What do you consider the Pacific Northwest to be? (areas, county)

[hamellr]

Just curious what those outside of the Pacific Northwest consider the PNW consists of.

Locally, many of us say "Oregon, Washington, part of BC, and Northern California."

I've heard other people add Idaho, Montana, and sometimes Northern Nevada to that. And at least one person who tried to tell me that Utah and Wyoming were part of PNW.

Do you divide the PNW by climate or geography?

[belmont22]

I would say the Pacific Northwest is the region from Humboldt County northwards to Anchorage along the coast up to the Cascade and Canadian Coast Mountain crest.

"Cascadia" would be more encompassing and include the inner basin regions and the parts of the Northern Rockies that drain into the Columbia and Fraser rivers.

[bchris02]

I would say the coastal region from the San Francisco Bay Area up to Vancouver.

[ketch89]

Mendocino county, CA all the way up to Juneau, AK, to include the coastal side of Oregon, Washington, British Colombia, and the panhandle of Alaska. Idaho and Anchorage have a different culture, imo, and should not be included.

[ajjam]

Originally Posted by bchris02

I would say the coastal region from the San Francisco Bay Area up to Vancouver.

I agree with this!!

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by bchris02

I would say the coastal region from the San Francisco Bay Area up to Vancouver.

This is about my personal considerations - in other words roughly the same area as the Original Oregon Territory before it was split up into States.

Interesting that a few of you said all the way up to Alaska.

[steel03]

I would argue that culture extends out to Spokane and as far east as Missoula.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by hamellr

This is about my personal considerations - in other words roughly the same area as the Original Oregon Territory before it was split up into States.

Interesting that a few of you said all the way up to Alaska.

I think of a lot of people like to imagine a greater Cascadia stretching from SE Alaska to just north of California. The reality though is that while the wetter sections of the NW Coast might have some things in common in terms of environment--there's little connection between what goes on in Washington State and Oregon and Northern California or Alaska--they're just too far away to have any sort of real regional pull.

The way the state lines are set up--and with the Columbia River Basin stretching to the east and the Bonneville Power Administration--there's more ties in Western Oregon with areas to the east than people realize. But, because the popular imagination of the Pacific Northwest is simply the wetter western portions of Oregon and Washington--which is a fairly small area overall---that's what people will define it as. But I'd say that Oregon,Washington, and Idaho in some ways make up the greater Pacific Northwest.

[Montguy]

I consider the Pacific Northwest to be WA, OR and Northern CA, whilst I consider the Northwest to be a broader entity that would also include ID, Western MT, the northwestern-most section of Wyoming and, arguably, we could lump Northern NV into that mix as well (nothing below I-80, though).

[portlanderinOC]

I would say the southern border would be Redding, CA, since that's where the Cascades start, all the way up to Southeastern Alaska. Oregon, Washington, and Idaho are fully included.