Portland Then/Now: East Burnside and 8th Avenue
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Arcaded building at East 8th and East Burnside Street, Jan. 4, 1932, City of Portland Archives: A2004-001.621 East 8th Avenue and East Burnside Street, 2015. Photo by Byron Beck. 
THEN: This photograph depicts East Burnside Street in 1934. At the time there was an electrical shop on this street, as well as a place to get your shoes shined for ten cents.
According to Portland Bureau of Transportation "Burnside Street originally was named B Street as part of the "Alphabet District" in northwest Portland that was laid out by Captain Couch."
By the early 1930's, the need for more roadway space led to a street widening project on both East and West Burnside. On the east side, the first floor of many buildings became an arcade to accommodate a new sidewalk as the old sidewalk gave way to another traffic lane.
Another citywide plan to propose changes to the street was the 1932 Bartholomew Plan, which proposed widening Burnside to 100', or an eight-lane capacity, from West 21st Avenue to East 12th Avenue. The plan also proposed changes to the intersection at Burnside, 12th and Sandy on the east side.
In the mid-30's, area property owners petitioned to change Burnside's name to Bonneville, but historical organizations protested and the name remained Burnside.
NOW: The second photograph depicts the same area of East Burnside in 2015. Hipsters who have flocked to this area often refer to this part of Portland as "LoBu" as in Lower Burnside.
This is the site for The Jupiter Hotel and Doug Fir Lounge, a always-happening hot spot and a great place to catch the latest band either onstage or hanging out in the Jupiter's common area.
The arcaded buildings are home to some of Portland's top restaurants, including Le Pigeon, as well as one-of-kind shops that offer jewelry, vintage and new clothing, and assorted other unique items.
Not far from here, and a bit to the east is Hippo Hardware, which offers up some of the coolest architectural artifacts from the bygone years of Portland.
What goes around, comes around.
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