Guide to the Multnomah Neighborhood in Portland, Oregon

Multnomah Village is a Portland neighborhood with a small town feeling. The village has maintained an atmosphere of good service with imaginative establishments. Over 100 different businesses and community services, you will find antique stores, galleries, gift and specialty shops, distinctive restaurants and much more. There is something for every mood, every preference, every individual. Visit the Multnomah Village Business Association Web site for a list of merchants. Centered on three blocks of SW Capitol Highway, the village is 15 minutes southwest of downtown.

Ask a booklovers for their favorite bookstore in the Portland area and many will tell you Annie Bloom's. Annie Bloom's Books first opened its doors in Multnomah Village in 1978. A neighborhood independent bookstore, they carry a broad range of titles across many genres. Along with a strong fiction section, Annie's excel in children's, travel, current events, and cooking. Annie Bloom's selections include magazines, CDs, and cards.

Another favorite spot is the Lucky Labrador Public House. Once home to the Freemasons' Orenomah Chapter No. 141, the setting makes a perfect place for a pub within the community of Multnomah Village.

Multnomah Days, an annual neighborhood street fair, takes place every year in the summer. In the morning, an endearingly corny procession features marching bands, classic cars, clowns, and the hugely popular Tail’s End Pooch Parade, a pack of pet dogs dressed as cowboys, ballerinas, firefighters, and what have you. The above photo is a group marching in the parade.

Attractions are the convenient access to the Multnomah Arts Center (learn to paint, draw, dance, sing, play an instrument, etc.) and the Southwest Community Center (swimming, exercise classes, etc.) located in the 90 acre Gabriel Park.

A good source of information about the neighborhoods is the Multnomah Village Post, the local weekly newspaper.

History

The neighborhood began as a land claim of Thomas and Polly-Anne Tice, and through the 1800's the area remained a densely wooded area, unnamed and home to only a few residents. H.L. Gilbert consolidated the majority of the current village into the Wildwood Subdivision. At this point, the site was bounded by the same physical streets, their names were: Fulton Boulevard, Farewell Street and Gordon Avenue. The neighborhood continued to grow and was eventually annexed to Portland over an 8-year period beginning in 1954.

The area was a stop on the Oregon Electric Railway as it traveled from Portland south to Salem in the early 1900s. It was the policy of the officials to apply native names, when ever possible, to the stations as they were established. So in 1908 when the stop was established, they gave it the name of Multnomah.

Multnomah Village was, for a long time, home to the world's first wiki, WikiWikiWeb, which was physically located in an office in the village. The Web site has since relocated. WikiWikiWeb (also known as WardsWiki) was the first wiki application ever written. It was developed in 1994 by Ward Cunningham in order to make the exchange of ideas between programmers easier and was based on the ideas developed in HyperCard stacks that he built in the late 1980s.

For more detailed information on the history of Multnomah Village, see the Multnomah Historical Association Web site.

Origin of the Name of Multnomah

According to Oregon Geographic Names, Multnomah is an Indian (Chinookan tribe) name and the word was first used by by Lewis and Clark in their journals with the style 'Mulknomah,' referring to the stream now known as the Willamette. The community of Multnomah took its name from Multnomah County.

Multnomah Home Styles

What interesting about the community is the variety of home styles. The predominate style is contemporary as most of the homes were built after WWII. In the 90s, developers started building townhomes around the village area and that trend has continued. Condos have been built within the last few years.

¹Multnomah 2008 Home Prices

Number of homes sold in Multnomah in 2008: 149.
Average price for homes sold in Multnomah in 2008: $324,150.
Median price for homes sold in Multnomah in 2008: $300,000.
Average sales price change in 2008 from 2007 in Multnomah: -1%.
5-year average sales price growth in Multnomah: 39%.
2008 metro area average home price: $330,300 (-3.7% sales price change from 2007).
2008 metro area median home price: $278,000 (-4% sales price change from 2007).

Please be aware that the above figures are subject to error and are intended as guidelines only. To view homes currently for sale in the Multnomah neighborhood, click here.

Parks and Community Centers in the Multnomah Neighborhood

The 90-acre Gabriel Park has a wide assortment of facilities for all kinds of activities. This includes a play ground, tennis courts, off-lease dog area, trails, and large fields for soccer and baseball/software. In a corner of the park is the Southwest Community Center. It includes a basketball court, fitness room, gymnasium, kitchen, meeting room, party room, indoor swimming pool, and weight room.

The Sprout Academy is an educational preschool with a 'green' focus offered by Portland Parks & Recreation's Southwest Community Center, located in the Southwest Community Center. "Sprout" students acquire the foundations of learning, including math, science, language development, art, music, and social skills. All the while, children experience nature and learn about ecosystems, sustainable living, and caring for the environment through developmentally appropriate activities in and out of the classroom.

The Portland Parks and Recreation Department also has an Arts Center in the village area. The Multnomah Arts Center facility includes classrooms, weaving rooms with over 60 looms, a darkroom, printmaking studio with presses, dance studio, music rooms, a ceramics studio with pottery wheels, slab roller, and kilns, and an applied arts studio with sculpture and jewelry making equipment. Rentable areas include an auditorium and stage, gymnasium, dance studio, classrooms, kitchen, and kitchenette. Outdoor grounds include a covered basketball court, playground, courtyard, and parking.

Walking in Multnomah

The SW Trails Group is a committee of Southwest neighborhoods that uses volunteer efforts to make trail improvements, lead walks, work with Safe Routes to School, plan and advocate for pedestrian and bicycle safety and other improvements in Southwest Portland. Their walks are the second Saturday of each month.

Gabriel Park has some great trails for either a run or a walk. Some of the trails go through a wooded section of the park and others through open areas.

Walk Score ranks 2,508 neighborhoods in the largest 40 U.S. cities to help you find a walkable place to live. Below is a Walk Score for an address in the center of the neighborhood. Living close to the village center will get you a score in the 70s (very walkable).

Map of Multnomah Neighborhood

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More About Multnomah

Neighborhood Association Web site The neighborhood has one page on the SW Neighborhoods Web site.
Neighborhood News A good source of information about the neighborhoods is the Multnomah Village Post, the local weekly newspaper.
Location About four miles south on I-5 and where the freeway jogs to the southwest - Multnomah is just to the west.
²Drive Time to Downtown 15 minutes.
Topography Moderate rolling hills and wooded.
Streets and Sidewalks Winding streets along with some grid patterns. Some of the blocks have sidewalks.
2005 Livability Study 94.1% of the Multnomah residents rated their neighborhood "good" or "very good." See Livability Study.
Public Transportation TriMet has about ten bus routes. The neighborhood does not have access to MAX light rail or the streetcar line.
³Demographics Population: 6,625. Area size: 924 acres. Average population density: 7 persons per acre. Number of households: 3,196. Percent of home owners: 47. Percent of renters: 53. Diversity: 16.6% non-Caucasian.
Crime Stats 2008: 13 violent crimes, 16 residential burglaries, and 18 auto thefts. Total crimes per 1,000 residents was 24. For the latest crime statistics for the Multnomah neighborhood, click here.
Sex Offenders Click here for the State of Oregon Sex Offender Inquiry System. After agreeing to the "Conditions of Use Statement" you will be redirected to a "Enter Search Criteria" page. Insert a zip code in the "Zip" field and click on the "Query" button. Multnomah zip code: 97219.
⁴Shopping and Services Number of supermarkets: 1. Number of health clubs: 2. Number of coffee shops: 4.
The Village Center - main street and side streets - is like living in a small town. The village has numerous small shops and eating places. If you're a reader, visit Annie Bloom's Books - comfy armchairs, a house cat, and a complimentary cup of tea make you feel at home. You can also head over the next neighborhood, Hillsdale, to purchase anything you need but can't find in the village.
Eating Out Any local will point in the direction of Marco's Cafe and Espresso Bar. Another favorite is the Lucky Labrador Public House and O'Connors. Pub. The Fat City Cafe's walls are adorned with interesting pieces of history.
Cars in the Neighborhood Small cars - Subarus are common.
Public Library The closest library is a short drive to the east - the Hillsdale Library.
Who Lives in Multnomah People who enjoy a sense of community with a range of housing (single family, townhomes, a few apartments).
Schools Elementary schools: Rieke Elementary and Maplewood Elementary. Middle school: Gray Middle . High school: Wilson High School.
School Report Card Grades Elementary schools: A/B. Middle schools: A/B. High school: D. Click heree for report card details.

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¹Real Estate Values Data on real estate values provided by Graphical Data, Homequest, and RMLS™.²Drive Time to Downtown Estimated commuting time obtained from Yahoo Maps and Google Maps. Drive time was calculated from a central intersection in each neighborhood to Pioneer Courthouse Square during the morning peak commute time.³Demographics Data Numbers were obtained from Census 2000 and www.portlandmaps.com.⁴Shopping and Services Numbers were determined from local directory listings and county/municipal library systems.
⁵Real Estate Values Data on real estate values provided by Graphical Data, Homequest, and RMLS™.