What more could you possibly want? Portland has a huge forest in the middle of the city, beautiful Chinese and Japanese gardens, as well as the Rose Test Garden - quirky shops and even quirkier and amazing people. Portland has the best micro brews in the country (and many brew pubs), food that is not only delicious - but inexpensive as well (of course, there are plenty of premium restaurants that are amazing and well worth every dollar spent)! You're also never lacking for a live show any night of the week. We have Mount Hood in the south, the Pacific Ocean to the west - never really far from anything - and you can find nearly anything in Portland and the surrounding areas. Theatre-friendly, art-obsessed, socially-concerned and nature-crazy - Portland is a big city with the welcoming, small town feel. It's also very pretty at night. I love my hometown.

Living in Portland, you get the best of both worlds. Go West to the beach or East to the Mountains. Plenty of hiking areas, parks, and recreation. Lots of wineries, microbrews, and eclectic places to hang out. Berry Picking, Saturday market shopping, Sunday brunch: you pick it; its up to you. There is enough sunshine and enough rain to balance things out. Not too hot or too cold.

I've lived here for most of my life & I wouldn't leave for anything. I love this city!

On the way to the beach. Downtown lights were amazing even if we did get lost ;)

My first trip to Portland, not much time free from the Annual Meeting, however, did manage to squeeze time to see the town. It is quite exquisite, we could think of Switzerland in the USA, it is well organized and tidy, despite having historically been a mining center in the west coast. Good to know is that the tram service is FREE in the main Zone 1 downtown area. And it does work, a tram almost every 5 minutes will take you anywhere in the town. More nice information: . Its japanese gardens are said to be the best and largest outside of Japan. I don't know about that, but went there and loved every moment . There is a nice bar downtown called the Martini Vault. Worth checking, some of the more inventive cocktails I ever came across. The menu indicates its composition and has an appropriate line from some song lyrics that allows you to get a feeling of what's in he glass, emotion-wise.