What is Portland About?

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Keeping it Weird

Portland is a place at the end of the road. . . literally. The Oregon Trail that brought so many across the western wilds reached its end not too far away. For more than 150 years, folks have journeyed to Portland in order to redefine themselves, discover a new path, to find a better way to live. Portland is a place to make your own way, envision  your own destiny, and be yourself. Shed preconceived notions, defy expectations, be strange! Express yourself. If that means dressing up like Darth Vader, playing bagpipes, and riding a unicycle, then put on your helmet and tune those pipes, because it’s time to break a leg (metaphorically, please).

Craft & Design

In today’s America, the connection between people and the things we make has been lost. Our goods are produced for mass consumption in unseen factories half a world away. Portland has rowed against this change in current with a hands-on approach to the way things are made and traded, including foods, products, and art. Old-world craftsmanship and trade are thriving in Portland, and folks are engaged in the production of their own goods in a way not seen in other parts of the country. Creative and enterprising types journey to Portland from all over to get the job done right–with intention, thought, and skill.

LGBT

Portland has long stood ahead of the curve in social matters, especially concerning our friends in the LGBT community. Portland has an inherently live-and-let-live way of doing things, and we boast the largest LGBT community outside of San Francisco. If ever you could feel at home with yourself and others, it is in our all inclusive city, where gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender are just words, because at our most basic level we believe in treating people like people.

Quality of Life Is Everything

When you hear the name Portland, the first thing to come to mind is likely our way of life. A little nicer, a little more relaxed. Acceptance and tolerance dovetail with adventure and exploration to create an environment where life becomes a journey, every day, and whether you want to see it all on foot or ride your bike absolutely everywhere, there will be healthy dining and organic produce, an emphasis on our environment and a dedication to discovery and inclusion all along the way. After a little while, you’ll wonder how you ever lived anywhere else!

Photo: Kyle Cesmat

Our Great Outdoors

Portland is very in touch with our organic roots. Even if a cloudy day obstructs your view of Mount Hood, you’re constantly reminded of how much raw nature is all around you. Fog rolls over the hills of the 5,000-acre wilderness preserved in Forest Park. You can shoot hoops in the ancient volcanic caldera of Mount Tabor. A visit to Oak’s Bottom offers a glimpse of bald eagles on the hunt and Ospreys riding thermals on a clear day. Nature is everywhere in the cracks and grooves of this incredible town, reminding us what an endless natural playground waits just beyond the city limits: towering forests, emerald streams, rugged deserts, and empty sandy coves. It’s truly a beautiful world.

TV & Movies

Portland plays a highly active roll in the film industry, offering a variety of natural and urban environments to serve as backdrop to the dramas and comedies that shape our lives. While we’ve long served the needs of major motion pictures, Portland has of late experienced a renaissance in the golden age of television, playing host to the fantastically eerie Grimm, the meticulous and cunning Leverage, and of course, that notorious lampoon that is Portlandia. Take a look at some of the films that have been filmed in part or in whole around Portland’s various neighborhoods and outlying landscapes, such as: