[fflint]

Fifty years ago, Portland was indistinguishable from cities like Indianapolis in terms of the built environment. River city, light industry, all about freeways and urban redevelopment, a sprawling low-density suburb in search of a center. Today, it has one of the most extensive and highest performing light rail networks in the nation, a growth boundary that continues to concentrate development in the center, a vital and healthy downtown shopping district with nearby high-rise office and mid-rise residential districts. PDX has the 'cool' factor without requiring a Manhattan income, and vies with Minneapolis for the title of America's bicycle capital as every big city grows its bike share. The notable thing about Portland isn't what it used to be, or what it is right now necessarily, so much as the kind of city the ongoing momentum is making it into.

Agreed PDX is low-density by West Coast and global standards. It doesn't have census tracts exceeding 100k per square mile, or an especially notable collection of skyscrapers. But Portland is most certainly "cosmopolitan." A huge percentage of today's Portlanders are former New Yorkers, San Franciscans, Seattleites and Angelenos.