© Steve Satushek
Home base for edgy chefs, alternative rock bands, progressive environmentalists, and urban-planning junkies, Portland has developed major-league hipster cachet over the past few years. Visitors will find Portlanders a friendly, easygoing bunch happy to share their terrific restaurants and bars, burgeoning arts scene, and gorgeous parks. And who can blame them if, in their hearts, they’d rather keep their small (pop. 500,000) city small?