All Things Portland

[Fez Hammersticks]

Feel free to add

Portland was named by the flip of a coin by its two original settlers, Asa Lovejoy and Francis W. Pettygrove. Lovejoy wanted to name the new settlement after his hometown of Boston; Pettygrove wanted to name it after his hometown of Portland, Maine. Pettygrove won the coin toss, best two out of three.

The Portland metropolitan region (population 2.3 million) is the 22nd largest metro area in the country and is the largest in the nation without a Major League Baseball franchise. Portland is by far the largest metro area in the nation with only one major professional sports franchise; the region's ratio of population to professional sports franchises is behind only New York and Los Angeles.

The South Waterfront is a high-rise district under construction on former brownfield industrial land in the South Portland neighborhood south of downtown Portland, Oregon, U.S. It is one of the largest urban redevelopment projects in the United States. It is connected to downtown Portland by an extension of the Portland Streetcar, and to the Oregon Health and Sciences University campus atop Marquam Hill by the Portland Aerial Tram, as well as roads to Interstate 5 and Oregon Route 43.

The South Waterfront is part of the Portland Development Commission's North Macadam Urban Renewal District.[1] The first phase of the South Waterfront is the $1.9 billion "River Blocks" development. Construction began in early 2004. The full build-out of the district envisions many residential (primarily condominiums) and medical research towers ranging in height from 6 stories to 35+ stories.

Portland lies on top of an extinct Plio-Pleistocene volcanic field known as the Boring Lava Field. The Boring Lava Field includes at least 32 cinder cones such as Mount Tabor, and its center lies in Southeast Portland. The dormant but potentially active volcano Mount Hood to the east of Portland is easily visible from much of the city during clear weather. The active volcano Mount Saint Helens to the north in Washington is visible in the distance from high-elevation locations in the city and is close enough to have dusted the city with volcanic ash after an eruption on May 18, 1980

[maxiep]

Thank you and repped. Man do I miss Portland. When I tell most people around the country that I live in Denver, their response is, "You're lucky. Denver is one of the best places to live in the US." While I always say, "Yes, it's very nice", in my heart I really think, "Yeah, but it doesn't hold a candle to Portland."

[HCP]

Portland is home to The HCP!

[HCP]

Hey we could have been the Boston Trailblazers!

[Fez Hammersticks]

The Pearl District is an area of former warehouses, light industrial and railroad classification yards in Portland, Oregon now noted for its art galleries, upscale businesses and residences. The area has been undergoing significant urban renewal since the late 1990s, including the removal of a viaduct and construction of the Portland Streetcar. It now mostly consists of high-rise condominiums and warehouse-to-loft conversions.

The Tualatin Mountains (also known as the West Hills or Southwest Hills of Portland) are a range of hills on the western border of Multnomah County, Oregon, United States. A spur of the Northern Oregon Coast Range, they separate the Tualatin Basin of Washington County, Oregon from the Portland Basin of western Multnomah County and Clark County, Washington.

The Portland Aerial Tram is an aerial tramway in Portland, Oregon carrying commuters between the city's South Waterfront district and the main Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) campus, located in the Marquam Hill neighborhood. It is the second commuter aerial tramway in the United States (after New York City's Roosevelt Island Tramway). The tram travels a horizontal distance of 3,300 feet (5/8 mi, 1 km) and a vertical distance of 500 feet (150 m) in a ride that lasts three minutes

Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) is a public university in Oregon with a main campus, including three hospitals, in Portland and a smaller campus in Hillsboro. It was formed in 1974 as the University of Oregon Health Sciences Center, combining state dentistry, medicine, and nursing programs into a single center. It was renamed Oregon Health Sciences University in 1981 and took its current name in 2001, as part of a merger with the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology (OGI) in Hillsboro. In addition, the university has several partnership programs including a joint PharmD Pharmacy program with Oregon State University.

Their signature Voodoo Doughnut is gingerbread man-shaped, with a pretzel stick stabbed through its abdomen and red jelly "blood" filling. The "Tex-Ass Challenge" is another popular Voodoo attraction: if you can eat an entire "Tex-Ass" doughnut--a glazed doughnut the size of six full-size doughnuts--in 140 seconds or less, the doughnut is free. Vegan doughnuts are also featured, along with a rotating and frequently changing menu of specialty doughnuts and unusual variations on traditional varieties.

[chris_in_pdx]

One of your "Portland Facts" is wrong, Fez. Portland was not dusted with volcanic ash during the May 18th, 1980 eruption. The winds were flowing northeast at the time, and Yakima and Spokane got decimated. It wasn't until later in May, and to a greater extent June, that the Portland area saw any ashfall from the volcano.

Sometime later, a study was done to determine what the impact would have been to the city HAD the winds been blowing towards Portland on May 18th, since Portland is considerably closer to Mt. St. Helens than Yakima: something like 4 1/2 feet of ash dumped on the city. Imagine New Orleans after Katrina for the level of disaster that would have caused.

[maxiep]

One of your "Portland Facts" is wrong, Fez. Portland was not dusted with volcanic ash during the May 18th, 1980 eruption. The winds were flowing northeast at the time, and Yakima and Spokane got decimated. It wasn't until later in May, and to a greater extent June, that the Portland area saw any ashfall from the volcano.

Sometime later, a study was done to determine what the impact would have been to the city HAD the winds been blowing towards Portland on May 18th, since Portland is considerably closer to Mt. St. Helens than Yakima: something like 4 1/2 feet of ash dumped on the city. Imagine New Orleans after Katrina for the level of disaster that would have caused.

Huh? I remember quite well ash coming down in my yard that day, to the tune of about 1 1/2 inches in LO. Coming from New Jersey, the "brown snow" reminded me where I was born.

And if it came down in LO, it certainly fell in Portland. The majority headed east, but it blanketed a radius around Mt. St. Helens.

[HCP]

NorthEast Portland got a ton of ash that day. My parents still have the coffee containers I filled up! We used to have to wear those dust masks to school for a least a few weeks.

[chris_in_pdx]

Not on May 18th. Later in May, yes, but ash did not fall on Portland on that particular day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_er...unt_St._Helens

The ashfall that you are probably remembering was on May 25th.

[Fez Hammersticks]

Nike, Inc. The company is headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area. It is the world's leading supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment with revenue in excess of $18.6 billion USD in its fiscal year 2008 (ending May 31, 2008). As of 2008, it employed more than 30,000 people worldwide. Nike and Precision Castparts are the only Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the state of Oregon, according to The Oregonian.

Portland is home to the regional headquarters for Adidas.

The Fremont Bridge is a steel tied arch bridge over the Willamette River located in Portland, Oregon. It carries Interstate 405 and US 30 traffic between downtown and North Portland where it intersects with I-5. It has the longest main span of any bridge in Oregon and is the second longest tied arch bridge in the world (after Caiyuanba Bridge across the Yangtze River, China)

The St. Johns Bridge is a steel suspension bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, USA, between the St. Johns neighborhood and the northwest industrial area around Linnton. It is the only suspension bridge in the Willamette Valley and one of three public highway suspension bridges in Oregon.

[Rodolfo]

I was born at the Adidas Headquarters when it was a hospital:/

[MickZagger]

I was born at the Adidas Headquarters when it was a hospital:/

I was born there too. My mom worked there as well. Back when it was Bess Kaiser hospital.

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

I was born there too. My mom worked there as well. Back when it was Bess Kaiser hospital.

me too on both counts. born there and my mom used to work there!

[westnob]

I was born there too. My mom worked there as well. Back when it was Bess Kaiser hospital.

ME THREE!

[BoBoBREWSKI]

McMenamins


Bridgeport


Lucky Lab


Widmer

[HCP]

BeerBoy you live in The Couv, you are NOT allowed in this thread!

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

[The Professional Fan]

lol

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

[SodaPopinski]

Portland has earned a reputation for its high homeless population. Any day walking downtown you will see people sitting, begging with a tiny kitten or large dog.

[Baracuda]

Description: The flag of the City of Portland is an offset cross of light blue, edged by white-yellow-white stripes, with a white four-pointed star in the left center, all on a background of Kelly green. The official size, proportions, and color elements in the City Flag are specified in the Portland City Code 1.06.010 (http://www.portlandonline.com/audito...x.cfm?&c=28155).

History: In 1969, at the suggestion of Mayor Terry Schrunk, the Portland Art Commission established a special committee to select a designer for an official city flag. It chose Douglas Lynch, former president of the Art Commission and a prominent local graphic design professional and teacher. After extensive research and consultation with art commission members and city commissioners, he proposed a design in a process he called “as much diplomatic as it was artistic”. The Portland City Council adopted the flag in January 1970. In 2002, with the encouragement of the Portland Flag Association, Mr. Lynch simplified and improved the design, and the revised version was adopted by Ordinance 176874 on September 4, 2002.

Symbolism: Green symbolizes Oregon’s forests, which surround Portland. The intersecting vertical and horizontal blue stripes represent the Columbia and WillametteRivers, with the central white star (technically, a “hypocycloid”) signifying Portland at their confluence. The yellow stripes symbolize the harvest of golden yellow grain (Portland is a major exporter of wheat) and the gold of commerce. The white stripes are merely decorative. The offset cross is not intended to resemble a Scandinavian cross. The design inspired the logo of the Port of Portland.

Locations: The City Flag flies in front of the PortlandBuilding (5th Avenue) and City Hall (4th Avenue), in Pioneer Courthouse Square, and on many other commercial buildings around the city. It also hangs in the City Council Chamber and the PortlandBuilding’s 2nd-Floor Auditorium.

Previous flags: Portland has used three previous flags, with the first proposed in a flag contest sponsored by Mayor H. R. Albee in 1917 but never officially adopted.

[Source: AmericanCity Flags, North American Vexillological Association, ©2004: “Portland, Oregon” by Mason Kaye.]

[MARIS61]

Description: The flag of the City of Portland is an offset cross of light blue, edged by white-yellow-white stripes, with a white four-pointed star in the left center, all on a background of Kelly green. The official size, proportions, and color elements in the City Flag are specified in the Portland City Code 1.06.010 (http://www.portlandonline.com/audito...x.cfm?&c=28155).

History: In 1969, at the suggestion of Mayor Terry Schrunk, the Portland Art Commission established a special committee to select a designer for an official city flag. It chose Douglas Lynch, former president of the Art Commission and a prominent local graphic design professional and teacher. After extensive research and consultation with art commission members and city commissioners, he proposed a design in a process he called “as much diplomatic as it was artistic”. The Portland City Council adopted the flag in January 1970. In 2002, with the encouragement of the Portland Flag Association, Mr. Lynch simplified and improved the design, and the revised version was adopted by Ordinance 176874 on September 4, 2002.

Symbolism: Green symbolizes Oregon’s forests, which surround Portland. The intersecting vertical and horizontal blue stripes represent the Columbia and WillametteRivers, with the central white star (technically, a “hypocycloid”) signifying Portland at their confluence. The yellow stripes symbolize the harvest of golden yellow grain (Portland is a major exporter of wheat) and the gold of commerce. The white stripes are merely decorative. The offset cross is not intended to resemble a Scandinavian cross. The design inspired the logo of the Port of Portland.

Locations: The City Flag flies in front of the PortlandBuilding (5th Avenue) and City Hall (4th Avenue), in Pioneer Courthouse Square, and on many other commercial buildings around the city. It also hangs in the City Council Chamber and the PortlandBuilding’s 2nd-Floor Auditorium.

Previous flags: Portland has used three previous flags, with the first proposed in a flag contest sponsored by Mayor H. R. Albee in 1917 but never officially adopted.

[Source: AmericanCity Flags, North American Vexillological Association, ©2004: “Portland, Oregon” by Mason Kaye.]

God, what a butt-ugly flag, and using Kelly Green (the official color of Boston Massachusets) is not only ironic but retarded as it's the one puky shade of green you'll see the least of (if any) in an Oregon forest.

You will also never see Oregon rivers or lakes that lame washed-out shade of blue.

In all it's a dull, meaningless design any 2nd-grader could vastly improve on.

I say we burn it!

[ucatchtrout]

The “World Famous” Woodstock Mystery Hole™
“Just two miles west off I-205!”SM

Evidence of a vanished civilization has long been suspected to exist under the thick layer of earth laid down at the close of the last ice age.

Known as the Bretz floods, numerous colossal tidal-waves of melted glaciers swept over Eastern Washington and down the Columbia River Gorge, ponding over the Portland area, and depositing silt, before flowing out to sea.

Sand, gravel, and finally, clay covered all that had been created before 10,000 years ago, leaving no physical trace of existence for future generations of inhabitants.

Psychic archeology, however, can sometimes probe to depths of hundreds of feet. Although not fully understood nor accepted by authorities, no one can argue with results. The Mystery Hole™ stands in mute yet undeniable testimony to the validity of following the mind’s eye with pick and shovel.

No one would have suspected from looking at an ordinary wild blackberry patch in a suburban backyard, that Oregon’s most incredible archeological site lay waiting beneath. No one, that is, except those using their natural psychic abilities to “see” a Giant Double Arch™, a stupendous Gaping Tunnel™, and cryptic rock inscriptions appearing to be lazer-blasted in a strange stone-like material indistinguishable from our modern day concrete.

Moonbeam anticipates climb down new ladder
No one can say with authority that breathing the peculiar, cool air which wafts up from the Mystery Hole can cure any and every illness you might have. Nor that you will suddenly have more money than you know what to do with. Nor that you will find true love in less than a month.

However, there are those who feel that they have been helped in health, romance, and/or money by breathing the Enchanting Vapors of Encouragement™.
How was it dug?
Without being certain of who dug the Woodstock Mystery Hole, it is virtually impossible to determine how it was created. The absence of pick and shovel marks points to crude methods by a primitive people. However, this is given by some researchers as evidence of extraterrestrial activity. Indeed, marks not unlike laser-blasting are clearly visible on the walls of this gaping cavern, adding fuel to the fires of debate. Most experts and theorists do agree on one thing%mdash;it was not created by natural forces.
How deep is it?

The Mystery Hole goes all the way to the bottom. The depth of the Woodstock Mystery Hole has never been accurately determined by modern scientific methods, and estimates vary greatly, but the over-all consensus is that it is very deep.
Why was it dug?
Perhaps the most puzzling mystery of all is the original purpose of the Hole. Theories have been hotly debated since the discovery of this enigmatic wonder by modern Man. Was it used as shelter? Was it a ceremonial kiva? Was it an outpost for beings from another planet? Did someone just dig a hole?

Well, it seems that more questions than answers have been unearthed by the discovery of the Woodstock Mystery Hole.

ATTRACTIONS AT THE MYSTERY HOLE
Giant Double Arch™


Moonbeam illuminates mysterious carvings in Arch

Perfectly aligned with the North Star, a stupendous arch stands guard at the entrance to the phenomenal gaping tunnel at the bottom of the sensational Woodstock Mystery Hole. The ratio of the height to width is precisely 1.618—the same ratio found in natural spirals from sunflower heads, to snails’ shells, to spiral galaxies. This “Golden Mean” of geometry was not determined until the 13th century! How could a primitive people have known the solution to a problem that took mathematicians centuries to unravel? Perhaps the architects were not so primitive after all.

No tool marks can be detected on the arch, lending credence to the theory that they were carved by a superior culture with sophisticated technology, which our civilization is only now developing. However, this “gods from the sky” theory fails to answer two big questions: “Why would an advanced civilization place a message-stone deep in the earth, and when will they return?”

Mysterious “carvings” on Giant Double Arch have endured the untold eons, but their meanings have been lost in the sands of time. Attempts to decode the ancient symbols have only added to the confusion. Is that really a flying craft with a pilot at the controls? Do those formula hint at a cure for cancer? Could the star pattern on the vault be a clue to the origin of mysterious visitors from space?

How Old is the Arch?
The novice archeologist might date the arch at less than 5,000 years, simply going by the thick over-layer of sediment from ancient floods. But, extraterrestrials who have mastered the art of laser blasting could put an arch anyplace they feel like.

The Door That’s Never Been Opened™

(Artist’s conception based on actual unretouched photographs)

Perhaps the most incredible discovery of all: a massive, rough-hewn, but intricately carved, entrance to...? Could it be a subterranean city complex?

At the far end of a side tunnel in the very depths of the Mystery Hole™ sits a portal created in a scale unmatched even by the Giant Double Arch™. The vast, as yet immovable door speaks of a people whose height is almost unimaginable to us.

The subterranean complex hasn’t been found yet, but most researchers doubt that an entrance would have been created without something to enter. Only further excavations will unravel the Hole “truth”.
“Black Obsidian” Mirror of a Higher Truth™
A colossal windstorm of monumental proportions toppled the Mirror in 2008, shattering it into a million pieces—give or take a few hundred thousand pieces.

A fragment still provides a glimpse into the infinite depths of darkness, and those who dare to stare into it may find themselves face-to-face with a darker side of their personas.

It is believed that each of us has a dark side that we reveal to no one, not even ourselves. Shocking personal revelations await those with the courage to gaze deeply into an awe-inspiring, fragment of the megalithic slab.

What will your reflection be in a piece of the entrancing “Black Obsidian” Mirror of a Higher Truth™?

A pocket-sized relic of the shattered Mirror is available at a surprisingly low price in our ever-popular Gift Shoppe.
“Silver” Two-way Window of Opportunity™
A tragedy—the shattering of the “Black Obsidian”Mirror— can be turned into opportunity, which is what has replaced the Mirror.

In this case, the window of opportunity is “silver” and offers two ways of looking at it.
Mystery Tower™

In the years following the unsolved mystery of its sudden horizontal realignment in 1988, the Mystery Tower has passed through many phases. At times it was 66.6% erect -- at times only 33.3%. It stood at 100% for a time, inspiring all who bore witness to its height. Replacement of the giant “fluorite crystal,” shattered in the Realignment of ’88, will be guided by cryptic inscriptions ensculptured on the Giant Double Arch™.

What’s the Mystery Tower for?
It may very well be years before its true purpose is determined. In the meantime, it serves as a holy beacon to Fun seekers, a rock gym, an axis mundi, and more. Until the transceiving fluorite crystal is ready, a sailing boat serves well as a substitute, rewarding climbers with mountain views and dreams of far-off worlds.
It has been said that a force powerful enough to charge the entire planet with positive energy could be generated from a tower such as the one depicted on the Arch.

[HCP]

I have lived here my whole life and have NEVER seen that flag!

[maxiep]

I have lived here my whole life and have NEVER seen that flag!

You've never seen the flags at PDX?