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Old 08-08-2007, 01:18 PM
 
5 posts, read 65,031 times
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AS you might have guessed from the title, I have been wondering why the city of Portland is abbreviated as "PDX"? What does that stand for? Thanks!
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Old 08-08-2007, 01:22 PM
 
Location: The beautiful Rogue Valley, Oregon
7,785 posts, read 18,817,826 times
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It's the code for the airport - PDX (the "x" means it's international, and all US airports are three letter codes)

EDIT: nope, "x" doesn't mean international, I take it back:

"However, the National Weather Service did tabulate data from cities around the country using a two-letter identification system. Early airlines simply copied this system, but as airline service exploded in the 1930's, towns without weather station codes needed identification. Some bureaucrat had a brainstorm and the three-letter system was born, giving a seemingly endless 17,576 different combinations. To ease the transition, existing airports placed an X after the weather station code. The Los Angeles tag became LAX, Portland became PDX, Phoenix became PHX and so on. Incidentally at the historic sand dune in Kitty Hawk where the first flight occurred the U.S. National Parks Service maintains a tiny airstrip called FFA—First Flight Airport."

From an article by Dave English in Air Line Pilot, the journal of the Air Line Pilots Association

Last edited by PNW-type-gal; 08-08-2007 at 02:23 PM.. Reason: updated
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Old 11-07-2014, 06:51 PM
 
1 posts, read 29,235 times
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No longtime Portlander refers to Portland as "PDX" that usage is a dead giveaway of newcomers. It's a stupid nickname. If you call the city "PDX" then what you say if you wanto refer to the airport?

Imagine a headline in the newspaper that says "PDX retailers say sales are up." Does that mean that retail stores at the airport are selling more, or stores in Portland in general? Stupid.

If you want a cute nickname for Portland that doesn't indicate immediately that you are some bozo who thinks Portland is God's own city after watching too much "portlandia", say "Stumptown."
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Old 11-07-2014, 07:03 PM
 
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
10,743 posts, read 23,798,187 times
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By the same logic as LAX, I suppose.

My question would be why the hell is Chicago O'Hare ORD? Or Louisville SDF? or Montreal YUL? It just is.
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Old 11-07-2014, 07:34 PM
 
Location: Portland, Oregon
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That is a really cool piece of history, I had no idea where the X in PDX came from. I always thought it has something to do with there already being a POR for the other Portland, so they gave ours a generic X.
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Old 11-07-2014, 07:37 PM
 
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When the airport abbreviation doesn't match the city, it's often based on the name of the old airport, or the name of the tiny town the airport is actually in, rather than the large city it is serving. Nobody knows why montreal is named how it is, but all canadian airport identifiers start with Y.
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Old 11-07-2014, 07:39 PM
 
Location: Portland, OR
111 posts, read 171,568 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by grumpyrobb View Post
No longtime Portlander refers to Portland as "PDX" that usage is a dead giveaway of newcomers. It's a stupid nickname. If you call the city "PDX" then what you say if you wanto refer to the airport?

Imagine a headline in the newspaper that says "PDX retailers say sales are up." Does that mean that retail stores at the airport are selling more, or stores in Portland in general? Stupid.

If you want a cute nickname for Portland that doesn't indicate immediately that you are some bozo who thinks Portland is God's own city after watching too much "portlandia", say "Stumptown."
Wow, if this isn't the most disgruntled thing I've even seen, I don't know what is. I support your username.
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Old 11-07-2014, 07:56 PM
 
418 posts, read 727,477 times
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Eh, in my experience lots of people use pdx. including me obviously. My family's been in Portland since 1979. I know by some standards that makes us newcomers, but...
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Old 11-07-2014, 08:16 PM
 
Location: Houston
1,257 posts, read 2,652,432 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pdxmilw View Post
Eh, in my experience lots of people use pdx. including me obviously. My family's been in Portland since 1979. I know by some standards that makes us newcomers, but...
Born and raised in PDX. Its an alternative name for myself and friends. The internet circa 1990's probably is the source for us. Your "handle" could easily designate your location by adding PDX, example PDXBob or BobPDX.

YYZ is the code for Toronto and an instrumental Rush song (Canadian Band).YYZ on the luggage tag means they are going "home".

If you travel by air then PDX is certainly home for some of us.

Last edited by Squidlo; 11-07-2014 at 08:59 PM.. Reason: clarity
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Old 11-07-2014, 09:36 PM
 
Location: Portland, Oregon
46,001 posts, read 35,161,783 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Squidlo View Post
Born and raised in PDX. Its an alternative name for myself and friends. The internet circa 1990's probably is the source for us. Your "handle" could easily designate your location by adding PDX, example PDXBob or BobPDX.

YYZ is the code for Toronto and an instrumental Rush song (Canadian Band).YYZ on the luggage tag means they are going "home".

If you travel by air then PDX is certainly home for some of us.
PDX is by far the best airport I have ever been in and I love that I always feel like I have returned home when I fly into that airport.

I have to agree with you, PDX has become a short way for one to type Portland, basically it is our version of NYC.
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