Portland ROCKS!

I got the opportunity to visit one of my favorite cities last month: Portland, Oregon (not Maine). This was my second trip to the city, and I have to admit, I'm hooked! If it were only a wee bit closer to my family (all on the East Coast), I'd move in a heartbeat.

Portland is a super-green city. It's one of the few places I've been where there are recycling bins everywhere (including hotel rooms). Bikers rule the streets (well, there are a lot more of them than any other city in the US I've ever seen). The city is dedicated to green building and stormwater management. Heck, there's even a green business networking group.

Oh and don't forget, you're only two hours from the coast, right by the Columbia River Gorge, and an hour from Mount Hood. An outdoorsy person's heaven.

I was extremely excited to run across an article on Portland's greatness this week: Why Portland Beats Vancouver. The article points to three major highlights of the city: its welcoming of young people, bicycle friendliness, and handling of the homeless population. I agree 100% on the first two, although am a little less up on the third. I found the homeless population to be large and more aggressive at panhandling than I'd have liked (and I come from WDC, which has no shortage of homeless people)!

Keep up the good work, Portland. To the rest of us, let's see this as an opportunity to compete and green up our own places!

Photo shows view from International Rose Test Garden - sorry it's not the best, was taken with a cell phone camera!