6/6/2005 - Wednesday, July 6, 2005

Portland 'dream town,' according to magazine
By TREVOR MAXWELL, Portland Press Herald Writer Copyright
© 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

Jack Lufkin's job is to sell Portland.

At trade shows, at conventions, even on personal trips, the city's economic development chief touts its neighborhoods, nightlife and green spaces.

Now he's got another glossy magazine page to show off.

Outside magazine - a popular read for the adventurous and environmentally conscious - again has named Portland in its top 10 American dream towns. The special edition will hit newsstands next week.

"When we get a ranking," said Lufkin, "that is something that sells in the marketplace. It verifies what we know, living here."

The city is accumulating quite a dossier.

A London-based magazine last month ranked the city tops in the United States for quality of life. Portland appeared as one of the 20 greenest towns in the country, as judged by Vegetarian Times magazine in its July-August edition. The city is also no stranger to Outside magazine, having been featured on the 1999 dream town list.

"These 10 towns are making a play for perfection with adventure-friendly innovation and cool ideas for building smart communities," reads the introduction to Outside's special issue.

The magazine's editors ranked American cities and towns on criteria including commitment to open space, community spirit, healthy job markets, environmental friendliness and opportunities for recreation.

Editors highlighted the envisioned Bayside neighborhood, a $100 million facelift planned by the city for the Marginal Way area. Outside called the mixed-use concept - a blend of offices, shops, homes, apartments and green space - a model of urban density.

The magazine also noted Portland's restaurants, expanding trails, thriving immigrant communities and working waterfront."Pedestrian traffic in the Old Port district," the article says, "suggests that different worlds can overlap: landscapers, lawyers and lobstermen all coexisting."

The other towns noted by the magazine are Salt Lake City, Chicago, Littleton, N.H., Fort Collins, Colo., Charleston, S.C., Davis, Calif., Portland, Ore., Madison, Wis., and Pasadena, Calif.

Staff Writer Trevor Maxwell can be contacted at 791-6451 or at:tmaxwell@pressherald.com