Boise

Boise (often called Boise-Eliot locally) is one of the original neighborhoods of the independent city of Albina, incorporated in 1887 and annexed by Portland in 1891. Named for Reuben Patrick Boise, an Oregon Supreme Court Justice, the neighborhood developed around the N Williams Avenue streetcar corridor in the early 1900s and became a center of Portland's African American community by the 1930s and 40s. Jazz clubs, barber shops, churches, and small businesses lined Williams and the surrounding streets, creating the cultural backbone of Black Portland for half a century.

Urban renewal projects of the 1960s and 70s — including the controversial Emanuel Hospital expansion — displaced hundreds of families and demolished much of the historic commercial fabric. The neighborhood declined through the 1980s before a slow, controversial revitalization began in the 1990s along N Mississippi Avenue. Once home to Victorian craftsman homes and a streetcar, Mississippi Ave reopened to foot traffic after years of disinvestment, and by the 2000s had become one of Portland's most-visited commercial strips. The tension between displacement of long-time Black residents and neighborhood investment remains a defining civic issue.

Today Boise is a study in contrasts: historic Craftsman bungalows sit next to award-winning breweries; longtime Black-owned businesses share blocks with new wine bars and plant nurseries. Stormbreaker Brewing, Prost! German pub, and Gravy brunch restaurant anchor the Mississippi strip, while N Williams Ave hosts Eem Thai BBQ and Poa Cafe. The neighborhood is extremely bikeable — ranked one of Portland's best — and the Yellow MAX line on N Interstate Ave connects residents to downtown in minutes.