One way to track Portland’s growth over the last 20 years is to wander SE Division. The last two decades have seen construction endlessly rising over the street, like the Solterra Building on SE Ninth with its living mural of a praying figure, or the mixed-use D Street Village that spans 31st to 32nd. Things really kicked off in 2005, when the opening of legendary Thai restaurant Pok Pok helped put Division on Portland’s map and Portland on America’s culinary map. Division is where Portland got cool, with places like Salt & Straw, Lauretta Jean’s, and Olympia Provisions transforming it into a tourist magnet strip, one that continues to grow with new shops and restaurants.

But despite its ongoing expansion it remains, at its core, a residential neighborhood. Just south of Division, its twin street Clinton is an essential commuter bike route lined with Craftsman homes, bungalows, and Victorians, one I’ve travelled often. While I grew up in Sunnyside, about a mile north, I went to middle school at Hosford and high school at Cleveland, which sandwich the Division/Clinton neighborhood. Many of my friends and classmates lived in Hosford-Abernethy and Richmond, though, like most Portlanders, we rarely used those “official” names. Hanging out there usually meant someone’s home or hitting up a café like K&F, now Clinton Street Coffeehouse. Though the area is thick with trees, there’s not much in the way of parks—the only one in the immediate area is Piccolo. Its half-acre offers just enough grass to perform 14 cartwheels, as measured by Portland Monthly senior editor Rebecca Jacobson, but I’ve hung out there plenty of times, watching kids climb on the play structure and take turns on the two small swings.

Whether you’re visiting the neighborhood or looking to settle down there (houses average roughly $675,000), the plaza at SE 26th is the beating heart of the area and a great place from which to get your bearings. It’s also where Clinton Street Theater is, one of the city’s coolest independent theaters and home to the longest-running screening of Rocky Horror Picture Show in the world. Every Saturday before midnight, you’ll see crowds dressed up in fishnets, garters, and gold sequins lining up outside. Other times, the theater shows everything from horror movie marathons to queer film festivals to X Files drag shows. Before the doors open, moviegoers pop across the street to fabulous Filipino restaurant Magna Kusina for crab fat noodles and lumpia or head into Dots, a decades-old bar and diner, for a quick bite and cheap drink. Unless you’ve already secured a reservation, seafood-focused dazzler Jacqueline is probably not in the cards, though you may be able to squeeze into the bar for oyster happy hour. Across SE 26th, Libre is an ideal spot for a post-film chat over mezcal drinks and elaborate desserts.

Also at the intersection, superhero fans peruse Tasteecat Comics for new releases and collector’s issues, audiophiles dig for treasures at Clinton Street Record & Stereo, and fashionistas find vintage dresses, including wedding gowns, at Xtabay. Further out, things get rather residential, though to the west you can find Grover’s Curiosity Shop—a bookstore and writers co-op—as well as Southern bar Rhinestone and locavore dining hot spot 82 Acres.

Whether they’re from north of Burnside or the other side of the country, most people heading to Division are there to shop, dine, and imbibe. Before dropping into the many boutiques and stores lining the street, they might swing by Little T Bakery for exceptional baked goods and coffee, drop in for seasonal lattes at Wallflower Coffee Company, or visit Better Days Café, from Kim Dam of Portland Cà Phê. Java in-hand, shoppers head to Collage for art supplies and visit Secret Room for risograph printing. For years, SheBop has provided a sex-positive, queer-friendly, and cutely chic alternative to ribald adult shops; it also offers classes and lectures on sexual and relationship health. Boutiques like Adorn, Alchemy, and many others nestle between bars and restaurants, and for perishables, specialty grocer Wellspent Market caters to home cooks and locavores, with an extensive collection of imported olive oils and vinegars.   

Quietly, Division has grown into Portland’s unofficial Little Italy: Walking from 20th up to Cesar Chavez, you’ll pass trattorias like Fantino, Maglia Rosa, Casa Italia, Cibo, and Ava Gene’s. Food cart Artigiano is temporarily closed but promises to host pop-ups and parties at its patio this summer. Beyond the Italian options, Oma’s Hideaway serves Malaysian- and Singaporean-inspired cuisine with psychedelic party vibes, 1919 offers casually upscale bistro dining, Mestizo makes gluten-free takes on Latin American dishes, and Philly transplants swear by the sandwiches at Moore Food & Co, a cart tucked in a furnished courtyard behind a barbershop. Division is also home to some of the city’s culinary superlatives. Many consider Scottie’s Pizza Parlor the city’s finest slice, Lauretta Jean’s is unrivaled when it comes to pie, and Pinolo competes for not just the gelato crown, but ice cream altogether, though nearby Salt & Straw still draws impressive lines.

As evening falls, Division hums with revelers heading to cocktail lounges like The End and Someday—the latter sports an impressive patio—as well as more casual places like The Automatic Bar and Cat’s Paw Saloon. Oenophiles sip vino at Division Wines while hop heads fill Imperial Bottle Shop, often before heading to nearby Tomorrow Theater. An offshoot of the Portland Art Museum Center for an Untold Tomorrow, or PAM CUT, Tomorrow replaced the Oregon Theater, the city’s last pornographic movie venue. I’ve often viewed the Oregon Theater’s closure as a symbolic death knell for the mythical “Old Portland,” the growth of Division/Clinton summarized by a single building. While it’s easy to mourn the idea of a neighborhood lost, change can be a good thing. The beautiful brick façade remains, but instead of a skeezy hookup location, it’s a family-friendly celebration of the arts. Down the street, Pok Pok is gone, too. What once heralded the sea change in Division/Clinton is now home to Earl Ninsom’s OK Chicken and Khao Soi. Notably, Ninsom was inspired by Pok Pok to start his own collaborative Thai empire, one that has shaped the Rose City into a national Thai food destination. It’s not exactly full circle, but it reminds me that while the neighborhood has evolved, it remains true to the identity that has defined it since I wandered its streets as a teenager.