St. Johns occupies the northern tip of the Portland peninsula, where the Willamette meets the Columbia River. The neighborhood is separated from the rest of North Portland by industrial land and the University of Portland campus, which gives it a distinct sense of being its own place rather than a subset of the broader city. St. Johns was an independent city until 1915, and the historic downtown along N Lombard between N Fessenden and N Ivanhoe retains the small-town commercial core from that era.
The St. Johns Bridge, a 1931 suspension bridge crossing the Willamette to the Northwest Portland industrial district and Forest Park, is the neighborhood’s defining piece of infrastructure and one of the more architecturally significant bridges on the West Coast. Cathedral Park directly beneath the bridge is the neighborhood’s primary riverfront public space.
About this data. Market statistics on this page are compiled from sold and active residential listings reported to Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS) over the trailing 12 months. Refreshed twice daily; last refresh Sep 8, 2026 at 11:42 AM Pacific. Data deemed reliable but not guaranteed; statistics reflect listing activity reported to RMLS and may not include private, off-market, or new construction sales. © RMLS. Equal Housing Opportunity. Presented by Lovejoy Real Estate.
St. Johns is dominantly single-family. Read the SFR row. Condo inventory is limited and concentrates in the historic downtown along Lombard.
St. Johns spent a long time as one of the more affordable corners of the city and is a much more active market now. Recent comps matter here more than they do in slower-moving neighborhoods; anchor on the last 6 months of sales.
The core residential grid between N Ivanhoe and N Willamette holds the neighborhood’s older single-family housing stock: 1910s through 1940s bungalows and Old Portland-style homes on standard lots. Homes on the higher-elevation blocks with river or bridge views command premiums above the neighborhood median. The area east of N Portsmouth toward the Columbia carries an industrial-adjacent character; the area west toward Cathedral Park and the bluff features more established housing.
The historic downtown along N Lombard is the neighborhood’s cultural and commercial anchor. St. Johns Farmers Market runs seasonally on N Lombard. The neighborhood has grown a substantial restaurant and coffee scene over the past decade.
Cathedral Park directly beneath the St. Johns Bridge is the neighborhood’s signature public space, with the bridge’s gothic arches framing the Willamette River. Pier Park at N Bruce and Lombard provides additional green space. The Peninsula Crossing Trail runs along the neighborhood’s eastern edge and connects to the broader city trail network. Forest Park, one of the largest urban forest reserves in the country, is a short drive across the St. Johns Bridge.
The area is served by Portland Public Schools. James John Elementary, George Middle School, and Roosevelt High School serve most of the neighborhood. Roosevelt has undergone substantial renovation and program investment in recent years. Verify attendance boundaries for a specific address with the district directly using the PPS School Finder. See the Oregon Department of Education report card for current program and performance data.
N Lombard is the primary east-west arterial. The St. Johns Bridge provides west-side access to Highway 30, Forest Park, and Northwest Portland. TriMet bus service through St. Johns is extensive. The nearest MAX Yellow Line stations are Rosa Parks and N Lombard Transit Center, about three miles east on N Interstate Avenue, reachable by bus or car. Downtown Portland is 20 to 25 minutes by car via N Lombard to I-5. PDX is about 25 minutes via I-5 to I-84 to I-205.
St. Johns gives you a distinct sense-of-place neighborhood with a genuinely intact historic downtown, waterfront park access, and pricing that until recently was meaningfully below the rest of inner Portland. You give up centrality (St. Johns is 20+ minutes from most other Portland neighborhoods), some commercial density, and the price gap that used to separate St. Johns from comparable inner-eastside neighborhoods.
The direct alternatives: Kenton, Arbor Lodge, and Portsmouth to the south trade the sense-of-place cohesion for closer proximity to MAX and lower prices; Linnton across the St. Johns Bridge trades urban density for a rural-feeling riverside village.
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