PODC 2000: Portland, Oregon

BLUEBERRIES!!!

Oregon is famous for all kinds of berries, including blueberries. Blueberries are in season and those looking for a diversion the weekend before PODC might consider picking blueberries on Sauvie Island. Sauvie Island is a low lying island at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. While inside Portland (almost), it is very rural and largely agricultural.

There are a number of farms there that sell produce and some have "U-pick" fields. Highly ecommended is the Sauvie Island Blueberry Farm on Reeder Road. They have everything you might need (e.g., picking containers) and sell their blueberries (that you pick) for $1/pound.

You can find a route to the farm here. The farm is open every day from 8am to 5pm. It is recommended to call the farm at (503)621-3332 to ensure the berries are still there and to ask for directions if necessary. (No answer at the phone doesn't mean they're not open for business.)

The Location

Click here for the CitySearch overview of Portland. Generally in July the average high temperature is around 80°F (27°C) and the average low is around 57°F (14°C). While there is always a possibility of light rain, the average daily rainfall in July is only .02" (.05cm)! Check the local weather.

The Street System

The conference hotel is located in SW Portland. Portland is divided, more or less, into four quadrants. The division between east and west is the Willamette River. The division between north and south is Burnside Street. (Owing to a bend in the Willamette, there is also a N Portland; this is located east of the river but west of the main east-west dividing line.) Thus, the conference is west of the river and south of Burnside. Building numbers are 100 to the block. Thus, the hotel is at 520 SW Broadway and is thus about 5 blocks south of Burnside Street. The following discussion focuses on the west side of the river.

For the most part, avenues (which run north-south) are numbered going west from the river. The street right on the river is Front Avenue, recently renamed Naito Parkway; First Avenue is one street west of that. There are a few exceptions. There is no Seventh Avenue; instead, there is Broadway. In some parts of downtown, there is Park Avenue instead of Eighth Avenue.

While the avenues are numbered, the streets (which run east-west) are named. In most of the city, there is no pattern to the names. There is, however, a section of streets in which the names appear in the following alphabetical order: Ankeny, Burnside, Couch (pronounced "kootch"), Davis, Everett, Flanders, Glisan (prounced "Gleason"), Hoyt, Irving, Johnson, Kearney, Lovejoy, Marshall, Northrup, Overton, Pettygrove, Quimby, Raleigh, Savier, Thurman, Upshur, Vaughn, and Wilson (there is a York Street two blocks north of Wilson, but the street in between is named Roosevelt). As noted above, Burnside Street forms the boundary between north and south and thus these alphabetical streets cover most of the area of northwest Portland near the hotel.

Getting Around Portland

Portland is served by an excellent public transportation system. Click here for more information.

Things to do around Portland.

Destinations & Day Trips from Portland


This page maintained by Gil Neiger.

Last modified: July 13, 2000