Portland

About Portland

Portland is often cited as an example of a well-planned city. The credit for this starts with Oregon's proactive land use policies, particularly the establishment of an urban growth boundary (UGB) in 1974. The boundary preserved agricultural land and reduced sprawl. 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.

Portland's success in urban planning continues with the Metropolitan Service District (Metro for short), a regional government directly elected by voters. Metro's charter includes land use and transportation planning, solid waste management, and map development. Metro manages the UGB by coordinating with the cities and counties in the area to ensure a 20-year-supply of developable land with the infrastructure that land needs.

Portland has various nicknames whose popularity has ebbed and flowed over the years. The City of Roses and Rose City originated during the 1905 Lewis and Clark centennial. The climate is ideal for growing roses and the city is home to the annual Rose Festival, the International Rose Test Garden, and the Rose Garden Arena.

One of the oldest nicknames, "Stumptown", comes from the period of phenomenal growth after 1847. The city was growing so rapidly that the stumps of trees cut down to make way for roads were left until manpower could be spared to remove them. In some areas, the stumps remained for so long that locals painted them white to make them more visible, and used them to cross the street without sinking into the mud.

Other nicknames include:
City of Bridges, or Bridgetown, due to its numerous bridges; PDX, from the airport code of its airport; River City, because of its proximity to the Willamette River and Columbia River; Rip City, a nickname stemming from a chance remark from Bill Schonely, a long-time announcer for the Portland Trail Blazers; Little Beirut, a nickname given to the city by George H. W. Bush for the hostile demonstrations in response to his visits and those of his son; Soccer City USA, a nickname reportedly dating to the heyday of the Portland Timbers during the 1970s, and revived due to its history of supporting soccer such as the FIFA Women's World Cup games and the University of Portland men's and women's teams; Deportland, a nickname which rose to popularity briefly in 2000 due to the alleged rough treatment of passengers at the Federal Inspection Service facility;

Portland is proud of its parks and its legacy of preserving open spaces. In fact, it has one of the highest parks-per-capita ratios among cities in the United States. Forest Park is the largest wilderness park within city limits in North America, with over 5,000 acres (20 km²). Portland is also home to Mill Ends Park, the world's smallest park (being a two-foot diameter circle, its area is only about 0.3 square meters). Washington Park is west of downtown, home to the Oregon Zoo, a Japanese Garden, the International Rose Test Garden, all accessible from a MAX stop which is the deepest subway station in the country.

Waterfront Park runs along west bank of the Willamette for the length of downtown. The 37 acre (150,000 m²) park was built in 1974 after a freeway was removed. Today it plays host to large events throughout the year, including several beer festivals, a series of blues concerts, and the Rose Festival carnival.

In addition, within Portland's downtown, two groups of contiguous city blocks are dedicated for park space; they are referred to as the North and South Park Blocks. 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. The only state park in the area is Tryon Creek State Park; its creek still has a run of steelhead.

Skiing
Portland is served by a number of local resorts located on nearby Mount Hood: Timberline, Mt. Hood Meadows, Ski Bowl, Cooper Spur, and Ski Bunny. Timberline allows skiers to reach the Mt. Hood Glacier area and allows skiing year round. In the summer months there are many ski and snowboard camps. Timberline remains one of only two resorts in North America to have year-round skiing, Whistler in British Columbia being the other.

Professional sports
Portland Trail Blazers, NBA
Portland Beavers, Minor league baseball
Portland Winterhawks, Western Hockey League
Portland Timbers, United Soccer Leagues
Jackson Lacrosse, AAA-League Lacrosse

Tourist attractions
Portland Classical Chinese Garden
Pioneer Courthouse Square
Portland Rose Garden
Japanese Garden
Portlandia
The Grotto
Oregon Zoo
Oaks Amusement Park
Northwest Film Center
Oregon Historical Society
Pittock Mansion
Portland Art Museum
Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA)
Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI)
The American Advertising Museum
The Bathtub Art Museum
Portland Saturday Market
Powell's City of Books
Burgerville, USA
24 Hour Church of Elvis