Street railways arrived early in Portland and made lasting social and economic contributions that are still apparent in the layout and character of the citys neighborhoods today. During the 1890s, streetcar lines spread rapidly into the West Hills and across the Willamette River. The technological prowess of the growing Rose City was reflected in the largest horsecar in the Northwest, the second steepest cable car grade in the nation, the first true interurban railway, and an annual illuminated trolley parade. By the dawn of the 20th century, Portland could boast of the largest electric railway system in the West, as well as its first eight-wheeled streetcar. The streetcars lasted into the late 1950s here, and then, after a hiatus of nearly 30 years, were rediscovered by a new generation of urban planners. Street railways arrived early in Portland and made lasting social and economic contributions that are still apparent in the layout and character of the citys neighborhoods today. During the 1890s, streetcar lines spread rapidly into the West Hills and across the Willamette River. The technological prowess of the growing Rose City was reflected in the largest horsecar in the Northwest, the second steepest cable car grade in the nation, the first true interurban railway, and an annual illuminated trolley parade. By the dawn of the 20th century, Portland could boast of the largest electric railway system in the West, as well as its first eight-wheeled streetcar. The streetcars lasted into the late 1950s here, and then, after a hiatus of nearly 30 years, were rediscovered by a new generation of urban planners.

Portland neighborhoods owe their location, alignment, and growth to a splendid, 19th-century innovation: the streetcar. This city still bears the imprint of the carlines that once wove their way out to suburbs in every direction, including Fulton, Portland Heights, Goose Hollow, Nob Hill, Slabtown, Willamette Heights, Albina, Saint Johns, Irvington, Rose City, Mount Tabor, Montavilla, Mount Scott, and Sellwood. As routes developed, people used them for more than just getting to work; they also discovered the recreational function of street railways while visiting friends, parks, and shopping areas farther from the center of town. The time of the trolley peaked during the 1910s. In 1927, the local street railway system entered a period of slow decline that ended in 1950, when Portland's last city streetcars gave way to buses. This is the history of those classic lines.

Iconic urbanist Lewis Mumford stressed the role of a well-constructed city in the development of the good life, championing pedestrian-scaled, sustainable cities. In Portland's Good Life, R. Bruce Stephenson examines how Portland, the one city in America that adopted Mumford’s vision, became a model city for living the good life. Stephenson traces Portland’s success to its grass roots governing system, its housing and climate protection initiatives, and most of all, its citizens devoted to the public good; all of which have resulted in the construction of a city that honors the humanity of its people.

At the end of the 19th century, Portland led the nation in the development of interurban electric railways. The city became the hub of an electric rail network that spread throughout the Willamette Valley. This is the story of the pioneering local railways that started it all as they built south along the Willamette River to Oregon City and east to Estacada and Bull Run in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. More than 200 historic images illustrate Portland's Interurban Railway from its rudimentary beginnings through the peak years, when passengers rode aboard the finest examples of the car builders' art, to the sudden end in 1958.

Portland has 196 public staircases, an irresistible asset to this pedestrian-friendly city. In The Portland Stairs Book, Portland's walking guru Laura Foster has gathered the best and most interesting in a handy pocket-sized guide. From Mount Tabor's epic 282 steps to the glass cupola atop 115 steps in Pioneer Courthouse, The Portland Stairs Book features details on twenty outdoor stairs that have amazing stories and something unique to offer an urban explorer. The stairs include the Willamette River Bridge Stairs, The Westover Terraces Steps, and Rocky Butte's Grand Staircase. The book also features indoor stairs that are perfect for a rainy Portland day and five Stair Trails that lead readers on urban treks that contain hundreds of steps in five different areas of town.

Portlandas Woodlawn neighborhood has transformed from a small autonomous city at the end of the streetcar line to a large, firmly middle-class district of mostly midsized postaWorld War II homes and a few notable Victorian gingerbread-trimmed housesaformer farmhouses that once sat on muddy streets. Woodlawnas quirky angled streets remind residents of a time when the streetcar depot was a major feature of the city. Today an excellent bus service has replaced the streetcars, but most neighbors still enjoy the sounds of the trains at the bottom of the bluff bringing grain to the shipyards and the sweet fragrances wafting down from the cookie factory. The movie theater and firehouse are still standing, but both now serve different purposes. This is a neighborhood where new families are made welcome by the current ones, and where a new generation of volunteers is planning a vital and compassionate neighborhood.

TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Synthesis 86: Relationships Between Streetcars and the Built Environment examines selected, built streetcar and trolley systems to trace their evolution, define significant factors, and identify commonalities among levels of success in impacting the built environment.