grittys457
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Patrick, I think you know my stance on hippies. I'm not going to their beehive.
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Patrick
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hahaha that actually made me crack a grin, a rare thing to happen from on line discussions.
I know it is full of hippies, but trust me Church Street in the summer is beautiful. Classical music plays in the streets, seriously, and they have rows of shops on either side, next to some breath taking scenery at the lake, which has sun sets available due to the city's eastern waterfront location.
You would like it, some nice restaurants, too. It is a college town. I bet you charlottesville is in the same boat as burlington. but I could be wrong. you would like a visit either way, i assure you.
I know it is full of hippies, but trust me Church Street in the summer is beautiful. Classical music plays in the streets, seriously, and they have rows of shops on either side, next to some breath taking scenery at the lake, which has sun sets available due to the city's eastern waterfront location.
You would like it, some nice restaurants, too. It is a college town. I bet you charlottesville is in the same boat as burlington. but I could be wrong. you would like a visit either way, i assure you.
It sure has been entertaining listening to you people comparing Portland to other small cities! :lol: Anyway, here's a list of all the awards and rankings Portland has received recently, in case you're interested:
http://www.aroundmaine.com/07/portmag/ratings/default.asp
http://www.aroundmaine.com/07/portmag/ratings/default.asp
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Patrick
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S-Roll said:It sure has been entertaining listening to you people comparing Portland to other small cities! :lol: Anyway, here's a list of all the awards and rankings Portland has received recently, in case you're interested:
http://www.aroundmaine.com/07/portmag/ratings/default.asp
excellent, thank you. I have reposted your link for you, for some reason you dont need to use the tag to post a link.....? dunno wh...roundmaine.com/07/portmag/ratings/default.asp
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Patrick
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Is it just me or does anyone else find it a bit odd that Portland has the most Fast Food restaurants per person in the united states and last year we also tied for first place with burlington vermont as as Healthiest City in America??????
Also, while is is not surprising that we have the highest concentration of any metro area of homosexuals (gays and lesbians, in the article rankings) it is surprising that such a designation would be toted as a benefit of living here. It is the same thing as saying "welcome to Portland, center of the least straight place in the country." Given that there are more heterosexuals than homosexuals, I hardly see how that is good for business. And in addition, I hardly see how sexual orientation is relevant to travel decisions. What if the metro area with the least gays and lesbians per capita were toted as the straightest metro in America. would I run there in a heart beat? even if I were single? no way. that is a weird designation, along with the white squirrel bit. Who cares about either? really. I never knew we were number one for most lawyers per capita either, I thought we were second, after Washngton DC. But you know i bet most of our lawyers do not live in the ciyt of Portland, I would be surprised if they did. I bet most are in Falmouth and Cape. I bet the ranking is talking about lawyers jobs, not lawyer residency. if it is talking about lawyer residency though, I bet if you factor in our metro area (falmouth and cape, and some other ritzy places) we would have an even higher percentage.
The Rating Game
It seems these days you can?t pick up a publication without reading that Portland?s on somebody?s A-list somewhere.
By James v. Horrigan
Because Portland is in the national consciousness as the last vestige of civilization on the northeast tip of the United States, we often surface in top-100 most livable cities lists and the like. Call it geographic privilege. Maybe it?s because we just stick out there, like a finger pointing way out in the Atlantic.
Maybe it?s also because other cities don?t have a there there. We certainly do have a here here. That could be why we make it to the top.
According to the Portland Economic Development Center website (www.portlandedc.com/top20.html), over the past few years Portland has made numerous lists, including:
#1 Seven Summer Trips that won?t break the bank, 2006 (CNNMoney.com, May 5, 2006)
#1 Bike Town USA, 2003 ( Bicycling magazine, January/February, 2004)
#1 Largest east coast oil port, 2005 (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, annual report)
#1 Foreign inbound tonnage port, 2005 (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, annual report)
#1 Tonnage port in New England, 2005 (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, annual report)
#3 Highest metro area concentration of lesbians, 2000 (U.S. Census)
#4 Perfect places to live in America, 2003 (Fine Living Cable Network)
#6 Safest, culturally most fascinating city, 2004 (Travel Smart Consumer Newsletter , January 2004)
#9 Best places to live the athletic life, 2005 Geezerjock magazine, Fall 2005)
#10 Highest metro area concentration of gay men, 2000 (U.S. Census)
#14 Best performing cities index, 2004 (Milken Institute, November 2004)
#15 Top medium-sized cities for doing business, 2005 (Inc. magazine, May 2005)
#20 Hottest cities for entrepreneurs, 2006 (Inc. magazine, May 2006)
#25 Largest U.S. port (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, annual report)
#26 Fore Street, America?s Top 50 Restaurants, 2006 (Gourmet magazine, October 2006)
Among the top?
10 Best New Chefs in America, 2004, Rob Evans, Hugo?s restaurant (Food & Wine magazine, July 2004)
12 America?s Dozen Distinctive Destinations (National Trust for Historic Preservation, April 2003)
50 Cities that Sizzle, 2001 (National Restaurant Association)
50 Best Places for Business and Careers, 2006 (Forbes Magazine , May 2006)
Canards, unsubstantiated or provenance unknown:
#1 Fast food restaurants, per capita
#1 Money spent per capita in restaurants
#1 Lawyers per capita
Word spread quickly when the news broke in late November that Frommer?s Travel Guides placed Portland twelfth on their list of ?places not to be missed in 2007.?
Barbara Whitten, president of the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Portland, was among those whose hometown pride skyrocketed. While she noticed that New York, Sydney, Hong Kong, and Paris hadn?t made the list, she thought, ?At least we?re in the same league as Tokyo,? which came in second.
When Whitten took a closer look, however, she realized it wasn?t a roster of the most fabulous places in the world. How could it be with Krakow, Poland, topping the list and Panama, Ethiopia, and Minneapolis all placing above Maine?s largest city? Even more puzzling was the realization that our Portland came in last, while Portland, Oregon, was number seven.
According to Frommers.com, the list was made up of ?surprising, thriving, or emerging? locales. ?Emerging,? Whitten noted, ?is the key word. Sometimes these cities are simply editors? picks. They feed off each other; you?re on one list, it catches on and builds momentum. One does it and others follow.?
Liz Darling, marketing and communication manager of the Portland Economic Development Center, agrees. As the unofficial keeper of the rolls that include Portland, she knows that ?once you get on a few lists, it snowballs.? Yet she?s upbeat about the Frommer?s designation. ?It was huge for the city,? Darling gushed. ?To be part of a list like that is incredible. It?s an honor.?
A mistake of the same geographic breadth would mean that if it had been Providence instead, the write-up might?ve cited Yankee Stadium and the Empire State Building as nearby places to visitUpon learning the publisher mistakenly conflated Portland with Bowdoin College in Brunswick and UMaine in Orono, Darling admitted ?it was a bit inaccurate.? A mistake of the same geographic breadth would mean that if it had been Providence instead, the write-up might?ve cited Yankee Stadium and the Empire State Building as nearby places to visit. But Darling says ?we?ll take it anyway.?
While she?ll take the Frommer?s accolade warts and all, Darling admits that it?s impossible to keep track of every list. ?I don?t have a clipping service so sometimes I have to rely upon other people telling me about the ones I haven?t seen.?
Still, she?s posted dozens of lists on the PEDC web site, including those ranking Portland seventh in 2005 among the Best Art Towns in America, second on SELF magazine?s healthiest cities in America for women (December 2006) and ?One of the 10 Great Adventure Towns? (National Geographic Adventure Magazine, August 2004).
Some lists, however, won?t make it to the web site, such as CNN?s ?Top 10 seafood markets,? which in 2005 chose Browne Trading Co. as number two in the nation. ?I want to promote the city as a whole,? she says, ?not get into promoting individual businesses.?
But as Whitten discovered, some local institutions don?t need a municipal cheerleader. She laughs when recalling a trip last year to the Nantucket Wine Festival. While waiting for the ferry she overheard two famous chefs chatting. ??Where do you get your caviar these days??? one asked. ??Why, Browne Trading, of course,?? the other replied. The exchange, she says, ?was like watching a TV commercial.?
The city?s inclusion in some rankings just makes sense. Given the ?Buy Local/ Keep Portland Independent? campaign, it?s easy to understand why in 2005 American City Business Journals placed Portland first among the top markets in the nation for small business vitality.
Is it possible though that politics could jeopardize other accolades, such as Inc. magazine?s March 2004 designation of Portland as twenty-third among the ?Top 25 Cities for Doing Business in America?? Asked about the current effort to ban chain stores and restaurants like Hooters from the Peninsula, Darling is cautious, but not overly pessimistic.
?There are many places in the city for a place like [Hooters] to go. It doesn?t have to be downtown. Portland in general shouldn?t be considered opposed to chains. There are areas of the city that would be just as desirable.?
But no matter where?or if?a Hooters may open, neither Whitten nor Darling can predict how it may affect Money magazine?s choice of Portland as 89th on the 2006 list of the ?Best Places to Live in America.? ?It changes every year,? Whitten says, and politics is part of the equation. ?We don?t operate in a vacuum.?
That?s not to say Whitten and Darling are aware of every list that includes Portland. Neither, for instance, knew that epodunk.com placed Portland eighth among the most liberal medium-sized cities in America. Given its demographics and recent election results, Whitten isn?t surprised. She calls the city ?a melting pot? and describes Portlanders as ?very tolerant and accepting of other ethnicities and cultures.?
Whitten and Darling were surprised to learn of another list that placed Portland at the pinnacle; both agree it has potential for positive impact. Although towns in North Carolina, Illinois, and Missouri have well-documented, sustainable colonies of white squirrels, the recent sighting of a single, melanin-challenged animal in Longfellow Woods was enough for cryptomundo.com to rank the Forest City number one on ?2006?s Top Ten White Squirrel Locations.?
Part of the reason is because it was compiled by Portland resident and cryptozoologist Loren Coleman, who explains the rationale on his web site as ?a complex and comprehensive formula based on the significance of the population, media attention?local interest levels, and my personal biases.?
Although best known for stalking Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster, Coleman says he made the designation ?because it?s new and exciting compared to all the other well-known places where you can find white squirrels.? Unlike a black cat, ?there?s nothing sinister about a white squirrel.? Indeed, people ?are so excited they?ve compared it to the birth of a white buffalo and believe that if one crosses your path it will bring good luck.?
Whitten thinks it may bring the city good luck. Not long ago the bureau had a visit from a national marketing consultant who advised them to ??figure out what you?ve got that others don?t.? I had no idea we had white squirrels,? Whitten laughed. ?We?ll have to put that in our visitor?s magazine.?
Darling was even more sanguine. ?I think this is fantastic. If it brings in the white squirrel enthusiasts and their money, that?s great. These lists are good for everybody.?
Tony Bennett: Where?s our song?
Also, while is is not surprising that we have the highest concentration of any metro area of homosexuals (gays and lesbians, in the article rankings) it is surprising that such a designation would be toted as a benefit of living here. It is the same thing as saying "welcome to Portland, center of the least straight place in the country." Given that there are more heterosexuals than homosexuals, I hardly see how that is good for business. And in addition, I hardly see how sexual orientation is relevant to travel decisions. What if the metro area with the least gays and lesbians per capita were toted as the straightest metro in America. would I run there in a heart beat? even if I were single? no way. that is a weird designation, along with the white squirrel bit. Who cares about either? really. I never knew we were number one for most lawyers per capita either, I thought we were second, after Washngton DC. But you know i bet most of our lawyers do not live in the ciyt of Portland, I would be surprised if they did. I bet most are in Falmouth and Cape. I bet the ranking is talking about lawyers jobs, not lawyer residency. if it is talking about lawyer residency though, I bet if you factor in our metro area (falmouth and cape, and some other ritzy places) we would have an even higher percentage.
The Rating Game
It seems these days you can?t pick up a publication without reading that Portland?s on somebody?s A-list somewhere.
By James v. Horrigan
Because Portland is in the national consciousness as the last vestige of civilization on the northeast tip of the United States, we often surface in top-100 most livable cities lists and the like. Call it geographic privilege. Maybe it?s because we just stick out there, like a finger pointing way out in the Atlantic.
Maybe it?s also because other cities don?t have a there there. We certainly do have a here here. That could be why we make it to the top.
According to the Portland Economic Development Center website (www.portlandedc.com/top20.html), over the past few years Portland has made numerous lists, including:
#1 Seven Summer Trips that won?t break the bank, 2006 (CNNMoney.com, May 5, 2006)
#1 Bike Town USA, 2003 ( Bicycling magazine, January/February, 2004)
#1 Largest east coast oil port, 2005 (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, annual report)
#1 Foreign inbound tonnage port, 2005 (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, annual report)
#1 Tonnage port in New England, 2005 (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, annual report)
#3 Highest metro area concentration of lesbians, 2000 (U.S. Census)
#4 Perfect places to live in America, 2003 (Fine Living Cable Network)
#6 Safest, culturally most fascinating city, 2004 (Travel Smart Consumer Newsletter , January 2004)
#9 Best places to live the athletic life, 2005 Geezerjock magazine, Fall 2005)
#10 Highest metro area concentration of gay men, 2000 (U.S. Census)
#14 Best performing cities index, 2004 (Milken Institute, November 2004)
#15 Top medium-sized cities for doing business, 2005 (Inc. magazine, May 2005)
#20 Hottest cities for entrepreneurs, 2006 (Inc. magazine, May 2006)
#25 Largest U.S. port (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, annual report)
#26 Fore Street, America?s Top 50 Restaurants, 2006 (Gourmet magazine, October 2006)
Among the top?
10 Best New Chefs in America, 2004, Rob Evans, Hugo?s restaurant (Food & Wine magazine, July 2004)
12 America?s Dozen Distinctive Destinations (National Trust for Historic Preservation, April 2003)
50 Cities that Sizzle, 2001 (National Restaurant Association)
50 Best Places for Business and Careers, 2006 (Forbes Magazine , May 2006)
Canards, unsubstantiated or provenance unknown:
#1 Fast food restaurants, per capita
#1 Money spent per capita in restaurants
#1 Lawyers per capita
Word spread quickly when the news broke in late November that Frommer?s Travel Guides placed Portland twelfth on their list of ?places not to be missed in 2007.?
Barbara Whitten, president of the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Portland, was among those whose hometown pride skyrocketed. While she noticed that New York, Sydney, Hong Kong, and Paris hadn?t made the list, she thought, ?At least we?re in the same league as Tokyo,? which came in second.
When Whitten took a closer look, however, she realized it wasn?t a roster of the most fabulous places in the world. How could it be with Krakow, Poland, topping the list and Panama, Ethiopia, and Minneapolis all placing above Maine?s largest city? Even more puzzling was the realization that our Portland came in last, while Portland, Oregon, was number seven.
According to Frommers.com, the list was made up of ?surprising, thriving, or emerging? locales. ?Emerging,? Whitten noted, ?is the key word. Sometimes these cities are simply editors? picks. They feed off each other; you?re on one list, it catches on and builds momentum. One does it and others follow.?
Liz Darling, marketing and communication manager of the Portland Economic Development Center, agrees. As the unofficial keeper of the rolls that include Portland, she knows that ?once you get on a few lists, it snowballs.? Yet she?s upbeat about the Frommer?s designation. ?It was huge for the city,? Darling gushed. ?To be part of a list like that is incredible. It?s an honor.?
A mistake of the same geographic breadth would mean that if it had been Providence instead, the write-up might?ve cited Yankee Stadium and the Empire State Building as nearby places to visitUpon learning the publisher mistakenly conflated Portland with Bowdoin College in Brunswick and UMaine in Orono, Darling admitted ?it was a bit inaccurate.? A mistake of the same geographic breadth would mean that if it had been Providence instead, the write-up might?ve cited Yankee Stadium and the Empire State Building as nearby places to visit. But Darling says ?we?ll take it anyway.?
While she?ll take the Frommer?s accolade warts and all, Darling admits that it?s impossible to keep track of every list. ?I don?t have a clipping service so sometimes I have to rely upon other people telling me about the ones I haven?t seen.?
Still, she?s posted dozens of lists on the PEDC web site, including those ranking Portland seventh in 2005 among the Best Art Towns in America, second on SELF magazine?s healthiest cities in America for women (December 2006) and ?One of the 10 Great Adventure Towns? (National Geographic Adventure Magazine, August 2004).
Some lists, however, won?t make it to the web site, such as CNN?s ?Top 10 seafood markets,? which in 2005 chose Browne Trading Co. as number two in the nation. ?I want to promote the city as a whole,? she says, ?not get into promoting individual businesses.?
But as Whitten discovered, some local institutions don?t need a municipal cheerleader. She laughs when recalling a trip last year to the Nantucket Wine Festival. While waiting for the ferry she overheard two famous chefs chatting. ??Where do you get your caviar these days??? one asked. ??Why, Browne Trading, of course,?? the other replied. The exchange, she says, ?was like watching a TV commercial.?
The city?s inclusion in some rankings just makes sense. Given the ?Buy Local/ Keep Portland Independent? campaign, it?s easy to understand why in 2005 American City Business Journals placed Portland first among the top markets in the nation for small business vitality.
Is it possible though that politics could jeopardize other accolades, such as Inc. magazine?s March 2004 designation of Portland as twenty-third among the ?Top 25 Cities for Doing Business in America?? Asked about the current effort to ban chain stores and restaurants like Hooters from the Peninsula, Darling is cautious, but not overly pessimistic.
?There are many places in the city for a place like [Hooters] to go. It doesn?t have to be downtown. Portland in general shouldn?t be considered opposed to chains. There are areas of the city that would be just as desirable.?
But no matter where?or if?a Hooters may open, neither Whitten nor Darling can predict how it may affect Money magazine?s choice of Portland as 89th on the 2006 list of the ?Best Places to Live in America.? ?It changes every year,? Whitten says, and politics is part of the equation. ?We don?t operate in a vacuum.?
That?s not to say Whitten and Darling are aware of every list that includes Portland. Neither, for instance, knew that epodunk.com placed Portland eighth among the most liberal medium-sized cities in America. Given its demographics and recent election results, Whitten isn?t surprised. She calls the city ?a melting pot? and describes Portlanders as ?very tolerant and accepting of other ethnicities and cultures.?
Whitten and Darling were surprised to learn of another list that placed Portland at the pinnacle; both agree it has potential for positive impact. Although towns in North Carolina, Illinois, and Missouri have well-documented, sustainable colonies of white squirrels, the recent sighting of a single, melanin-challenged animal in Longfellow Woods was enough for cryptomundo.com to rank the Forest City number one on ?2006?s Top Ten White Squirrel Locations.?
Part of the reason is because it was compiled by Portland resident and cryptozoologist Loren Coleman, who explains the rationale on his web site as ?a complex and comprehensive formula based on the significance of the population, media attention?local interest levels, and my personal biases.?
Although best known for stalking Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster, Coleman says he made the designation ?because it?s new and exciting compared to all the other well-known places where you can find white squirrels.? Unlike a black cat, ?there?s nothing sinister about a white squirrel.? Indeed, people ?are so excited they?ve compared it to the birth of a white buffalo and believe that if one crosses your path it will bring good luck.?
Whitten thinks it may bring the city good luck. Not long ago the bureau had a visit from a national marketing consultant who advised them to ??figure out what you?ve got that others don?t.? I had no idea we had white squirrels,? Whitten laughed. ?We?ll have to put that in our visitor?s magazine.?
Darling was even more sanguine. ?I think this is fantastic. If it brings in the white squirrel enthusiasts and their money, that?s great. These lists are good for everybody.?
Tony Bennett: Where?s our song?
grittys457
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That wasn't your fat ass at Planet Fitness benching 135 was it Patrick? Just checking.
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Patrick
Guest
grittys457 said:That wasn't your fat ass at Planet Fitness benching 135 was it Patrick? Just checking.
Your fucking kidding right? what a small world.
I was there tonight at around 9"00-ish. wearing either a University of Vermont sweatshirt, or a tee-shirt that said London across it. And yes I am quite plump these days. I weigh 240 now, I started college at 170.
My first day back to the gym was last week, i have had a rough Fall. Are you shittin me or you really saw me, and how the heck did you pick me out of a crowd of people? the NSA called, they want more gritty's. must be that special mug you use.
I need to stop chatting on AB so much and get jacked again. which guy were you, the middle-aged has-been next to me benching 195 to look like he was still back in his prime? I didnt wanna make you look bad, so I stuck with my warm up set. Like I said, its been a LOOOONG Fall for me.
P.S. if you ever see me again, dont hesitate to say what up Im grittys. you could even use your real name, Dominic. if thats really who you are, oh mysterious one. Unless I am with a girl. That would be embarrassing. The funny part is she would probably know what you were talking about. I catch so much shit for talking on an online forum....its actually kinda funny. oh well. welcome to the 21st century I guess.
grittys457
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haha, no shit. I wasn't positive that was you. You are a big dude. Didn't want you to ground and pound me. I was with my friend Mike doing shoulder things on the cables right in front of your bench. I wanted to blurt out to my friend "Hey, wonder what thar there building it is going up nears the city halls?" That would have got you fired up.
Yeah, I just started again too. I was big into lifting, then training mma, then nothing. I've had that membership for like a year and only just started going. I'll give you a spot next time I see you there.
Yeah, I just started again too. I was big into lifting, then training mma, then nothing. I've had that membership for like a year and only just started going. I'll give you a spot next time I see you there.
P
Patrick
Guest
grittys457 said:haha, no shit. I wasn't positive that was you. You are a big dude. Didn't want you to ground and pound me. I was with my friend Mike doing shoulder things on the cables right in front of your bench. I wanted to blurt out to my friend "Hey, wonder what thar there building it is going up nears the city halls?" That would have got you fired up.
Yeah, I just started again too. I was big into lifting, then training mma, then nothing. I've had that membership for like a year and only just started going. I'll give you a spot next time I see you there.
wow that is really funny.
I was half asleep last night, wearing the closest thing I have to pajamas, and just trying not to pass out from exhaustion--forget about benching a lot. This summer I was up to close to 300, but I stopped, Fall came, then Christmas, AND CHRISTMAS FOOD, and now I am just fat and lazy again. Had this membership since June. went all summer, lost a lot of weight, now the process begins anew.
Yeah for future reference I am trained to respond to any sentences with the words building and portland in them, whether or not I know you...so if you ever have any doubts it me...just drop me a que.
Let me know sometime if you wanna go lift together. Thats not half as weird to me as meeting someone from the internet to discuss buildings (like some people do). I'd be down, I need someone for a spot any-who. but anyway, if not, def gimme a shout next time you spot me--I might even sign an autograph.