With a population of more than 2 million in the greater metropolitan area, Portland is a major cultural center with the Oregon symphony orchestra, an opera company, a junior symphony, a ballet company, a performing arts center, art museum and galleries, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), a zoological garden, as well as an arboretum and many botanical gardens.

Portland has more jazz clubs, live theaters and restaurants per capita than any other large city on the West Coast. Portland contains 7,500 acres of park land in 160 locations including Forest Park, one of the largest urban wilderness within any American city. On a clear day there's a great view of Portland and Mt. Hood from the OHSU campus on Marquam Hill.

The ski slopes of Mt. Hood are just an hour east of Portland. The Oregon coast, with more than 300 miles of public beaches, is less than two hours west. World-class windsurfing can be found less than an hour's drive from Portland in the rugged Columbia River Gorge.

Oregonians are proud of their environment and work together to keep the air, waterways, beaches and forest clean, and to keep the wilderness areas primitive. Portland has been referred to as the most environmentally friendly or "green" city in the United States, and the 2nd most in the world.

Oregon's economy is supported by the timber and forest industries, agriculture, transportation and shipping, recreation and tourism, the electronics and high technology industries as well as several smaller industries.

Visit the following for more information about the Portland area:

• Travel Portland

• Oregon Zoo

• Portland Center for the Performing Arts

• Powell's Books

• Portland Hikes

• Timbers

• Trailblazers

• Winterhawks