BBQ sauce to add to it. I knew the second I sank my teeth into my sandwich that I made the right choice. Lachisa Gill, one of the operators of the family-run business, also speaks particularly highly of the BBQ chicken that the cart prepares. BBQ Soul has only been in this pod for the past three weeks.

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Thai Palace

Thai Palace Food Cart
Thai Palace

A series of short posts about food carts in and around our amazing neighborhood. Portland is becoming known for its mobile food and we have a number of tasty options!

Thai Palace serves delicious, generous portions of classic, MSG-free Thai food.  The Massaman curry with chicken is rich and creamy and served beside fluffy jasmine rice.  And don’t skip the iced matcha green tea with tapioca bubbles.  Perfectly refreshing!

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A Children’s Place Bookstore

Holding up Oregon Reads Aloud book
“Oregon Reads Aloud” at A Children’s Place Bookstore. Photo courtesy of A Children’s Place Bookstore Facebook page.

A series of posts about places where you can buy, borrow or donate books in and around our amazing neighborhood. 

Portland’s oldest independent children’s book store has recently moved to just beyond our neighborhood border to Fremont and NE 14th Avenue behind Whole Foods.  More than 40 years ago Lynn Kelly and Jan Bruton opened A Children’s Place Bookstore and through various locations and iterations it has remained a popular  literary fixture passing along the joy of reading  and, as the new owner Pam Erlandson likes to say, “raising readers”.

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Winter Activity – Fremont Theater

A series of posts about winter activities to keep you busy until spring featuring exciting business and organizations located in and around our amazing neighborhood. 

In the Irvington neighborhood, at NE 24th Avenue and Fremont Street sits the The Fremont Theater. It is mostly used as a concert venue with concerts for kids during the day and for ages 21 and over in the evening.  One event not to miss is The Cherry Blossom Orchestra.   According to The Fremont’s website, one hundred years ago, on February 26, 1917, The Original Dixieland Jazz Band recorded “Livery Stable Blues and Dixie Jass Band One-Step” and was available for sale on March 17, 1917 at a cost of 75 cents.

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Development Roundup

Current Projects:

  • Ace Hardware on Broadway– Opened early in 2016 with hardware store and self storage units
  • NE 7th and Russel- 6 story 68 unit apartment project with 43 car parking spots underground.
  • Cook Street Lofts – 104 unit 5-story building at Vancouver and south of Cook
  • N Vancouver and Cook- Cook St Apartments – 206 Apartments with ground floor retail to be rented by New Seasons offices, 2 stories of underground parking.
  • 1 North- Office and Commercial buildings north of the Williams New Seasons. Construction almost complete
  • 300s NE Morris – 11 townhouses are going up quickly and for sale in the 375-450,000 range

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Proposed Development

Development in North Eliot.  P - proposed, C - under construction.  CS- construction staging.
Development in North Eliot. P/Pr – proposed, C – under construction. CS- construction staging.

There are quite a few projects going up right now in and around Eliot.  North Eliot is getting most of the action. The two proposed large six-plus story tower developments at NE Fremont and Williams as well as the project at NE 7th and Russell have driven the most uproar.  However, there are a number of  other developments being proposed  or already under construction.

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Flurry of Development Changing Eliot

developmentmap2013
Some of the recent and proposed development in and around Eliot.

During the great recession of 2008, many construction projects nationwide halted. New project proposals slowed to a rate that has not been seen in recent memory. Property values fell nationwide, but some interesting trends were associated with those changes. More Americans are starting to value walkable, close-in neighborhoods, like Eliot, over more car-dependent areas. And these preferences are not just with their hearts but also with their dollars. This was a trend that has been going on in Portland for quite a while, but it is having some real results on the ground in Eliot in the ‘10s.

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City Council approves rezoning request

by Alise Munson

FremontWilliamsMassing
Massing Study – Fremont and Williams

On Thursday, June 27, Portland City Council approved developer Ben Kaiser’s request to rezone his property between NE Cook Street and NE Fremont Street on North Williams Avenue to RX (Central Residential) zone. This decision is the first step in building the BackBridge Lofts, a 100-unit residential development with commercial use on the ground floor.

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