4 Best Sights in Portland, Oregon

During the 1920s these parks were segregated by gender—a leafy reminder of how much society has progressed in the past century: Chapman, between Madison and Main Streets, was reserved for women, and Lownsdale, between Main and Salmon Streets, was for men. The elk statue on Main Street, which separates the parks, was given to the city by David Thompson, mayor from 1879 to 1882. It recalls the elk that grazed in the area in the 1850s.

Low on greenery but high on gathering space, this 2009 addition to the city's downtown park blocks was designed as a public piazza—it hides a 700-space parking garage below. A glass canopy–light display provides cover, and a fountain dedicated to teachers cools off summer visitors. Chess players enjoy the giant (it's 16 feet square) board with 25-inch-high pieces, available on a first-come, first-served basis. There's a branch of Elephants Delicatessen—great for salads, deli sandwiches, chocolates, and wine by the glass and bottle—with both indoor and outdoor seating adjacent to the piazza.

In this particularly striking section of Tom McCall Waterfront Park that's dotted with cherry trees that bloom brilliantly in early spring, take a moment to study the evocative figures cast into the bronze columns at the plaza's entrance. They show Japanese and Japanese-Americans before, during, and after World War II—living daily life, fighting in battle for the United States, and marching off to internment camps. Simple blocks of granite carved with haiku poems describing the war experience powerfully evoke this dark episode in American history.

Consider visiting the plaza in conjunction with the nearby—and related—Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center museum.

Often billed as the living room, public heart, and commercial soul of Downtown, Pioneer Square is not entirely square, but rather an amphitheater-like brick piazza featuring five food carts. Special seasonal, charitable, and festival-oriented events often take place in this premier people-watching venue. Directly across the street is one of Downtown Portland's most familiar landmarks, the classically sedate Pioneer Courthouse; built in 1869, it's the oldest public building in the Pacific Northwest. A couple of blocks east of the square, you'll find Pioneer Place Mall, an upscale retail center that spans four city blocks.