Welcome to Goose Hollow

The Sign Caps are UP -- You may have noticed light blue, goose-enhanced sign caps going up on street signs all over our neighborhood.  The press has certainly noticed!  Through a generous grant from the city, and donations from our neighbors and local businesses, we plan to install these "Goose Hollow" sign caps on each of the 212 street sign locations throughout our neighborhood.  Let us know what you think of them, and if you wish to donate to the cause we have placed a PayPal button on our website.

The Future of Goose Hollow -- The City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) is gearing up for the West Quadrant Plan, which will provide detailed planning for the Central City areas on the West side of the Willamette River.  As part of the West Quadrant Plan process, BPS hosted two public meetings at the end of 2012 to identify issues and opportunities in our neighborhood and develop concepts illustrating the desired future of the Goose Hollow district.  (meeting materials)

The Goose Hollow Foothills League Neighborhood Association, established in the 1970s, is host to four historic residential communities -- King's Hill, Gander Ridge, Vista Ridge, and the old boundaries of Goose Hollow itself (circa 1870s). (map)  A hundred years earlier, however, the name "Goose Hollow" applied pejoratively to only the lower elevations around the path of Tanner Creek that was the primary residence for a substantial goose population and to Chinese vegetable farmers.  A century ago, this creek was buried and the Tanner Creek Gulch infilled to form the basin of the bowl that is now modern-day Goose Hollow, an area that not only refers to the flats but also the adjacent heights (King's Hill, Vista Ridge, Gander Ridge) and Canyons (Tanner Creek Canyon, Cable Car Canyon).

The four areas that comprise Goose Hollow each have their own separate character.  The flats of Goose Hollow is an uptown area of older brick apartment houses and residential hotels mixed together with historic Queen Anne vernacular cottages as well as commercial and light industrial spaces.  The northern end of the historic Goose Hollow flats was briefly (in the 1920s) called the the Lownsdaledistrict, through that name was never historically significant.  The Goose Hollow area called King's Hill once hosted the residences of Portland's turn of the century wealthier merchants, now partly infilled with higher density apartments and offices.  Goose Hollow's Gander Ridge and Vista Ridge areas are at the east and west foot, respectively, of Portland Heights and at the south edge of Goose Hollow's bowl.

Some important links:

• GHFL Committees Page -- come up to speed on current issues affecting Goose Hollow
• GHFL Board Minutes -- attending the next meeting? Find out what's been happening since 1997
• Goose Hollow History -- and, yes, it does indeed involve a 19th Century war about geese
• Contact us and become a member