Joseph Lee

Bio

Portland has been referred to as one of the most environmentally friendly or "green" cities in the world. Portland is often awarded the "Greenest City in America", and ranks among the world's top 10 greenest cities.For more than a century, Portland has been known as "The City of Roses" Forest Park is the largest wilderness park within city limits in the United States, covering more than 5,000 acres. Portland is also home to Mill Ends Park, the world's smallest park, the park's area is only about 0.3 square m). Washington Park is just west of downtown, and is home to the Oregon Zoo, the Portland Japanese Garden, and the International Rose Test Garden. Portland was named in 2006 by American Style magazine as the tenth best Big City Arts Destination in the U.S. With twenty-eight breweries within the city, Portland is home to more breweries than any other city in the country, was recognized by the Food Network Awards as their "Delicious Destination of the Year: Portland has become known as a premier coffee destination in the Pacific Northwest with more than 20 coffee houses in Portland with 4.5-5 star ratings. Portland hosts the Portland Marathon and much of the Hood to Coast Relay, the world's largest such event. Portland ranked 42nd worldwide in quality of living; Portland is the largest shipper of wheat in the United States, and is the second largest port for wheat in the world.Portland has been recognized as the tenth most walkable city in the nationranks highly among the most bicycle friendly cities in the worldApproximately 8% of commuters bike to work, the highest proportion of any major U.S. city and about 10 times the national averageThe Wall Street Journal stated Portland "may be the most skateboard-friendly town in AmericaPortland strongly favors the Democratic Party. Although local elections are nonpartisan, most of the city's elected officials are Democrats.Sam Adams, the current mayor of Portland, became the city's first openly-gay mayor in 2009