How to Get Around Portland, Oregon on the Cheap. Portland is a very easy city to get around in. Unless you're heading to outlying areas, most of the city is set up in a quadrant with little hubs. The city is split between east and west by the Willamette River and split north and south by Burnside Avenue. If you know which quadrant you're in and where you're heading, you'll have several options for travel.
Try to do Portland without a rental car. If you're staying downtown, practically everything is within walking distance. All of the downtown parking is metered every day except Sunday, which can make parking a hassle sometimes - though there are several Smart Park garages downtown that offer hourly parking at a reasonable rate. A ten-minute walk will get you to any of the great restauraunts and shops downtown. You'll find the Park Blocks there, too, a series of blocks that connect as a park, which makes walking in this area a more appealing option.
Look into using Portland's great mass-transit system. Comprised of buses and light rail, it will take you anywhere for a reasonable fare. If you're in "fareless square" (downtown, between the Willamette River, Interstate-405, and N.W. Irving), you can jump on and off Tri-Met as often as you'd like for free. MAX, the light rail, is currently adding a line that will service Portland International Airport and run directly downtown.
Consider renting a bike. Portland is one of the most bike-friendly towns in the United States. There are bike paths and marked routes all over the city. Fat Tire Farm rents mountain bikes if you're interested in checking out the trails in Forest Park, and other bike shops in town, like the Bike Gallery, will rent you bikes for cruising the streets.
Check out how far it is to walk where you need to go. Taxis are limited in Portland, and you certainly can't stand on the corner and flag one down. But most of the neighborhoods in Portland have their own little hub of stores and restaurants that might be central to where you're staying. Many of the bridges offer pedestrian paths, which make a stroll across the river and along Waterfront Park an easy choice.
Look into alternate locations for picking up a rental car if you decide you want one. All the major companies have locations at the airport; however, some have second locations in different places in the city and may offer lower rates for picking up and dropping off the car there. Then if you decide you only want a car for a couple of days, you won't have to trek all the way back out to the airport to return it.
