Portland, Oregon, City Of Roses

Portland is Oregon's most populous city, and the third most populous city in the Pacific Northwest region, after Seattle, Washington, and Vancouver, British Columbia. Approximately 2,289,800 people live in the Portland metropolitan area. Portland was incorporated in 1851 near the end of the Oregon Trail and is the county seat of Multnomah County. The city is noted for its superior land-use planning and investment in light rail. Because of its public transportation networks and efficient land-use planning, Portland has been referred to as one of the most environmentally friendly, or "green," cities in the world. The city is also known for its abundant outdoor activities, liberal political values, and beer and coffee enthusiasm. Portland is home to a collection of independent microbreweries, microdistilleries, and food carts that contribute to the unofficial but widely-utilized slogan "Keep Portland Weird." Portland's location is beneficial for several industries. Relatively low energy cost, accessible resources, north-south and east-west Interstates, international air terminals, large marine shipping facilities, and both west coast intercontinental railroads are all economic advantages. The US consulting firm Mercer, in a 2009 assessment "conducted to help governments and major companies place employees on international assignments," ranked Portland 42nd worldwide in quality of living; the survey factored in political stability, personal freedom, sanitation, crime, housing, the natural environment, recreation, banking facilities, availability of consumer goods, education, and public services including transportation.

The city's history of attracting and retaining company headquarters is mixed. Major businesses such as Willamette Industries, Louisiana-Pacific, CH2M HILL, U.S. Bank, and Evraz North American (formerly known as Oregon Steel Mills), have moved headquarters out of the city, as have smaller companies such as Lucy Activewear and Northwest Pipe Company. Examples of how the city has attracted a company's world, North American, or U.S. headquarters include Vestas Wind Systems, and sporting goods manufacturers Li-Ning Co., Hi-Tec Sports, KEEN, Inc. and Adidas. Computer components manufacturer Intel is the Portland area's largest employer, providing jobs for more than 15,000 people, with several campuses to the west of central Portland in the city of Hillsboro. The metro area is home to more than 1,200 technology companies. This high density of technology companies has led to the nickname Silicon Forest being used to describe the Portland area, a reference to the abundance of trees in the region and to the Silicon Valley region in Northern California. While manufacturing and hardware have been the core in the past, a budding group of software-oriented startup companies have taken root in Portland as well, supported by new funding organizations and business incubators. Major Grocery Stores in Portland include Albertsons, Safeway, Fred Meyer and Trader Joes.