About Portland

My husband's nephew who lives in Indiana sent us this thing where we have to write about where we live; it's for a class project. So I spent some time working on it yesterday and thought it would be fun to post it here for those who may not know much about the Rose City.

This was written for a 4th grade class, so if it seems over-simplified at times, that's why. I'm also adding links for some of the information - most of the links are from Wikipedia.

Portland, Oregon

Facts:

• Population: Portland proper - 538,000, Metropolitan area - about 2 million
• Area: 130 square miles
• Elevation: officially 130 feet above sea level, though varies greatly between 0 and 1100 feet above sea level.

Climate:

• Temperate and Seasonal.
  
• Average of 155 days of rain per year. Average 40-45 inches of rain per year.
• Average winter low temperature 35º F, average summer high temperature 80º F
• Record low -3º F, record high 107º F.
• November-April is the rainy season, July-September are very dry months.
• Portland is a pleasant place to live. We do not generally have weather extremes (our summers are warm but not scortching, and we rarely get significant snow or deep freezes in the winter), and generally we do not have any natural disasters: tornadoes (very rarely), earthquakes (very rarely), hurricanes (never), floods (occasionally). We typically are known for rain, and we sometimes have periods of really windy weather.
  

Landmarks:

• Portland is located at the convergence of the Columbia and Willamette rivers. Oregon is known for the beautiful Columbia River Gorge, which has 77 waterfalls (including the 620 foot Multnomah Falls), and excellent hiking and windsurfing.
• Portland is about 50 miles west of Mt. Hood, an 11,000 foot high mountain in the Cascade Mountain Range, where skiing is a huge winter industry. Mt. Hood is home to the United States' only year-round skiing facility, at Palmer Glacier, where Olympic teams often train.
• Portland lies 50 miles south of Mt. St. Helens, which is famous for it's volcanic eruption on May 18, 1980. This eruption sent ash over 12 miles into the atmosphere. It was the largest volcanic eruption in the continental US in recorded history. Mt. St. Helens is still considered an active (alive) volcano and may erupt again at any time.
• Portland lies on top of an extinct (dead) volcanic zone called the Boring Lava Field. Portland has a number of extinct (dead) volcanoes and cinder cones within it's city limits, including Mt. Scott, Mt. Tabor, Rocky Butte, Kelly Butte, and Powell Butte. Mt. Hood is also a dormant (sleeping) volcano; it's only been about 200 years since Mt. Hood was active.
• Portland is home to the International Rose Test Garden, Pioneer Courthouse Square, the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center (actually in Oregon City, but very close to Portland), and the Portland Memorial Coliseum/The Rose Garden Arena, which are home of the Portland Trail Blazers NBA team.
• Portland is about 75 miles east of the Pacific Ocean. The Oregon coast is famous for tidepools, which are pools of water left standing at low tide that are home to starfish, sea anemones, mussels, crabs, kelp and other sea life. The Oregon Coast has more rocky cliffs and rainforests than sandy beaches. The Oregon coast is also famous for it's many Lighthouses. Astoria, on the North Coast, is home to the Wreck of the Peter Iredale, a four-masted steel sailing ship. It's skeletal remains have been embedded in the beach for 100 years. The Central Coast is home of Depoe Bay, the world's Smallest Harbor (6 acres); and the D River, the world's Shortest River (200 yards). The South Coast is home of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, which is 40 miles of enormous sand dunes.

Industries:

• Oregon is famous for forestry, including logging, reforestation and paper products manufacturing. Portland is home of the World Forestry Center, designed to educate people about how important forests are to human life.
• Oregon is home to a large salmon fishing industry. There is a large salmon run on the Columbia river. The Columbia river is also home to the Bonneville Dam, Fish Hatchery (to grow baby fish) and Fish Ladders (help the fish get up the river).
• Portland is home to a very busy industrial river port. Portland also supports technology (such as Lattice Semiconductor) and manufacturing (such as Columbia Sportswear). The Portland area is also home to Nike's World Headqurters.
• Oregon is known for developing alternative forms of power and energy. There are four hydroelectric dams in Oregon on the Columbia river. Oregon is also developing wind power in the Columbia River Gorge. Oregon was home to the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant, which was closed and decommissioned in the 1990's and demolished May 21, 2006 (video).
• Portland is at the north end of the Willamette Valley, which is home to numerous vineyards, wineries and breweries. The Willamette Valley is also home to faming and dairy industries.
• Oregon is famous for it's environmentalism. We are always looking for ways to protect the environment and natural resources from pollution and industry. For instance, Tri-Met, our public transportation system, is replacing diesel powered buses with hybrid diesel-elerctric buses because they use 50% less fuel. As the diesel buses are retired, they are replacing them with the hybrid ones. Tri-met is also converting their existing diesel-fuel buses to a bio-diesel blend. Bio-diesel is partly made with vegetable oil (a renewable resource) instead of diesel oil (a non-renewable resource).
  
• Google, the world's leading internet search engine, is building a server facility in The Dalles, Oregon, which is about 80 miles east of Portland. It is expected to be the size of two football fields.

Other neat facts:

• Portland is known as the "River City" or the "Rose City", or "Bridge City". Portland has 3 bridges over the Columbia river and 11 over the Willamette River. Portland has a huge "Rose Festival" each year in June, with a carnival, parades (including a lighted parade at night), Navy ships you can tour, and hundreds of other activities.
• Portland was given it's name in a coin toss in 1845. Asa Lovejoy wanted to name it Boston, Francis Pettygrove wanted to name it Portland. Guess who won?
• Portland is home to the World's Smallest Park, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. It is called Mill Ends Park, and is about two feet in diameter. It has, in the past, been home to a miniature ferris wheel, swimming pool and statues. Right now there is a shrub and flowers in it.
  
• Portland is home to the Metropolitan Area Express, otherwise known as MAX. MAX is a 44 mile light-rail system (like a small train the runs on electricity) and it is operated by Tri-Met, Portland's public transportation system. MAX runs all throughout the Portland area. It is the most-ridden light rail system in the nation. The first MAX line opened in 1986, and we are still expanding the system, with plans all the way into 2014. MAX is a worldwide renowned transportation model.
• Portland is home to Oregon Health Sciences University, a world famous teaching and research hospital. Doctors at OHSU are always developing new drugs and treatments for many illnesses, including cancer. Doctors at OHSU treated Lance Armstrong for his cancer and are credited with saving his life.