"Eastside Community by the Freeway" Hollywood by glabah

Portland is made up of a number of places that used to be separate cities, and continue to have their own town center that originally grew up around that old city center. Ther are other places in Portland that are similar to these old neighborhood cities, but were never separate cities. Rather, they just happened to have the right conditions in terms of transportation intersections and other conditions to create a small community center.

Such is the case with Hollywood, Oregon: It is a small town center with a few businesses, and is nearly completely surrounded by residences.

It is separated from Laurelhurst by a feature called Sullivan's gulch, which today is invisible as a natural rift in east Portland. Instead, Interstate 84 has been built in Sullivan's Gulch, so that only in a very few places is this natural crack in the ground visible.

The presence of Interstate 84, unfortunately, means that Hollywood is a very busy place because of all the traffic getting onto and off of the freeway. Thus, Hollywood is a somewhat poorer cousin to Laurelhurst, but has more retail establishments.

Sunset view from bridge over I-84, Hollywood, Oreg

The concrete jungle along Interstate 84 does not allow someone on this highway to see the character of the neighborhoods on either side. Hollywood is just one of several small east Portland communities that have a beauty all their own, even if they are rarely appreciated.

Unfortunately, in recent years gentrification has had a huge impact in Hollywood,, and many of the unique structures, and the businesses that once occupied them, that once made up this community have given way to huge multi-story buildings that look just like everything else, and having the same stores that everywhere else has. You can still find some of the unique personality that once made up the Hollywood district, but as time goes on it is harder and harder to find.

In a few rare cases, the new buildings do actually have some individual personality, and even have some local businesses in them.

"Ramona the Pest": Hollywood's most famous person

Like the Hollywood in California, Oregon's Hollywood has a few celebrities. Unlike the Hollywood in California, the most famous resident of Hollywood, Oregon doesn't need makeup to look young, for she will always be under ten years old. She will probably outlive every celebrity in Hollywood, and in fact she nearly has already outlived the first generation of Hollywood stars that were around when she first made her appearance: Ramona the Pest of children's book fame.

Henry Huggins, and his younger and eventually more famous character Ramona Quimby, and Ribsy, all lived on NE Klickitat street here in Hollywood, Oregon. The three most famous of Beverly Cleary's childrens book characters were cast in Bronze and forever play in the water of the Beverly Cleary Tribute Fountain in Grant Park.

• Pros:A few unique parks and features, including some small stores.
• Cons:Heavily divided by many busy streets, huge amount of noise coming from Interstate 84. Many unique businesses replaced by generic "it's everywhere" type stores in recent years.
• In a nutshell:Worthy of exploration if you are interested in its small unique features, and are willing to hunt for those still hanging on in the hidden spots.