I'm currently redoing my top on my bench with Poplar. I'm at the router stages now (edges and maybe an inlay). Sands well, Cuts well, BUT it creates a very fine dust. Can be irritable at times, especially when breathing it. heh.
And I use a dust collector....
Anyway, sometimes the ends will crack, so pick stock that is larger then what you need. I use poplar for tons of painted projects, but my bench will be stained so we will see... It does have green through it, also brown/black in spots. Far better to work with then pine, i think.
-George