As a tech city, Portland often feels like a lifestyle destination for wayward engineers. Though nearly 10 percent of Portland works in tech, Stumptown’s business scene can sometimes seem to be in hiding, operating as a comfortable “third place” between the FAANG capitals to the north and the south. Portland is a tree-filled place of sometimes startling natural beauty, resting in the shadow of Mount Hood, Oregon’s tallest mountain, and at the intersection of two rivers.
Much of Portland’s tech industry action is tucked into home offices and coworking spaces, or beneath a canopy of trees in the so-called Silicon Forest sprawling out to the west-side suburbs of Beaverton, Hillsboro, and Aloha. This is where Nvidia cofounder Jensen Huang went to high school, and it’s also where he planted an engineering outpost for Nvidia. It’s likewise where a sizable chunk of America’s semiconductor and microchip industry has put down roots, including wings for Intel and Microsoft.
This low profile can make Portland a chill place to do business. Whatever the occasional national headlines, the city remains a mostly relaxed mecca for food and beer and music, and for always dressing like you’re about to go on a hike. It is also a nerd’s paradise for hacker spaces and tech ephemera. Here’s where to stay, and where to go.
Where to Stay in Portland
Courtesy of Jupiter NEXT
Don’t just plop yourself down in a sleepy downtown hotel—a rookie Portland move many a visiting executive or engineer has come to regret. Portland is most workable where people actually live, amid dense business districts filled with cafés and restaurants. That’s also where you’ll find many of the coworking spaces and meeting resources that make doing business here easier, and the saunas and cold plunge tubs that make it pleasant.
Portland's downtown core hugs the west side of the Willamette River that bisects the city. But WIRED recommends finding a hotel on the amenity-packed central east side across the river from downtown, or in the more residential districts just outside of downtown on the west side.
East Side Hotels
Courtesy of Jupiter NEXT
900 E Burnside St., (503) 230-9200
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