67 Quirky Things About Portland

Portland is the most interesting city in the world and here's why.

It's a place where uniqueness is not only accepted - it's celebrated.

Here's a collection of everything that is quintessentially quirky about Portland, cool things to do and see, plus more fun facts!

AERIAL TRAM

A silver bullet tram that runs 500 feet up Portland's southwest hills at 22 miles per hour, it takes only minutes to go up or down and gives some spectacular city views.

ALPHABET STREETS

In downtown Portland, all the east-west streets are named alphabetically, after the founding fathers.

Portlandian Matt Groening got many of the Simpsons characters' names from streets like Flanders, Lovejoy, Kearney, and Quimby.

BEARDS

There is quite an array of manly facial hair in the city, from beards to mustaches, and lots of classic barber shops, too.

BENSON BUBBLER

52 iconic drinking fountains made out bronze, and named after their benefactor, adorn the streets of Portland.

BIKE DELIVERY

You can get almost anything delivered on a bike, especially food.

There's even a soup cycle delivery service.

BIODIESEL BUSES

Trimet, the city's public bus system, uses multiple eco-friendly transit services, including buses that burn a clean burning biodiesel fuel blend, so you're not contributing to global warming by taking public transportation.

BOWLS

Possibly the most ubiquitous food dish, you can get a bowl of food at restaurants and food carts, many of which use bowl in their name, and lots are called Portland Bowls.

BRIDGES

17 magnificent bridges connect the city over both the Willamette and Columbia rivers, including the newest, the Tilikum Crossing, which is the largest car-free bridge in the US.

BRUNCH

Every Saturday and Sunday morning, the entire city waits in lines to get brunch at the endless brunch spots in the city.

Interesting flavor combos like jalapeño waffles are just the beginning of the endless foodie scene.

BUMPER STICKERS

There are several stickers you often see around town, not only on cars but also anywhere else a sticker can be, mainly about bikes, books, beer, Portlandia slogans, anything democratic, anything vegan, and the infamous “Keep Portland Weird”.

CANNON BEACH

A quick one and a half hour drive from the city is Cannon Beach, on the Oregon coast.

It's famous Haystack Rock, a huge rock formation that juts out of the water and is a whopping 235 feet tall.

Also, it is the filming location for the original Point Break!

CAR2GO

With hundreds of these adorable bright blue and white smart cars all over the city, you can use a smartphone app to rent one, drive it, and then leave it anywhere you want, even at the airport.

CAT CAFE

Portland's first cat cafe, Purrington's Cat Lounge, helps cats get adopted and offers beers, snacks, yoga and movie nights.

CATHEDRAL PARK

A beautiful green park under the iconically gothic steel suspension bridge St Johns Bridge, Cathedral Park is believed to be one of the original landing sties of the famous Western explorers Lewis and Clark.

COLUMBIA GORGE

A stunning natural landscape surround the Columbia river, this national scenic area stretches into an 80 mile long canyon and began formation all the way back in the Miocene era up to 17 million years ago.

Today it's a popular attraction for water sports, and world famous for kite surfing.

CRAFT BEER

Portland is king of microbreweries, home brewers, and craft beer - you can take walking and cycling bar tours, and even ride a peddle-powered bar.

CROWS

Portland's most common urban wildlife, crows are everywhere, and protected under the law.

These iconic Portland crows can be seen on most everything.

CUPCAKE SHOPS

The city has a thing for cupcakes, and bakeries in general, and especially vegan cupcakes, which they do quite well.

CYCLISTS

"Bike City USA" caters to its cyclists, with bicycle lanes throughout the city, tons of commuter cyclists, mountain bikes, tall bikes, tandem bikes, rental bikes, bicycle parking, and bike shops galore.

It’s more common for a restaurant, bar, or cafe to have bicycle parking instead of car parking.

DOG-FRIENDLY

Portland loves its canine companions.

There are dog parks scattered all over the city.

Many local bars and restaurants even have a separate dog menu.

ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATIONS

Portlanders are super eco-friendly, and many drive electric cars, so many local business, including libraries, have charging stations and the power company has installed some of the first public charging stations in the US.

FARMERS MARKETS

Portland is all about keeping it local, and they do this by hosting multiple farmers markets where you can find amazing plethoras of produce, local products, food carts, and more.

FOOD CART PODS

With well over 500 food carts scattered around the city, most are organized into 'pods', groups of food carts that usually form a circle around a central dining area filled with picnic tables and usually a biergarten, too.

FOREST PARK

America's premier urban forest, and the largest in the US, Forest Park is a giant park within a city.

It's massive, encompassing 5,157 acres over 7 miles long.

Stepping off the city streets into this magical forest is just like going back in time.

FREE PILES

Keeping it local and aiming for zero waste, Portlanders put piles of unwanted things in boxes on sidewalks for other people to pick up.

Anything from excess home-grown veggies to unwanted books or clothing, it’s all free.

FULL-SLEEVE TATTOOS

With the sheer amount of creativity, originality, and tattoo shops about, you'll see tons of sleeve tattoos.

GIANT SPINNING BREAD

A monster 25 foot long (fake) loaf of bread that both lights up and spins around on a pole at the Franz Bakery.

GOATS

An entire herd of goats, and a chicken, live in a vacant lot in the Southeast and you can visit them and donate to support them.

HAUNTED SHANGHAI TUNNELS

Said to be one of the most haunted places in the US, you can tour these creepy tunnels underneath downtown Portland, and see how people used to get shanghaied out of the bars and stolen away on ships.

HEART IN OREGON

Seen on all swag from tees to bumper stickers to coffee mugs, the Heart in Oregon logo lets Portlanders show their pride.

INSPIRATION STATIONS

Scattered around the city and neighborhoods are 'inspiration stations', where you'll find signs showcasing local original artwork, poems, drawings, quotes, photography, and more.

JAPANESE GARDENS

A popular, sprawling, and beautiful five and half acre Japanese garden exhibit in the city's west hills.

KALE

I can't think of any other city in the world that's so obsessed with kale.

Kale bowls, kale salads, kale smoothies, kale chips, kale tee-shirts, kale socks, and people named Kale.

KAYAKING

A hugely popular water sport on all of the rivers in and around the town.

Kayak rental shops line the waterfront.

KELLEY POINT PARK

A unique triangle shaped park that forms a tip of land surrounded by 3 different rivers, the Willamette, the Columbia and the Columbia Slough.

Also a great beach popular for lounging and swimming.

KOMBUCHA

A fermented effervescent tea, with a bit of alcohol, loved for its probiotic health benefits.

With several local producers in town, it's sold in stores, you can get it in a growler, and it's on tap at most bars, restaurants, and even convenience stores.

LITTLE FREE LIBRARIES

Small libraries on poles are scattered among the neighborhoods of Portland.

They have about a dozen or so books in them that you can borrow to read, and swap out for other books.

Honor system only!

MARIONBERRIES

Appearing in everything from smoothies to pancakes to soda, marionberries are a popular local berry made in Oregon.

They're actually a genetically made hybrid of about 12 berries including blackberries, raspberries, and boysenberries.

MASON JAR LAMPS

Hipster bars, cafes, restaurants, and shops all share a great love for homemade mason jar lighting fixtures.

MCMENAMINS

A local chain of bars, breweries, restaurants, movie theaters, concert venues and hotels (usually all combined in one) - McMenamins takes interesting old buildings and turns them into funky and fun spots like the Kennedy school, a 100 year old school building that has artwork of the original, hilarious children's poems.

MILL ENDS PARK

A tiny patch of grass 2 feet across (and with a total area of 452 sq in) is the smallest park in the world.

MOUNT HOOD

Popular for skiing, camping, and hiking, Mount Hood is an active volcano that is part of the Ring of Fire.

It is also the home to the Timberline Lodge, famous for its appearance in The Shining.

MULTNOMAH FALLS

The most famous of Portland's waterfalls, the 611 foot tall waterfall stays running throughout all four seasons.

MULTNOMAH VILLAGE

A small Bavarian village in the southwest takes you back in time and even has an old-fashioned candy shop.

NEW SEASONS MARKETS

A supermarket chain with local foodie products and produce that is impressively classified as zero-waste, recycling 92 percent of its waste.

OMSI

The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry always has fun, interactive displays, plus a real live decommissioned naval submarine in the water, with guided tours.

PICKLING

So many things are pickled in Portland, from home projects to store bought pickled goods - they can pickle that.

PITTOCK MANSION

A gigantic classic French chateau built in 1909 stands atop Portland's west hills, famous for its stellar city views, and is open for tours to the public.

PORTLAND SIGN

The famous Portland Oregon sign with the deer, which used formerly read White Stag for the clothing company it's on.

QUINOA

Another food the city is obsessed with.

You can't walk a city block without running into quinoa.

It's pretty much in everything and on everything and sold everywhere.

RIVER TUBING

In the summertime, locals float down rivers on inner tubes, with elaborate floats, beer coolers, radios, foods, and more.

ROSE GARDEN

The city of roses would not be complete with out its very own rose garden, with over 7000 plants.

SAUVIE ISLAND

North of the city is Sauvie island, one of of the largest river islands in the US, and home to many farms and beaches.

Also famous for berry picking, autumn harvest festivals, and spooky Halloween corn field mazes and haunted houses.

SLUGS

Native to the Pacific Northwest, the banana slug is a large yellow slug often with brown spots, so it looks like a ripe banana.

SQUIRRELS

More wild residents are townsend's chipmunks, western gray, douglas, california ground and northern flying squirrels.

SRIRACHA ART

Another popular hipster craft, empty sriracha bottles are often turned into various art projects and chandelier-like lighting fixtures.

STREET ART

Portland has a ton of street art, due to its punk, alternative, creative and artistic nature, there are giant beautiful murals throughout the city.

STAND-UP PADDLE BOARDING

Stand-up paddle boarding is super popular along the Willamette, where you can rent SUPs and coast along under the bridges.

SWIFT WATCH

Every fall, tens of thousands of swifts gather, swirling in the sky, and then dive down to enter the chimney of the Chapman Elementary School to roost for the night.

It's quite a sight to see!