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Facts & Praises - 2003

Portland’s Praises
Even more about our incredible city...

Oregon Ranked 9th Best in State Business Tax Climate Index—The Tax Foundation’s new State Business Tax Climate Index measures the "tax-friendliness" to business of each state’s tax system. The most competitive tax systems are usually found in states that raise sufficient tax revenue without one of the major taxes on sales, personal income or corporate income.

View the summary chart for State Business Tax Climate Index, released in the Tax Foundation's May 2003 report.

Source: Tax Foundation, 2003.

PDC's web site among Top Picks for 2003—At the end of each year, MuniNet Guide & Review reflects on the outstanding web sites and features it has encountered over the past 12 months. PDC's web site has been selected as a "Top Pick" by MuniNet Guide at www.muninetguide.com in the Economic Development category. PDC's site is one of only two sites to be so recognized; the other is the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance.

Portland Draws College-Educated Singles—One bright spot on Portland's economic scene: It continues to lure college-educated young people.

The Portland-Salem area ranked No. 5 in the country for the rate of in-migration by college-educated single people between the ages of 25 and 39, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Oregon also ranked fifth on the list among states in net migration of young, college-educated people from 1995 to 2000, trailing only Nevada, Colorado, Georgia and Arizona.

The Portland area saw 23,454 immigrants in that group and 12,125 outmigrants from 1995 to 2000. The state of Oregon saw 24,296 immigrants and 17,940 outmigrants, according to Census data.

According to a Census Bureau report, this net migration of young, college-educated (at least a bachelor's degree) people into the area is important because "they provide a measure of economic opportunity in the area, while simultaneously serving to raise the area's stock of 'human capital.' This increase, in turn, fosters future economic growth in sectors in which education plays a key role."

Source: The Portland Business Journal, November 4, 2003.

Portland is one of America's Best Walking Cities

Portland ranked among America's 10 best cities afoot.

American Podiatric Medical Association and Prevention Magazine, November 2003.

And Portland's a Pretty Fun City, too!

Cranium (the game board company) turned to expert Bert Sperling, the creator of Money magazine's annual "Best Places to Live," to come up with America's Most Fun Cities. The assessment looked at "everything from the number of sports teams, restaurants and dance performances to toy stores and city budget spent on recreation." Portland just missed the top ten list, but did come in at #11 among the top 50.

Source: www.cranium.com and Money Magazine, November 2003.

Portland's Popularity Rises in National Poll—Portland climbed to the No. 8 spot on a list of places most people want to live, according to a recent Harris poll. Portland moved up to No. 8 from No. 14 last year. For the first time in seven years, Seattle fell out of the top five. Seattle fell into a tie with Denver for ninth most popular city in which to live, according to the poll.

New York City retained its hold on No. 1—the ranking it held in every year except 1998, when it fell to No. 2 behind San Francisco. The top five in 2003 is rounded out by San Diego, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Source: The Portland Business Journal, September 3, 2003.

Northwest Teens Still Lead Nation on SAT—Washington and Oregon held onto their Nos. 1 and 2 rankings in 2003 for the highest average SAT scores among states where at least half of high school graduates took the college admissions test. Portland students continue to beat national averages on the SAT.
Source: The Oregonian, August 27, 2003.

Portland among Top 10 U.S. Cities for Literacy—A recent study provides a "literacy profile" of America's 64 largest cities (population 250,000+). The study draws on statistics from five categories and 13 different measures of literacy to evaluate "America's Most Literate Cities." An electronic version of the complete study is available for download.

Source: Chancellor and education professor Jack Miller, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Summer 2003.

Portland Ranks #2 of Top 10 Least Expensive U.S. Cities—So you're looking for a site with living costs so enticingly low that they'll be simply irresistible to the key executives you'll have to transfer to the new facility? New York-based consultancy Mercer Human Resource Consulting just released a survey on cost of living. The survey ranked 144 world cities, using New York as the "base city" with a score of 100.

Based on 200-plus items priced in each location, the survey findings resulted in Tokyo topping the list as the world's priciest city, and that the most dramatic inflationary changes came in European cities where living costs have soared. In contrast, U.S. living costs dropped substantially in the 2003 report where New York (America's most expensive) dropped from No. 7 overall to No. 10.

In contrast, the lowest-cost U.S. cities included Winston Salem, N.C. (the least expensive), followed by Portland, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Cleeland, St. Louis, Seattle, Detroit, Denver, Atlanta and Boston.

Source: Jack Lyne, Site Selection Executive Editor of Interactive Publishing, The Site Selection Online Insider, July 2003.

Something to Prove—It's all happening in Portland, the aspiring 'creative city of the West Coast.' "Sporting a funky, unhomogenized aesthetic, Portland stands as an alternative model to cookie-cutter American cities."

"Portland has become one of the best destinations for artists in the U.S." and "[Portland] is home to the most active gallery and indie art scenes north of Los Angeles."

"The new Portland is not just a flash in the pan."

Source: Jeff Jahn, Modern Painters magazine, Spring 2003.

"Forward Planning"—Five Cities That Offer a Glimpse Into the Future

Thirty years ago, with man on the moon, predicting the future must have seemed like child's play. The future belonged to the space age. Fifteen years ago, the future fizzed with images of Tokyo. Five years ago, it was San Francisco and Silicon Valley that held sway. But what city represents the future in 2003?

We have selected five cities which each promise a different vision. The first three are new cities that blossomed in the last century and enter a new one with little to hold them back, especially in terms of old buildings. The two older cities, Manchester and Rotterdam, have received significant rebuilding after bombing, and demonstrate that the future can come from where you least expect it.

(The cities were Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Rotterdam, Netherlands, Manchester, England and Portland, Oregon.)

Portland, Oregon — Almost every city in the world seems to be racing towards the polluted vision of Los Angeles. But the future doesn't have to be one of dystopsian double-decker motorways and Blade Runner-like ruin. The future could start with a cycle lane.

As oil runs short, we may increasingly look towards Portland, on the west coast of the US, for enlightenment. Fifteen years ago, the city council bulldozed a car park to make way for a European-style plaza. Next went the interstate freeway, to make way for a riverside park. In its most recent survey, Money Magazine voted Portland the best place to live in America, describing it as "San Francisco without the hassle and expense". Portland has also been rated the best place to study in the US by eGrad; it was voted the most kid-friendly city by educationalists - and the best city for cycling by a leading US bike magazine. Much of downtown is suitable for walking, and all trains, buses and streetcars within the city centre are free. The full article is available on The Guardian web site.

Source: The Guardian, Saturday January 11, 2003.

Area Development Magazine listed PDC's web site as one of the top 10 Economic Development websites.

The PDC web site is ranked #4, www.pdc.us makes navigation easy with a “How Can We Help You?” button on the homepage. Clicking it leads to a page where visitors may identify themselves as site selectors, business owners, commercial developers, urban planners, researchers, or job seekers. The site then directs visitors to sections deemed appropriate for their needs.

Source: Area Development Site and Facility Planning Online, March 2003.

Portland one of America's Favorite Cities

Travel + Leisure magazine's rated cities by both travelers (as well as locals) on several criteria that make a city a great place to visit. Portland ranks among the top with three top ratings among eight overall best ratings.

In addition, Portland ranked #1 in safety, cleanliness, proximity to nature, and 'getting around.' Read more of the details in this summary document provided in PDF format (335kb).

Source: Travel + Leisure, March 2003.

Portland is among America's 10 Best Cities Afoot

Don't forget your walking shoes. Portland is among the top-rated cities for walking as determined by the people who should know: The American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA), the doctors who take care of your feet.

Portland is home to the Portland to Coast Walk, is lush and green, and offers abundant trails available within 5 minutes of downtown, including the largest wilderness area (with trails) within an urban area in the United States: Forest Park.

The APMA surveyed the most populated cities and examined them for walker-friendly characteristics, such as how many people walk to work each day, safe air quality, crime rates, pedestrian deaths, amount of rainfall, number of parks, how many podiatrists are available to keep your feet happy and healthy, and how many health clubs and sports stores are there to serve you. Each of these top walking cities has at least one government-appointed walking coordinator to boot.

Source: Prevention.com, March 2003.

Portland ranks as the top market for wireless Internet accessibility according to Intel's "Most Unwired Cities" survey. The survey reveals a growing number of metropolitan areas across the country where people have greater freedom to access information on notebook PCs and wireless Internet connections. Portlanders enjoy a truly mobile experience without the constraint of a fixed or wired connection.

Portland is outpacing typical trendsetters Los Angeles (No. 13) and New York (No. 23), as its residents are quickly embracing this new unwired lifestyle.

Source: Business Wire, March 4, 2003.

A Tale of Three Cities: Great things about Portland from The Seattle Times

GO BY TRAIN pleads one. GO BY STREETCAR urges the other. Something tells me we're not in Seattle anymore, Toto.

No, we're in Portland, American headquarters of the "New Urbanism" philosophy that touts neighborhood density, walking and transit over the car. Portland is doing—almost routinely—what Seattle keeps dreaming and arguing about.

Light rail? It's here. Streetcar? Ditto. Transit mall? Yep. Close-in, upscale neighborhoods dotted with restaurants and shops? Check. Approximately 27 blocks of parks to create an airy, inviting downtown? Got it. Elimination of Harbor Drive along the Willamette River and its replacement with a riverside park? Yes, plus a companion park on the opposite bank. Interesting architecture? Better than Seattle's. Use of brick, trees and design detail to make sidewalk strolling inviting? Of course. Less congestion? Afraid so.

Portlanders are reminded by neon to take advantage of a city transportation system far more sophisticated than Seattle's. The sign mimics an older neon instruction, "Go By Train," on the Amtrak depot at Union Station.

"Dang. This is embarrassing."

Read the entire glowing article on Portland. The Seattle Times, February 2, 2003.

Portland Among America's Fittest Cities

Portland ranks No. 6 in an annual survey of the thinnest cities in the United States. Honolulu is the fittest city, followed by Seattle, San Francisco, Colorado Springs and San Diego, says Men's Fitness Magazine in its fifth annual survey.

Holding down the other end of the spectrum is Houston. The Texas city has been declared the fattest of the nation's 50 largest cities for the third year in a row.

Also returning to the overweight list are Chicago, Detroit and Philadelphia, with St. Louis rounding out the list of the most rotund. Nine of the 10 fittest cities are west of the Mississippi. Only Virginia Beach, Va., squeezed onto the fittest list from the East Coast.

According to the National Health and Nutritional Survey, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association in October 2002, roughly one out of three Americans is now obese, and if you factor in those who are overweight, nearly two of every three Americans has a serious weight problem. The statistics show an increase over last year's numbers.

"The increases are across the board for all age groups, both sexes and in all races," said Cynthia Ogden, co-author of the study. "If these rates continue—about 1 percent gain per year—we'll all be overweight by the year 2035 and obese by 2100," added John Foreyt, director of the Nutrition Research Clinic at Houston's Baylor College.

To arrive at its findings, Men's Fitness evaluated the nation's 50 largest cities between July and September. Cities were assessed in 16 commensurate categories, using data specific to each city. The categories were selected as indicators, risk factors or relevant environmental factors affecting fitness, obesity and health. Sample categories include fruit and vegetable consumption, sports participation, smoking, drinking, air and water quality, length of commute, availability of parks/open spaces and percentage of overweight/sedentary residents.

Men's Fitness Magazine, Fifth Annual Survey, January 2003.

One of the 10 Best Cities in North America for Independent Moviemakers

MovieMaker's third annual ranking lists Portland #9 among the top 10 cities for independent filmmakers.

"Portland is one of the most beautiful cities I've seen, with a thriving downtown and one of the country's top 15 film-watching communities." "Both city and state are really supportive," and the Oregon Media Production Association (OMPA) establishes a one-stop permitting agency for the film industry.

The Oregon Office of Film and Video "does a great job of advertising for local companies," says Kenneth Luba of Golightly Films, and the Northwest Film Center provides training and affordable equipment as well as hosting events and administering cash awards for film and video work through the Oregon Arts Commission Fellowship. Read the full article.

Source: January 2003, MovieMaker.com, The Art and Business of Making Movies.

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