SE Water Avenue and Hawthorne Blvd
Neighborhoods: Buckman, Hosford-Abernethy, Kerns
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Across the river from downtown lies the Eastbank Esplanade, named the Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade after the city’s 49th mayor. Vera was mayor for over a decade, from 93 to 05. Not a bad tenure.
The esplanade runs about 1.5 miles from OMSI to the Steel Bridge. It is the epitome of the definition of esplanade: “a long, open, level area, typically beside the sea, along which people may walk for pleasure.” Part of the esplanade is right on the river, which is cool. Plus, you can use it as part of a long loop around to the west side of the river (and the Tom McCall Esplanade, which I will review later). In my above picture is a fence where people put locks because people love symbolism.
Aesthetics: Of the two esplanades, I think the general view from this one is worse. Both are near roads, but the Eastbank is near a freeway, which is loud and obnoxious. Also, there is a ton of graffiti on the walls, which are an eyesore. Looking westward at the city is nice though. 5/10
Function: It is a place to walk, or run, or cycle. Not much else! 5/10
Sketchiness: The Eastbank is up there on the sketch level, mainly from the deluge of tents and RVs that are parked nearby. There used to be a single-room portable shelter thing set up for the homeless, but it was moved somewhere that I guess was out of sight of President Biden or whomever else decided to move them. Certainly isn’t the sketchiest part of town but you can certainly run into some nefarious looking types occasionally. 6/10
