Maritime trade The West Coast's 19th-century economy was initially based on
maritime trade, at first dominated by
sailing ships with the San Francisco–East Coast trade, but then joined by Portland and Seattle as they began to develop their own regional resources and contribute to a national economic network, with "intercity rivalry on the Pacific Coast [that] mirrored rivalries that had grown between other groups of cities at earlier dates" such as Boston, Philadelphia and New York.
Railroads The advent of
transcontinental rail transportation completed the break from San Francisco's dominance and strengthened the economic rivalry between Portland and Seattle: The
Portland Oregonian newspaper compared Seattle unfavorably to a peaceful Portland when
anti-Chinese riots erupted in the 1880s. Portland prided itself as a "model of civility and culture" based on "slow but steady growth" compared to Seattle. Cultural institutions and physical infrastructure like paved streets and electrification were built by each city in conscious competition with the other. ==20th century==