Sept. 8, 1997: The city agrees to tear down the old viaduct and sell the rail yards…

BOOMTOWN: The Pearl District in February 1997 (left) and in April 2011.
By Rebecca Jacobson

Only 20 years ago, inner Northwest Portland was a tangle of dirt streets, railroad tracks and warehouses. Train traffic contaminated much of the land with lead and creosote. A few people lived in the area, but zoning called for only 15 housing units per acre. Portlanders were wary of crossing West Burnside Street.

On Sept. 8, 1997, the city of Portland made an agreement with Hoyt Street Properties to develop 34 acres between the Willamette River, West Burnside, Northwest Broadway and Interstate 405.

Today, the Pearl District is overflowing with blocks of chic puppy boutiques and gleaming condos.

That deal also sealed the destruction of the Lovejoy viaduct, an approach to the Broadway Bridge that deposited traffic at Northwest 14th Avenue. The ramp would be rebuilt, with Lovejoy Street reaching grade at Northwest 9th Avenue. The Lovejoy columns, made so iconic in Gus Van Sant's breakout film Drugstore Cowboy (see Oct. 6, 1989, entry) would go, and development would rush in.

"The agreement—that one action—codified these two key events: the deal with the railroads, and the deal to get the Lovejoy ramp torn down and rebuilt," says Bruce Allen, then-development manager for the Portland Development Commission. "You couldn't have done anything without those acres, and you couldn't have done much without tearing down that ramp."

In the early ’90s, the city envisioned the neighborhood would grow to 5,500 housing units and 15,000 residents by the 2040s. There’s still a ways to go, but the Pearl’s population has already quadrupled from 1,500 in 1990 to nearly 7,000 in 2012.

From the Archives:

July 16, 1997: "How Dense Can You Get?", article on development of "Northwest River District"


1974: Mt. Hood Freeway Killed    

1975: Soccer City, USA  |  A Vet Shuts Down Nuclear Power 

1976: A Home for Refugees  |  Intel Changes the Economy 

1978: Bill Walton Sits Down

1979: Busing Ends in Portland Schools | Oregon Wine Gets Famous

1982: Courts Pave Way for Nudie Bars | The Other Daily Paper Folds

1984: Satyricon's First Show | A Bartender Becomes Mayor | The Air Jordan Saves Nike

1985: First Female Police Chief Ousted | Wieden+Kennedy's Most Important Ad

1986: Dark Horse Comics' First Issue 

1988: Inaugural Oregon Brewers' Fest | Rise of Hate Groups

1989: NW Rowhouses Burn  |  Gus Van Sant's Portland Hits Screen

1990: Our First Great Restaurant  | Oregon's Longest Tax Revolt

1991: Cleaning up the Willamette

1995: Bicyclists Sue Portland

1996: Vera Katz Builds a Wall | March to Save City Nightclub  | Powell's Rebuffs Amazon

1997: Path Cleared for Pearl District

1999: Stumptown Coffee Opens  |  Fight Club Hits DVD

2000: Largest Union Pension Fraud Ever

2003: Fred Meets Carrie  |  Suicide of Elliott Smith

2004: Gay Marriage Legalized (Briefly)  | Goldschmidt Exposed  | Eastside Portland Rises

2006: The Death of James Chasse Jr.

2008: Our Fanciest Restaurant Ever Bombs

2009: Sam Adams Admits Lying

2011: Occupy Portland 


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