'Money' Magazine Rates Portland No. 1 City

P O R T L A N D, Ore., Nov. 14 -- Sure, it rains a lot, but Portland, Ore., is the best place to live in the country, according to Money magazine.

The 1,700,000-person Northwestern town topped Money’s 14th annual rankings, which appears in the December issue going on sale this week.

Money praised the city’s roaring high-tech economy, small school classes, and strong job market, in addition to a high quality of life that includes short commutes, pedestrian-friendly shop-lined streets, and “loads of culture.”

Add to that a public transportation system that is the envy of commuters around the country, and the surrounding natural beauty of snowcapped Mount Hood and the nearby Columbia River Gorge, and you’ve got a winner, the magazine says.

“What’s great about Portland is the whole package,” said Elisa Dozono, a city spokeswoman.

Even the rain — averaging of 152 days a year — isn’t a big problem, she says.

“I think we get a bad rap,” she insists. “It helps keep us as green as we are.”

The magazine also picked regional winners: Chicago in the Midwest; Providence, R.I., in the East;Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C., in the South; and Salt Lake Cityin the West. Sarasota, Fla., was named the nation’s most livable small city.