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Kudos for Portland
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Portland Awards
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American Association
of Retired People AARP The Magazine put Portland in the top
five areas to live for boomers 50 and older. September/October
2007 issue of the magazine.
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American
Podiatric Medical Association Portland was ranked No.
4 for walking out of 200 USA cities. Eugene, Oregon was ranked
No. 8.
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AutoAdvantage
Their 2007 survey of 25 U.S. cities said Portland drivers are the least
likely to encounter road rage. An AutoAdvantage spokesperson said,
"This seems to show that people in Portland are friendly and laid back."
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Best Balanced City and Suburbs Authors of a study released
in December 2006 about race and urban revival dub Portland and its suburbs
"the best balanced" in the nation.
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Best City for Bicycling
in the USA In a special category, Portland was named as the
"Best City for Bicycling in the USA" by Bicycling Magazine in their
October 2001 issue.
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Best City in America to Have a Baby Portland ranked number
four as 'Best Cities in America to have a baby' by the magazine,
Fit Pregnancy, in their January 2007 edition.
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Building Better: A Guide to America's Best New Development Projects
The Sierra Club in 2005 named the Pearl District in Portland as one
of America's Best New Development. Twelve developments were honored.
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Cities Ranked &
Rated: More Than 400 Metropolitan Areas Evaluated in the U.S. & Canada
In the second edition of this 850 page publication released in 2007,
Portland caught the number three spot as the "Best Place to Live."
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Cleanest City in USA In June 2005, Reader's Digest
compared data on the 50 most populous metropolitan areas to come up
with a ranking of America's cleanest cities. Portland came out
first.
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Cooking Light
In February 2008, the Cooking Light magazine named Portland the second-healthiest
city in the U.S. based on 15 criteria. Seattle was first.
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Corporation
for Enterprise Development Oregon ranks among the top seven
states in three broad economic development indicators according to a
study released in December 2004. A group known as the
Tax Foundation
ranked Oregon 10th in the nation in terms of the low tax burden it imposes
on businesses. Oregon earned its high ranking largely because it lacks
a sales tax. This study was released in October 2004.
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Creative Cities
Professor Richard Florida, Carnegie Mellon University, has developed
a "creative city index" and he ranks the Portland metro area 16th out
of 49 metro areas.
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Dog Fancy Magazine The magazine ranked
Portland at No. 1 as the best all-around city for dogs in America (October
2006 issue).
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Earth Day Network No city of comparable size offer locals
a better combination of clean air, water, and an all-around healthy
environment than Portland in a report from the Earth Day Network in
early 2007. Fargo, North Dakota and Burlington, Vermont scored
higher than Portland.
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eGrad
eGrad's
City Survey ranked Portland #1 in resident satisfaction.
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Employment
Review One of the "America's Top 20 Best Places to
Work."
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Fastest
Cities in the World Portland was one of 30 cities in the world
named by Fast Company magazine in their July/August 2007 issue.
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FitPregancy
The magazine rated Portland as the best place in America in which to
have a baby in their February 2008 edition.
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Green
Energy Portland's two electric utilities are number two and
three in the amount of green energy they sold for the year 2005.
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Green Guide
Portland named one of top 10 "green cities" in USA. The designation
comes from the city’s air quality, renewable energy leadership, miles
of bike trails and environmentally friendly building practices.
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Grist
In July 2007, Grist name Portland the number two 'green places to live'
in the world (out of 15 cities).
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Humane Cities
The 2007 Humane Society report was the first-ever
attempt to compare how communities across the country measure in terms
of the treatment of animals, and includes a wide range of topics related
to pets, farm animals, wildlife, animals in entertainment and advocacy
for animals. Portland ranked third among 25 cities in the USA.
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Institute
for Southern Studies Oregon is Green - ranks number
eight (out of 50 states) on Environmental Green Index for 2000.
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Kid-Friendly
Cities Report Card 2001 "Most Kid-friendly City in USA" (out
of 25 metro areas) in 2001.
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Men's Fitness
Magazine Portland number 11 in "fitness" - the January 2002
issue rated 50 USA metro areas on 16 categories.
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Men's Journal Ranked Portland number 2 as "The 50 Best Places
to Live" in their "big cities" category (June 2004).
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Money Magazine "Best Place to Live in the USA for 2001".
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Oregon Drivers
Best in Nation Oregon drivers rank as the most knowledgeable
in the nation when it comes to the rules of the road and automobile
safety, according to a study (May 2005) by an insurance company, GMAC
Insurance Group.
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Outside Magazine Portland named as one of ten "Best American
Dream Towns" in their August 2005 edition.
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Pet Healthiest Cities The Purina Pet Institute did an extensive
survey of U.S. cities with the healthiest pets and rated Portland third.
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Peace Corps Volunteers
In terms of all-time totals, Oregon ranks 14th with over 5,000 Oregonians
having served since 1961 - we rank 28th in population according to the
2000 census. The University of Oregon ranks sixth in the nation in alums
currently on Peace Corps service.
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Places Rated Almanac 16th Best Place to Live
out of 351 Metro Markets.
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Greenest
City in the USA In early 2008, Popular Science named Portland
as the Greenest city in the USA. They ranked 50 cities and Eugene,
Oregon was fifth.
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Retire in Style: 60 Outstanding Places Across the USA and Canada
This popular book by Southern California geography professor Warren
Bland, ranked Portland and Boulder, Colorado as the two best cities
to retire. Dr. Bland retire in Portland (Eastmoreland neighborhood)
in the Spring of 2006.
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Runners World
Magazine Tenth best city to run in USA. They rated 25
cities in their July 2005 magazine.
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Travel +
Leisure Portland ranks No. 5 in list of "100 Fabulous
Places for 2001."
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Smart Growth
America Portland ranks the eighth least urban sprawl of 83
Metro areas. The report, a product of three years of research
by Reid Ewing of Rutgers University and Rolf Pendall of Cornell University,
represents the most comprehensive effort yet undertaken to define, measure
and evaluate metropolitan sprawl and its impacts. It was released in
October 2002.
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Sperling's Best
Places to Live In 2005, Sperling's select the Portland metro
area as the 12th Best Place to Live. They evaluated 331 U.S.A.
cities. Two other Oregon metro areas made Sperling's top 25:
Corvallis and Eugene.
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Sustainability
SustainLane, a San Francisco Bay area group, rank Portland the number
one city in the nation in sustainability practices. The report
was released in June 2006.
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Urban Land Institute and the
Trust for Public Land
sponsored a book called Inside City Parks, written by Peter Harnik.
It's a study that compares park systems in the nation's 25 largest cities.
Some of the data about Portland parks: (1) Park and open-space acres
per 1,000 residents - 26.2 (third highest). (2) Spending on parks in
Portland is third-highest per capita - $136.
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Utne
Reader "Most Enlightened Town" - actually number two
on their list of enlightened towns.
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Volunteering
Portland's "Volunteer Rate Ranking" places it 3rd within the 50 large
cities in USA. Portland has an average annual volunteer rate of 35.6%,
with 567,000 volunteers serving 74.2 million hours per year.
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Walking Magazine
Among the "Top Ten American Walking Cities."
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Waste News Portland top "Big-city Recycler" in 2001.
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Wi-Fi In March 2003, it was announced that Portland
has more locations per capita than any other U.S. city where people
can use a laptop computer or other handheld device to tap the Internet
via a "Wi-Fi," or wireless fidelity network.
The Portland Development Commission has a full page called
Praises for Portland which give links and details about all the above
awards plus many others.
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Oregon and Women
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Center for Women's Business Research September 2005 - The
Portland-Vancouver area has the greatest share of 50 percent or more
women-owned businesses in the country. Of the 50 metropolitan
areas, 57.7 percent of businesses in the Portland-Vancouver area are
owned by women.
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Center for Women in Government Oregon third (out of 50 states)
for number of women holding leadership positions in state government.
Fall 2001.
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Institute
for Women's Policy Research Ranks Oregon in the middle (17 - 34)
in their study entitled "Status of Women in the States 2000."
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World War II Defense Workers During World Ware II, metropolitan
Portland counted 140,000 defense workers. They built
more than 1,000 oceangoing combat craft and Liberty ships.
By 1943, 31 percent of the workers at the Kaiser Shipyards were woman.
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In 1993-94, women served at the same time as Oregon
governor, mayor of Portland, chair of the Multnomah County Commission,
and Metro executive director.
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And the Not so Good
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Willamette River
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Gas Prices Oregon has one of the nation's
highest gas prices. Most experts attribute this to the lack of
refineries in Oregon along with the high demand for gas in the growing
Pacific Northwest. See the latest information on gasoline prices
from the AAA
Fuel Gauge Report.
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Higher Education Oregon is 46th in the
country in per capita support of higher education.
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Oregon State Government: C+
The assessments, the fourth such study by the
Government Performance
Project (GPP), graded states on how well their governments worked
for citizens, and focused on four areas: management of budget and fiscal
matters, their workforces, their infrastructure, and information.
Oregon was one of 10 states given an overall grade of C+ in the study.
Thirty-one states earned higher grades and nine other's lower grades.
Washington state was one of three states that has the most effective
state governments in the country. The study was released in March,
2008.
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Oregon lead Nation in Correction Expenditures
Oregon leads all states in corrections' expenditures as a percentage
of the general fund at 10.9 percent. Oregon currently spends more
on corrections, $684 million, than on higher education, $648 million.
This according to the
Pew Report that
was released in March of 2008.
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Willamette River Today the
Willamette River is severely degraded. Raw sewage overflows
and runoff renders much of the river unsafe for swimming, wading and
boating during rainstorms. Portland is making a one billion plus
dollar effort to right the river by stopping regular overflows of sewage
and rainwater into the Willamette River and Columbia Slough during rainstorms.
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Oregon Laws Make it Unique
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Priscilla Shumate, the No. 2-ranked female handball professional, now a
Portlander on her first visit to the city.
"It was the coolest city I'd ever been to."
Oregon passed the nation's first bottle bill
as an anti-litter law in 1971.
Only service station attendants can pump
gas in Oregon.
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Oregon Coast is Public Land The Oregon coast
is public land so you can walk anywhere on the beach. The bill, signed into
law on July 6th, 1967, made Oregon unique among coastal states by guaranteeing
public access to the entire coastline, from the California border to the
Columbia River mouth. The law has survived court challenges to become
part of the Oregon way of doing things. Visitors are often surprised at
what Oregonians take for granted -- that they can walk the beaches freely,
at least up to the normal high water mark. Supporters say public beach access
helps keep people interested in the coast and its environment. Many
Oregonians demonstrate that interest each year by taking part in beach clean-ups,
monitoring programs and other volunteer activities.
Oregon System of Initiative and Referendum
This system gained Oregon national recognition for the degree of citizen
involvement in the processes of self-government. Passed by 91% in
1902, Oregon became the third State in the Union to adopt the process.
Since then, Oregon voters have deliberated on over 300 measures, more than
any of the other 22 states with similar citizen initiative abilities.
Oregonians are serious about the Oregon System, and many politicians
who have abused the law have suffered the consequence at the ballot box.
Visit Oregon
Votes, a Web site (Oregon Secretary of State) that tracks Oregon initiative
and referendum measures.
Oregon Free Speech Oregon is where speech
is freer than anywhere else in the nation -- or for that matter, perhaps
the world. Written in 1857, Oregon's free-speech guarantee in an article
of the state constitution. It reads:
"No law shall be passed restraining the free expression
of opinion, or restricting the right to speak, write, or print freely on
any subject whatever; but every person shall be responsible for the abuse
of this right."
This language is broader -- "any subject whatever" -- than
the First Amendment. During the 1980s, the Oregon court concluded that Article
18 absolutely forbids government from passing laws directed at the content
of what residents express.
Oregon Vote by Mail The Oregon Legislature
approved mail voting as an option for local elections in 1981. In
November 1998, Oregon voters overwhelmingly approved Measure 60, making
it the first and only state to go to a complete mail-voting system.
Like Oregon Death with Dignity Law, the Vote by Mail statue has been challenged
and the law upheld. Read more about Oregon's Vote by Mail law on the
Secretary of State's
Web site.
Oregon Bottle Bill Oregon passed the nation's
first bottle bill as an anti-litter law in 1971. The law resulted
in a dramatic reduction in beverage container litter and gained widespread
public support. In 1982, Republican Governor Vic Atiyeh commented,
"Oregonians are proud of the success of the Bottle Bill, the first of its
kind in the nation. We have enjoyed a decade of success with what
has become one of the most popular and effective pieces of legislation in
the history of the state." The law requires that all beer and carbonated
soft drink containers be returnable and have a minimum refund value.
According to the
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality:
"It reduced litter, increased container recycling,
and fostered are cycling ethic among Oregonians that helpedpave the way
for future recycling efforts. After 30 years, it is still one of Oregon's
most effective recycling systems."
Only Service Station Attendants can Pump Gas in Oregon
The law was enacted in 1951 and the statute has stood up to several court
challenges. The common reason cited for the law are safety.
Oregon Death with Dignity Law Oregon is the
only state in the nation that has successfully proposed, passed, defended,
and implement a law that allows terminally ill patients who meet stringent
safeguards to hasten their deaths. You can read more about the law
at the
Oregon Department of Human Services Web site.
No State Sales Tax Only five states in the
USA do not have a state sales tax: Alaska (cities may levy a sales
tax up to 6%), Delaware, Montana, Oregon, and New Hampshire. Over
the years, Oregon voters have rejected a sales tax nine times.
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NY Times, September 26, 2007
A quote from Jason Barwikowski, the chef at Clyde Commons. Jason arrived
in Portland in early 2007 after working in a few Wyoming restaurants.
"I still snowboard and fly-fish and rock climb and ride bikes.
Half an hour in any direction and you're in the mountains or woods."
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The Oregon and Portland Difference
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High Adoption Rate Oregon is among the states
with the highest percentage of adopted children. 3.1% of children under
18 in Oregon are adopted or one of every 30 children. Three states; Alaska,
Montana, and Wyoming have higher percentage.
Read the USA 2000 Census Report on Adoption.
Portland's Tolerance According to the 2000
U.S. Census, one out of every seven unmarried couples in Multnomah County
is a same-sex couple. The census shows that for couples as a percentage
of households in 212 large urban counties nationwide, Multnomah County ranked
third in the number of lesbian couples, 11th in the number of gay couples
and third in unmarried heterosexual couples. It is also worth noting that
in an overwhelmingly white, European American Protestant city, voters elected
five Jewish mayors, beginning with Bernard Goldsmith in 1871 through Vera
Katz. And despite its relatively small African American population, many
blacks have played prominent civic roles in the last few years, including
Matthew Prophet as school superintendent, William Hilliard as editor of
The Oregonian, James DePreist as Oregon Symphony director, and Dick Bogle
and Charles Jordan as city commissioners. Two of the last three police chiefs
have been African American including Derrick Foxworth, the current chief
(2004). Visit the
US Census Web site.
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