"Portland, an great liveable city" a Portland Travel Page by Shaft28

For a long time I pondered what to write about on my Portland page, about this fine city. And today it came to me. Portland rules. I know this is very 70' elementary school style, but it just works.
Some stats on the Rose City:
Tops the charts for the most book stores per capita in the world;
America's fittest city (although some of those surveys need to measure the waistlines here, all that good beer...);
Normally #1 for most outdoor activities;
Most brew pubs in the Americas (#2 worldwide);
One of the best bike cities in the US;
Undeniable leader in number of parks and size of park space in the US;
Largest Rose Garden on the continent;
And more trees that Paul Bunyun could ever get to - and that means fresh air.

Also in my opinion Portland is one of the dog friendliest cities; has less traffic and tourism than any of the other major West Coast cities (very important!), has great arts/theatre and a world class symphony.
Summers are amazing with moderate upper 70's lower 80's average temp and winter's average in the high 40's. We do get our share of gray days and rain, but not as much as you think. (basically Portlander's love it here so much they lie about the rain to keep others away!) Rain in the Northwest is typically drizzle and light showers, nothing like the downpours in the South. But we love it here, keeps everything green and downtown clean.
Oh, and that whole flannel wearing thing is in Washington, not here...
Portland is also one of the most progressive cities for limiting growth and tries to maintain that small town feel with the big city amenities.
Not to mention the people here are just really nice.
The only downside I can think of is the nightlife lacks a bit as this town goes home early. And no huge movie theatre with a massive screen and digital sound or a hockey/baseball team. Ah well, nothing is perfect.
Back on the positive side, did I mention no sales tax? Oh yeah.
Plus some amazing restaurants - everywhere! Always new places opening up and Portland's nightlife and restaurants tend to blur into one another. More so than any city I know. Pubs, lounges, fancy dining with a hot bar - eat, drink and be happy here.

Portland has the advantage of all the local parks for hiking and outdoors activities, but also is 20 minutes from windsurfing on the Columbia River (top spot in the world), an hour from Mt. Hood (year-round skiing), 45 minutes from a trail of waterfalls, and just over an hour to the beautiful cost with more/largest monoliths adorning the beaches than you can count.
Portland is pretty conscious of the people who live here with a law that requires a park to be within 10 minutes walking distance from any city dwellers home, fresh drinking water on many downtown corners, and one of the largest river side parks smack downtown for every festival imaginable (the Willamette).

This town is just amazing and I am very proud to call it home.