Getting Around the Forest Park Neighborhood in NW Portland

The Best of Portland’s West Hills

Portland is now known throughout the world for many of its eccentricities. But it wasn’t so long ago, back in the distant past, when we were known for just a handful of our best features. Chief among them was the sprawling, world-class backyard to the entire city known as Forest Park.

Forest Park, along with Hoyt Arboretum and Washington Park, forms a massive inner-city natural wonderland. What you may not realize about Forest Park though, is that it is also adjacent to one of Portland’s best neighborhoods.

Named for the park itself, the Forest Park neighborhood of NW Portland covers a tremendous amount of area, running along the ridgetop above the park from near downtown, all the way out to Cornelius Pass Road. It has many of the city’s best hidden and most opulent homes.

The neighborhood also features absolutely amazing views that range all the way east to Mount Hood, and all the way west across the Tualatin Valley to the Coastal Mountains. Forest Park is also home to some of the city’s best schools and neighborhood amenities. Come along as we take a tour of this fantastic Portland neighborhood.

Getting Around the Forest Park Neighborhood and Into Town

Let’s get one Forest Park’s biggest challenges out in the open and out of the way right up front. While you may find yourself competing with throngs of cyclists for a narrow lane on Northwest Skyline Boulevard any day that the sun is shining, this neighborhood is one of the most car-dependent in the city. 

Though the parts of Forest Park adjacent to inner Northwest Portland are walkable and bikeable, this neighborhood as a whole has very few transit options. In a nutshell, Forest Park is largely un-walkable due to its lack of sidewalks, with many roads not even having a wide enough shoulder on which to walk. The neighborhood is not terribly bike-friendly for anyone other than hardcore cyclists out for training runs. 

That said, because of its location just outside of the inner city and its lack of desirability as an alternate route into downtown from any of the suburbs, residents of Forest Park enjoy fantastic commute times in all but the worst of Portland’s winter weather.

Forest Park Neighborhood Parks and School 

The neighborhood’s namesake park is, as mentioned above, one of the city’s best – a massive collection of acreage teeming with largely unspoiled Pacific Northwest forest that hasn’t been cut since before the Lewis and Clark Exposition.

But for all its undeveloped beauty and its status as one of the city’s premier trail running and hiking destinations, Forest Park is not a city park in the same sense that neighboring Washington Park is. Here, you will not find playgrounds, restrooms, manicured lawns, or any recreational facilities beyond the trails, trees, and seasonal streams.

Neighborhood schools include Forest Park Elementary and Skyline Elementary, as well as West Sylvan Middle School and Stoller Middle School. For high school, residents send their teens into the city to attend Lincoln High School in Southwest Portland, just west of Downtown. The neighborhood is also home to several private schools and daycare facilities.  

Country Living, Right Alongside the City of PDX

Because of its unique topography and the influence of the adjacent 5,000-plus acres of undeveloped Forest Park, the Forest Park neighborhood of Northwest Portland enjoys a special place among Portland neighborhoods. After all, it combines many of the best features of city life and country life. Pair that up with the sweeping views and beautiful homes, and you have one heck of a terrific place to put down roots.  

Ready to start searching for your next home in the Forest Park neighborhood of northwest PDX? Urban Nest agents know the city of Portland like nobody’s business, and are ready to help you land the home of your dreams. Get in touch with us today!