Relatively few places give you the opportunity to visit the high desert plain, snowy mountains, temperate rain forest to dipping your toes in the chilly Pacific Ocean all in one day. But Portland can. Situated between the Cascade mountain range and the lava sculpted Oregon coast, it is often looked upon as the largest small town in the West. This budding metropolis has everything to offer without giving you that lost feeling that other big cities bring.
Residents are pretty relaxed here. Drivers wave you on to let you pass, neighbors stop to chat about lawn care, people acknowledge each other if only with a nod. With the mild weather, gardening is a year round activity. Portland has just been named third in the country for having the smallest carbon footprint (Honolulu number one). There are more than 150 miles of bike lanes and more than half the residents hold a library card. But that doesn’t mean Portlanders are a bunch of fuddy duddy grandmas. President Bush Sr. coined the term “little Beruit” to describe the political activism here. “Keep Portland Weird” is a mantra we all appreciate. Every December, Portland’s Cacophony Society fills the town with hoards of roving (sometimes drunken) Santas. And much to the police department’s chagrin, ‘Critical Mass’ and their monthly bike ride through heavily congested areas stops cars in their tracks as hundreds of bike riders remind drivers to share the road. And we have the most nudie bars per capita, but we digress. Visual art, literature, innovative music, and great food all flourish here thanks to these ingredients.
Known by such names as the Silicon Forest, Rose City, Stumptown, Bridgetown, P-Town and PDX, Portland’s roots seem to be steeped in about every aspect of modern and historic life. We just celebrated the 200 year anniversary of Lewis and Clark’s journey. There were all the pioneers that came, of course. You may have also heard of Portland’s infamous shanghai-ing past. Hundreds of Hawaiians took up residence as indentured servants just over the river in Vancouver to work for the King and much of Honolulu was built with lumber from this area.
Today, many companies call Portland, Oregon home, including Intel, Nike, Adidas, and Hewlett Packard.
If music is your thing, Portland has you covered. We used to be known for the being home of The Kingsmen of “Louis, Louis” fame. Then in the early 90’s, sometime around the grunge scene, Portland exploded with music. Today much of the “indie music” scene thrives here. From the Dandy Warhols, The Decemberists, Elliott Smith (RIP), Stephen Malkmus, the Shins and much much more. Britt Daniel from Spoon just moved here. But Sleater-Kinney have called it a day, and M. Ward has moved to New Hampshire. Oh well. But apart from the aforementioned big fish, there are a tons of bands here, working hard to ensure that the music scene won’t grind to a halt. Local papers are packed with numerous performances that can been seen virtually any night of the week.
Hand in hand with the music scene, you could sample a different hand crafted microbrew every day for a month and you wouldn’t be a quarter of the way through all of your options in this realm. Portland is often considered the leader of the microbrewery revolution, and some of the nations leading craft beers are common place in about every bar in Portland.
Award winning Pinot Noir more your speed? Lucky for you, much of the Willamette Valley has a hugely successful wine market. Most wineries are open on certain days for tastings and wine connoisseurs celebrate the bounty.
Portland’s fascination with libations turns the spotlight on another area in which Portland is a shining star, and hopefully a trend setter for every other metropolis in the United States. Portland has one of the best transit systems in the United States. A centralized system in which your train tickets and bus tickets are the same valid fare, you can get virtually anywhere in a reasonable amount of time without a vehicle. If you’d rather walk or bike, Portland has dedicated bike routes and pedestrian walkways that would put most cities to shame. Depending on your needs, most people can make their way around the city for less than 2 bucks a day.
Potentially every outdoor activity imaginable is accessible within a few hours of Portland. Whether it be trail hiking or mountain biking along the Cascade range, snowshoeing, snowboarding or skiing Mt. Hood or Mt. Bachelor, catching the chilly but substantial surf on the Oregon coast, or wind surfing and kite boarding in the world famous Columbia Gorge, you can do practically anything on any given day. Even a few minutes from downtown, you can find yourself lost in Forest Park, the largest municipal park within city limits in the country.
There are countless reasons that Jereme and Amy are so proud to call Portland their home, and these are just some of them. We hope that, during your visit, you come to love this city as much as we do. If you love it enough, let us know… We have a great real estate agent! ;)