| Portland | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — City — | |||
| City of Portland | |||
 | |||
| |||
| Nickname(s): "Rose City", "Stumptown", "P-town", "PDX", and "Little Beirut" See Nicknames of Portland, Oregon for a complete listing. | |||
 | |||
  Portland | |||
| Coordinates: 45°31′12″N 122°40′55″W | |||
| Country |  United States | ||
| State |  Oregon | ||
| Counties | Multnomah, Washington,Clackamas | ||
| Founded | 1845 | ||
| Incorporated | February 8, 1851 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Type | Commission | ||
| - Mayor | Sam Adams | ||
| - Commissioners | Randy Leonard Dan Saltzman Nick Fish Amanda Fritz | ||
| - Auditor | LaVonne Griffin-Valade | ||
| Area | |||
| - City | 145.4 sq mi (376.5 km2) | ||
| - Land | 134.3 sq mi (347.9 km2) | ||
| - Water | 11.1 sq mi (28.6 km2) | ||
| Elevation | 50 ft (15.2 m) | ||
| Population (2009) | |||
| - City | 582,130 | ||
| - Density | 4,288.38/sq mi (1,655.31/km2) | ||
| - Metro | 2,217,325 | ||
| - Demonym | Portlander | ||
| Time zone | PST (UTC-8) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) | ||
| ZIP codes | 97086-97299 | ||
| Area code(s) | 503/971 | ||
| FIPS code | 41-59000 | ||
| GNIS feature ID | 1136645 | ||
| Website | www.portlandonline.com | ||
Portland city,
Portland is a city located in the Northwestern United States, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the state of Oregon. As of July 2009, it has an estimated population of 582,130, making it the 30th most populous in the United States. Portland is Oregon's most populous city, and the third most populous city in the Pacific Northwest, after Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Approximately 2.2 million people live in the Portland metropolitan area (MSA), the 23rd most populous in the United States as of July 2006.
Portland was incorporated in 1851 and is the county seat of Multnomah County. The city extends slightly into Washington County to the west and Clackamas County to the south. It is governed by a commission-based government headed by a mayor and four other commissioners.
The City of Portland has been referred to as one of the most environmentally friendly or "green" city in the world.The city and region are noted for strong land-use planning and investment in light rail, supported by Metro, a distinctive regional government. Portland is known for its large number of microbreweries and microdistilleries, as well as its coffee enthusiasm. It is also the home of the Trail Blazers NBA team.
Portland lies in the Marine west coast climate region, marked by warm, dry 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 History,
Portland in 1890
History of Portland, Oregon
Portland started as a spot known as "the clearing," which was on the banks of the Willamette about halfway between Oregon City and Fort Vancouver. In 1843, William Overton saw great commercial potential for this land but lacked the funds required to file a land claim. He struck a bargain with his partner Asa Lovejoy of Boston, Massachusetts: for 25¢, Overton would share his claim to the 640 acre (2.6 km²) site. Overton later sold his half of the claim to Francis W. Pettygrove of Portland, Maine. Pettygrove and Lovejoy each wished to name the new city after his respective home town; this was decided with a coin toss, which Pettygrove won in a series of two out of three tosses. The coin used for this decision, now known as the Portland Penny, is on display in the headquarters of the Oregon Historical Society.
At the time of its incorporation on February 8, 1851 Portland had over 800 inhabitants, a steam sawmill, a log cabin hotel, and a newspaper, the Weekly Oregonian. By 1879, the population had grown to 17,500. The city merged with Albina and East Portland in 1891, and annexed the cities of Linnton and St. Johns in 1915.
Portland's location, with access both to the Pacific Ocean via the Willamette and the Columbia rivers and to the agricultural Tualatin Valley via the "Great Plank Road" through a canyon in the West Hills (the route of current-day U.S. Route 26), gave it an advantage over nearby ports, and it grew very quickly. It remained the major port in the Pacific Northwest for much of the 19th century, until the 1890s, when Seattle's deepwater harbor was connected to the rest of the mainland by rail, affording an inland route without the treacherous navigation of the Columbia River,.
Portland in 1890
Portland Nicknames,
Nicknames of Portland, Oregon
The most common nickname for Portland is The City of Roses, and this became the city's official nickname in 2003.[ Other nicknames include Stumptown, Bridgetown, Rip City, Little Beirut, Beervana or Beertown, P-Town, Soccer City USA and PDX,.
Portland Geography,
+rises+on+the+city's+east+side.+Mount+Saint+Helens+(left)+and+Mount+Hood+(right.jpg)
The Willamette River runs through the center of the city, while Mount Tabor (center) rises on the city's east side. Mount Saint Helens (left) and Mount Hood (right center) are visible from many places in the city,.
.
Portland Topography,
Portland lies at the northern end of Oregon's most populated region, the Willamette Valley. However, 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. The Willamette River runs north through the city center, separating the east and west sections of the city before veering northwest to join with the Columbia River (which separates the state of Washington from the state of Oregon) a short distance north of the city.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 145.4 sq mi (376.5 km²). 134.3 sq mi (347.9 km²) of it is land and 11.1 sq mi (28.6 km²), or 7.6%, is water.
Portland lies on top of an extinct Plio-Pleistocene volcanic field known as the Boring Lava Field. The Boring Lava Field includes at least 32 cinder cones such as Mount Tabor, and its center lies in Southeast Portland. The dormant but potentially active volcano Mount Hood to the east of Portland is easily visible from much of the city during clear weather. The active volcano Mount Saint Helens to the north in Washington is visible in the distance from high-elevation locations in the city and is close enough to have dusted the city with volcanic ash after an eruption on May 18, 1980. Mount Adams, another prominent volcano in Washington state to the northeast of Portland, is also visible from parts of the city,.
Portland Climate,
Portland experiences a temperate climate that is usually described as Oceanic or Marine west coast, with mild, damp winters and relatively dry, warm summers. Like much of the Pacific Northwest, according to the Köppen climate classification it falls within the cool, dry-summer subtropical zone (Csb), also referred to as cool-summer Mediterranean, due to its relatively dry summers. Other climate classification systems, such as Trewartha, place it firmly in the Oceanic zone (Do).
Summers in Portland are warm, sunny and rather dry, with August, the warmest month, averaging 68.5 °F (20.3 °C), and much larger day-night variation than in winter. Due to its inland location and when there is an absence of a sea breeze, heatwaves occur (in particular during the months of July and August) with air temperatures sometimes rising over 100 °F (38 °C), but 90 °F (32 °C) is more commonplace, occurring 13 days per annum. Winters are normally mild, and very moist, with January averaging 39.9 °F (4.4 °C). Lows, though usually above freezing, can reach that mark or below 37 nights per year, however. Cold snaps are short-lived, and snowfall occurs 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 60.9 inches (154.7 cm) in 1892-93. Spring can bring rather unpredictable weather, resulting from warm spells, to thunderstorms rolling off the Cascade Range. The rainfall averages an equivalent 37.5 inches (950 mm) per year in downtown Portland， spread over 155 days a year. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Portland was −3 °F (−19 °C), set on February 2, 1950. The highest temperature ever recorded was 107 °F (42 °C), set on July 30, 1965 as well as August 8 and 10, 1981. Temperatures of 100 °F (38 °C) have been recorded in each of the months from May through September.
| limate data for Portland, Oregon (PDX) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °F (°C) | 45.6 (7.56) | 50.3 (10.17) | 55.7 (13.17) | 60.5 (15.83) | 66.7 (19.28) | 72.7 (22.61) | 79.3 (26.28) | 79.7 (26.5) | 74.6 (23.67) | 63.3 (17.39) | 51.8 (11) | 45.4 (7.44) | 62.1 (16.72) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 34.2 (1.22) | 35.9 (2.17) | 38.6 (3.67) | 41.9 (5.5) | 47.5 (8.61) | 52.6 (11.44) | 56.9 (13.83) | 57.3 (14.06) | 52.5 (11.39) | 45.2 (7.33) | 39.8 (4.33) | 35.0 (1.67) | 44.8 (7.11) |
| Precipitation inches (mm) | 5.07 (128.8) | 4.18 (106.2) | 3.71 (94.2) | 2.64 (67.1) | 2.38 (60.5) | 1.59 (40.4) | 0.72 (18.3) | 0.93 (23.6) | 1.65 (41.9) | 2.88 (73.2) | 5.61 (142.5) | 5.71 (145) | 37.07 (941.6) |
| Snowfall inches (cm) | 1.6 (4.1) | 1.6 (4.1) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0.6 (1.5) | 1.3 (3.3) | 5.2 (13.2) |
| Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 17.2 | 15.8 | 17.2 | 15.3 | 12.8 | 8.8 | 4.4 | 4.8 | 7.5 | 11.4 | 18.9 | 18.3 | 152.4 |
| Avg. snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 1.0 | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 3.8 |
| Sunshine hours | 86.8 | 118.7 | 192.2 | 222.0 | 275.9 | 291.0 | 331.7 | 297.6 | 237.0 | 151.9 | 78.0 | 65.1 | 2,347.9 |
| Source #1: NOAA (1971-2000) | |||||||||||||
| Source #2: HKO (sun, 1961-1990) | |||||||||||||
Portland Cityscape,
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Panorama of downtown Portland. Hawthorne Bridge viewed from a dock on the Willamette River near the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI)
Panorama of downtown Portland at night. Viewed from across the Willamette River in SE Portland.
Architecture of Portland, Oregon, List of tallest buildings in Portland, Oregon, Downtown Portland, and Neighborhoods of Portland, Oregon
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.
The sections of Portland
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.
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. East-West addresses in this area are denoted with a leading zero. (This means that 0246 SW California St. is NOT the same as 246 SW California St. Most mapping programs cannot distinguish these two different addresses,.)
Portland Parks and gardens,
Parks in Portland, Oregon
A panoramic view of the International Rose Test Garden
Tom McCall Waterfront Park seen from the north
Portland is proud of its parks and its legacy of preserving open spaces. Parks and greenspace planning date back to John Charles Olmsted's 1903 Report to the Portland Park Board. In 1995, voters in the Portland metropolitan region passed a regional bond measure to acquire valuable natural areas for fish, wildlife, and people. Ten years later, more than 8,100 acres (33 km2) of ecologically valuable natural areas had been purchased and permanently protected from development.
Portland is one of only three cities in the contiguous U.S. with extinct volcanoes within its boundaries (besides Jackson, Mississippi and Bend, Oregon). Mount Tabor Park is known for its scenic views and historic reservoirs.
Forest Park is the largest wilderness park within city limits in the United States, covering more than 5,000 acres (20 km²). Portland is also home to Mill Ends Park, the world's smallest park (a two-foot-diameter circle, the park's area is only about 0.3 square m). Washington Park is just west of downtown, and is home to the Oregon Zoo, the Portland Japanese Garden, and the International Rose Test Garden. Nearby is Council Crest Park, the highest point in Portland.
Tom McCall Waterfront Park runs along the west bank of the Willamette for the length of downtown. The 37-acre (15 ha) park was built in 1974 after Harbor Drive was removed and now hosts large events throughout the year. Portland's downtown features two groups of contiguous city blocks dedicated for park space: the North and South Park Blocks.
Tryon Creek State Natural Area is one of three Oregon State Parks in Portland and the most popular; its creek has a run of steelhead. The other two State Parks are Willamette Stone State Heritage Site located in the West Hills and the Government Island State Recreation Area located in the Columbia River near Portland International Airport,.
Portland Culture and contemporary life,
Fiction set in Oregon,
Portland is often awarded the "Greenest City in America", and ranks among the world's top 10 greenest cities. Popular Science has continued to award Portland the title of the Greenest City in America and Grist magazine lists it as the second greenest city in the world. Portland is well known as a hub of American DIY youth culture. From the late 1980s through today, Portland has been a major center for movements such as zine-making. Portland is also home to radical feminist and lesbian activist movements as well as the home city of The World's Oldest Teenage Drag Queen Pageant Rose Bud and Thorn Pageant started in 1975 and modeled after the Imperial Sovereign Rose Court of Oregon, 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,.
Entertainment and performing arts,
Music of Oregon#Portland,
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, home of the Oregon Symphony, among others
Like most large cities, Portland has a range of performing arts institutions which include the Oregon Ballet Theatre, Oregon Symphony, Portland Center Stage, Portland Baroque Orchestra and the Portland Opera. It also has quite a few stages similar to New York's Off Broadway or Off-Off-Broadway such as Portland Center Stage, Artists Repertory Theatre, Miracle Theatre, Stark Raving Theatre, and Tears of Joy Theatre. Portland hosts the world's only HP Lovecraft Film Festival at the Hollywood Theatre.
Portland is home to famous bands such as The Kingsmen and Paul Revere & the Raiders, both famous for Louie Louie. Other widely known musical groups include The Dandy Warhols, Everclear, Modest Mouse, Pink Martini, Sleater-Kinney, The Shins, Blitzen Trapper, The Decemberists, and the late Elliott Smith. The city's Satyricon nightclub is also well-known for being the place where the late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and rock musician Courtney Love met each other, eventually marrying.
Widely recognized animators include Matt Groening (The Simpsons) and Will Vinton (Will Vinton's A Claymation Christmas Celebration), and filmmaker Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting (1997), Milk (2008)). Actors from Portland include Sam Elliott and Sally Struthers. Dan Steffan, cartoonist-illustrator for Heavy Metal and other magazines, lives in Portland.
Recent films set and shot in Portland include Extraordinary Measures, Body of Evidence, What the Bleep Do We Know!?,The Hunted, Twilight, Paranoid Park, Wendy and Lucy, Feast of Love, and Untraceable. An unusual feature of Portland entertainment is the large number of movie theaters serving beer, often with second-run or revival films. A notable example of these "brew and view" theaters is The Bagdad Theater and Pub.
TV shows including Leverage and Under Suspicion have been filmed in Portland,.
Portland Authors,
Authors from Portland include science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin, famous for her Earthsea novels, Hainish Cycle and Orsinian Tales; transgressional fiction novelist Chuck Palahniuk, best known for his award-winning novel Fight Club; and Beverly Cleary, author of the famous series of children's books featuring Henry Huggins, his dog Ribsy, Beatrice "Beezus" Quimby and Ramona Quimby. Klickitat Street, where Cleary's characters live, is an actual street in northeast Portland. Statues of the characters stand in nearby Grant Park.
Portland Tourism,
Tourism in Portland, Oregon and List of artists and art institutions in Portland, Oregon
Portland is home to a diverse array of artists and arts organizations, and was named in 2006 by American Style magazine as the tenth best Big City Arts Destination in the U.S.
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' twenty-five 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.
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 submarine, used in the film The Hunt for Red October.
Portland is also home to Portland Classical Chinese Garden, an authentic representation of a Suzhou-style walled garden.
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 claims to be the largest independent bookstore in the United States and the largest bookstore west of the Mississippi River.
The Portland Rose Festival takes place annually in June and includes two parades, dragon boat races, carnival rides at Tom McCall Waterfront park, and dozens of other events.
Washington Park, in the West Hills, is home to some of Portland's most popular recreational sites, including the Oregon Zoo, the Portland Japanese Garden, the World Forestry Center, and the Hoyt Arboretum.
Portland hosts a number of festivals throughout the year in celebration of beer and brewing, including the Oregon Brewers Festival. Held each summer during the last full weekend of July, it is the largest outdoor craft beer festival in North America with over 70,000 attendees in 2008. Other major beer festivals throughout the calendar year include the Spring Beer and Wine Festival in April, the North American Organic Brewers Festival in June, the Portland International Beerfest in July, and the Holiday Ale Festival in December.
Portland Shopping,
The Made in Oregon sign
Portland has many options for shopping. Some of the well known shopping areas are Downtown Portland, Nob Hill (NW 21st & 23rd Avenues), Pearl District, and the Lloyd District. Major department stores in downtown include Nordstrom, Macy's, and Mario's. The major malls in the metropolitan area are Bridgeport Village, Washington Square, Clackamas Town Center, Lloyd Center, Vancouver Mall, and Pioneer Place. Another destination is the Portland Saturday Market, a town bazaar-like environment where many kinds of goods are sold from Artisan Crafts to Tibetan Imports, reflecting the many cultures of Portland. The Saturday Market is open every weekend from March through Christmas. The Made in Oregon company is based in Portland; it specializes in Oregon-produced products and gifts. Many residents of Clark County, Washington will cross the state border to shop in Oregon's tax-free stores,.
Portland Breweries,
Portland is well-known for its microbrewery beer. Oregon Public Broadcasting has documented Portland's role in the microbrew revolution in the United States in a report called Beervana. 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. Brewery innovation was supported by the abundance of local ingredients, including two-row barley, over a dozen varieties of hops, and pure water from the Bull Run Watershed. The Willamette Valley is one of the leading hop growing regions in the United States.
With twenty-eight breweries within the city, Portland is home to more breweries than any other city in the country, which is partially responsible for CNBC to name Portland the best city for happy hour in the U.S. The McMenamin brothers alone have over thirty brewpubs, distilleries, and wineries scattered throughout the metropolitan area, several in renovated cinemas and other old buildings otherwise destined for demolition. Other notable Portland brewers include Widmer Brothers, BridgePort, and Hair of the Dog, as well as 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 promotes "Beervana" and "Brewtopia" as nicknames for the city. In mid-January 2006, Mayor Tom Potter officially gave the city a new nickname: Beertown.
Sister cities
Portland has nine sister cities:
Ashkelon, Israel
Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Ulsan, South Korea
Mutare, Zimbabwe
Guadalajara, Mexico
Khabarovsk, Russia
Sapporo, Japan
Suzhou, China
Bologna, Italy
Gallery
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(source:wikipedia)
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