The great historian Richard Hofstadter remarked that the United States was the only country born in perfection and aspiring to progress. Locally, what issues facing the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan region (Clackamas, Clark, Washington, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington, and Yamhill counties) must we deal with immediately to preserve the vaunted quality of life in one of the most livable regions in the nation? The Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies (IMS) at Portland State University (PSU) in partnership with the PSU Survey Research Laboratory regularly conducts a biennial Critical Issues survey. Consisting of a telephone canvass of regional residents as well as a mail-back questionnaire from the region's elected and appointed officials, academics, journalists, and citizen-activists, the 2007 Critical Issues Survey attempted to identify what Hofstadter would understand as our traditional need to make better of best. The problems identified by respondents to both surveys are compelling. They tell a story of leaders and ordinary residents battling with issues which, if neglected, could significantly impair our future. And the clearest news to come from the surveys is that both groups--the public and the opinion leaders--pinpoint the same topics as the ones requiring immediate attention: education, the economy, and health care.