This Oregon city is allegedly the 6th quietest in the world

Alright, shut up. Shut your eyes. Do you hear anything?

Traffic? A whistle for a train? Sirens? Weeping? Do peacocks scream? Takeover by the screeching tires of a street race?

If so, a recent research by Sixt, a German mobile phone operator, suggests that you may be in one of the world’s quietest cities.

They rank Portland as the sixth-quietest city in the world. Not the government. Not the nation. the entire world.

As the phone company described our fair city, Portland stands out as a calm destination with a noise score of just 47.13, a lower-than-average population density, and the highest volume of top Google reviews referencing terms like peaceful and tranquil. This Pacific Northwest treasure offers the perfect getaway whether you’re looking for peace, quiet, or just a slower pace.

According to this assessment, Portland is not nearly as quiet as Helsinki (No. 1), Vienna (No. 3), or Auckland (No. 4), but it is quieter than Copenhagen (No. 9), Munich (No. 11), and Denver (No. 18).

Although these findings raise some questions (have the Sixt scientists ever been downtown during leaf blower season?), Portland should be ranked no. 6 on a list of global cities, if not higher.

I would co-sign right away if the ranking’s theme were changed to “best urban summers,” “food cities,” or “beautiful metro areas.”

Quietest, though? Not when I’m riding my bike across construction on a bridge during rush hour, according to my Apple Watch.