Willamette River

 

 

 

 

Oregon Coast

 

 Vote by Mail

 

 

Oregon passed the nation’s first bottle bill
as an anti-litter law in 1971.

 

 

Only service station attendants can pump
gas in Oregon.  The exception is self-service pumping is allowed between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. in counties with fewer than 40,000 people. That covers a wide swatch of the state including almost all of eastern Oregon.

  

 

 

Oregon is the only state to issue Medical Marijuana cards to non-residents.

 

 

 

NY Times
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.”

 

 

 

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.”

 

• 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.
• America’s Manliest Cities  Portland was ‘dead last’ (50th place) in 2010.  Even San Francisco beat us. Combos, the maker of the cracker-and-cheese snack popular among teenage boys, did the ratings. Anna Griffin, a writer for The Oregonian, responded to the ranking in her July 10 column, “Until Combos comes out with a vegan variety made with soy crackers and dairy-free cheddar, we should celebrate finishing at the bottom of this particular competition.”
• American Podiatric Medical Association   Portland was ranked No. 4 for walking out of 200 USA cities.  Eugene, Oregon was ranked No. 8.
• 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.”
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.”
• Cleanest City in the 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.
• 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.
• 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 regarding 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.
• 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.
• Dog Fancy Magazine  The magazine ranked Portland at No. 1 as the best all-around city for dogs in America (October 2006 issue).
• 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.
• 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.
• FitPregancy The magazine rated Portland as the best place in America in which to have a baby in their February 2008 edition.
• Green Energy  Portland’s two electric utilities are number two and three of green energy they sold for the year 2005.
• Green Guide  Portland named one of top 10 “green cities” in the USA. The designation comes from the city’s air quality, renewable energy leadership, miles of bike trails and environmentally friendly building practices.
• 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.
• Grist  In July 2007, Grist name Portland the number two ‘green places to live’ in the world (out of 15 cities).
• Humane Cities  The 2007 Humane Society report was the first-ever attempt to compare how communities across the country measure regarding 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.
• Institute for Southern Studies  Oregon is Green – ranks number eight (out of 50 states) on Environmental Green Index for 2000.]
• Manliest Cities  Portland ranks near the bottom of a ranking of the country’s 50 “manliest” cities coming in at 47 according to a study by Sperling’s Best Places. In the rankings, cities scored higher based on the number of sports teams they have, the number of hardware stores, the number of tools purchased and the frequency of monster truck rallies.
• Men’s Fitness Magazine  Portland number 11 in “fitness” – the January 2002 issue rated 50 the USA metro areas in 16 categories.
• Men’s Journal  Ranked Portland number 2 as “The 50 Best Places to Live” in their “big cities” category (June 2004).
• Money Magazine  “Best Place to Live in the USA for 2001”.
• Multnomah County Library received the highest possible rating in the Library Journal’s 2011 Index of Public Library Service. The five-star rating is given to the top U.S. libraries each year. Multnomah County has earned five stars in three out of the four years Library Journal has published its ratings.
• National Endowment for the Arts  More Oregon adults attend opera, jazz, and classical music concerts, per capita than in any other state according to a geographical analysis released in late 2009.  The survey also revealed that Oregon ranked number one in the percentage of adults attending art museums and craft festivals.
• 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.
• Outside Magazine  Portland named as one of ten “Best American Dream Towns” in their August 2005 edition.
• Pet Healthiest Cities  The Purina Pet Institute did an extensive survey of U.S. cities with the healthiest pets and rated Portland third.
• Peace Corps Volunteers  regarding 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.
• Places Rated Almanac  16th Best Place to Live out of 351 Metro Markets.
• Public Transportation   Portland No. 1 best city in the nation for public transportation according to U.S. News and World Reports magazine in 2011.
• 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.
• Runners World Magazine  Tenth best city to run in the USA.  They rated 25 cities in their July 2005 magazine.
• Travel + Leisure  Portland ranks No. 5 in the list of “100 Fabulous Places for 2001.”
• Smart Cities  Portland ranks number 9 out of 55 metro areas.  Civic participation was the cornerstone of Portland’s top 10 showing on this list. Portland residents also buy a lot of books.
• 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.
• 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.
• Sustainability  Grist named Portland number three out of the 15 most sustainable cities in the USA.
• 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.
• Utne Reader  “Most Enlightened Town” – actually number two on their list of enlightened towns.
• Volunteering  Portland’s “Volunteer Rate Ranking” places it 3rd within the 50 large cities in the USA. Portland has an average annual volunteer rate of 35.6%, with 567,000 volunteers serving 74.2 million hours per year.
• Walking Magazine   Among the “Top Ten American Walking Cities.”
• Walking in Portland  The Portland-Vancouver area is among the ten safest regions in the nation for pedestrians, thanks in large part to the sidewalks and small blocks found in both its oldest and newest neighborhoods.

Oregon and Women

• Center for Women in Government  Oregon third (out of 50 states) for a number of women holding leadership positions in state government.  Fall 2001.
• Institute for Women’s Policy Research  Ranks Oregon in the middle (17 – 34) in their study entitled “Status of Women in the States 2000.”
• World War II Defense Workers  During World Ware II, metropolitan Portland counted 140,000 defense workers.   They built more than 1,000 ocean going combat craft and Liberty ships.   By 1943, 31 percent of the workers at the Kaiser Shipyards were women.
• 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.

And the Not so Good

• No Fluoride in the Water   More than 70 years of scientific research has shown that an optimal level of fluoride in community water is safe and effective in preventing tooth decay by at least 25% in both children and adults. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention named community water fluoridation one of 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century. So five Portland city commissioners figured it was safe to vote to add fluoride to the city water supply. But Oregonians have a libertarian component to Oregon politics — a kind of opposition to what the establishment might want. Even if proponents of fluoride outraised opponents 3-to-1 none of that was enough. For the fourth time since 1956, Portlanders in 2013 rejected a plan to fluoridate city water, 60 percent to 40 percent.
• 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.
• Higher Education  Oregon is 46th in the country in per capita support of higher education.
• 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 lower grades.  Washington state was one of three states that have the most effective state governments in the country.  The study was released in March 2008.
• Oregon Leads 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.
• Property Taxes  Oregon’s complicated property tax system is a “Frankentax” that needs a complete overhaul. That’s the conclusion of a report released in November 2013 by a City Club of Portland research committee. Voters approved three ballot measures in the 1990s that left the state with a quirky way of taxing property. An overall cap was installed on rates, and each property was given an “assessed value” intended to be lower than its market value. It’s complex and properties are being treated quite differently and unfair. Combined with the high-income tax Portland ranks 16th in the tax burden in 2010 among the 50 states according to the Tax Foundation.
• Public Schools  Oregon schools perform in the bottom one-third nationality. They rank No. 39 in spending per student, adjusted for cost of living. 

The Oregon and Portland Difference

 High Adoption Rate  Oregon is among the states with the highest percentage of adopted children. 3.0% of children under 18 in Oregon are adopted or one of every 33 children. Four states; Alaska, Montana, Oklahoma, and Vermont have a higher percentage.  Read the USA 2010 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.

Willamette River  After spending 1.4 billion dollars, the Willamette River is recovering.  Before the cleanup which finished in late 2011, raw sewage overflows and runoff renders much of the river unsafe for swimming, wading, and boating during rainstorms. A 20-year program to expand the city’s sewer system is in progress, and upon completion, officials expect sewer overflows to occur an average of four times each winter, and once every three years during the summer, instead of the previous average of 50 times a year.

Best Reason to Love Portland

Every year the Willamette Week publishes their “Best of Portland Readers Poll” and we took some of the results from the poll to share with you.  The WW says that “a strong plurality of you folks said the friendly, caring, weird and otherwise great people who live here are the best reason to love this city. We agree.”

Runners-up: The Portland Timbers, craft beer, the food, the bike culture, the weather. Some other notable suggestions:

• “All the beautiful gardens people have in their front yards and parking strips.”
• “Big-city resources, small-city community.”
• “Bull Run water—fresh and natural.”
• “Cafes, bikes, vintage stores, people and Forest Park (and days that take advantage of it all).”
• “Casual attitude in a beautiful landscape.”
• “Girls in miniskirts on bicycles!”
• “Great gardening! Neighbors have chickens!”
• “Hot, curvy tattooed chicks as far as you can see.”
• “Is this even a question? Liberals, gays, green, and good music!”
• “The best Argentine tango community in the U.S.”
• “It’s like Amsterdam but cleaner and with better Bud.”