Neighborhood

Columbia Ecovillage is located in the Cully neighborhood of northeast Portland, a culturally diverse urban neighborhood with a mix of commercial and residential development. Home to a number of farms many years ago, there is now a resurgence of farming in the neighborhood, with farmers selling to restaurants and at the Cully Farmer’s Market on 42nd Avenue in summer months.

Some of us keep tabs on local events and participate in the Cully Association of Neighbors as well as Our 42nd Ave., an economic development partnership with the City of Portland, which is working with residents and businesses to improve the neighborhood.
Living Cully, a neighborhood initiative coordinated by active local community groups Verde, Hacienda CDC and NAYA (Native American Youth and Family Center) also invites citizen participation.

Our property is located within easy walking distance of Rigler Elementary school, Montessori of Alameda Pre-School/Kindergarten, both of which offer bilingual English/Spanish immersion programs. Beaumont Middle School, with a 7th/8th grade Spanish immersion program is also within walking distance and the Ivy school is within biking distance.

Nearby parks
Fernhill Park at 42nd Ave and Killingsworth, summer concerts, playground, dog area.
Khunamokwst Park, at NE Alberta and 52nd Ave, skateboard area, water play feature, and covered picnic areas.
Thomas Cully Park, a magnificent 25-acre park with lots of amenities at NE 72nd Avenue north of Killingsworth. There are a number of Portland Parks and Recreation community gardens in Cully.

Another benefit of our location is the opportunity to connect with a wonderful group of neighbors just north of us known as the Ainsworth Street Collective (ASC), which has developed its own informal type of neighborhood association. We meet up with ASC neighbors at meetings of a joint emergency preparedness group (Cully NET). The Ecovillage and ASC also have a food buying club that orders food staples monthly from an Oregon food distributor.

Our location is served by several Tri-Met bus routes running north and south, and east and west. Killingsworth Street and 47th ave directly to the south as well as Ainsworth Street and Simpson Street to the north are part of the city’s bike route system. We are 15 minutes by car or 23 min by bike from Portland International Airport, frequently ferrying neighbors to and from the airport or the nearby MAX light rail station in the Hollywood neighborhood.