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moved from Portland to Shively, that people referred to it as ���New Portland.��� While it may be hard to argue against its efcacy, the food wall that was completed in 1957, after yet another deluge in 1945, cut Portland of from the river, visually and strategically. Another blow. When it comes to fateful outcomes, the completion of I-64 and the Shawnee Expressway was the coup de grace for Portland and by extension, west Louisville. Now, in the form of sprawling ramps across West Main at Ninth Street, the city had the perfect visual delineation of east and west. Portlanders chuckle at motorists who bolt across lanes of Main Street trafc after realizing they���ve crossed that line of demarcation, looking for the next left turn. But don���t let the chucklers kid you. Tey���re sensitive to this feeling of being cut of. It is a little too real. ber of slaves who lived in tiny structures in the alleyways behind the homes where their owners lived. Many of those structures remain. Historically, asking a Portlander where he or she lived would rarely draw the answer ���West End,��� even though it���s west Louisville by defnition. Conversely, ask someone in Crescent Hill where Portland is located and he���s likely to say ���in the West End.��� Just for fun, Bell notes, Portland can actually lay claim to being Louisville���s North End. Nelligan Hall, on Portland Avenue near I-64, was once known as the North End Democratic Club. Te four 2010 U.S. Census tracts wholly within Portland retain a solid white majority: 68.4 percent to 31.6 percent African-American. By contrast, tract 24 ��� divided between Portland and Shawnee ��� has a black majority of 76 percent to 24 percent white. Of the four tracts��� 5,109 housing units listed for 2010, 2,071 (40.5 percent) are rented and the Yum! Center as Slugger Field is. Tere���s culture (Portland Museum, the Portland Anchor newspaper) and numerous organizations, including Portland Neighborhood House, Portland Christian School and Habitat for Humanity, which recently opened a ReStore on Rowan Avenue. And there is, as the Center for Neighborhoods��� director, Jack Trawick, says, Portland���s top asset: its people ��� natives who never left, returnees, ���newcomers��� who moved in 30 years ago, and a new breed of creatives drawn over the past decade. Trow in some pending private investment and one can see the seeds of an organic movement that could make the next 10 to 20 years a whole lot better than the last 10 to 20. I t���s a windy but warm January Saturday, and a few blocks away at the Yum! Center, the Cards are in the process of losing to PORTLAND A few things. Portland is sizable. It runs roughly from Ninth Street to the Shawnee Expressway and beyond, and from Market Street to the Ohio River, the latter a north-south distance of 25 blocks at 26th Street, once known as Shippingport Road. In fact, because of the river bend and the slant of the neighborhood���s street grid, most of it lies north of Main Street. Portlanders think of it as a series of neighborhoods within a larger one. Portland has always been predominantly white, and known for large extended families organized around plentiful neighborhood churches. Its German, French and Irish makeup are well-known, but contrary to some popular assumptions, there���s always been an African-American presence as well. Bell, the historian, talks about a small num- 1,130 (22.1 percent) are vacant, leaving an ownership percentage of 37.3, or 1,908 units. Several Portlanders interviewed for this story say they believe homeowners are more likely to be concerned about their own neighborhood, and they especially fret over the proliferation of Section 8 properties, which reduce afordable stock available for purchase. But Portland���s assets are obvious. Its storied history is still evident through its residential and commercial architecture, which encompasses a range of styles, even though time and neglect have taken their toll. Tose strong (and dirt-cheap) architectural bones cry out for afection. Tere is easy access from Main and Market, I-64 and the Shawnee Expressway. Tere���s downtown proximity ��� if the plan to open River Road to Northwestern Parkway near 15th Street ever comes to pass, Louisvillians might realize the edge of Portland is about as far from Syracuse. I am getting a guided tour of Portland from John Owen, a former radio news announcer who moved to the neighborhood in the early 2000s. We stop near the historic wharf area, separated from old Rudd Avenue by I-64, and walk along and over the food wall on a strip of pavement that makes up part of the Louisville Loop. It���s the only way in. A four-wheeler whizzes past above, and Owen curses it under his breath. We walk toward the riverbank, where you could wave to yourself over in Clarksville if only Shippingport Island weren���t in the way. Some in the neighborhood fnd the Owen style of gadfyism challenging ��� one said with a laugh that he gets his facts straight but delivers them a bit hyperbolically. Several told me Owen often gives the impression 3.13 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 5 1