A clean and green city is hard to find nowadays. In these times, many cities are already heavily polluted. Air, land and water pollution are such big problems that people are already feeling the effects of climate change. However, there is a city that has fought these problems rather successfully. This city is Portland, Oregon. It is distinguished as the “Most Environmentally Friendly” city in the United States of America and the second most in the world. This is despite it being heavily populated, making it the most populous city in Oregon.

Portland can be found in the Northern section of Oregon. It has the Willamette Rive running through the center of the city. During summer, temperature could reach as high as 81 0F and during winter, it could go as low as 37 0F.

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How the city got its name is rather interesting. It used to be just known as “the clearing” in the early parts of the 19th century. William Overton got interested in the commercial potential of the place so he decided to claim the land with financial help from his partner Asa Lovejoy of Boston, Massachusetts. Overton’s share was later sold to Francis W. Pettygrove of Portland, Maine. The two could not decide whether to name the place Boston or Portland so they decided to solve the issue via a toss coin. In a best of three tosses Pettygrove prevailed so “the clearing” got the name Portland. Now the city has been nicknamed “The City of Roses” because of the many rose gardens there most notable of which is the International Rose Test Garden.

Apart from these rose gardens there are also a lot of tourists’ attractions in Portland. There many parks, concert halls, theaters and museums. It also hosts festivals like the Portland Rose Festival and Oregon Brewers Festival.