You are right that there is potential there, but it has not gone unnoticed. For instance, there is a relatively urban block there, that looks like it was transplanted from the Old Port. And the rest of the land is either a RR ROW or owned by a large industrial company which uses it for other purposes at the moment (purposes other than a downtown setting might look like, that is). Portland as we all know was/is industrial, and this is the fringe of its industrial port. The bridge also separates the normal feeling of continuity. I heard, however, that the area you are talking about was considered at one time for a new law school, near the water. Another reason it may be undeveloped is because of the large conservation belt around the West End, which kind of detracts from the area by isolating it from a grid perspective. It is also slowly being considered for mixed use projects, as well as a walking trail, but these things move slowly. Lastly, if Portland was fully built out, we might start wondering why Westbrook wasn't more urbanized...I think there is just a logical extent of every urbanized area based on what the market will allow under certain circumstances, and we are seeing what that is for Portland already. There is just no interest in that part of town that would enable nice development there (it all goes elsewhere, first, but will then show interest in this area, I assume).
