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What is Arbor Lodge and What it Means to Me

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What is Arbor Lodge and What it Means to Me

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Arbor Lodge is the name of a small, quiet neighborhood in North East Portland, Oregon. Due to work and a comfortable walking distance from my own neighborhood of Piedmont, I spend a large amount of time there. While only .87 square miles, the neighborhood has a myriad of stores and small businesses that provide many goods and services to the communities that call the place home. Additionally, Arbor Lodge has two MAX routes, Rosa Parks and Lombard, that pass through the area and connect it to the rest of Portland.

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Stephen FitzMaurice, Portland Real Estate Agent

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Arbor Lodge is bordered by the Piedmont, Overlook, Kenton, and University Park neighborhoods. Its most notable boundaries are the Interstate to the East, and Waud Bluff to the Southwest. North Lombard Street to the North Ainsworth Street to the South are both busy streets that serve as commercial or service boarders with Arbor Lodge's neighbors.

Meanwhile, Waud Bluff is a large trail that connects North Portland to Swan Island and construction started in 2011. It acts as a natural border that encapsulates the Southern end of Arbor Lodge.

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Arbor Lodge has a wide spread of housing types, from cozy bungalows to large apartment complexes. According to data reported by the Census Reporter, 48% of households are non-family, 42% are married couples, 58% are owner-occupied, and 75% are single unit.

Walking around the neighborhood, there is a large variation in the houses in both design and size. Nearly all the houses were different from one another, from quaint bungalows to unique and modern apartments.

This variation even comes down to the roads and sidewalks, as some will be recently maintained and busy thoroughfares like N Rosa Parks, to the many side streets in various states of repair. While most had sidewalks, some were gravel streets with no sidewalks at all.

The neighborhood also has a variety of daily amenities available. New Seasons and Fred Meyer are both located in the area, as well as many small businesses, coffee shops, and even adorable book stalls.

The Arbor Lodge Park is located at the heart of the neighborhood. The park is a large green space that is known for the small playground that can be found there. Harper's Playground is well-known for being Portland's first fully-accessible playground, and has been the inspiration for similar parks in the city.

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The neighborhood of Arbor Lodge had several major time periods of growth and development. Each period naturally took several years to fully develop. It began on April 15th, 1889. Duff E. Sherman submitted the plat for Arbor Lodge, and work began on the project around the same time. Alongside Arbor Lodge, other neighborhoods nearby had began development. The first houses weren't finished until 1910 and 1930. However, the majority of the western end of the neighborhood didn't begin development until after World War II.

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In 1993, the neighborhood of Arbor Lodge submitted a request to the City of Portland to grant the area a historic district status due to its "fine ensemble of bungalow and post-WWII housing, deep front building setbacks, and unique street-lighting". However, the request was denied on the grounds that the area was not yet 50 years old.

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Harper Playground was constructed in 2012. It was a joint effort between Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) and the Goldberg Family. The name of the park is named after the Goldberg's daughter, who was the inspiration for the fundraising efforts to build a universally accessible playground. It is the first of its kind in Portland, and served as the inspiration for similar parks in the city.

The park is located on N Bryant Street and Delaware Avenue. It's main feature is its accessible play areas, as well as being located in Arbor Lodge Park.

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Arbor Lodge Park lies in the heart of the neighborhood. The majority of the park is dedicated to sports, as it has a field primarily suited for baseball, soccer, softball, and an enclosed tennis court. Additionally, it has a dog off-leash area for the local dog owners. Arbor Lodge Park is also well-known for Harper's Playground, constructed at the same time in 2012, it was Portland's first universally accessible park.

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Arbor Lodge has seen many improvements in the recent years. While a large development boom occurred in the area after WWII, more recent developments have spiked interest in the area.

The MAX light rails located on Interstate Ave. were placed in the last decade. This important access to the neighborhood has greatly improved the lives in the area.

Additionally, in 2005 New Seasons Market opened, giving the neighborhood two major grocery stores with Fred Meyers. Over the past few decades, more and more independent businesses bloomed in Arbor Lodge. From bookstores, boutiques, restaurants, and coffee shops, the small neighborhood provides. With its relatively small area, most of your needs are met within walking distance.

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Census data regarding Arbor Lodge as a whole is scattered over several smaller units of measurement. The Census Tracts FOR Multnomah, OR are separated into three parts: 39.02 covers the West, 38.03 to the Southeast, and 38.02 to the Northeast. Although each of these categorizations dip into the adjoining neighborhoods. For the majority of the data reported here, I will be referring to the Census Tract 38.02, but will compare and contrast the different areas. Finally, the Census Tract 39.02 are contains both Arbor Lodge Park, and the smaller Gammans Park.

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This neighborhood's median age is 34.6, which is about 90% of Portland (which is 38.6). Additionally, 80% of the population was between 18 to 64 years old. However, in the Western areas (Tract 39.02), the Median age is 42.1, and there is about twice as many people under 18 years old.

The neighborhood is also similarly divided when it comes to household income, economics, and even poverty. In Tract 38.02 the per capita income is $50,462, which is about 90% of the amount of Portland, and the median household income is $100,521 (about 10% higher than Portland). Meanwhile, the per capita income of Tract 39.02 is $66.306, about 20% higher than Portland, and the median household income is $147,115, which is over 1.5 times the amount in Portland. Likewise, the relationship with poverty is in contrast. Tract 38.02 has 8.1% below the poverty line, and 20% of children under the age of 18 are considered under the poverty line (which is about 1.4 times the amount in Portland). However, in 39.02, 6.7% of people are below the poverty line, which is about half the rate in Portland. Additionally, only 3% of children below the age of 18 are below the poverty line, which is only one-fifth of the rate in Portland. Overall, the more West you go in Arbor Lodge, the wealthier it gets.

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Household Income Comparison Between Census Tracts 38.02, 38.03, and 39.02

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Household Income Comparison Between Census Tracts 38.02, 38.03, and 39.02

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Graph comparing the incomes of the three Census Tracts that make up Arbor Lodge

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There are notable disparities in the demographics between East and West Arbor Lodge, especially income and price of housing: what factors influenced these differences? How deep does the difference go in terms of how the communities feel about the others?

Arbor Lodge pursued establishing the area as a historic district, but were denied based on the relatively young age of the neighborhood. How does this compare to the successful establishment of other historic districts in Portland?

Different parts of the Arbor Lodge neighborhood were developed at different times, some as early as 1910, while others were developed much later after WWII; how does the timeline of development affect the community and the methods of development?

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“Arbor Lodge Neighborhood - Portland Neighborhood Guide.” Portland Neighborhood.Com, 2025, portlandneighborhood.com/arborlodge.

“Profile.” Census Reporter: Making Census Data Easy to Use, censusreporter.org/. Accessed 27 July 2025.