These 8 Towns In the Pacific Northwest Have The Best Main Streets
Across the Pacific Northwest, the most telling details of a town often appear along its main street. In Gig Harbor, Harborview Drive runs beside a line of historic fishing net sheds that once served the town’s Croatian fleet. Ashland’s downtown gathers around the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where theaters, bookstores, and restaurants fill several blocks near Lithia Park. In Hood River, Oak Street climbs above the Columbia River with cafés, galleries, and outfitters tied to life in the Gorge. Other towns in this list reveal their own defining features the same way: through a harbor boardwalk, a covered-bridge town center, or a historic railroad district.
Bainbridge Island, Washington
Bainbridge Island, with around 25,000 residents, features a compact downtown centered on Winslow Way, serving as the community’s main street. Each month on the first Friday, galleries and shops remain open for the First Friday Art Walk, during which visitors explore studios, bookstores, and cafés in the early evening. Nearby, the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial commemorates the 227 residents who were imprisoned in 1942 during World War II. On Saturdays, the Bainbridge Island Farmers Market takes place at Town Square and City Hall Park, where local farms, bakers, and artisans set up food stalls and perform live music. The Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, designed by architect Matthew Coates and opened in 2013, is a cultural hub showcasing free exhibitions featuring regional artists. Outside the town center, the 150-acre Bloedel Reserve offers landscaped gardens, forest trails, and is regarded as one of the Pacific Northwest’s premier public garden estates.
Cottage Grove, Oregon
With about 11,000 residents, Cottage Grove promotes itself as the “Covered Bridge Capital of the West,” a title tied to the six historic covered bridges scattered around the surrounding countryside. Downtown runs along East Main Street, where antique shops, cafés, and local stores anchor the commercial district. One of the best-known stops is 5 Flying Monkeys Antique Mall, a longtime downtown shop packed with vintage finds and collectibles. Just outside town, the Dorena Covered Bridge spans the Row River near Dorena Lake and is one of the region’s most photographed historic bridges. Outdoor space is also close to downtown at Bohemia Park, a 14-acre riverside park with walking paths and a large amphitheater that hosts community events and festivals. A short drive away in the Umpqua National Forest, Wildwood Falls drops roughly 15 feet over layered rock, making it one of the area’s most accessible waterfalls.
Florence, Oregon
Just under 10,000 people live in Florence, a coastal town whose activity centers around the Historic Old Town district along Bay Street. This waterfront area of shops, galleries, and restaurants sits beside the Siuslaw River and is the heart of the community’s main street. Every spring, the town hosts the Florence Rhododendron Festival, a tradition that began in 1908 and remains one of the longest-running festivals on the Oregon Coast. Overlooking Old Town is the Siuslaw River Bridge, a 1936 bascule bridge designed by the well-known Oregon engineer Conde B. McCullough. Its four Art Deco-inspired towers and steel span are some of the coast’s most recognizable landmarks. Just north of town, Sea Lion Caves, a privately owned attraction, offers visitors a chance to see Steller sea lions gather inside what is widely promoted as the largest sea cave in the United States.
Hood River, Oregon
Hood River, a small town in the Columbia River Gorge with a population under 9,000, has a historic downtown centered around Oak Street. This compact main road is lined with various restaurants, galleries, breweries, and locally owned shops. The town's name comes from the nearby Hood River, which flows into the Columbia River at the town's edge, where the Port of Hood River offers marinas and waterfront facilities. Just north of downtown, the Mount Hood Railroad offers seasonal excursions, including fall harvest rides and holiday trains, through the Hood River Valley. Along the riverfront, Hood River Waterfront Park boasts miles of paved paths and open shoreline used by walkers, cyclists, and kiteboarders. The town is renowned as the windsurfing capital of the world, thanks to the consistent winds flowing through the Columbia River Gorge.
Poulsbo, Washington
Poulsbo, home to just under 12,000 residents, was originally meant to be named Paulsbo after early Norwegian settler Paul L. Peterson, but the spelling changed during the town’s postal registration. Today the city’s activity centers on Front Street, a waterfront main street overlooking Liberty Bay. The SEA Discovery Center, operated by Western Washington University’s Shannon Point Marine Center, has introduced visitors to the marine life of the Salish Sea since opening in 1997. Just outside the downtown shops and cafés, Muriel Iverson Williams Waterfront Park features a boardwalk and marina with views across the bay. Independent businesses remain a core part of the district, including Liberty Bay Books, a longtime bookstore that regularly hosts author readings and community events.
Gig Harbor, Washington
Gig Harbor, a coastal city with just over 12,000 residents, focuses its activity along Harborview Drive, a main shoreline street that overlooks the harbor and gave the town its name. A key feature of the waterfront is the line of historic net sheds—wooden structures used by Croatian fishermen for repairing and storing nets—which still stand along the harbor’s edge today. Just a short walk from downtown, Donkey Creek Park runs along a salmon-bearing stream through a small green space with paved paths and viewing platforms. Visitors can also enjoy gondola rides from the marina to view the harbor from the water. Nearby, the Harbor History Museum showcases the area’s maritime and fishing history and features the relocated 1893 Pioneer Schoolhouse, one of the region’s oldest surviving school buildings.
Ashland, Oregon
Ashland, a southern Oregon city with about 21,000 residents, centers its activity around a compact downtown near Ashland Plaza and Main Street, where restaurants, galleries, and bookstores serve visitors year-round. The city is best known as the home of the Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which has attracted theatergoers to Ashland since 1935. Just beyond downtown, Lithia Park—roughly 93 acres and following Ashland Creek—offers wooded trails, gardens, and open lawns within walking distance of the main commercial district. Nearby, on the Southern Oregon University campus, the Schneider Museum of Art, designed by architect Willard Martin, features rotating contemporary exhibitions in a light-filled gallery space. The Ashland Public Library, originally built in 1912 as a Carnegie library, adds another historic landmark to the downtown area.
Anacortes, Washington
Anacortes, a waterfront city of about 17,600 residents on Fidalgo Island, centers its activity along Commercial Avenue, a historic main street lined with cafés, galleries, and marine outfitters. The city is also known for its access to the Salish Sea, which makes the area popular with birdwatchers, especially along the 3.3-mile Tommy Thompson Trail that crosses Fidalgo Bay on a former railroad trestle where great blue herons and other shorebirds are often seen. From the nearby marina, operators such as Blackfish Tours run whale-watching trips into the waters around the San Juan Islands. Kayakers can also explore the shoreline through guided trips offered by Anacortes Kayak Tours. Just west of town, Washington Park, a 220-acre coastal park, features a scenic 2.2-mile loop road with sweeping views of the surrounding islands.
A "Main Street" is a meeting place. It is a hub where one finds reassurance that one exists in a community, a place to connect with others. Main Streets existed in Cascadia long before settlers erected signs naming them. Reconciling the Colonial past can start with supporting Native Americans in the region, such as the Suquamish Tribe and the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, and their businesses whenever possible.
