Portland has always been known for its close communities, gathered around the things they love. The two mile stretch of NE Ainsworth Street between NE Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Fernhill Park is no exception. On this street, you’ll find the NE Ainsworth Linear Arboretum, a one-of-a-kind “natural museum” made up of residents’ yards as well as city streets. The arboretum contains 60 different species of trees, and a lot of personal passion.In honor of Portland’s environmental consciousness, we recommend you take a stroll down the blocks rather than drive. That’s the only way to get the full experience that the Arboretum volunteersmostly members of Portland’s Friends of Trees initiativefirst envisioned five years ago. Nature and the city are not separated within the arboretum. Instead, numerous street trees provide shelter and beauty to the joggers, families, public transportation, and whatever else happens to be traveling down Ainsworth at the time.The Friends of Trees, who have been working around the Portland-Vancouver area since 1989, also planned the project as a means to rejuvenate the tree canopy of the city, which was being removed as old and diseased trees were cut down. The previous tree selection had also suffered by being too reliant on a single specieswhen Dutch elm disease struck a few years back, it destroyed many blocks of trees. With 75 new trees planted this yearspread out over 60 speciesthe Arboretum offers a way for visitors to see trees in their natural habitat that might otherwise have gone unnoticed. Among the species found on the Ainsworth stretch are the Paperbark Maple, the Japanese Hornbeam, the Chinese Dogwood, and the Natchez Crapemyrtle. Whether you’re a local or a visitor, the Ainsworth Linear Arboretum offers a unique and symbolic look at the streets of Portland.

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