One of the hottest neighborhoods in PDX is the close-in NE area of Boise-Elliot. B-E straddles the cultural and gastronomical pipeline of Mississippi Avenue, which offers a wide variety of amenities and solidifies Boise-Elliot as one of the hippest areas in Portland. With an assortment of interesting shops such as Refind, a furniture outfit utilizing found and reclaimed materials (inside the Rebuilding Center), to great restaurants like Portland mainstay Por Que No, the area is a fun place to grab a bite, a drink, or just browse around.
The real estate market in the area is fairly robust when compared to the rest of the Portland (Number Crunchers, email me if you want details). As my boss explained to me when I was starting out, “that area usually does better through downturns and recovers faster when the dust clears”.
I was in the area checking out a couple homes with some colleagues the other day. There are deals to be had for sure (as there are most places right now). You never quite know what your going to get when you go out previewing, from the home or otherwise, and this trip was no different. We randomly ended up talking to a city inspector who was deciding whether or not to permit a sidewalk being poured and got a fairly in depth explanation of why this particular home owner would not be approved -too shallow, not lined up right. Better luck next time.
Here are several of the homes we saw:
No listings found
After previewing the homes we stopped by Mee Sen Thai Eatery. I had never been before and was pleasantly surprised to find some quality Mhoo Tom Yum (ground pork, homemade meatballs, roast pork. with chili and peanuts in a veg. broth). The portions are large and for $8 I would say it is a pretty good deal.
Mee Sen, nice ambiance, rustic done right
Cool design on these metal mugs at Mee Sen