Portland Travel, Getaways and Tourism

Official Destination Contact Information

Travel Portland Mailing Address

1000 S.W. Broadway
Suite 2300
Portland, Oregon 97205

(503) 275-9750
www.travelportland.com

Travel Portland Information Center

Pioneer Courthouse Square
Southwest Sixth Avenue at Morrison Street
Portland, Oregon 97205
1-877-678-5263

Title: View of Mount Hood from Portland
Posted by: Travel Portland

Introduction

Portland is loaded with energy. For decades this inland port on the Willamette River was the undiscovered gem of the West Coast, often overlooked by visitors seeking more sophisticated milieus. But in the past decade, people have begun flocking here in unprecedented numbers -- to visit and to live. The city's proximity to mountains, ocean, and desert adds an element of natural grandeur to its urban character.

Majestic Mt. Hood, about 55 mi to the east, acts as a kind of mascot, and on a clear day several peaks of the Cascade Range are visible, including Mt. St. Helens, which dusted the city with ash when it erupted in 1980. The west side of town is built on a series of forested hills that descend to the downtown area, the Willamette River, and the flatter east side. Filled with stately late-19th-century and modern architecture, linked by an effective transit system, and home to a vital arts scene, Portland is a place where there's much to do day or night, rain or shine.

The quality of life remains a constant priority here. As far back as 1852, Portland began setting aside city land as parks. Included among Portland's 250 parks, public gardens, and greenways are the nation's largest urban wilderness, the world's smallest park, and the only extinct volcano in the lower 48 states within a city's limits. A temperate climate and plenty of precipitation keep Portland green year-round. The City of Roses, as it's known, celebrates its favorite flower with a monthlong Rose Festival -- a June extravaganza with auto and boat races, visiting navy ships, and a grand parade second in size only to Pasadena's Rose Parade. But the floral spectacle really starts three months earlier, when streets and gardens bloom with the colors of flowering trees, camellias, rhododendrons, and azaleas.

The arts here flourish in unexpected places, thanks to a city ordinance requiring that 2% of the cost for new publicly funded construction projects be allotted to the arts. You'll find creative works on street corners, as well as in police stations, jails, transit stations, parks, and civic buildings. The new MAX light rail line along North Interstate Avenue is virtually an outdoor gallery of installations and sculptures.

As for the performing arts, Portland has several professional theater companies, the Oregon Symphony, the Portland Opera, and Chamber Music Northwest, to name a few. Those into nightlife will also find some of the best live-band and club action in the country. Families have plenty of kid-friendly attractions to enjoy, including the Oregon Zoo, Oaks Amusement Park, and Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Architectural preservation is a major preoccupation in Portland, particularly when it comes to the 1860s brick buildings with cast-iron columns and the 1890s ornate terra-cotta designs that grace areas like the Skidmore, Old Town, and Yamhill national historic districts.

In the Pearl District, older industrial buildings are being given new life as residential lofts, restaurants, office space, galleries, and boutiques. It has also become the center of the metro area's plan to more efficiently use available urban space by revitalizing existing neighborhoods. Not all Portlanders are happy with the results, which have brought increased traffic congestion and constant construction. But the new century also brought a renewed emphasis on mass transit. An extension of the MAX light-rail line to Portland International Airport and the Portland Streetcar have made the city easy to get around without a car, connecting Portland State University, downtown, and the Pearl District and Nob Hill neighborhood. The city's farsighted approach to growth and its pitfalls means it reaps all of the benefits and few of the problems of its boom. As a result, Portland is better than ever, cultivating a new level of sophistication, building on enhanced prosperity, and bursting with fresh energy.

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