Lents is an unpretentious, community-oriented Southeast neighborhood that is still up-and-coming. With Foster Road intersecting the 205 Freeway at its center, bordered by 82nd Avenue to the west, and with Powell Boulevard at its north end, it’s a busy area. It’s also one of the more affordable areas in the Portland metropolitan area for homebuyers and renters alike.
Home to Lents Park, a popular farmers market, an indoor food hall with a kids’ play area, and close to neighboring Foster-Powell’s Holgate Library, this multicultural area has a lot to offer families, including a community that’s been advocating for improvements in the neighborhood’s safety.
The crime rate in Lents has already dropped dramatically — in June of 2025 (the most recent crime data published from Portland Police Bureau at press time) the total number of reported offenses was 116, which is just under half the number in June of 2018.
And although the neighborhood experienced an uptick in homelessness on its streets during the pandemic, recent efforts to clamp down on the city’s camping ban may bring about much more change in this rapidly developing area.
What Neighbors Say
Amara and Andreas Tekus have lived in Lents since 2018, when their first daughter, Penelope, was only 2 years old. They were first introduced to it after house hunting all around the city. “We must’ve seen 100 houses,” Amara laughs. It wasn’t exactly a hot neighborhood — statistically, not the safest, and there’s no avoiding living near the highway — but for a first-time homebuyer, “you could get a lot more house — and more yard,” she says. This has allowed the Tekuses to stay in their home as they welcomed their second and third kiddos, Caspian, now 5, and Elio, now 2.
“We really like it here,” says Amara. The neighborhood is split vertically by the 205 Freeway, which Amara says can make you feel a bit “boxed in” — but it also means her husband can easily get to work in Tualatin every day. And they can still walk to Lents Park, the farmers market or to the fire station, where her son often brings cookies to the firefighters with his grandma. “It feels safe that they’re right there,” she says.
“This neighborhood is still on the rise, I would say — I see it continuing to improve,” she says, acknowledging Lents’ history of high crime rates. “And for my day-to-day life, the problems we face here are very similar to Northwest or Northeast Portland where I used to live — we’ve personally never had an issue feeling unsafe.”
Homelessness is occasionally visible here, which Amara knows can be a dealbreaker to some families. But for hers, it isn’t. “It’s part of living in a metropolitan area,” she says. “We’d rather live in a culturally diverse place with walkability, versus somewhere super, super safe out in the suburbs. Plus you have good conversations with your kids that are important.”
Play Here
Lents Park’s Walker Stadium hosts the Portland Pickles baseball team, meaning there’s always fun to be had during the summer months. The 38-acre park also offers a soccer field, horseshoe pit, universally accessible play features including a colorful synthetic turf area with sensory elements, a rock-climbing boulder, baseball field, tennis court, and new basketball courts completed in 2024. The off-leash dog area is currently under construction for its own set of improvements.
Just west of 82nd Avenue, the Holgate Library experienced some major upgrades in 2024, bringing its footprint up to triple its original size and making it one of the largest libraries in Multnomah County. It added a colorful children’s room with a nature-themed play space and a teen room designed through a partnership that engaged teens to share what matters most to them, with areas for hanging out, technology access and creative expression.
KingPins Family Entertainment Center sits at the north end of this neighborhood, offering bowling lanes and an arcade with a full laneside food and beverage menu from in-house Taphouse bar and grill. Weekend mornings offer unlimited arcade play for $12 per guest. And kids can roll through two free games daily during the summer through kidsbowlfree.com.
Eat Here
The Zed (pictured above) is Lents’ de facto international food mecca, comprising German, Venezuelan, Nepalese, Turkish, Mexican, Cuban, Thai and Hawaiian food options. This indoor food hall also houses an indoor play area, boxed in on three sides, with plenty of space for littles to run around. Older children will love the pinball and cornhole offerings here, too. What you can’t find here, you may be able to find at Flipside Bar and Carts, just across Woodstock Boulevard from The Zed. And there’s always pizza and pinball at Humdinger Pizza Company.
Bella’s Italian Bakery, on the corner of Woodstock and 91st, is also not to be missed for its coffee, cannoli and tiramisu, plus imported grocery items like wines, pasta and all the fixings for a make-your-own pizza night at home.
Fat Cupcake also recently slid into the neighborhood from neighboring Mt. Scott-Arleta, offering their signature mousse-filled cupcakes and custom cake creations. Just down the road is El Nutri Taco, a no-frills tex-mex establishment with a $5.25 kids’ burrito or quesadilla with rice.
Live Here
$412,500: Median home price
$1,495: Average rent for a 2-bedroom apartment
Source: Realtor.com and Zumper.com