In today’s Photo Kaleidoscope – Portland and Vancouver, two cities of two Northwestern states – Oregon and Washington, sited on the opposite banks of the Columbia River.
I gotta mention, by visiting Vancouver I have checked-out the entire Pacific Coast of the USA, meaning visited all the coastline states of the continental Western United States.
***Just FYI,
– Portland is Oregon’s largest city with an estimated population of 632,000+ and metropolitan area population of 3,000,000+. Roughly 60 percent of Oregon’s population resides within the Portland Metro Area.
– Snow-capped Mount Hood is considered the Oregon volcano most likely to erupt, though based on its history, an explosive eruption is unlikely. Still, the odds of an eruption in the next 30 years are estimated at between 3 and 7 percent, so the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) characterizes it as “potentially active”. It is located about 50 miles (80 km) east-southeast of Portland.
– Portland’s climate is marked by warm, dry summers and chilly, rainy winters. This climate is ideal for growing roses, and Portland has been called the “City of Roses” for over a century. “The City of Roses” is its official nickname since 2003.
– “Keep Portland Weird” is an unofficial slogan for the city ☺
– Portland is home to Nike and Adidas North America headquarters.
– Established in Portland in 1971, Powell’s Books is the largest independent new and used bookstore in the world. “Powell’s City of Books” is located on the edge of downtown and occupies a full city block between NW 10th and 11th Avenues and between W. Burnside and NW Couch Streets. It contains over 68,000 square feet (6,300 m2), about 1.6 acres of retail floor space. CNN rates it one of the ten “coolest” bookstores in the world. The inventory for its retail and online sales is over four million new, used, rare, and out-of-print books. Powell’s buys around 3,000 used books a day.
– Portland’s cityscape derives much of its character from the numerous bridges that span the Willamette River downtown, several of which are historical landmarks, and Portland has been nicknamed “Bridgetown” for many decades as a result. Three of downtown’s most heavily-utilized bridges are more than 100 years old and are designated historic landmarks: Hawthorne Bridge (1910), Steel Bridge (1912), and Broadway Bridge (1913). Portland’s newest bridge in the downtown area, Tilikum Crossing (Bridge of the People), opened in 2015 and is the first new bridge to span the Willamette in Portland since the 1973 opening of the Fremont Bridge.– Vancouver is the fourth-largest city in the State of Washington with a population of 170,000+, metro area: 2,350,000+.
– Vancouver shares its name with the larger city of Vancouver in southern British Columbia, Canada. Both cities were named after sea captain George Vancouver, but the American city is older. City officials have periodically suggested changing the U.S. city’s name to Fort Vancouver to reduce confusion with its larger and better-known northern neighbor.
– Local nicknames include: “Vantucky” and “The ‘Couv(e)”. In 2013, the nickname “Vansterdam” surfaced as a result of the legalization of marijuana in the state of Washington.
– The Old Apple Tree was planted in 1826 on Fort Vancouver land and is thought to be the oldest apple tree in the Northwest. It is also considered the matriarch of Washington State’s apple industry.Click on image to view full size.
gmeanm3r