Largest city of the state of Oregon, Portland comes third in terms of population in the Pacific Northwest, after Vancouver (BC, Canada) and Seattle (WA). Portland is situated near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers. The city is also known for its large number of microbreweries and microdistilleries, for strong land-use planning and investment in public transit, and for its Trail Blazers NBA basketball team.

The city of Portland is frequently mentioned in “best city” surveys, based on different criteria. All worldwide and regional surveys where Portland appears in the rankings presented on this site are listed below. Continue reading »

In the 2008 “Best Cities in America to Have a Baby” survey of the Fit Pregnancy magazine, Portland (Oregon) moves back on the top spot, after missing one year  from the top 3. It is followed by the always present San Francisco and Minneapolis. The winner of last year’s survey, Boston (Massachusetts), moves on the sixth place.

The survey looked at different criteria, such as doctors, hospitals, doulas, midwives, breastfeeding success rates, birth and health risk, stroller-friendly trails and parks, and affordability. So if you want to start a family or simply intend to have another child, take a look at the rankings below. Continue reading »

Fit Pregnancy, an American publication obviously dedicated to pregnant women, comes up every year with a “Best Cities in America to Have a Baby” survey. The magazine considered 50 major US cities and factors such as doctors and hospitals, midwives, birth and health risk, stroller-friendly trails and parks, affordability, and (maybe the most important) breastfeeding. The 2006 Fit Pregnancy survey ranked Portland on the top spot, followed by Boston and Minneapolis.

So if you want to start a family or simply intend to have another child, take a look at the rankings below. Continue reading »

AskMen.com published in 2007 a Top 10 of Bicycle Cities, about best cities in the world good for bikes. They looked at how well-connected and incorporated are the bike lanes and paths into the city’s major downtown routes, at the efforts in innovation in accommodating cyclists despite the confines of an urban setting, at the low risk to have your bike stolen, at the overall cycling infrastructure provided by several world cities to ride your bike in.

While North America tries to accommodate increasing numbers of cyclists, many European prototypes have already engineered cities with the bicycle in mind. Among them, Scandinavian countries boast many bustling city centers designed around the bicycle. Continue reading »