Portland Population hits #23

Portland is in the top 25 now with a showing at 23, for the largest Metropolitan areas in the US.  942 Metros were tallied the top 3 were not surprising.  NY, LA, and Chicago.

Portland is calculated from Beaverton to Gresham, and from Ridgefield, Wa. to Wilsonville.  That's the unscientific way to put it.  I believe they include McMinnville to St Helens as well.  Basically a 5 county area, and the total population was figured at 2.26 Million. 

Most people don't think Portland is that big.  Geographically, it's not a gargantuan sprawling city.  With the last 20 years of smart planning, most of the growth has been done by high density and vertical growth.  In the last decade Portland has slyly moved up this list from around 26 to 23.  More people (mainly the 20 something) move in, rather than move out of the area.  With a net migration that hovers around .9 to 1.7%.  And the 2 states with the highest percentage of our new recipients are the neighbors:  CA and WA. 

With growth, can come problems.  However, Portland makes it's mark with a talented and educated work force.  Companies, feed off this talent, and companies are born from this talent.  The jobs will come.  The traffic will be it's own separate blog for a later date.