Director Park

I love this place! It’s such an Intimate Urban Oasis right smack in the heart of downtown, yet it has the best modern feel of any outdoor space I’ve been to, I really wouldn’t use the word «Park» when describing this place since its often used at night for events. In the day time, its often inhibited by people taking breaks over food/​coffee nearby. Very European like! I think they should really call it, «Hey, It’s the Open Space right in the middle of downtown, let’s meet there!
But since that’s too long, Director Park will have to be!
I was here most recently for FeastPDX. The following were just notes regarding the event that was hosted here for Feast Portland. It was here on the 1^st night, they had the Sandwich Competition. The Dave’s Killer bread event Chef Vitaly Paley won people’s choice awards by voting tokens for his banh mi, fry bread taco, pickles, peppers, cilantro. Gregory won for the judges award for his savory and sweet crepes. Windmers serving up 5 different beers. Dave’s Killer Bread were giving out free bread and a spin wheel. Festivities started at 6pm and promptly ended at 9pm. Water was everywhere, all around a great event at this great space. Amazingly, the way this place is positioned, music can also be heard throughout.
Highly recommended for hosting downtown events for 500 – 600 people easily. I believe you can rent out park of the park or the whole place which can have just over 2,000 people.

This is a great new downtown park, with parking underground. It is paved with light colored granite and has a restaurant space, lots of tables and chairs, Teachers Fountain is nice and it hosts lots of events.
The tables outside are a great place to eat food from the restaurant and are protected from the rain with a large glass canopy.
It is also fun to watch people play on the giant chess set. It is even more fun to watch kids splash and play in the fountain. In all it is a great urban space and good for people watching.
It took along time to get it open after what in my memories of years of talking, it opened in 2009 with parking underneath. Tom Moyer donated the land as part of a plan to link the north and south park blocks though that plan seems to have been set aside as his family is building a tower on the block next door that if memory serves was going to be par of the plan, Its nice they are building housing but another block like this would be welcome.

This is one of the best places to eat lunch and people watch in Portland. Countless times I’ve picked up Jimmy Johns and walked over or got something yummy from Elephants just across the street. In the summer I’ll bring the kids because they love to play in the water fountains there. One time there was even a clown making free balloon animals for the kiddos. I think he was just there on his own, doing it from the kindness of his heart. There’s a cool human chessboard to be played and a ballet company does their rehearsals out there. It’s all free! The area is always nice and clean, gets great sun (which can be rare for downtown), and the tables are perfect to sit at for you and a friend. It’s not too noisy either and is insulated enough from the street that I just let the kids run around in the water having fun as I eat my food. Bring the kids or come with lunch! This is a hidden little treasure in downtown PDX that is great to visit.

Great urban park complete with ample seating, an in-​park deli (Elephants in the Park), and giant chess until 6pm. Always very busy during the lunch hour, but sitting on the stairs or comfortable benches nearby the spacious fountain until a table opens up isn’t the end of the world, and the mix of professionals, children, and other city folk makes for great people watching. There are always a couple of smiley park staff members patrolling around, making sure all is well. My preferred place to eat a packed or food-​cart lunch in the downtown area.

Nothing quite like this park– part Central Park, to be sure, this is the place to eat, read, take in sun,& yes–
Even pick up peewee Herman chess!!!

This is not too much to look at. especially if you visit on a rainy February afternoon. But if you come later at night when it lights up, it becomes beautiful. I can only imagine how it could be on a sunny day. So don’t write it off and come visit again!

Director Park is just Lake Oswego family enough that you can barely escape the nearby Portland homeless. They have an Elephant’s Deli and all kinds of stores around it. The Park Blocks nearby are beautiful. Portland purists may hate the park because it’s trying to be the next Pioneer Square, but we have enough room for two big squares.
There’s lots of chess tables and it’s a mighty fine balance between fancy 23^rd Ave people and East Portland people. It’s new and there’s lots of shade. You can get to PSU and several performance theaters like the Brunish.

Director park is as good a park as Jamison fountain for small kids who love playing in water. Plus you have all the great shopping located close by and restaurants to grab a bite to eat while you enjoy the activities happening in water park. Catch a street performer or watch a game of chess with pieces human-​scale size.

Such a great place to eat your food-​cart lunch on a sunny day. Ample number of tables, or you can sit by the fountain.
It will be even more attractive once the construction next door is complete.

This place is bomb. I’ve been here twice now. It’s in an open park area (great for summer!) the building is small but all glass which is fun.
Their fish tacos are the best I’ve had in any restaurant and their kale salad is amazing. They have a large menu, something for everyone!
The staff was super cool and helpful in choosing what I was in the mood for. Very energetic peeps. Love that.
It’s right across the street from a theatre and the mall. It’s right in the middle of everything. Must try!

It’s Director Park, people. Not Director’s Park. Yes, it’s right smack dab in the middle of some prime cinema viewing real estate (flanked by Guild Theater/​NW Film Center and Fox Tower), but that name has got nothin’ to do with movies. Let me explain.
The original vision (in the 1840s) for the Park Blocks was 25 blocks. Thwarted a little bit, but 18 were dedicated. Director Park makes 19. And it is still a lil baby park! Just opened in 2009. I was there for the construction, I was there for the ‘grand opening’, and I make it a point to traverse this block any time I’m in the area. I’ve attended many events on this spot, too — from the annual Menorah lighting to fashion shows to concerts, to pillow fights.
The name is for Simon and Helen Director, Russian and Polish immigrants to Portland in the early 1900s. You’ll know the next name in this family tree: one of their daughters, Arlene. As in Schnitzer. As in, name most associated with anything of any cultural value in this town. Yup, good olé Shnitz money saved this block and made it all possible, with a huge hand from her son, Jordan.
Chairs, tables, giant chess, food, music, events… nothing left to be desired in this urban park. I love it.

I love this park. It is a nice place to gather. Yesterday we stopped here to soak our feet in the water. In the evenings, the lights on the structure is really cool. Very colorful. There were kids splashing and having an awesome time in the water. If I worked downtown, I would hang out here a lot. It is a great place to people watch and just enjoy the city.

I nice little surprise on a hot June summer day, my family and I were exploring downtown not far from our hotel and stumbled across this cool urban park. The park was lively and full of all sorts of people (serious people watching potential.)
The splash pad/​water-​fountain was a nice touch, we didn’t plan on doing some swimming, so we allowed our little one to go nuts in her shorts and t-​shirt.
In the end we got a nice slice of Portland watching everyone enjoying themselves all while watching crazy kids defile those squirting water fountains [insert imagination]

Great for people watching. One of my favorite parks in Portland and one of the newest. Great urban space.

Now, here’s a well-​planned urban park I like a lot. It’s spare and elegant and has a nice mix of glass, cement, metal, and water (in the summer). It’s a delight to walk by on a hot summer day and watch little ones with mom and dad in tow frolicking in the wading pool, and it’s perhaps more interesting in the winter to sit in Elephant’s just across the street, sip hot chocolate, and watch activity in the square (like watching the now-​canceled TV series «Leverage» in production) and the change in light and patterns throughout the day, finding the beauty in the spare nature of the surroundings. I can only imagine how appreciated this park must be to nearby dwellers and office workers.

Giant life size chess set here! Now… If only someone would play with me.

This place has everything you need except, well… grass. It has a children’s wading pool and Elephants in the Park with outside seating and heat. The park sits squarely on top of a subterranean parking garage and while its not meant for the everyday physical activities you would find at other parks, it’s still good for hangin’ out, meeting friends, or a game of chess. The city of Portland can sure be creative when it wants to be. What else would you do with an entire city block?

More like a plaza than a park, but seriously cursed with wind and a generally sterile appearance. Events here are fun, but even when we lived nearby we didn’t go there just to hang. I suppose the lack of grass makes it cheaper to maintain, but damn, who besides bored teenagers really wants to hang around a place that looks like a parking lot?
Suggestion: given that this is Portland, put in some of those wooden planters everybody has in front of their houses and fill them up with, you know, plants.

After a year, a lot of great things have happened at Director Park. Although the «park» is still lacking in greenery, it more than makes up for it with the open feel and bustle of visitors. On any given sunny day, the place is packed at lunchtime, and it’s a great place to stop and relax and be a part of the city.
The plaza is only enhanced by Violetta, which brings in additional traffic and keeps a good quarter of the park busy a lot of the time. I also like that the park has a full time dedicated employee. It’s always clean, and the employee can often be seen sharing the history of the park with visitors, or providing tourists with other things to do in Portland.
I’m really happy to see that Director Park has grown into its space. It’s a great new destination for downtown residents, and the occasional cultural activity held there only adds to the prestige of downtown Portland.

Ohhhhhhhh… you meant PLAZA. Well, that’s different. Not bad for a PLAZA.