Talk:Portland, Oregon

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  • Archive 1: Discussions began before July 2005
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  • Archive 4: Discussions August 2006 through March 2008


Contents

[edit] Portland Nicknames

In the main information box, it gives the following as Portland's nickname: Rose City, Stumptown, Bridgetown, PDX, Beervana, Brewtopia, Beertown, and Little Beirut Does anyone else think that for a lead info box that maybe this should just give the main one? To be honest, I've lived in Portland my entire life and have only heard of "Rose City" being the nickname and of course in online situations, "PDX". Although I don't doubt that maybe some call Portland by these other names, but would it be more appropriate to maybe list the other nicknames in the article rather than all of them in the info box? Maybe even a reason for the nicknames. Kman543210 (talk) 04:40, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

Agreed, I have been here for 12 yrs and have never heard anyone call it "Beervana, Brewtopia or Beertown". The rest I have heard.
Can we agree to list only "Rose City" or none at all? --travisthurston+ 05:04, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
I did some googling, and found "Beervana" describing the brew industry and not the city as a whole. Also "brewtopia" and "beertown" are used by other cities and events and are now way unique to the Rose City. On a side note, Seattle has one nickname, LA and SF have, for the most part, "well-known" nicknames listed.--travisthurston+ 18:49, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
I mostly agree about less nicknames versus more. However, "Beervana" is common enough that PBS used it in a show about the history of beer in Portland.Tedder (talk) 23:09, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Economy

I added a start for an economy section per a discussion around March of 2007, (now archived). I tried to find as many initial references as I could for the information, but feel that the economy section could use some extensive peer-review and expansion. It might also be beneficial if anyone is up to doing a quick copy-edit or would like to wikify any content that I did not format ideally. (I am afterall not a frequent contributer... or not frequent enough to go without some help.) JordanRL (talk) 19:29, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] New Sections

I recently added the Economy section to the article per a discussion that took place over a year ago. I'm a bit appalled that nothing had been added in the interium, and looking at the article I think there are several potential sections that could be added to provide a better article about the city, and promote this page to FA status. Here are some topics I think might enhance the Portland, Oregon article:

  • Architecture
  • Shanghai Tunnels (Culture)
  • Portland Development Commission [This should probably be made into its own page as well, especially considering that it's linked at least once on the article and the PDC is of relatively high importance within the city; perhaps the planning a development section under Law & Government should be broken into its own section]
  • City Politics (Law & Government) [This should probably include a list of mayors, and highlights from defining political moments for the city, such as the Mult. County Income Tax, the contraversy over the street renaming to "Chavez", the stark contrast of Portland politics and politics in the rest of the state, etc.]
  • Free Speech [This section needs a LOT more in it... there's a lot to say on the topic for Portland]
  • Parks & attractions [This section could be expanded to include nearby recreational activites; for instance it would probably be of interest to note that Mt. Hood provides year round skiing, and the Oregon Coast provides year rounds surfing and fishing, and that both are within a one and a half hour drive from city center]
  • Notable residents [This section is linked to the larger article, however a brief summary of some of the more prominent members would benefit the article.]
  • Infrastructure [It would add a lot to the article to have a few subsections discussing the sewer systems, utilities, police/fire/rescue, hospitals/medical facilities (as opposed to simply medical schools), and other basic infrastructure related topics.]
  • Unique Climate Situations [A very small section under climate about the Gorge Effect Weather might be pertinent, as it is a situation very unique to the city and makes predicting the weather much more difficult in Portland than many other locations, particularly in the Winter.]

These are a few of my suggestions, and not all of them might be appropriate. They all, however, would provide soemthing to the article that I think is missing currently. JordanRL (talk) 22:06, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Free Speech Clarification

User:Loodog asked for a clarification of why and/or how the Oregon Constitution provides more extensive free speech protections than the federal constitution. Per the linked article on the Oregon Constitution:

The Oregon Constitution is easier to amend than its Federal counterpart. Amending the U.S. Constitution requires a two-thirds vote in Congress and ratification by three fourths of the states. Oregon only requires a simple majority to vote in favor of an amendment once it has been referred to the voters either by a simple majority of the legislature or through an initiative petition.

And

  • Natural rights inherent in people
  • Freedom of worship
  • Freedom of religious opinion
  • No religious qualification for office
  • No money to be appropriated for religion
  • No religious test for witnesses or jurors
  • Manner of administering oath or affirmation
  • Freedom of speech and press
  • Unreasonable searches or seizures
  • Administration of justice
...
  • Ex-post facto laws; laws impairing contracts; laws depending on authorization in order to take effect; laws submitted to electors
  • Suspension of operation of laws
...
  • Corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate
  • Assemblages of people; instruction of representatives; application to legislature
  • Right to bear arms; military subordinate to civil power
  • Quartering soldiers
...
  • Taxes and duties; uniformity of taxation (amended 1917)
  • Enumeration of rights not exclusive
...
  • Work and training for corrections institution inmates; work programs; limitations; duties of corrections director (adopted 1994; amended 1997, 1999)
  • Rights of victim in criminal prosecutions and juvenile court delinquency proceedings (adopted 1999)
  • Rights of victim and public to protection from accused person during criminal proceedings; denial of pretrial release (adopted 1999)
  • Term of imprisonment imposed by court to be fully served; exceptions (adopted 1999)
  • Person convicted of certain crimes not eligible to serve as juror on grand jury or trial jury in criminal case (adopted 1999)

I'm not sure how these things can be clearly conveyed within that sentence other than the link to the Oregon Constitution article, which already exists. JordanRL (talk) 01:09, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure how any of these things are related to free speech being protected more in Oregon than from the U.S. Constitution. "Freedom of speech and press" is in the U.S. Constitution as well, is it not? Kman543210 (talk) 01:42, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
A lot of these tangental provisions in the Oregon Constitution enumerate what the Supreme Court sees as symbolic speech, however perhaps it would be better if the sentence talked about expanded general rights in addition to speech, instead of free speech specifically? EDIT: In addition, the cited article fromt he Portland Mercury explains the exact wording that was intended: the Oregon Constitution classifies stripping as a form of free speech, there-by limitting the ability of municipalities to regulate them like they do in other states. JordanRL (talk) 02:08, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
The Oregon Constitution provides much greater free speech protection than the U.S. Constitution. Recent examples include "adult" materials and strip clubs. A 1987 Oregon Supreme court decision is explained in the NY Times. —EncMstr (talk) 03:10, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
Many of my law professors mention this, but I think this is something far better suited for the Oregon article or the article on the OR Constitution, and then maybe a sentence in this article, as obviously the situation is not unique to Portland. And the whole stronger state constitution thing is not unique to Oregon (especially given the fact that our constitution was "borrowed" from Indiana's, which was likely borrowed from another state as well). Now the interpretations (thats why stripping is speech) and the work of Hans Linde on the interpretations of the state constitution are somewhat unique. Aboutmovies (talk) 08:57, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Comments wanted on MAX, Streetcar maps

I have made maps of the MAX Light Rail and Portland Streetcar systems and submitted them to Picture Peer Review. If anyone would like to, feel free to comment on them there. Thanks, Jason McHuff (talk) 01:34, 12 June 2008 (UTC)