The "Other" Port Land in the Bypass East.

(Since my emphasis is on a PNW town, I thought I might throw in the coincidence of The Two Portlands on behalf of my Bypass East entry.)

The Dalles neighbor Portland definitely has plenty going on. Portland, Oregon has a sort of "sister" or "cousin" city located in The Bypassed East: Portland, Maine!

Aside from the name, both cities have plenty in common: both port cities, both provide fish agriculture, and both have needle-leaf forest trees.

Their differences:
Portland, Oregon has:

• a higher population growth (about 6% since 2000, according to the Census).
• provides salmon from the Columbia River, and other fish from the Pacific Ocean.
• Not located ON a port directly, but has a river and ocean about 70 miles away on the PNW.

Portland, Maine has:

• delicious lobster and crustaceans as their fish agriculture
• a lower population growth (less than 2%)
• Directly located on a port in the East Coast

The cultural difference are great between both cities as well. Portland, Maine really does serve as a port city on behalf of the Bypass East, whereas Portland, Oregon has many more attractions and becoming more urbanized. This is especially lucky for a The Dalles: if one wants to get away from the scenery and quitesome, Portland offers more or less day/night life.

BBC Travel gives a slight insight on the two here. I guess we will really know when we check it out.

Manufacturing near The Dalles

The map on the left shows that Portland is actually a center of manufacturing, as well as a major manufacturing region. The text nor the legend indicate what type of manufacturing activity there is. One other thing that the map tells us that its the ONLY area in the state of Oregon in which there is any manufacturing activity. This could be due to the goods it provides nearby: game from the port, the agricultural goods from The Dalles, et cetera.
Under-lapping the manufacturing activity also lies livestock and specialty crop, which explains the delicious cherries and peaches that I remember seeing in the fields. There seems to be wide activity of dairy productions throughout The Dalles, and next to The Dalles seems to continue on with livestock ranching. The dairy production with livestock activity is pretty self explanatory (livestock = cows, dairy production = milksheds).

 There is definitely a lot of "open space" surrounding Portland and The Dalles. The lack of population density has allowed for more room to produce (manufacturing, livestock, dairy and crop production). Their proximity to each other makes for convenience of transporting goods in that region of the Pacific Northwest.

This map also demonstrates more on manufacturing region activity. The pattern is evident: manufacturing activity tends to cluster within or around urban cities. North of Portland is Seattle with its manufacturing region, and north of Seattle is Vancouver. There seems to be a "linear" regional pattern in the Pacific Northwest. This could be in due to the "city port" activities that are attributed. Manufacturing is necessary for export of goods. If goods are available near the port, it is in its best interest to establish manufacturing in order to generate revenue and so forth. The Eastern US does seem to have a denser amount of manufacturing activity, and is probably more complex in terms of import/export, transportation, and goods itself. The PNW does not seem as complex, but definitely important. Having manufacturing activity near a town like The Dalles (as well as other PNW locations) is most definitely a win-win deal.

Megalopolis - No Such in the Beaver State

While Megalopolis is located in the Eastern United States, The Dalles is far from a megalopolis, both distance and theme-wise. In the Beaver state, Portland, Oregon would have to be the most urbanized area. This is the beginning of the introducing the term PORT CITY.

84 Miles west of The Dalles, running adjacent to the Oregon-Washing border, you'll find Portland, the closest main city (Google map).

Within the last ten years, Portland has indeed grown. The 2010 Census tells us that its the 29th most populous city in the United States (pdf source - Census Profile). As for Wasco County, the population in 2000 was at 23K and has gone up to about 25K.

Although the harbor is another approximate 70 miles more west, Portland benefits its goods for the rest of Oregon to enjoy. It's got the Pacific Ocean to the west, and the Columbia River to the north.

The "megalopolis" stage in a city such as Portland is way at its beginning.  Efforts to maintain the city sustainable, is taking steps forward into becoming a busy, urbanized city without the environmental hazards of pollution, traffic, et cetera; something that Eastern US's Megalopolis has endured through since it grew.