Coffee and Biking Culture
Portland enjoys a coffee and biking culture. The New York Times writes, "Most cafes buy their beans already roasted. But here in the spiritual home of the D.I.Y. generation, you can walk or bike into a number of tiny, high-quality operations where the owner is probably the roaster, and could even be the person preparing your drink — in this town, smaller is better." According to Bicycling.com, "No other city in the United States has more
cyclists per capita." Portland was voted the most bike-friendly city in 2012.
Image: Lloyd Lindley 
PDX Maker Faire
Do-It-Yourself (DIY) and Maker fairs are a big part of the Portland design and innovation culture. The PDX Maker Faire at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry provides an opportunity for makers and inventors to share their ideas and concepts featuring 85 exhibitors. Free exploration with electronics, mechanical systems, robotics, 3D printing, and specialty casting occur in basements, garages, and studios throughout the city.
Image: Wired Magazine 
ADX
ADX provides 14,000 square feet of tools and materials for makers. It's just one of several facilities that caters to inventors and small manufacturers in and around Portland. Supporting facilities like ADX is Portland Made Collective, a group of designers, goods retailers, and manufacturers. Again, small is better in Portland, and it helps define who we are.
Image: Portland Made Collective 
The Clock Ship Tere
Andy Tibbetts, a Portland-based designer, exhibits the maker philosophy, with his custom-built machine that carried "fire sales" out in the desert at Burning Man festivals. According to Popular Mechanics, "Tibbetts, who began designing the machine in 2004 and building it in 2008, recruited more than 100 people to help construct it."
Image: Andrew Miller
Ryno Monowheel Bike
Chris Hoffman is one of Portland's great innovators. He is creating the future now. Years ago, he began experimenting with an all-electric monocycle technology. The road to market wasn't easy, but after years of testing and marketing his dream is coming true. The Ryno has a range of ten miles and a 12 mile-per-hour top speed. The Ryno can be charged at a regular home outlet. It's safe to use and street legal.
Image: Popular Science 
Design Education
Portland's universities and community colleges promote design and education, offering associate, baccalaureate, and graduate degrees in product design, digital arts, architecture, and engineering. Above, a masters student at the University of Oregon Portland campus works on a Biomedical Laboratory project for the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry campus.
Image: Lloyd Lindley 
TV and Film
Portland is increasingly a presence in broadcast media. The IFC show Portlandia hilariously pokes fun at aspects of our local culture. The sci-fi show Grimm is also filmed here. Portlanders have a sense of humor about themselves. Academy-award winning film director Gus Van Sant lives here, as does Laika, the creators of the Academy-award nominated animated film Coraline. More entertainment will be coming out of Portland.
Image: Portlandia 
Portlanders Love Their Parks
Portlanders cherish our public open space and park system. Portland's parks are places for play as much as they are for performance arts, exhibitions, and events. A full schedule of music, dance, and visual arts events fills the year with activities. The Ira Keller Fountain was designed by Lawrence Halprin and Associates as part of Portland's open space sequence.
Image: The Cultural Landscape Foundation 
Oregon Ballet Theatre for the Public
The Portland Ballet Theater conducts workshops and performances in Director Square and in the South Park Blocks.
Image: Rachel Austin, OBT Exposed 
Farmers Market
Portland Farmers' Markets occur throughout the city, in plazas, parks, streets and parking lots. Portland has a gregarious nature, and we desire healthy foods. The plaza at the north end of the South Park Blocks hosts Portland's downtown farmers' market during weekdays, and at the south end, it moves to Portland State University on weekends.
Image: Roby Lee, Creative Commons, Cropped 
Portland Saturday Market
The Portland Saturday Market at Tom McCall Waterfront Park and Ankeny Square provides a space for local vendors and craftsman to sell their wares.
Image: Mack Male, Creative Commons, Cropped 
The Hopworksfiets Party Bike
Portland has more microbreweries per capita than any other city in the United States. Brewing beer began in Portland in 1864 when Henry Weinhard purchased an existing brewery at 11th and Burnside. Whidden and Lewis, the same designers of the Oregon Forestry Building at the Lewis and Clark Exposition, designed the brew house that was completed in 1908. Today, breweries and brew pubs are like coffee shops—one on every street corner with a broad range of flavors and bitterness.
Image: Elly Blue, Creative Commons, Cropped 
Craft Distilling Community
Clear Creek distillery pioneered the crafting of local spirits. Founded in 1985, they have become a cornerstone in the craft distilling community. There are now 14 craft distilleries in Portland. In southeast Portland, a few hours stroll will connect visitors with nine craft distillers that provide tastings of their products.
Image: Mr. Tattie Heid 
Willamette and Columbia Valley Wine Region
Wine regions know no boundaries, except for the lines we draw on maps. Portland's prominent regions are the Willamette AVA; the Columbia Valley AVA, which is mostly in Washington; and the Columbia Gorge AVA, which shares part of its region with Washington. The greater Portland region is internationally recognized as a producer of fine wines. Many wineries can be visited within a day's time from downtown.
Image: Navin Rajagopalan, Creative Commons, Cropped