What is it like to live in Sellwood-Moreland if you're buying a house?

A bluff above the river, two districts under one name, and a lot of older houses. Here's what we can tell you about living there, and what we'd check before you buy one.

By Jake Goodson and Tony Le · Updated October 19, 2026

The short answer: Sellwood-Moreland sits on a bluff above the Willamette and was its own city before Portland annexed it, and today it's two districts, Sellwood to the south and Westmoreland to the north. Here's what we know about a day there and what we'd check on the house.

You've heard the nice things about Sellwood. Fair enough, people say them for a reason. What you want to know before you write an offer is what it's like on a Tuesday, and what's going on behind the walls of the house you like.

Two neighborhoods in one

Sellwood-Moreland is in Southeast Portland, up on a bluff above the Willamette. It borders Brooklyn to the north, Eastmoreland to the east and Milwaukie to the south.

Sellwood was a city of its own. It incorporated in 1889 and Portland annexed it in 1893. Today it has two districts, Sellwood in the south and Westmoreland in the north. Westmoreland takes its name from J.C. Moreland, a county judge and real estate developer.

A day there

Daily life runs on two strips: SE Milwaukie Avenue in Westmoreland and SE 13th Avenue in Sellwood, with cafes, shops and restaurants on both. Walk Score gives the neighborhood an 81 and ranks it 24th most walkable in Portland. Westmoreland Park has a nature playground and a casting pond, and Reed College's canyon, which the college welcomes visitors to, is nearby. Past that, it's quiet residential streets.

Here's what the record says about the places a day there tends to run through.

—The Sellwood Bridge. The current bridge opened in 2016 and replaced the span from 1925. Multnomah County owns and runs it, and it's the southernmost bridge in Portland.
—The Springwater Corridor. Portland Parks says the trail starts at SE Ivon Street and names Sellwood among the communities that grew up along the old rail line. We wrote about the corridor and the blocks along it here.
—Oaks Park. It's been there since 1905.

What to check on a Sellwood house

The postcard doesn't come with a sewer scope.

A lot of what makes the neighborhood appealing is its age, and age is also what you inspect for. Ask for a sewer scope with your inspection, since the main line is the one part of the house nobody can see. Ask the seller for permit history, so you know what's been done to the house and whether the city signed off on it. Our old-house checks go through the rest.

If the house is on the river side of the bluff, look the address up on portlandmaps.com and check the flood map before you bid. Flood status goes house by house, so we won't guess at it for the whole side. Look up the specific address.

A 1999 history written for the neighborhood association says building boomed from 1908 to 1912 and peaked again in 1925, with bungalows of many sizes throughout and smaller houses in Westmoreland.

Financing, if the house is on a flood map

If a house sits in what FEMA's map calls a Special Flood Hazard Area (the zones whose names start with A or V) and the loan is government-backed, flood insurance is required. Some lenders ask for it outside those areas too. Ask your lender early, once you know the address, so it isn't news the week you close.

What you get, and what you may trade

You want	Sellwood-Moreland gives you	You may trade away
Trail access	The Springwater Corridor, starting at SE Ivon Street (Portland Parks)	Foot and bike traffic at all hours on the blocks nearest the trail. Walk the closest stretch in the morning and after dark before you decide
The river close by	A bluff above the Willamette, and the Sellwood Bridge across it	The bluff edge is where the flood-map question and the slope question both live. For any house on the river side, check both before you bid
An older house	Houses from the 1908 to 1912 boom and the 1920s, a lot of them bungalows (neighborhood history, 1999)	The charm and the maintenance come from the same place. A house from the 1908 to 1912 boom is over a century old, so budget for a sewer scope and read the permit history
Easy parking and light traffic	Two walkable strips, SE 13th and SE Milwaukie, and a Walk Score of 81, so some errands don't need the car	Don't take a neighborhood answer on this; it changes by block. Drive the street at 6 p.m. on a weekday and again around lunch on a Saturday, and near SE 13th and SE Milwaukie do it twice
A price that works	Older houses on walkable streets near the river. We don't print a neighborhood median, because it hides too many blocks	Sellwood prices the walk and the river whether or not you use them. Compare houses by square foot and lot, not listing price, and ask us for sold prices on the actual streets you're choosing between

A listing will say "by the river." Ask which side of the bluff. At the bottom, the first question is the flood map. On the bluff, it's the slope and the drainage. Same neighborhood, two different buys.

Quick FAQ

Is Sellwood the same as Sellwood-Moreland?
Sellwood is part of it. Sellwood-Moreland is the whole neighborhood, with Sellwood to the south and Westmoreland to the north.

When did Sellwood become part of Portland?
Sellwood incorporated as its own city in 1889, and Portland annexed it in 1893.

Is Sellwood-Moreland in a flood zone?
It depends on the house, and we won't guess. Look the address up on portlandmaps.com, especially on the river side of the bluff, and ask your lender what the map means for your loan.

Does the Springwater Corridor reach Sellwood?
Yes. Portland Parks says the trail starts at SE Ivon Street and names Sellwood among the communities that grew up along the old rail line it follows.

Keep reading

Looking at a house in Sellwood?

Send us the listing! We'll tell you what we'd check on it, and what we'd want to know about the block. Get in touch here.

The Houselab Team @ Like Kind Realty

Sources

All retrieved 2026-10-19.

—Historic context statement for Sellwood-Moreland (1999), written for the Sellwood-Moreland Improvement League, State Library of Oregon: https://digitalcollections.library.oregon.gov/nodes/view/139445
—Wikipedia, Sellwood-Moreland, Portland, Oregon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sellwood-Moreland,_Portland,_Oregon
—Wikipedia, Westmoreland, Portland, Oregon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westmoreland,_Portland,_Oregon
—Wikipedia, Sellwood Bridge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sellwood_Bridge
—Light the Bridges, Sellwood Bridge stats: https://lightthebridges.org/?p=658
—Oaks Park, about us: https://www.oakspark.com/about-us/
—Portland Parks & Recreation, Springwater Corridor: https://www.portland.gov/parks/springwater-corridor (no page date)
—Walk Score, Sellwood-Moreland, as of October 2026: https://www.walkscore.com/OR/Portland/Sellwood-Moreland
—Portland Parks & Recreation, Westmoreland Park (nature play playground, fly-casting pond): https://www.portland.gov/parks/westmoreland-park
—Reed College, Reed College Canyon (privately owned; visitors asked to follow posted guidelines): https://www.reed.edu/canyon/
—The Houselab Team, Sellwood neighborhood guide
—FEMA, mandatory purchase of flood insurance (updated March 5, 2020): https://www.fema.gov/about/glossary/mandatory-purchase
—FEMA, flood zones: https://www.fema.gov/glossary/flood-zones
—FloodSmart, eligibility: https://www.floodsmart.gov/get-insured/eligibility

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