Portland

Few towns in America can rival Portland’s young vitality, dubbed “The City of Roses.” Portland, Oregon’s largest city, is proud of its residents. The city attracts visitors for its scenic beauty, great outdoors environment, excellent microbreweries, and eco-friendly urban planning policies, as well as a reputation for colorful characters and a proudly liberal outlook with a corresponding attitude.

The city is located around 70 miles (124 kilometers) north of Oregon’s northern border, along the Willamette (pronounced will-LAM-ett) River south of its confluence with the Columbia River. To the east, Mount Hood provides an ideal background for Portland’s skyline. Portland’s moderate, moist climate makes it a very green city, which the city has capitalized on with an abundance of parks and gardens that make it one of the most attractive in the nation.

UNDERSTAND

Portland is the biggest city between San Francisco and Seattle, yet its atmosphere is slower-paced in comparison to other places. It has not yet grown to be overpowering. Rather than that, it has a more relaxed, small-city vibe.

Having said that, Portland has a population of approximately 600,000, with many more in the suburbs. As such, Portland offers a plethora of attractions, including an exceptional music and arts scene and one of the nation’s greatest collections of zines and independent publishers. Due to its population density, it also has some of the worst traffic congestion in the American West, a relatively high cost of living in comparison to salaries, and chronic underemployment.

The city has an attractive mix of old and contemporary buildings, as well as several beautiful parks where you may dip your toes. Forest Park and Washington Park, located in the hills west of Downtown, provide a diverse array of vegetation, pathways, and animals. The city’s spectacular seasonal beauty is enhanced by views of Mount Hood and the Willamette River, massive Douglas-fir trees (Oregon’s official state tree), and roses and trees at every turn.

Environmentally friendly activities, such as recycling and a robust public transit system, are ingrained in the culture and serve as the foundation for a number of innovative city planning initiatives. The Portland metro area, like other urban centers in Oregon, is bounded by an urban growth boundary. This helps to keep sprawl in control and contributes to Portland’s relatively compact size. Unlike the majority of comparable sized urban towns in the nation, you can travel around 15 miles (24 kilometers) from Downtown and be in the countryside.

Portland is a really enjoyable and inviting destination for LGBT visitors. It is home to one of the country’s biggest and most integrated gay and lesbian communities, which is backed by two major LGBT magazines and other queer-friendly media.

TOURIST INFORMATION

• Portland Visitor Information and Services Center, 701 SW 6th Ave (at Morrison), +1 503-275-8355, toll-free: +1-877-678-5263. M-F 8:30AM-5:30PM, Sa 10AM-4PM.

In the Portland metro region, it is believed that there are only two seasons: rain and summer. When summer arrives, the clouds part and it becomes hot and bright, and often rather pleasant. From July through September, there is a 10% chance of rain on any given day, and temperatures seldom surpass 85°F (29°C), however they do sometimes reach 100°F (38°C) in July and August.

Despite its pleasant summers, Portland is most renowned for its rainy season, which runs from late September to late June. However, it is more often a frightening drizzle or mist than a deluge. There is a fallacy that the majority of Portlanders do not use or believe in umbrellas, preferring instead hoods and raincoats. While this is somewhat true, a trip around Portland on a wet day will demonstrate that people are not afraid to use umbrellas. You, too, should not be timid — if it is not summer and you do not want to get wet, bring your umbrella.

Although Portland is nearly the same latitude as Minneapolis, Minnesota (and is really somewhat farther north), snow is very rare in Portland due to the city’s relatively low height and closeness to the Pacific Ocean. While a bright day during the rainy season is unusual, the sun does shine on occasion. When it occurs, some Portlanders have an odd tendency of wearing summer gear, even if the weather is still a little cool.

Portland is situated 60 miles east of the Pacific Ocean in the Willamette Valley, Oregon’s most populous area. Downtown Portland spans the Willamette River’s banks, which runs north through the city center and so divides the city’s east and west districts. The Willamette River feeds into the Columbia River, the fourth-largest river in the United States, which separates Oregon and Washington state, less than ten miles from downtown. Portland is located about 100 miles upstream on the Columbia River from the Pacific Ocean.

Though majority of downtown Portland is rather level, the Tualatin Mountains’ foothills, often referred to as the “West Hills,” penetrate the city’s northwest and southwest extremities. Council Crest Park, the city’s highest point, is situated in the West Hills and reaches a height of 1,073 feet. Mt. Tabor, an extinct volcanic cinder cone that rises to 636 feet, is the highest point east of the river. Powell Butte and Rocky Butte, both nearby, climb to 614 and 612 feet, respectively. The Oregon Coast Range sits to the west of the Tualatin Mountains, while the Cascade Range, which is actively volcanic, extends to the east. Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens dominate the horizon on clear days, while Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier may be seen in the distance.

The city has a total area of 145.09 square miles (375.78 km2), of which 133.43 square miles (345.58 km2) is land and 11.66 square miles (30.20 km2) is water, according to the United States Census Bureau. While the majority of Portland is located in Multnomah County, tiny sections of the city are located in Clackamas and Washington Counties, which have populations of 785 and 1,455, respectively.

Portland is perched above the Boring Lava Area, an extinct volcanic field. The Boring Lava Field is comprised of at least 32 cinder cones, including Mount Tabor, and is located southeast of Portland. Mount St. Helens, a very active volcano located 50 miles northeast of the city in Washington State, is visible on clear days and was near enough to cover the city with volcanic ash during its May 18, 1980 eruption.

Portland’s geographic position benefits a variety of businesses. Economic benefits include relatively cheap energy costs, readily accessible resources, north–south and east–west Interstates, international air terminals, extensive marine transport facilities, and both west coast intercontinental railways. Portland was ranked 42nd worldwide in quality of living by the US consulting firm Mercer in a 2009 assessment “conducted to assist governments and major corporations in placing employees on international assignments”; the survey considered political stability, personal freedom, sanitation, crime, housing, the natural environment, recreation, banking facilities, consumer goods availability, education, and public services including transportation. In 2012, CBS MoneyWatch named the city one of the top ten retirement destinations in the United States.

The city’s maritime terminals handle approximately 13 million tons of cargo annually, and the port is home to one of the country’s biggest commercial dry docks. The Port of Portland is the third biggest export tonnage port on the west coast of the United States, and it is the largest fresh-water port due to its location roughly 80 miles (130 kilometers) upriver. Portland is the biggest shipper of wheat in the United States and the world’s second largest wheat port.

The city’s economy is heavily reliant on technology, with over 1,200 technology enterprises located inside the metro.

Due to the large concentration of technological businesses in the Portland area, the area is dubbed Silicon Forest, a reference to the region’s abundance of trees and the Silicon Valley region of Northern California. Additionally, the region is home to software and internet startup firms, some of which are sponsored by local seed financing groups and business incubators. Intel, the world’s biggest maker of computer components, employs about 15,000 people in the Portland region, with many sites located west of downtown Portland in the city of Hillsboro.

The metropolitan region of Portland has developed into a hub for sports and footwear producers. Nike, Adidas, Columbia Sportswear, LaCrosse Footwear, Dr. Martens, Li-Ning, Keen, and Hi-Tec Sports all have worldwide, North American, or US headquarters in the region. While Merrell, Amer Sports, and Under Armour are based elsewhere, all have design studios and local offices in the Portland region. Precision Castparts, located in Portland, is one of two Fortune 500 firms with a presence in Oregon, the other being Nike. Among the other famous Portland-based businesses include film animation studio Laika; commercial vehicle manufacturer Daimler Trucks North America; advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy; bank Umpqua Holdings; and stores Fred Meyer, New Seasons, and Storables.