Here is downtown Portland oriented to the river. As the development went north they gave up and oriented to the compass point. Everything else is oriented to the compass point. However, they did take the same pattern, the 200 x 200-foot blocks with 60-foot streets. These are relatively narrow streets and very small blocks compared to many other cities. We do not have any historical explanation for the small block size. The east side got started when the Southern Pacific Railroad decided they were going to come into the area. It was easier for them to come in on the east bank rather than get through or by the West Hills. For a while it looked as though East Portland might become a new major city.