Find a True Community in This Southeast Portland Neighborhood

Mt. Scott-Arleta (from Duke Street to Foster Road, between Southeast 60^th and 82^nd Avenues) has a lot of character. An offbeat mix of century-old homes and new construction welcome more and more families into the area.

This neighborhood has a story to tell, and like most good stories, it’s not always pretty. In 2021, as the pandemic quieted the streets, a slew of gun violence shook the community around Mt. Scott Park. But keep reading: the community’s proactive approach provided a model to be replicated, successfully deterring street crime enough to see the neighborhood fall off the list of the city’s crime hot spots in a few short years.

This neighborhood has a tight-knit community feel in an area that is rapidly developing. It benefits from walkability to neighboring areas Woodstock, Brentwood-Darlington and Foster-Powell. Being near the I-205 makes the greater Portland metro area accessible as well — plus it’s only a 15-minute drive to the airport. 

What Neighbors Say

Noelle Winiecki and Mathieu Williams have lived in their Mt. Scott-Arleta home for 10 years. Williams says they picked this neighborhood because with home prices that are slightly below average, it’s “a great landing pad” for first-time homebuyers. Williams bikes Astrid, their 3-year-old, to a preschool in the neighborhood every day, and it’s his preferred mode of transportation about town. 

The family lives next to Mt. Scott Park, and remember the crime spike of 2021 well. “It was exceptional — an outlier year for sure,” says Williams. “The shots fired in a couple of months brought this neighborhood into the top 10 crime hotspots city-wide, when, previously, it was nowhere near that.” But Winiecki and Williams are proud of their community for taking a proactive, not reactive, approach to what was happening — to great success. 

Williams, who was chair of the Mt. Scott-Arleta Neighborhood Association at the time, worked with neighbors and then city commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty to help implement a safety pilot program that used environmental design to deter crime, including traffic barrels and the closure of the slip lane at 72nd and Woodstock. The slip lane was turned into a community-owned plaza, dubbed Arleta Triangle Square (aerial photo pictured above). Neighbors can request to use the plaza for events via an online form on the neighborhood association website.

While they love having Foster Road as the area’s main business hub, Winiecki says she and other families in the area share a desire for more family-friendly food options in the heart of the neighborhood. And although the safety pilot program has had an impact, she says there’s still work to be done to deter speeding cars.

Play Here

The heart of the neighborhood is Mt. Scott Park, a sprawling green space with towering Douglas firs, tennis courts, playgrounds with structures and swings for both toddlers and older kids, and the highly anticipated seismic retrofit and expansion of the Mt. Scott Community Center, coming in 2025. The indoor pool here is incredible for kids, with a whirlpool, lazy river, waterslide and splash zone. The center also has a roller rink with learning “skate-mates” and kid hours.Foster Road’s Hammer and Jacks (pictured above) toy store also has an adorable indoor play space (only $5) and a Rec Room with an impressive roster of kid-friendly performers and classes all at sliding-scale costs, including Music Mondays. Though not technically in Mt. Scott-Arleta, the Woodstock Library and the beautifully renovated Holgate Library are both walkable for many neighbors, offering storytime events and fun children’s areas. 

Eat Here

Most neighborhood eateries can be found on Foster Road. A great vegan breakfast and lunch spot, Off the Griddle, has a kids’ menu, high chairs and a casual, colorful vibe. Pizzeria Otto has awesome woodfired pizzas that offer all the taste without all the grease. Pro tip: Take the family here from 11 am-5 pm and get a margherita pie for only $9! Across the street, Atlas Pizza appeals to kids of various ages with a great play area and pinball. Space Monkey, a funky little café across from the Mt. Scott Community Center, has good options for quick bites: smoothies, individually wrapped cheese snacks, yogurt cups, baked goods and more. Plus, a narrow little play area to occupy toddlers for a short time.  And the popular Portland Mercado, a Latino public marketplace with several food carts, will rebuild after fire damage and expand outdoor seating by the end of 2025 (some carts remain open now). The Kaah market, which has relocated to just down the road, has awesome salsa year-round and tamales around the holidays.

Live Here

$428,950: Median home price
$1,965: Average rent for a 2-bedroom apartment
Source: Realtor.com and Zumper.com