I and a friend will be in Portland for almost a week the end of September and I am HOOKED on vacation rentals as opposed to hotels/motels. He has a reunion at the airport Embassy Suites Sat night. We'd like to rent something but I have never stayed in Portland - can anyone recommend a neighborhood that would be a good central area for sightseeing? We're going to be there 5 days, not planning on renting a car. We both like museums, parks, local shopping (i.e., I can skip Crate and Barrel; there are too many in California where we live.) We're both good walkers but aren't much into strenuous hikes. I've read that Portland has a good transit system and am eager to see what a good one is like (I live in Napa and our local VINE isn't too useful for me.)
Please, any thoughts/ideas??

Portland has an excellent transit system. We had a car while we were there because it was a 2 night stay on a longer trip, but we hardly used it while there. In fact, we used it only to go up to Washington Park, but there are buses that go there anyway. We stayed at the Inn at Northrup Station, but considered rental properties on VRBO. There are many areas south of the river that I would consider staying in - it's not that large a city and easy to get around. We loved it!

I would try for something in the NW 23rd area or the Pearl District. Both are nice neighborhoods within reasonable walking distance of the downtown core (or there's a streetcar you can take), and have great shops and restaurants.

Yes, Portland is touted as having a great public transit system, but except for the few MAX (lightrail) lines, when you get outside of the core downtown area, it's mostly bus. So if you can't find a place in the Pearl District or NW (sometimes called Nob Hill), I'd try and find something close-in with a bus or MAX stop nearby. Hawthorne, Hollywood, Laurelhurst, Irvington could all work. Post back if you have questions about a specific location.

Suelynne, the river runs north-south through the city, so neighborhoods are either east or west of it.

We also like the Nob Hill area, nice boutiques here and there is Wildwood and Paley's Place for great meals! ***kim***