Time magazine lauds Portland for ‘getting it right,’ low taxes on investment

File this under “In case you missed it.”

I’m a few days behind on this, but since I typically throw a post up when Portland gets itself on some national “Best Of…” or “Top Cities For…” list (which is fairly often), I ought to make mention of Time magazine’s recent plaudits.

Part of the Portland skyline. (BDN photo by Troy R. Bennett)

Part of the Portland skyline. (BDN photo by Troy R. Bennett)

About a month after the website 24/7 Wall St. dinged Portland as being one of the American cities with the highest tax burdens, Time took a very different stance on taxes in Maine’s largest city.

Time listed Portland as one of nine cities “getting it right” in its “Solutions for America” section, according to a news release last week from City Hall.

Here’s an excerpt from the magazine about the Forest City, as redistributed by, well the Forest City:

The largest coastal city north of Boston has long outgrown its reputation as a quaint tourist town. Aided by the nation’s lowest overall tax burdens for new investment and a 26-acre medical-tech campus, Portland is attracting highly skilled workers to its growing finance, insurance, education and health care sectors. It’s hip, foodie-friendly downtown and seaside location don’t hurt either.
Portland boasts an educated workforce: 45% of adults have at least a bachelor’s degree.
So there you have it. While Portlanders making at least $150,000 per year face stiff annual taxes, according to metrics used by 24/7 Wall St., the flip side of the coin is that new investment faces “the nation’s lowest overall tax burden,” according to Time. Tops on Time’s list of places “getting it right,” which appeared alongside a profile of the growing stature of Nashville, Tenn., was Boise, Idaho.
Seth Koenig

About Seth Koenig

Seth has nearly a decade of professional journalism experience and writes about the greater Portland region.