Portland, Oregon

From Citizendium
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This article is a stub and thus not approved.
Main Article
Discussion
Definition [?]
Related Articles  [?]
Bibliography  [?]
External Links  [?]
Citable Version  [?]
 
This editable Main Article is under development and subject to a disclaimer.
Portland in 2019, seen looking east from the Pittock Mansion at dusk. The 11,239' peak of Oregon's Mount Hood can be seen rising in the distance.

Portland, Oregon is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated in the northwest corner of the state at the confluence of the Willamette River and Columbia River, Portland is the seat of Multnomah County. As of 2020, Portland had a population of 652,503, with about 2.5 million people living in the greater metropolitan area. It is the second-most populous city in the Pacific Northwest after Seattle, Washington.

Named after Portland, Maine,[1] (which is itself named after the English Isle of Portland), the Oregon settlement sprang up near the end of the Oregon Trail in the 1840s. Its water access provided convenient transportation of goods, and the timber industry was a major force in the city's early economy. At the turn of the 20th century, the city had a reputation as one of the most dangerous port cities in the world, a hub for organized crime and racketeering. After the city's economy experienced an industrial boom during World War II, its hard-edged reputation began to dissipate. Beginning in the 1960s, Portland became noted for its growing liberal and progressive political values, earning it a reputation as a bastion of counterculture.[2]

Portland's climate is marked by warm, dry summers and cool, rainy winters. This climate is ideal for growing roses, and Portland has been called the "City of Roses" for over a century.[3]

Provenance

Some content on this page may previously have appeared on Wikipedia.

Notes

  1. (2005) “Portland as a Contested Frontier in the Seventeenth Century”, Creating Portland: History and Place in Northern New England. Lebanon, NH: University of New Hampshire Press. ISBN 978-1584654490. 
  2. Weber, Peter (January 13, 2015). Don't let Portlandia ruin Portland. The Week.
  3. Swindler, Samantha (May 31, 2020). Though the rose show and garden contest are canceled, the City of Roses is in full bloom (en).