BREAKING NEWS, guys. It’s a point of pride and/or chagrin in Portland that we have the most strip clubs per capita of anywhere in the country, but that rumor is statistic mostly just because everyone says it’s true. Okay, rumormongers, read it and weep: John Voge, editor of adult industry trade mag Exotic says Portland has lost its place at the top of the strip club pole.

I asked Voge to dig up some figures on the number of strip clubs in Portland for the story I wrote this week about Montavilla residents discussing special zoning laws for adult stores in Oregon. He returned with some shocking data.

Back in 2005, Portland had 7.4 strip clubs per 100,000 residents, while other centers of sin, Las Vegas and San Francisco had 5.8 and 2.2, respectively. So it seems that Portland was the number one strip club champ nationally. But then, in 2006, the small town of Springfield just outside Eugene dared to challenge the title. The opening of Springfield’s fifth strip club, Phil’s Clubhouse, bumped the hamlet up to 9.3 strip clubs per 100,000 residents. And guess what? The state senator representing Springfield is Bill Morrisette, the senator featured in this week’s article who’s pushing the measure exempting adult stores from Oregon’s free speech definition.

But also, Morrisette informed me that Springfield now has SEVEN strip clubs, which means Springfield (pop. 58,000) now has 12 strip clubs per 100,000 residents which means they are totally kicking Portland’s ass.

Obviously, Morrisette has much different goals than boosting Springfield’s ranking in the stripper olympics. He wants to be able to zone strip clubs out of Springfield’s downtown because they create a bad environment – he says prostitutes walk up and down the block in front of the downtown clubs. “It’s not a matter of putting them out of business,” Morrisette says of the adult stores, “It’s a matter of getting them elsewhere.”

As a state, Oregon isn’t even the top strip club locale. According to Voge, it’s West Virginia. Ouch. But, Voge points out, Portland is the only town that seems eager to claim the ranking of most strip clubs per capita, so why not just keep the crown on the Rose City? “If anyone could make the title of more strip clubs per capita look good, it’s Portland, Oregon,” says Voge.

As for WHY Oregon ranks second nationally in strip clubs per capita, Voge shrugs off the typical suggestions that it’s because we like to stay inside out of the rain. “When you get down to the solid facts of why we are so fortunate to enjoy such variety and diversity in adult entertainment in the Beaver State, you can thank the Oregon Constitution,” says Voge, “For the most part, Oregon voters have been relentlessly unwilling to weaken a constitution that provides one of the most liberal free-speech protections in the country.”

Some geography nerds on the internet made a color coded map of strip club rates nationwide. Deep green are the states with the most strip clubs per capita, deep red are the states with the fewest.

35dd/1234401771-strip_club_map.jpg

Strippin’ USA!

I’m with Voge on the reasons why some states have more strip clubs than others. Local zoning laws and state definitions of obscenity are way more likely to decide the number of adult stores that open shop than predominant religion, political party or the number of rain clouds in the sky.

Sarah Shay Mirk reported on transportation, sex and gender issues, and politics at the Mercury from 2008-2013. They have gone on to make many things, including countless comics and several books.

12 replies on “Beaver State Loses Top Strip Club Bragging Rights”

  1. This bums me out to no end. Yeah, we get to be #1 on a few lists of GREEN CITIES and all that crap but this was the real prize. Screw it, I’m going to have to move.

  2. This bums me out to no end. Yeah, we get to be #1 on a few lists of GREEN CITIES and all that crap but this was the real prize. Screw it, I’m going to have to move.

    RobertWagner
    pdxsucks.com

  4. Nope, it’s gotta be a major city, or at least the dominant city in its own metro area. Otherwise you could just hand the title to Milwaukie (3 clubs, 20,000 population).

  5. True that, JasonC. Although it’s pretty old news that Springfiled has a lot of strip clubs, going by Sarah Mirk’s math you’d have to give the prize to Brooks, Oregon as they have one strip club for every 410 residents.

  6. Wait a second, while we bicker about whether Springfield even counts (it doesn’t, it is just basically the spare bedroom for Eugene, the place where you dump all your crap…) did anyone notice that WEST FRAKING VIRGINIA is trying to take over as the top state? What I want to know is… what kind of strip clubs do they have there? Are they full nude, or those whimpy topless, or worse, pasties kinda places?

  7. 7 strip clubs in Springfield. Says who? I fairly positive Springfield has 4 strip clubs (Brick House, Club 1444, Phil’s Clubhouse & Silhouettes). Are they also counting the strip clubs in Eugene?

  8. West Virginia has a ton of strip clubs because they’re next to Pennsylvania, whose Liquor Control Board is even more fascistic than the OLCC.

    The PALCB bans nudity in bars with a liquor license, so everyone from Western PA goes to Wheeling for strippers…

  9. This is a weird article. The title states that Oh Noes! Oregon has lost it’s title. But then for the next few paragraphs it goes on and on about Springfield. Which is IN OREGON. Colour me confused.

  10. Consider that many Portland adult bookstores now also feature “private dancers”, basically a mini strip joint. Do other cities have these? Throw them in and the number of strip clubs could increase considerably.

    The strip club industry in Portland is unusually large. Reason: Large population influx has disproportionately drawn more single young males to the Portland area. These guys can’t find women in their age group to date. Single bars are filled with these guys and few women. They end up hanging out in strip clubs. It’s demand that drives the industry and Portland definitely has the demand.

  11. Have you ever been to a strip club in Springfield? Nasty ass, streatch marked, methed out skanks that are not worth the cover charge to get into… Ive seen better whores walking down 82nd street

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