Neighborhood Notes

This past week, the Oregonian ran a brief blurb about Landfair Furniture moving to the Pearl District. In the piece, they describe the North Pearl as the "Design District".

"This section of the Pearl is becoming known as the Design District, with Globe Lighting, Bedford Brown, Kravet and other related businesses within a few blocks of one another"

While I understand the need to market the North Pearl, I think it's a mistake to label that small section as the one that specializes in design when we have a huge home furnishings group peppered throughout the neighborhood. It's like saying that the area around the armory is "the gallery district" because of a few galleries in close proximity to each other.

The building that Landfair resides in is called Pearl District Design Center and I'm guessing that's the source of the label. When you consider the 60 or so home furnishings retailers in the Pearl, you've got to realize that the neighborhood itself -- not one small area -- is the design district.

If you are a design professional or just out shopping for home furnishings -- consider shopping in Portland's design district -- The Pearl. The shop owners are great resources for hard-to-source products, design advice and space consultation.