Portland - Category of Backgroud

Portland International Airport (PDX) is a thirty-minute drive from downtown, by either the Gray Line Airport Express bus (every 45min 5ammidnight; $15; www.grayline.com ), which drops off at major hotels, or the cheaper MAX light-rail line (4 hourly, 7am11.30pm; $1.55), which connects to the airport near Terminal C and takes about forty minutes to reach downtown. A cab from the airport into town costs $2530. Greyhound at 550 NW Sixth Ave and Amtrak close by at 800 NW Sixth Ave are conveniently situ ated within easy walking distance of the center; if you arrive at night take a cab though this part of town is not safe after dark. Pacific Trails (tel 503/292-4437) runs buses from Portland to the Oregon Coast.

The visitor center , by the river in the World Trade Center, 26 SW Salmon St at Front Avenue (MayOct daily 9am5pm; NovApr MonFri 9am5pm, Sat 10am2pm, tel 503/275-9750 or 1-800/962-3700, www.pova.org ), has plenty of maps and information on both the city and the state. Portland's main post office is at 715 NW Hoyt St (tel 503/294-2124; zip code 97205).

Having been spared the kind of aggressive, remorseless development that many Seattle residents have come to loathe, PORTLAND still retains a pleasant, small-city feel, both for its well-preserved Beaux Arts architecture and walkable urban core, as well as its easygoing atmosphere. On the other hand, while Portland's unpretentious bohemian flavor may be lost on more gung-ho travelers, the city remains an excellent spot for casual visitors to slack around for weeks at a time, with a wealth of good diners, microbreweries, clubs, bookstores and coffee houses to keep you occupied.

The city was named after Portland, Maine, following a coin toss between its two East Coast founders in 1845 ("Boston" was the other option). Its location on a deep part of the Willamette River, just 78 miles from the Pacific and surrounded by fertile valleys, made it a perfect trading port, and it grew quickly, replacing its clapboard houses with ornate facades and Gothic gables. By the 1970s, Portland's historic buildings had decayed or were sacrificed to parking lots and expressways, but since then, it has salvaged what was left of its past, replacing concrete with red brick, and introducing folksy statues and murals. Although the city's rehabilitation, along with its "urban growth boundary" to limit unrestrained development, has done much for Portland's reputation nationwide, most residents are ambivalent about the praise and would prefer you move anywhere preferably Seattle but here.