Does the Pacific Northwest seem isolated from the rest of the United States? (transplants, metro area)

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by Vegabern

Yes, I fell that the PNW is an isolated corner of the country. After Hawaii, Alaska and the Northern Rockies/Dakotas it's the most isolated region. You have to go out of your way to get there and most people are only after two cities, Portland and Seattle. If you're not going to one of those two places the odds of you ever venturing into that region are slim.

I agree with posters at the beginning of this thread that PNWeners seem to have more of an aloof attitude. I grew up in the Midwest and have spent the last 10 years in Montana. I can't say I have anything in common with my neighbors to the west. I'm not saying it's a bad place but I can't see myself ever feeling at home there. It is beautiful though.

I think when your considering the PNW you have to throw southern British Columbia into the mix. Vancouver really maintains a closer relationship with Seattle than does Portland. Victoria is right in there, too. My husband was raised in Seattle ( we're there right now, in fact, for his HS reunion), and he spent a great deal of time 'over the border'.

[Vegabern]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

I think when your considering the PNW you have to throw southern British Columbia into the mix. Vancouver really maintains a closer relationship with Seattle than does Portland. Victoria is right in there, too. My husband was raised in Seattle ( we're there right now, in fact, for his HS reunion), and he spent a great deal of time 'over the border'.

I don't like to include Vancouver or BC in general because Canada is a different beast. They have more major cities along the border with the US than we have counter parts for so it's not as isolated for them (if that makes any sense). Take Calgary and Winnipeg for example. Their neighbors to the south are empty prairies with a few small towns dotted in. The north central US is like a big black hole. You have to cross that to get to the PNW. Not so in Canada.

From a perspective of Americans seeking a destination in the PNW, then yes, you could include Vancouver as another city in the region.

[ragnarkar]

The Pacific Northwest has the culture and overall personality most compatible with my own, imo. It feels like the most individualistic part of the country.

Originally Posted by Garfieldian

California is somewhat isolated from the rest of the country, but Pac NW even more so... LA and SD alone have 22 million people.

California is also isolated from much of the country like the PNW but it plays a major role in the country's culture. Love of sports, religions, and patriotism seems to be in line with the rest of the country. So I don't think it's the distance. The PNW, on the other hand, seems to attract a lot of misfits (maybe that's why I seem to have an affinity for it).. perhaps the terminus of the Oregon Trail has something to do with it, with the descendants of misfits who migrated west over a century ago?

[Hemlock140]

Pre-Covid we would drive to Portland and to Vancouver, B.C. several times every year. Portland is 186 miles down I-5, Vancouver is closer, 153 miles, and about 1/2 hour less driving time. I definitely consider Vancouver to be more like Seattle than Portland. The population of the Seattle area consists of immigrants from other states and countries, there are very few native Washingtonians here now. The last I heard only 30% of Seattle residents were born in the state. Of the few I know, none are from Seattle, they are mostly from Eastern Washington, such as Spokane, Moses Lake, and Walla Walla. In our neighborhood, the closest neighbors that we are familiar with are from:

California (4)
India (5)
Tunisia
China (2)
Arizona

[leastprime]

^we're from western Oregon (65 years). DS (36) born in Oregon but left for college and settled in western Washington (14 years) after college. Do we count as natives?

[mhays25]

In the current five-year ACS, Washington state was 46.6% born in-state.

King County, however, was 39.4%, and the newer and poorer parts of the Eastside might both be particularly international.

[BostonBornMassMade]

No, I don’t feel that’s at at all.

I feel more that way about New England. Much more.

PNW attracts a lot of native born Americans and sets the tone for American liberalism. As the poster before me said-most people from WA aren’t even from WA

[TheTimidBlueBars]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

No, I don’t feel that’s at at all.

I feel more that way about New England. Much more.

PNW attracts a lot of native born Americans and sets the tone for American liberalism. As the poster before me said-most people from WA aren’t even from WA

Yep. The PNW is physically isolated, culturally I think it's pretty average. Much of western Washington and Oregon outside of Seattle and Portland actually feels Midwestern to me (farms, American flags everywhere, huge truck stops, decaying industry).

[soldierlifter]

Definitley have a little bit of different vibe you don't see anywhere else. It's theorized that this reason is how grunge music was born. This is also Antifa's homeland and some of the most radical politicians you will ever see in this part of country. A police abolitionist (!) just narrowly lost the Seattle DA race last November.

[Guineas]

Culturally PNW feels less isolated than the Midwest. I mean Costco, Starbucks, Nordstrom, REI, Redfin, Zillow, MSFT and Amazon are based here. It can't be that out of touch with the pulse of America.