Why Sellwood faces sewage backup risk
A former-town infrastructure angle unique to Sellwood among Portland’s annexed neighborhoods.
Sellwood operated as an independent town before being annexed into Portland.
The neighborhood’s antique district reflects its long commercial history along the Willamette.
Many single-family lots retain original laterals from the neighborhood’s town-era development.
Legacy town-era sewer infrastructure built to an earlier, smaller-town standard combined with riverside low elevation and water table conditions means older single-family laterals here face real age- and elevation-driven backup risk.