SperlingFile on Portland, OR
by Alo, SperlingExpert
Portland is a city located near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. With a population of 537,081 [2] it is Oregon's most populous city, and the third most populous city in the Pacific Northwest, after Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, Britgngggggish Columbia. Approximately two million people live in Portland metropolitan area (MSA), the 23rd most populous in the United States as of July 2006.[3]
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Alo
Vancouver, WA
| About this SperlingExpert
Alo Currently lives in Portland, OR
I live across the river in Vancouver, WA. |
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People
The city and region are noted for strong land-use planning[4] and investment in public transit, supported by Metro, a distinctive regional-government scheme. Portland lies in the Marine West Coast climate region, which is marked by warm summers and rainy but temperate winters. This climate is ideal for growing roses, and for more than a century Portland has been known as "The City of Roses," with many rose gardens – most prominently the International Rose Test Garden. Portland is also known for its large number of microbreweries, and as the home of the Trail Blazers NBA basketball team.
Economy
Portland is often cited as an example of a city with strong land use planning controls;[4] This is largely the result of statewide land conservation policies adopted in 1973 under Governor Tom McCall, in particular the requirement for an urban growth boundary (UGB) for every city and metropolitan area. The opposite extreme, a city with few or no controls, is typically illustrated by Houston, Texas.
Portland's urban growth boundary, adopted in 1979, separates urban areas (where high-density development is encouraged and focused) from traditional farm land (where restrictions on non-agricultural development are very strict[citation needed]). This was atypical in an era when automobile use led many areas to neglect their core cities in favor of development along interstate highways, in suburbs, and satellite cities.
Cost of Living
The cost of living seems to be the best on the west coast due to the reasonable cost of housing.
Housing
Portland straddles the Willamette River near its confluence with the Columbia River. The denser and earlier-developed west side is mostly hemmed in by the nearby West Hills (Tualatin Mountains), though it extends over them to the border with Washington County. The flatter east side fans out for about 180 blocks, until it meets the suburb of Gresham. Rural Multnomah County lies farther east.
In 1891 the cities of Portland, Albina, and East Portland were consolidated, and duplicate street names were given new names. The "great renumbering" on September 2, 1931 standardized street naming patterns, and changed house numbers from 20 per block to 100 per block. It divided Portland into five sections: Southwest, Southeast, Northwest, North, and Northeast. Burnside St. divides north and south, and the Willamette River divides east and west. The river curves west five blocks north of Burnside and in place of it, Williams Ave. is used as a divider. The North section lies between Williams Ave. and the Willamette River to the west.
The streets of Portland are for the most part laid out on a grid, with named "streets" running perpendicular to the Willamette River and numbered "avenues" running parallel to (and with numbers increasing with distance from) the river. The grid breaks down in hilly regions, particularly in the West Hills, where roads follow the contours of elevation. The "logic" of the grid also breaks down slightly in the North section: it's the only section on the east side where address numbers go higher towards the river. In the rest of the east side, the numbers go lower towards the river.
On the west side, the RiverPlace, John's Landing and South Waterfront Districts lie in a "sixth quadrant" where addresses go higher from west to east toward the river. This "sixth quadrant" is roughly bounded by Naito Parkway and Barbur Boulevard to the west, Montgomery Street to the north and Nevada Street to the south.
Health
There are a number of hospitals in this area, one of the most notible is Oregon Health Sciences University.
Crime
Crime is not that bad here. You can walk down the street and feel safe in 95% of the neighborhoods.
Climate
Portland's climate is temperate and seasonal. The rainfall averages 36.3 inches per year. Portland averages 155 days with measurable precipitation a year. Snowfall is uncommon, generally occurring no more than a few times per year, although the city has been known to see major snow and ice storms thanks to cold air outflow from the Columbia River Gorge. The city's winter snowfall totals have ranged from just a trace on many occasions, to 1,547 mm (60.9 inches) in 1892-93. Although it lies in the Marine west coast climate zone, Portland shows many characteristics of a Mediterranean climate. The city has mild, wet winters, and hot, dry summers. The summer months (June through September) mark the driest period, averaging no more than one inch of rain per month, but it is not uncommon for summer months to receive little or no precipitation. November through April is the rainy season, with 80% of the total annual rainfall occurring in those months. Winter low temperatures hover around 35 °F (2 °C), and summer highs average around 27 °C (80 °F), however summer heat waves with temperatures exceeding 38 °C (100 °F) do occur. But for the most part, the Portland summers are very pleasant with abundant sunshine. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Portland was -19 °C (-3 °F), set on February 2, 1950. Portland has recorded a record high temperature of 42 °C (107 °F) numerous times, and temperatures of 38 °C (100 °F) have been recorded in each of the months from May through September.
Education
Many of Portland's recreational, cultural, educational, governmental, business, and retail resources are concentrated downtown, including:
South Park Blocks, Pettygrove and Lovejoy Parks, and Tom McCall Waterfront Park
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Portland Art Museum, and Oregon Historical Society Museum
Portland City Hall, Multnomah County Courthouse, the Portland Building, Pioneer Courthouse, and Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse
Portland State University, with the largest student body of any in Oregon
The Meier & Frank Building and Pioneer Place mall
Wells Fargo Center, the tallest building in Oregon (546 feet [166 m])
Transportation
The Portland metropolitan area has the typical transportation services common to major U.S. cities, though Oregon's emphasis on proactive land-use planning and transit-oriented development within the urban growth boundary means that commuters have multiple well-developed options.
TriMet operates most of the region's buses and the MAX (short for Metropolitan Area Express) light rail system, which connects the city and suburbs. 5th and 6th avenues used to be the Portland Transit Mall, devoted primarily to bus traffic with limited automobile access, running north/south through downtown. During construction of the new Portland Transit Mall, which will include light rail, buses have been moved to 3rd and 4th avenues, and 5th and 6th avenues have been closed for construction between Northwest Hoyt Street and about Southwest Clay.
I-5 connects Portland with the Willamette Valley, Southern Oregon, and California to the south and with Washington to the north. I-405 forms a loop with I-5 around the central downtown area of the city and I-205 is a loop freeway route on the east side which connects to the Portland International Airport. US 26 supports commuting within the metro area and continues to the Pacific Ocean westward and Mount Hood and Central Oregon eastward. US 30 has a main, bypass and business route through the city extending to Astoria, Oregon to the west; through Gresham, Oregon, and the eastern exurbs, and connects to I-84, traveling towards Boise, Idaho.
Portland Aerial Tram car descends towards the growing South Waterfront district.Portland's main airport is Portland International Airport (IATA: PDX, ICAO: KPDX), located about 20 minutes by car (40 minutes by MAX) northeast of downtown. Scheduled international flights depart to Japan (Tokyo), Singapore, Germany (Frankfurt), Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico City, Cabo San Lucas, and Puerto Vallarta), and Canada (Vancouver, British Columbia). In addition Portland is home to Oregon's only public use heliport, the Portland Downtown Heliport (FAA LID: 61J).
Union Station with its iconic "Go By Train" sign.
Riding bikes in Portland.Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Portland at Union Station on three routes. Long-haul train routes include the Coast Starlight (with service from Los Angeles to Seattle) and the Empire Builder (with service from Portland to Chicago.) The Amtrak Cascades commuter trains operate between Vancouver, British Columbia and Eugene, Oregon, and serve Portland several times daily in both directions.
Portlanders have other transportation alternatives. The Portland Streetcar operates from the southern waterfront, through Portland State University north to nearby homes and shopping districts. The city is particularly supportive of urban bicycling and has been recognized by the League of American Bicyclists among others for its network of paths and other bicycle-friendly services. Car sharing through Flexcar is also available to residents of the city and some inner suburbs. The new Portland Aerial Tram connects the South Waterfront district on the Willamette River and the Oregon Health & Science University campus on Marquam Hill above. Construction of the tram was completed in December 2006.
Bicycling is a popular transportation and commuting option in Portland. The Bicycle Transportation Alliance sponsors an annual Bicycle Commute Challenge, in which thousands of commuters compete for prizes and recognition based on the length and frequency of their commutes.[42]
Recreation
Portland has one major league sports team (the Trail Blazers) and a variety of minor league teams. Running is a major sport in the metropolitan area, which hosts the Portland Marathon and much of the Hood to Coast Relay (the world's largest such event). Skiing and snowboarding are also highly popular, with a number of nearby resorts on Mount Hood, including year-round Timberline.
It was formerly home to the Portland Rosebuds of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, the first professional sports team in Oregon and the first professional hockey team in the U.S.
Portland has one of the most active bicycle racing scenes in the United States, with hundreds of events sanctioned each year by the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association. Weekly events at Alpenrose Velodrome and Portland International Raceway allow for racing nearly every night of the week during spring and summer, and fall cyclocross races such as the Cross Crusade can have over 1000 riders and boisterous spectators.
Society
Portland is well known as a hub of American youth culture.
From the late 1980's through today, Portland has been a major center for movements such as zine-making, including hosting such events as the Portland Zine Symposium[34] and home to major zine distributors such as Microcosm. The DIY craft community has also seen a population explosion in Portland since the 1990's and now hosts such events as Crafty Wonderland[35] and regular Church of Craft[36] meetings, and is home to such stores as Knittn' Kitten[37], SCRAP[38], and many independently-owned stores such as Bolt, Yarn Garden[39], and the downtown Fiber District. Portland is also home to radical feminist and lesbian activist movements, and the city is also considered a haven for punk, hardcore, crust punk and anarchist movements and subgenres, including the self-reliant DIY culture movement that has been part of the aforementioned subcultures.
It has produced many artists of significant impact within their respective fields, including musicians and musical groups The Kingsmen, The Wipers, Poison Idea, The Dandy Warhols, Everclear, Elliott Smith, Pink Martini, Quasi, Sleater-Kinney, Stephen Malkmus, Lifesavas, The Decemberists, The Shins, The Thermals, Menomena, The Shaky Hands, and Viva Voce; animator Matt Groening; filmmaker Gus Van Sant; actors Sam Elliott and Lindsay Wagner and authors Beverly Cleary, Katherine Dunn, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Chuck Palahniuk.
Arts & Culture
Portland is home to a diverse array of artists and arts organizations, and was named in 2006 by American Style magazine as the 10th best Big City Arts Destination in the U.S.
Major performing arts institutions include the Oregon Ballet Theatre, Oregon Symphony, Portland Center Stage, and the Portland Opera. Over 75 other arts organizations produce theatre, music, dance, folk art, media arts in Portland, helping Portland achieve its reputation as an arts destination for cultural tourists.
Some of the town's many theater companies include the following: Portland Center Stage, Artist Repertory Theater, Theater Vertigo, Northwest Children's Theater, Stumptown Stages, Oregon Children's Theater, Miracle Theater, Blue Monkey Theater Company, Northwest Classical Theater Company, Third Rail Repertory Theater and Profile Theater
The Portland Art Museum owns the city's largest art collection and presents a variety of touring exhibitions each year and with the recent addition of the Modern and Contemporary Art wing it became one of the United States' 25 largest museums. Art galleries abound downtown and in the Pearl District, as well as in the Alberta Arts District and other neighborhoods throughout the city. Other organizations displaying visual arts include the Portland Art Center, Disjecta, and Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA).
The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) is located on the east bank of the Willamette River across from downtown Portland, and contains a variety of hands-on exhibits covering the physical sciences, life science, earth science, technology, astronomy, and early childhood education. OMSI also has an OMNIMAX Theater and is home to the USS Blueback (SS-581) submarine (which was featured in the film The Hunt for Red October).
The copper statue Portlandia above the entry to the Portland Building on SW 5th Avenue.Portland is also home to Portland Classical Chinese Garden, an authentic representation of a Suzhou-style walled garden. Local construction workers provided the site preparation and foundation, and dozens of workers from Suzhou, using material from China, constructed its walls and other structures, including a tea house.
Portlandia, a statue on the west side of the Portland Building, is the second-largest hammered-copper statue in the U.S. (after the Statue of Liberty). Portland's public art is managed by the Regional Arts & Culture Council.
Powell's City of Books says it is the largest independent bookstore in the United States and the largest bookstore west of the Mississippi River.
As a city with a strong tradition of bizarre festivals such as the Keep Portland Weird Festival[26], Portland hosts the world's only HP Lovecraft Film Festival[27] at the Hollywood Theatre.
Pictures
Pictures of Mount Hood and the Willamette River.
