Portland sits in the Willamette Valley where the Willamette and Columbia rivers meet, spanning Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties. The metro area extends from Vancouver, Washington across the river to Beaverton and Hillsboro in the west, Gresham to the east, and south through Lake Oswego to Oregon City. The regional economy centers on technology manufacturing, healthcare systems like OHSU, the Port of Portland's shipping operations, and a dense concentration of small manufacturers and creative services. Distinct neighborhoods from the Pearl District and Alberta Arts to Sellwood and St. Johns each maintain their own commercial corridors, while the urban growth boundary shapes development patterns across the five-county metro region.