Once a thriving retail area on the rail line, downtown Oak Grove declined after a major highway was built about a mile to the east of the rail line in the 1930s. Major stores located on the highway and today the rail line is gone and downtown Oak Grove contains an assortment of shops and light industry.

Planners wanted to "revitalize" downtown by allowing four- to five-story apartments with retail and commercial shops on the ground floors. We asked planners what part of the Portland area looked most like their vision for the future of Oak Grove. They said, "Northwest 23rd Avenue, where people are learning to walk and ride transit more."

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