Cesar Chavez Boulevard

This street, for me, is pretty much just a drive through. There is nothing much on the street of interest, except to connect a variety of neighborhoods, Many of the neighborhoods however, are interesting.
The exception to prove the rule is the big roundabout at the intersection with Glisan which has a nice statue of Joan of Arc in the middle of it. That sits, in the leafy Laurelhurst neighborhood.
Don’t let the lack of attractions on the street keep you away. It is a good through street and along the way are some great neighborhoods. My favorite is Hawthorne with its eccentric residents, interesting shops and several good restaurants not to mention the Bagdad Theater which is one of the great old theaters!

Portland’s big Caesar Chavez Boulevard is an exciting place to be. It goes through much of the eastside, including, but not limited to the Hawthorne and Woodstock neighborhoods. Traffic can be an issue from time to time.
I have much in the way of history with this boulevard. The seclusion of much of it is a double edge sword. Bus service goes along here, but not our world-​famous light rail. The neighborhoods are top notch, but this isn’t a worthwhile street.
Try your next road trip here.

Eh, it’s a street. Dude was a vegan so he’s p coo.
No bike lane, so there’s a thing.
It’s actually 39^th.
Need more North to South streets, Portland.

For review 750, take a trip with me up the more well-​known segment of what used to be called 39^th Ave. and is now Cesar Chavez Boulevard. 39^th/​Chavez sort of sputters in notoriety south of Woodstock as it continues toward the «Clackamas County Curtain» and then sort of sputters in notoriety north of Sandy Blvd.
Even though Portland has many streets, few seem to define it. Burnside divides north and south addresses as it travels east-​west. In a north-​south direction, that task is left to the Willamette River. Then, few people know that it’s Williams Ave. that divides N. from N.E., as the city juts out toward peninsular St. John’s.
On the West Side, there are a few — Broadway, Barbur, Terwilliger (for its curves), but not many others. Downtown streets don’t count since they are all too short.
On the East Side, I would add Sandy, for its diagonal run out toward the airport and confusing everyone, Foster for being another diagonal albeit with a funk factor, Powell, Division, and Stark for their length … all the way out to Gresham, and the north-​south numbered streets of 39^th, 82^nd, 122^nd, and 162^nd (the eastern city limit).
What is interesting about 39^th/​Chavez is that it rapidly moves through various neighborhoods with very different vibes and demographics. Starting from the south, it goes through the Woodstock neighborhood and, if someone only continued a few blocks west, they’d be at high-​school sized Reed College which both enjoys and lives up to its reputation of being weird. Above Woodstock is quieter and not as mystique laden Reedwood, which perpendicular running Holgate traverses. Moving onward, there’s no doubt that the intersection with Powell is the most important, based on all the traffic, stores, and a bridge into downtown. Above this is 39^th/Chavez’s most famous enclave — Hawthorne, best defined by Hawthorne Boulevard. Here, the funk factor is off the charts. It’s a place where a person can revel in it, take it in periodically for its novelty value, or need a defibrillator if a dyed in the wool resident of Lake Oswego.
In an abrupt change of face, 39^th/​Chavez becomes Laurelhurst, a leafy, manicured neighborhood with a grassy traffic circle with a gold leafed statue of Joan of Arc, mansions, and smaller homes adhering to definable historical styles. Laurelhurst features homes with prices in nosebleed territory for what you get. Here, you also start seeing many Volvo station wagons that cost almost twice as much as the Subaru wagons seen in abundance in the neighborhood just south of it. Also, the ecological, political, and ideological bumper stickers give way to more somber bumper stickers for a private school, a Waldorf school, or a sedate Episcopal school. Then, the drivers of these Volvo station wagons can be interesting. They often look like clones of Bill Gates, minus his wealth, or, if female, like his fraternal twin and, in concert with being smug, they seem to exhibit a mild case of rigor mortis and challenged peripheral vision as they motor along.
Then, as we move northward and approach the full interchange with I-​84, we are in Hollywood! There is, or was, even a Hollywood Bowl … for bowling. However, there is but one theater and, fortunately, it is not a tacky multiplex but a well crafted stand-​alone movie house of yesteryear. Also, in Portland’s Hollywood, Sandy Boulevard veers through diagonally. Where 39^th/​Chavez and Sandy meet, it feels like Main Street U.S.A. with smaller merchants in older storefronts. North of Sandy Blvd., stop signs prevail over traffic lights.
The renaming of 39^th to Cesar Chavez Blvd. was a hotly debated topic and one which cost a lot of money. Simply stated, a street name to honor a hero fighting for the cause of an ethnic, cultural, or demographic group should run through an area of a city where that group is represented. That tends to be the case everywhere, and was even the case right here in Portland with one of the busy north-​south pair of East Side streets parallel to Grand named MLK. However, traversing an area where you can more easily buy flaxseed oil (there are TWO Trader Joe’s) than flautas says how ridiculous this was and how ridiculous Portland can be. For that matter, why not rename SE 82^nd Tonya Harding Blvd. Before Clackamas boomed, she put the ice rink, once the focal point of Clackamas Town Center, on the map. Then, why not name SE 122^nd after someone as well? Ron Tonkin Blvd. Nah. That would be free advertising. How about Lindsay Wagner Blvd. or Bionic Blvd. She and Sam Elliott are possibly David Douglas High School’s most famous alums. Remember this?
If you go to New York City and call 6^th Avenue «Avenue of the Americas,» they will know you are not a local. The same holds true in Portland with regard to Cesar Chavez Blvd. Also, the USPS has and will continue to deliver mail to 6^th Avenue (N.Y.C.) and 39^th Avenue (PDX) in perpetuity. Amen.