Portland Blog: This Week in Portland May 22 - May 29 2010

Ah, Portland in the spring. Good times, eh? Sweet and sunny and in the seventies one day and the next, well, its hail and sideways-harder-than-any-rain-you've-ever-seen-rain and its sweater weather again.  The end of May is notoriously wet and though some of us may have been duped into thinking we had an early summer with all that fun in the sun, it ain't summer yet, baby and don't forget it!  Did you turn the heater back on?  I did and I was not pleased.

Now that we've got that out of our system, lets move on to the good stuff. Your weekly Portland blog has cool events, PDX peeps to meet, the infamous and well-rewarded Portland Photo of the Week, the Sunnyside neighborhood real estate report and much more!

Oh yeah- a quick PS: Allow me to share the cutest thing I have seen in a looong time. Baby hummingbird live streaming web cam. They aren't Portland hummers- these little sweeties are located in S. Cali.  Portland does have its fair share of hummingbirds, too. Read all about our local hummingbirds and how to take care of them.

The Portland Photo of the Week

This photo is awesome. I love the angle and the excitement. Nice job, Darin Moran!

Our weekly Portland photo winner scores a $20 gift certificate to a local Portland business.  Darin will receive a gift cert to one of our favorite coffee shops of all time, The Red E Cafe. The gorgeous Red E is located in North Portland and is one of the most highly esteemed coffee shops in all of Portland.  Read our review on the Portland coffee scene. There is a reason why our Portland coffee shops and coffee roasters get written up in the New York Times, folks.

Come and upload your Portland photos to the Photo Gallery for your chance to win each week.  Check back to see if your photo is selected for a spotlight in the weekly Portland blog! 

Featured Portland Events this Week

Here are the featured Portland events this week!  Thanks to everyone for adding all the great Portland events to the community events calendar.  You can add your own Portland events directly to the events calendar, here.  Just click "Add an Event" and fill in the details.

Cirque Du Soleil Kooza

Last show is this Sunday!  Friends of PortlandNeighborhood.com, click on the link below to receive 40% off select performances to Cirque du Soleil’s KOOZA in Portland, playing now under the Marquam Bridge through May 23rd—don’t miss it! 

Tickets!

View this Portland Event - Cirque du Soleil Kooza

Kenton Street Fair

There will be over seventy local vendors, live music, fun and games for kids, the "coaster car race", a car and bike show and more at the Kenton Street Fair! Don't miss it!  Satursday, May 22, 2010 starting at 10am and going until 6pm. Eat, drink and be merry!

View this Portland Event: Kenton Street Fair

OMSI Space:  A Journey into our Future

OMSI presents Space: A Journey to Our Future
January 30-May 31, 2010. Produced by Evergreen Exhibitions and presented in collaboration with NASA, this dynamic, multimedia exhibit looks back into the history of aeronautics and examines the many unknown questions of existence posed by future space exploration.

In December 1972, the Apollo 17 took what became one of the most widely publicized and famous images of the twentieth century. The iconic view of Earth as a "Blue Marble" floating in space revolutionized public perception of our fragile planet during the rising environmental consciousness of the early 1970s, highlighting a sense of vulnerability and shared responsibility.

Nearly four decades later, our planet is still a very small and fragile part of a vast universe. We share its destiny, and its limitless possibilities.

View this Portland Event: OMSI Space: A Journey into our Future

El Quijote

To see the world through the eyes of Don Quijote is to embrace life as the fullest adventure. From windmills to wenches, this knight-errant, in the company of his humble squire Sancho Panza, continues to roam the world and haunt our imagination as he has for some four hundred years. And this lusty adaptation of Cervantes’ classic — filled with a muscular theatricality — proves the power of imagination to overcome the vagaries of life.

View this Portland Event: El Quijote

Portland Blog, Forum Chatter & More

May 2010 Portland Real Estate Report

Kooza Review and Discount Tickets to Cirque du Soleil!

Operation Slimdown

Forgotten Practices of Self Awakening

Moving to Portland

Want to add your own two cents to the Portland blog?  Please do!  But please remember to keep it real and community focused. Read our terms of use and don't spam the planet with self promoting material or weird stuff as it will just get deleted.  We have a zero spammer policy to keep the site valuable and hassle free for our members.  Thanks!

Twitter and Facebook Integration

Now you can share your PortlandNeighborhood.com community content postings directly to Twitter and Facebook.  Click the "Twitter" or "Facebook" icons when you post your Portland event, Portland photos, blogs, etc. and post your content directly to Twitter and Facebook at the same time.  Let us know if you have any questions.

Sunnyside Neighborhood Report

By Ross Seligman

Like the Hawthorne District, the Sunnyside neighborhood area is a very popular area in southeast Portland. Known to most as Belmont, Sunnyside has a strong sense of Portland individuality. Sunnyside has many locally owned coffee shops, markets, and distinctive shops and restaurants. Belmont Street is a favorite destination for many locals, whether it's for an afternoon at the Avalon, a night at the Blue Monk, or a cup of joe at the neighborhood coffee shop. This area has a nice mix of urban diversity, with a funky feel, and local color. To learn more, click here.

In my monthly Portland real estate report, I always talk about how each individual neighborhood is a micro-market. If you are looking to buy or sell in a particular neighborhood, the most crucial information that you need to know is what is going on in that neighborhood. In this situation, the overall Portland market report is less important and the national real estate report is just about useless. This posting is a real estate report for the Sunnyside neighborhood of all homes in all price ranges. Feel free to request particular neighborhoods in which you are interested in buying or selling and I am be happy to do a report, just contact me on this forum or at http://www.propertiesofportland.com.

If you are looking for homes in Sunnyside, visit this link where you can search for homes by particular neighborhood: http://www.propertiesofportland.com/index.cfm/page/51539/parent/426...

The first thing you will notice about individual neighborhoods as compared to the overall Portland reports are that the numbers can be wildly different month to month. Basically, the bigger the pool of data you are working with, the smoother the stats become. As we focus on smaller areas, many different things can happen month to month.

On to the report:

Here is the overall chart of inventory, sold, and pending for the Sunnyside neighborhood from 2/09 to 4/10:

In Sunnyside, closed sales are up over last month and pending sales have dipped.  Sales, both pending and closed, are up since last year at this time.  In April 2010, there were 20 closed sales, 18 pending sales, and 62 on the market.
 

More stats for you from your friendly neighborhood real estate statistics nerd:

One year change from April 2009 to April 2010:

Inventory (how many homes on the market for sale): Up 34.8%
Homes sold: Same as last year.  Up 53.8%
Homes pending sale: Up 12.5%

Chart for average price per square footage:

In the past 15 months, the average price per square footage in the Sunnyside neighborhood has been between $141 and $180/sq. ft. In April 2010, the average price per square foot in the Sunnyside neighborhood was $154.  

One year change from April 2009 to April 2010:

Change in Price Per Square Foot:
April 2009: 172
April 2010: 154
Percentage Change: Down 10.4%

Days on Market, Sold/List Price:

Click here to read the rest of this report

Best Real Estate Deals in Portland

Every week, Ross shares with us a selection of the best real estate deals in Portland.  Check out out this grand old home in SE Portland.  Check out the full list of best deals.

Did you know there are nearly 100 unique Portland neighborhoods?  Read and learn all about these interesting urban communities.

Powell's Bookstore Picks

We love Powells!

Portland Book Review of the Day

Portland eBooks

Powell's Author Interviews

That's it for now

We hope you enjoy reading our weekly Portland blog.  Want to see more or less of something?  Let us know!  Once again, thanks for being here and making this Portland website such an asset to the community!  If you love this site as much as we do, tell your friends!  Have a great weekend!

PS -- Want to read back issues of this blog?  Here ya go!