It runs between SW Barbur Boulevard and NW Front Avenue, and adjacent to Tom McCall Waterfront Park through Downtown Portland.

[1] Several radial TriMet bus lines serving southwestern suburbs of Portland access Downtown via the southern portion of Naito Parkway.

These lines include: All routes merge northbound onto Naito from Barbur Boulevard and turn west after entering Downtown to provide connection to the Portland Transit Mall.

The beginning of Naito Parkway coincided with the birth of Portland, when William P. Overton built his home along the waterfront in 1841.

[8] Front consisted of a large levee, which was considered by many community members to be a public street, although a court ruling found it to be private in 1862.

[10] The narrow strip of land between the Willamette River and Front's downtown section was occupied by a series of wharves, many of which were open to public use.

[14] Portland Police also rounded up Chinese men at gunpoint and forced them to work water pumps to fight the fire.

In spite of official and popular blame being placed on Chinese residents, it is now thought that the fire was more likely an act of racially-motivated arson.

By the turn of the century, much of the river's shipping traffic had moved north, the commercial core had migrated west to Fourth and Fifth Avenue, and many buildings along Front sat abandoned.

[10] The Great Depression led to further decline in Front's commercial importance, and many of the multi-story buildings that remained occupied were vacant except for the ground floor storefronts.

[18] The 1942 opening of Harbor Drive cut Front Avenue completely off from the river, and replaced it as the main thoroughfare along the waterfront.

[19] By 1968, the Portland Bureau of Planning recommended the elimination of Harbor Drive, in order to expand the city's park system and give the public access to the waterfront.

[22] The change went into effect only a few months after Naito's death, against a city code requiring that a person be deceased for at least five years before a street can be named after them.

[25] Naito has been used as a starting and finishing point in the Portland Marathon, and has been involved in media attention regarding mishaps in the race.