Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
23,500
23,000
22,500
22,000
21,500
21,000
20,500
USA
MSA
Central City
suburbs
Figure 8.26.
Portland-Salem CMSA,
average income per capita, 1999
The 2000 census of Portland reported 484 census tracts. Average per capita
income was 105% of the national average in 1999. One person in 10 lived in a
neighborhood where the average income was less than $15,100 per capita, while the
another 10% resided in a neighborhood where the average income was above
$31,700, for an inter-decile ratio of only 2.1. In contrast to Detroit and Houston,
where the city centers are poorer than the suburbs, Portland's city center residents
are, on average, better off than its suburban neighbors (see Figure 8.26).
Even so, as in all United States cities, the poorest neighborhoods are found in the
city center, primarily in Portland and Salem (see Figure 8.27).
The average annual income per capita in Salem is only 84% of the national
average while it is 106% of the national average in Portland. The more affluent
populations gravitate towards the western hills that dominate the Willamette Valley,
from where one can enjoy spectacular views of the Portland city skyline with the
majestic Mt Hood
3
in the distance. Apart from these residential neighborhoods, the
contrasts of wealth are much less marked among the neighborhoods of Portland than
they are in the metropolitan areas of Atlanta, Detroit, and Houston.
3
. One of the major dormant stratovolcanoes of the Cascade Range. With an altitude of 3,429
meters, it is only 80 km away from the center of Portland.
