Portland Sports and Concert Events

Portland

Portland is the largest city in Oregon, and county seat of Multnomah County. It is a major Pacific seaport located about sixty miles from the west coast of the United States, situated on both sides of the Willamette River, just south of its confluence with the Columbia River. According the US Census estimates, as of July 2003, the city's population was estimated to be 538,544. Portland has many nicknames. The City of Roses and Rose City originated during the 1905 Lewis and Clark centennial. The climate is ideal for growing roses and the city is home to the annual Rose Festival, the International Rose Test Garden, and the Rose Garden Arena. One of the oldest nicknames, "Stumptown", comes from the period of phenomenal growth after 1847. The city was growing so rapidly that the stumps of trees cut down to make way for roads were left until manpower could be spared to remove them. In some areas, the stumps remained for so long that locals painted them white to make them more visible, and used them to cross the street without sinking into the mud. Other nicknames include: City of Bridges, or Bridgetown, due to its numerous bridges; PDX, from the airport code of its airport; Puddletown, because of its weather; Rip City, a nickname stemming from a chance remark from Bill Schonely, a long-time announcer for the Portland Trail Blazers; River City, because of its proximity to the Willamette River and Columbia River; Little Beirut, for the hostile demonstrations in response to the visits of presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and his son George W. Bush; Deportland, from the alleged rough treatment of passengers at the Federal Inspection Service facility when Delta Air Lines operated flights to Asia from PDX; P-town, presumably from "Portland" + "town". Portland has one of the highest parks-per-capita ratios among cities in the United States. Forest Park is one of the world's largest parks contained within a city (and definitely the United State's largest park contained within a city), at about 5000 acres (20 km?). Portland is also home to Mill Ends Park, the world's smallest park (being a two-foot diameter circle, its area is only about 0.3 square meters). Washington Park is west of downtown, home to the Oregon Zoo, a Japanese Garden, the International Rose Test Garden, all accessible from a MAX stop which is the deepest subway station in the country. The Gov. Tom McCall Waterfront Park runs along west bank of the Willamette for the length of downtown. The 37-acre (150,000 m?) park was built in 1974 after a freeway was removed. Today it plays host to large events throughout the year, including several beer festivals, a series of blues concerts, and the Rose Festival carnival. Portland is also home to Portland Classical Chinese Garden, an authentic representation of a Suzhou-style walled garden. Local construction workers provided the site preparation and foundation and dozens of workers from Suzhou, using material from China, constructed its walls and other structures, including a tea house. Portland is home to the following professional sports teams: Portland Trail Blazers, NBA; Portland Beavers, Minor league baseball; Portland Winterhawks, Junior league hockey; Portland Timbers, United Soccer Leagues; Jackson Lacrosse, AAA-League Lacrosse.