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Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon, and county seat of Multnomah County. It straddles the Willamette River immediately south of its confluence with the Columbia River. Portland is the third largest city in the Pacific Northwest after Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia, with a population of 556,370 (July 1, 2005 estimate). Approximately 2 million live in the surrounding metropolitan area (MSA), the 24th-largest in the U.S. Portland is known as "The City of Roses" or "Rose City" — its climate is ideal for their cultivation, and the city has many rose gardens, including the International Rose Test Garden in Washington Park. Other nicknames include "Stumptown" (due to early logging to clear land for development), "Bridgetown" (due to its numerous bridges), "Puddletown" (due to the rainy weather), "River City" (due to its proximity to the Willamette and Columbia), "PDX" (after the city's airport code), "P-town." Portland is well known as a hub of American youth culture, specifically white American youth culture. The town has produced many artists who are regarded as having significant impact on their specific fields:
Due to liberal free speech laws , Portland reportedly has more strip clubs per capita than both Las Vegas and San Francisco .
History
Law and Government
Planning and development
Geography and climate Portland lies at the northern end of Oregon's most populated region, the Willamette Valley. (As the metropolitan area is culturally and politically distinct from the rest of the valley, local usage often excludes Portland from the valley proper.) Although almost all of Portland lies within Multnomah County, small portions of the city lie within Clackamas and Washington counties, with mid-2005 populations estimated at 785 and 1,455, respectively. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 145.4 mi² (376.5 km²). 134.3 mi² (347.9 km²) of it is land and 11.1 mi² (28.6 km²), or 7.6%, is water. Portland lies on top of an extinct Plio-Pleistocene volcanic field.http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Oregon/BoringLavaField/description_boring_lava.html The Boring Lava Field includes at least 32 cinder cones and small shield volcanoes lying within a radius of 13 miles of Kelly Butte, which is approximately four miles east of downtown Portland. Climate Portland's climate is temperate and seasonal. The average rainfall ranges between approximately 40 to 45 inches per year depending on location. Portland averages 155 days with measureable precipitation a year. Snowfall is rather uncommon. 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 warm, 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 80 °F (27 °C), however summer heat waves with temperatures exceeding 100 °F (38 °C) do occur on occasion. But for the most part, the Portland summers are very pleasant with abundant sunshine. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Portland was −3 °F (−19 °C), set on February 2 1950. Portland recorded a record high temperature of 107 °F (42 °C) numerous times, and temperatures of 100 °F (38 °C) have been recorded in each of the months from May through September. Sections and neighborhoods
Southwest
Northwest Northwest Portland includes the Pearl District, most of Old Town Chinatown, the Northwest District, and various residential and industrial neighborhoods. A range of streets in Northwest Portland are named alphabetically, from Burnside north to Yeon. (Several characters in Portland native Matt Groening's TV show The Simpsons have names based on these: Ned ''Flanders'', the bully ''Kearney'', Reverend ''Lovejoy'', Mayor ''Quimby'', and possibly C. Montgomery ''Burns''ide.) The Pearl District is a recent name for a former warehouse and industrial area just north of downtown. Many of the warehouses have been converted into lofts, and new multistory condominiums have also been developed on previously vacant land. The increasing density has attracted a mix of restaurants, brewpubs, shops, and art galleries. The galleries sponsor simultaneous artists' receptions on the first Thursday of every month. Between the Pearl District and the Willamette is the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood. It includes Portland's Chinatown, marked by a pair of lions at its entrance at NW 4th Ave. and W Burnside St. and home to the Portland Classical Chinese Garden. Before World War II, this area was known as Japan Town or Little Tokyo; Chinatown was previously located just south of W. Burnside St. along the riverfront. Further west is the compact but thriving NW 21st and 23rd Avenue restaurant and retail area, the core of the Northwest District. Parts of this area are also called Uptown and ''Nob Hill''. The residential areas adjacent to the shopping district include the Alphabet Historic District (with large Victorian and Craftsman homes built in the years before and shortly after 1900) and a large district centered around Wallace Park. The neighborhood has a mix of Victorian-era houses, apartment buildings from throughout the 20th century, and various businesses centered around Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center. The Portland Streetcar connects Nob Hill to downtown, via the Pearl. West of the developed areas is the northern portion of Portland's West Hills, including the majority of extensive Forest Park. North North Portland is a diverse mixture of residential, commercial, and industrial areas. It includes the Portland International Raceway, the University of Portland, and massive cargo facilities of the Port of Portland. North Portland is connected to the industrial area of Northwest Portland by the St. Johns Bridge, a 2,067 ft long suspension bridge completed in 1931 and extensively rehabilitated in 2003-5. During World War II, a planned development named Vanport was constructed to the north of this section between the city limits and the Columbia River. It grew to be the second largest city in Oregon, but was wiped out by a disastrous flood in 1948. Columbia Villa, another wartime housing project in the Portsmouth Neighborhood, is being rebuilt; the new $150 million community will be known as New Columbia and will offer public housing, rental housing, and single family home ownership units. Since 2004, a light rail line runs along Interstate Avenue, which parallels I-5. Northeast
Southeast Southeast Portland stretches from the warehouses by the Willamette, through the historic Ladd's Addition, to the Hawthorne and Belmont districts. Southeast Portland residents initially tended to the blue-collar but have since evolved into a wide mix of backgrounds; inner southeast is home to several thriving subcultures including Hippies, Hipsters, and environmentalists, while the outer edges are populated by a diverse, largely working-class population which includes immigrant communities from Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia. The Hawthorne district is known for its hippie/radical crowd and small subculturally-oriented shops. Outer Southeast, particularly the area surrounding 82nd Avenue is constantly littered with Anarchist graffiti. Farther south, the Brooklyn, Sellwood-Moreland, Woodstock, Brentwood-Darlington, and Eastmoreland neighborhoods near Reed College are close to the Willamette River. The big box stores along SE 82nd Avenue, Clackamas Town Center and Mall 205 are the largest retail centers serving the area. Between the 1920s and the 1960s, Southeast was home to Lambert Gardens. Southeast Portland also features Mt. Tabor, a park with one of only two extinct volcanoes in a continental U.S. city, which (on the south slope) is home to Warner Pacific College. Demographics As of the 2000 census, there are 529,121 people residing in the city, organized into 223,737 households and 118,356 families. The population density is 1,521/km² (3,939.2/mi²). There are 237,307 housing units at an average density of 682.1/km² (1,766.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 77.91% White, 6.64% African American, 6.33% Asian, 1.06% Native American, 0.38% Pacific Islander, 3.55% from other races, and 4.15% from two or more races. 6.81% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. Out of 223,737 households, 24.5% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.1% are married couples living together, 10.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 47.1% are non-families. 34.6% of all households are made up of individuals and 9% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.3 and the average family size is 3. In the city the population is spread out with 21.1% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 34.7% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.6% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 35 years. For every 100 females there are 97.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 95.9 males. The median income for a household in the city is $40,146, and the median income for a family is $50,271. Males have a reported median income of $35,279 versus $29,344 reported for females. The per capita income for the city is $22,643. 13.1% of the population and 8.5% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 15.7% of those under the age of 18 and 10.4% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line. Oregon has a 9% income tax which tends to suppress accurate reporting. Figures delineating the income levels based on race are not available at this time. Portland is becoming increasingly diverse. Recent trends have more young people moving into the city as older, more established white families with children move to the suburbs. Although the city has the highest percentage of white residents of an American city of 500,000 or more, 60% of people moving to Oregon are non-white. However, though the population of the city is increasing, the total population of children is diminishing, which has put pressure on the public school system to close schools. A recent study found that Portland is now educating fewer children than it did in 1925, and the city will have to close the equivalent of three to four elementary schools each year for the next decade.Egan, Timothy. "Vibrant Cities Find One Thing Missing: Children." New York Times. March 24, 2005. Portland's public school system has remained racially imbalanced. As of the 2000 census, three of its high schools (Cleveland, Lincoln and Wilson) were over 70% white, while Jefferson High School was 86% non-white. The remaining four schools are more ethnically balanced."Abernethy Elementary School: Recent Enrollment Trends, 1995-96 through 2002-03." Portland Public Schools. Prepared by Management Information Services, October 30, 2002. The imbalance can be explained through Portland's demographic history. Prior to the Second World War, Portland had very few residents of non-European ethnicity. In 1940, Portland's African-American population was approximately 2,000 and largely consisted of railroad employees and their families. During the war-time liberty ship construction boom, the need for workers drew many blacks to the city. Due to institutionalized racism in the real-estate community at the time, this new influx of blacks was guided to specific neighborhoods, such as the Albina district and Vanport. The post-war destruction of Vanport eliminated the only integrated neighborhood, and the ghettoization of blacks into the NE quadrant of the city continued. Media The Oregonian is the only daily newspaper in Portland, and circulates statewide. Local weekly papers include Willamette Week (the largest alternative weekly in the metro area); the Portland Tribune (a general audience twice-weekly), the Portland Mercury (targeted at younger urban readers), the Oregon Herald, and the Asian Reporter, a weekly newspaper covering both international and local Asian news. WWeek, Tribune, Mercury, and Asian Reporter are free. The Portland Chinese Times is a local newspaper printed in Chinese aimed at the Chinese-American community. Portland Indymedia is one of the oldest and largest Independent Media Centers and plays a large role in the city's radical-leaning population. The Portland Alliance, a largely anti-authoritarian socialist monthly, is the largest radical print paper in the city. Portland Monthly is a monthly news and culture magazine. The Business Journal of Portland, a weekly, covers many business-news-related stories, as does The Daily Journal of Commerce. BarFly Magazine is a popular weekly periodical covering the city's nightlife and bar scene. Exotic Magazine is the major monthly magazine covering the city's adult entertainment and nightlife since 1993. The Mid-county Memo is a neighborhood newspaper serving the Gateway and Parkrose neighborhoods on Portland's east side. PORT is an art macroblog dedicated to the vibrant art scene that provides daily updates on the arty goings on around town. Oregon Business magazine covers business from a statewide perspective. Oregon Home magazine is the region's remodeling and decor publication. Portland is well served by television and radio. The metro area is the 23rd largest Designated Market Area (DMA) in the U.S., consisting of 1,086,900 homes and 0.992% of the U.S. market. The major network television affiliates include: Parks and attractions
Beer Portland and certain other Oregon cities (such as Hood River and Bend) are well-known for their beer. It is often said that Portland is the home of the microbrew revolution in the United States. Some illustrate Portlanders' interest in the beverage by an offer made in 1888, when local brewer Henry Weinhard volunteered to pump beer from his brewery into the newly dedicated Skidmore Fountain. However, the renown for quality beer dates to the 1980s, when state law was changed to allow consumption of beer on brewery premises. In short order, microbreweries and brewpubs began to pop up all over the city. Their growth was supported by the abundance of local ingredients, including two-row barley, over a dozen varieties of hops, and the pure water from Bull Run (a drainage basin of nearby Mount Hood). Today, with 33 breweries within the city limits, Portland is home to more breweries than any other city in the world. The McMenamin brothers alone have over thirty brewpubs, distilleries, and wineries scattered throughout the metropolitan area, several in renovated theaters and other old buildings otherwise destined for demolition. Other notable Portland brewers include Widmer Brothers, Bridgeport, Full Sail, Hair of the Dog, and Pyramid (formerly Portland), and numerous smaller quality brewers. In 1999, author Michael "Beerhunter" Jackson called Portland a candidate for the beer capital of the world because the city boasted more breweries than Cologne, Germany. The Portland Oregon Visitors Association is promoting "Beervana" and "Brewtopia" as nicknames for the city.*. Portland hosts a number of festivals throughout the year in celebration of beer, including the Oregon Brewers Festival. Held each July, it is the largest gathering of independent craft brewers in North America. Other major beer festivals throughout the calendar year are: in April Spring Beer and Wine Festival, in July Portland International Beerfest and in December Holiday Ale Festival. An unusual feature of Portland entertainment is the large number of movie theaters that serve beer, often with second-run or revival films. Examples include the Academy Theater, Bagdad Theater, Clinton Street Theater, Edgefield, Kennedy School, Laurelhurst Theater, and Mission Theater. Sports Portland has one major league sports team (Trail Blazers) and a variety of minor league teams. Portland's first professional sports team was the Portland Rosebuds. Not only were they the first professional sports team in Oregon they were the first professional hockey team in the U.S. They joined the Pacific Coast Hockey Association in 1914. They were the first U.S. Team to play for the Stanley Cup; in 1916, they played against the Montreal Canadiens. In 1918, the team moved to Chicago and took the name Blackhawks. The Rosebuds played at the Portland Hippodrome. At the time it was built, it was the world’s largest indoor ice rink. It was on NW 22nd and Marshall; it burned down in 1951. Portland is home to only one team in a major league, the Portland Trail Blazers. The National Basketball Association team has several players in the Basketball Hall of Fame, including Dražen Petrović, Bill Walton, Lenny Wilkens, and Clyde "The Glide" Drexler. The Blazers won their only NBA Championship in 1977. They lost in the NBA finals in 1990 (to the Detroit Pistons) and 1992 (to Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls). The Portland Winter Hawks, a major-junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League, have been a team since 1976-1977, when the Blazers won the NBA Finals. The Winter Hawks are one of the most popular junior ice hockey teams and there are many loyal fans in Portland. They have also produced many NHL stars. The Portland Beavers, are a Triple-A baseball team from the Pacific Coast League affiliated with the San Diego Padres. They were founded in 2001. However, the original Beavers started playing in 1903. The Beavers play in PGE Park and sell a fair amount of tickets. The Portland Timbers, of the United Soccer Leagues First Division, are a soccer team that plays at PGE Park. Since they were formed in 2001, the Timbers have made the playoffs four out of five times but have never won a championship. The city was also home to a WNBA team, the Portland Fire. The team never made the playoffs and folded in 2002. One of the cities’ newest and fastest growing teams in popularity is the Portland LumberJax of the National Lacrosse League. They play in the best box lacrosse league in the country but it is not a major league. In the LumberJax first season, they clinched their division, a rare and mighty feat for a first year team. Unfortunately for Jax fans, the team was upset in the first round of the playoffs by the Arizona Sting. Portland is now home to two new basketball teams, the Oregon Riptide, in the American Basketball Association and the Portland Chinooks in the International Basketball League. Neither team has established a significant fan base yet The city also has a successful paintball team in the National Professional Paintball League called the Portland Naughty Dogs. The team plays in a variety of tournaments around the U.S. Portland is also one of the locations on the Champ Car World Series circuit, hosting races at the world-class Portland International Raceway. PIR also hosts a race on the American Le Mans Series and a variety of SCCA, historic, and annual races such as the Rose Cup during the city's Rose Festival. There has been recent interest in attracting a Major League Baseball franchise to Portland. In 2004, the city made an unsuccessful bid for the Montreal Expos, and in 2006 was contacted by the Florida Marlins. There is also an interest of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL moving to Portland. Skiing and snowboarding are particularly popular with Portlanders. The area is served by a number of resorts located on nearby Mount Hood, including Timberline, which allows skiing year round. The only other resort in North America with summer skiing is Whistler in British Columbia. Rock climbing is growing in popularity as an outdoor pastime. At numerous small crags around town, one may glimpse mountaineers-in-training with their ropes, alpenstocks, and hard-soled boots practicing their technical moves on the rock in preparation for difficult alpine ascents. The local Alpenrose Dairy is host to the annual Little League softball World Series and has a velodrome on site. Running is a major sport in Portland, the home of the Nike shoe company and of Adidas' American operations. The Portland Marathon has been held annually in the city since 1971. The Hood to Coast Relay is the world's largest running relay race, with approximately 17,000 racers per year running from Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood to the Pacific Ocean at Seaside. Famous residents See List of Portlanders. Public education The Portland Public Schools district consists of about 100 schools covering in various combinations grades K through 12, as well as 50 special education programs. The number of students in the school district is approximately 53,000 — over 90% of the available school-age children, a higher percentage than other large urban school districts. Nonetheless, total school enrollment is declining, accompanying a change in Portland's demographics, and the Portland Public Schools are facing increasing budget pressure. Notable public high schools include: Woodrow Wilson High School, Lincoln High School, Cleveland High School, Metropolitan Learning Center and Benson Polytechnic High School. Lincoln, the oldest public high school west of the Mississippi River, was built in 1869, and boasts several famous alumni, including cartoon voice Mel Blanc, singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons) and astronaut S. David Griggs. Cleveland draws many students due to its International Baccalaureate program. Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, graduated from Cleveland. Benson is a citywide magnet high school named for lumber baron and social entrepreneur Simon Benson, who in 1917 endowed the school with a grant worth $1.5 million in 2006 dollars. School districts in the suburbs include: to the east, Parkrose, Centennial,Gresham Reynolds Schools, and David Douglas; to the west, Beaverton, Tigard-Tualatin, Lake Oswego, and Riverdale; to the south, North Clackamas, West Linn-Wilsonville, and Oregon City. The region also has several top private schools, including: the Catlin Gabel School, Central Catholic High School, French American International School, Jesuit High School, The Northwest Academy, Oregon Episcopal School, St. Mary's Academy, and Valley Catholic High School. Portland is also home to Montessori Institute Northwest, an internationally recognized (AMI) teacher training facility, and the city and nearby suburbs are known as a nexus for Montessori education from preschool through junior high. Colleges and universities Portland State University, with graduate and undergraduate enrollment of around 24,000, is Oregon's largest university. Its primary campus is at the southern edge of downtown. PSU has masters programs in liberal arts, business, engineering, computer science, performing arts, social work and urban affairs. PSU's doctoral programs include biology, civil engineering, education, electrical & computer engineering, computer science, environmental sciences, math, psychology, public administration, urban studies, social work, and systems sciences. Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) includes a major medical school (see below), and several major research departments, including: Vollum Institute for Advanced Biomedical Research, Neurological Sciences Institute, Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Advanced Imaging Research Center, Center for Biostatistics, Computing & Informatics in Biology & Medicine, Center for the Study of Weight Regulation and Associated Disorders, Oregon Stem Cell Center, Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute, and the Oregon Graduate Institute School of Science and Engineering. Community colleges include: Portland Community College, with three major campuses in the city—Cascade, Rock Creek, and Sylvania—as well as the smaller Southeast Center and Metropolitan Workforce Training Center; Mount Hood Community College in East Multnomah County near Gresham; Clackamas Community College in Oregon City; Chemeketa Community College in Salem, about 45 minutes south of Portland; Clark College in Vancouver, Washington. Private colleges include: Cascade College, Capstone College, Concordia University, George Fox University, Lewis & Clark College, Linfield College, Marylhurst University, Pacific University, Reed College, University of Portland, Warner Pacific College, and Willamette University. Other: Concorde Career Institute, Western Culinary Institute, and Multnomah Bible College. Schools of medicine OHSU has a major medical, dental, and nursing school at its primary campus just south of downtown, in the West Hills. The campus anchors a medical district (affectionately called "Pill Hill") surrounded by other hospitals including a Veterans Affairs Hospital, Portland Shriners Hospital, and Doernbecher Children's Hospital. OHSU has residency training programs in the following disciplines: Anesthesiology, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, General Medicine, Dentistry, Dermatology, Diagnostic Radiology, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, General Surgery, Medical Genetics, Neurology, Neurological Surgery, Nursing, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ophthalmology, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery, Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, Pathology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Public Health and Preventive Medicine. Other schools of medicine include: Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, the National College of Naturopathic Medicine, Western States Chiropractic College, and the School of Optometry at Pacific University. Schools of law Lewis & Clark College includes Lewis & Clark Law School. Schools of art These include the Art Institute of Portland, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Oregon College of Art and Craft * and Northwest Film Center. 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. In fact, Portland is well-known for its comprehensive public transportation system. TriMet operates most of the region's buses and the Metropolitan Area Express, or MAX, light rail system, which connects the city and suburbs. 5th and 6th avenues are the Portland Transit Mall, devoted primarily to bus traffic (and, soon, light rail) with limited automobile access, running north/south through downtown. 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's main airport is Portland International Airport, 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). 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 will connect the South Waterfront district on the Willamette River and the Oregon Health & Science University campus on Marquam Hill above. Construction of the tram is scheduled for completion in December 2006. See also Sister cities Portland has eleven sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International: Portland also has a friendship city relationship with Tallinn, Estonia. Further reading Portland wiki sites | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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