"Inside City Parks," written by environmental author Peter Harnik and jointly sponsored by the Urban Land Institute and the Trust for Public Land, gives Portland top marks for park and open space acreage. Thanks in large part to the 5,000-acre Forest Park, Portland's 12,591 acres of parks and open space translate to 26.2 acres for every 1,000 residents, more than double Seattle's total and fourth-highest among the 25 cities in Harnik's study.

Then again, the report – which claims to be the first study to compare park systems in the nation's 25 largest cities - ranks Portland below average for park recreation centers and average for parks innovation.

Harnik says Portland inspired cities nationwide when it decide replaced a six-lane roadway with Tom McCall Waterfront Park more than two decades ago, and again in 1984 when the city decided to build Pioneer Courthouse Square in its downtown instead of another parking garage.