4160Tom McCall Waterfront Park stretches along the left bank of the Willamette in the center of Portland for over a mile. It not only is Portland's most direct connection to the River but also represents history; Harbor Drive, the downtown freeway, once ran through this slender strip, also one of Portland's most remarkable buildings of the past, the Public Market Building ... later the headquarters of the Oregon Journal, where columnist Doug Baker planted the seed of imagination that grew into the mighty mite that is Mill Ends Park.
A small tab of Waterfront Park extends north of the Burnside Bridge, only as far as Everett Street.
Here Naito Parkway curves through the middle of the view and then ducks out of view to lead to the apartment district of inner NW Portland, and a ramp curves up and to the right to connect to the ancient Steel Bridge.
In the foreground can be seen some of the Japanese American Historical Plaza. While this area is known for being Portland's Chinatown, before it was Chinatown, it was Japantown, and this was its southeast corner. A sculpture, out of shot at this POV, tells that story.
