The GOOD 100: The People of Portland

Trailblazers

We declare that the residents of the City of Roses are doing more than their fair share of innovation, because:

1) They live in the only city in America where the phrase “urban-growth boundary” can be used to kick off cocktail-party conversation or, in certain company, as the anchor to a pickup line. (And because they adopted the nation’s first such boundary, which contains suburban sprawl and preserves farm land, all the way back in 1978.)

2) They built America’s first modern streetcar line—and now they’re manufacturing the first American-built streetcars in almost 60 years. Go, U.S.A.! Viva multimodal transportation!

3) Almost one out of every five of them rides a bike as his or her primary or secondary means of transportation. Between that and the veganism, there are some skinny people there.

4) They give the nation delicious microbrewed beer, artsy cool-climate pinot noir, and fanatically sourced and flavor-profiled microroasted coffee—and are only moderately self-satisfied and annoying about it all.

5) They consider the whole urban-chicken trend so 2007 compared with ducks and goats. Portlanders don’t need a permit to keep any of those beasts—this town knows just how important duck eggs can be. And, hell, you can get a permit to keep a cow within city limits for just $31.