Portland, a bike-friendly city with warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters, is known as one of America's greenest cities. 

You can measure its hipness by looking at some of its natives -- cartoonist Matt Groening (The Simpsons), filmmaker Gus Van Zant (Good Will Hunting) and writers Chuck Palahniuk and Ursula K. Le Guin.  It is home to famous bands from the Kingsmen to Everclear, The Decemberists and Hole.  TV shows like Portlandia and Life Unexpected have been filmed in Portland.

Culture, beer and coffee

But Portland offers more than cool people.  It's got a great art museum, classical chinese garde, rose festival, dragon boat races, zoo and arboretum.  And then there are the microbreweries of which Portland has more than 40 -- reportedly more than any other city in the world.  It's no wonder that Portland is considered to be the best American city for happy hour.  And when you're tired from the beer, you can turn a corner a get a shot of caffeine from one of the many coffee vendors and micro-roasteries throughout the community.

With its cuisine, sports, friendly people and more, it's not tough to see why Portland is one of the world's super cool cities.