Business Week's "Top 10 Planned Cities For Design in America"
Newsweek named Portland real estate the #5 "Best Planned City For Design In America" -- beat only by LA, Boston, NY and Chicago. As one of the smaller cities on the list, Portland was chosen for the way architects blend the city in with the natural surroundings, the "distinctive urban aesthetic" and the 72% approval rate when citizens are asked if they're happy with the quality of their city's architecture.
To come up with the list, judges looked at cities with more than 500,000 residents, the number of Portland real estate on the National Historic Register, the quality of public transportation, the number of sustainable buildings and the number of architectural design awards won.
The report's authors at RMJM Hillier wrote, "Realizing that economic opportunity and environmental beauty can be mutually compatible, cities are adopting policies or instituting programs to clean up the environment, build quality buildings, enhance infrastructure, and promote community through public spaces."
They added that 3.3 billion people will live in urban areas like -- Portland real estate -- by the end of 2008 and that design is of ever-increasing importance to a city's vitality and endurance. Tourists will naturally migrate to more attractive cities and citizens will want to live in a harmonious relationship with their environment. Does design equate with personal happiness? You bet it does!