The Portland Porch
Come look at Portland with me. Maps, local questions, useful resources, and investigations, with room for whatever catches my attention next.
Current state Public maps and directory
Come look at Portland with me.
A road changes. A number raises a question. Something useful nearby would be easier to find on a map.
The Portland Porch is my public home for mapping Portland. It has room for local investigations, small useful maps, neighborhood resources, history, and questions I want to follow. The common thread is attention to the place I live.
A place for the next map
I kept making things about Portland that needed somewhere to belong. Call Waiting follows the systems between a 911 call and help arriving. Portland TRAP asks transportation institutions to show the recovery plan. The next question might be about a neighborhood boundary, a park, a piece of history, or something I haven’t noticed yet.
The Porch gives that work a shared home. You can begin with Portland’s geography, follow a project, or search the directory for something useful.
What you can explore
- Around the neighborhood: explore City-published neighborhood boundaries.
- Police and fire geography: compare service boundaries, with the limits of what those boundaries can tell us.
- Call Waiting: what happens between a 911 call and help arriving?
- Portland TRAP: what is the transportation recovery plan, who can act, and how will the public recognize progress?
- The wider directory: public-record research and credited external resources, including PortlandMaps, Portland Parks Atlas, and Metro’s RLIS Discovery.
Some entries are my work. Others take you to useful work made by someone else. The directory identifies the creator and keeps the source close.
Look closely. Keep the limits visible.
A boundary is not a response time. A source check is not proof that every feature is current. A missing record leaves a question unanswered.
The Porch keeps sources, methods, coverage, and limitations with the work. It is independent research and mapping, not an official City or agency service.
Where it stands
The public site is available, with interactive geography and a searchable directory. I’m continuing to check how it works across devices and improve access. Community map submissions and hosting are not open.
Updates follow the questions, the evidence, and the time I can give them.
Something needs correcting?
A wrong boundary, stale link, missing credit, or page that is difficult to use is worth telling me about. Send a correction, with the page or map and a source if you have one.