Friendly Oregonians? (Portland, Salem, Springfield: relocate, job, house)

[TexasNativeinNW]

...and I think it is because of the weather. I'm from Texas and came out here as a very chatty, "how-ya-doin" kind of person and people sometimes seemed surprised at this! But my impression of people here is that they are more inwardly focussed and sometimes even a little shy or serious. I think it is the weather. The weather encourages a kind of burrowing, curling up by the window to comtemplate, kind of vibe. There is a quiet, gentleness here. I'm in the healing arts field...and I have noticed that many people come to Portland and the Oregon coast to heal from the past and then they move on. Some stay, but most of my clients leave when the healing is done. Interesting.

The three glorious summer months bring people out in a big way, however, and you see more smiles.

I also feel that it takes a bit longer to develop close friendships/bonds here than other places. I have found that my friends from other places agree. But once you are "in", you have friends for life. Just takes a bit longer.

[YogaPants]

It has been my experience that the people in Grants Pass are REALLY nice!!! We get acknowledged just about everywhere...it feels good...

[Dingler]

When I lived in Oregon I talked to many people who seemed like Midwestern types, kind of like MN.

Also many people do not look into the climate before they move to Oregon and are depressed and not ready for all the rain and cloudy weather.

[live4kidz]

TexasNativeNW says he feels that the lack of friendliness could be due to Portland's weather. We have to agree! I was born and raised here - then at 23 off to sunny CA, NV, AZ, UT, TX and back to Portland, OR area. People in sunnier climes, in our experience, really did have sunnier dispositions!! Have any of you seen the difference in folks on a couple of sunny days, where it is usually gray and wet? We just had a couple of sunny days - and today it is cold and gray and raining non-stop and will be on Easter Sunday, too, according to the forcast. The past 2 days - neighbors were talking. . .. working in their yards. . . .including myself. . . and boating, biking, walking/running, doing stuff out of doors and it was awesome. This is not to discount that Portlanders - many of them - are outdoors people regardless of the weather!! Neighbor today here was out putting weed and feed on his lawn and was dressed in rain gear from head to foot! But yeah, we have lived it. We truly have experienced more consistent friendliness in climates where the sun is much more plentiful!! The fact that Oregon is up in the top 3 for having the "highest population of folks with disabliing arthritis" must tell you something! I learned this and more about climate and how it affects aging while in gerontology studies at the local college here when I first moved back 3.5 yrs. ago.

[RockyMtnr]

Having lived around the country, I will offer that the friendliest folks I've ever met are on the Oregon coast ... and around Portland, Salem, etc.
What's cool is, here, it's not the "demented-friendly" that you can get in other places - you know the one, right?: that "It's a great day, Bub, if you can stand the pain" attitude around the country. Oregon - just an honest, unpolluted "How d'ya do"? That's what I like - it's not over the top, it's not bent - just kind of honest. They get tired of the rain in the north, they get tired of the heat down south, they get tired of the eastern part (I don't know why. Didn't anybody tell them?). They're folks - and even the bad-guys seem pretty nice here. Maybe a little self-absorbed but then, Hey! We live where everybody else should want to live!! Our eyes are filled with awesome beauty nearly everyday - just driving down the road, just catching a glimpse of the Pacific, just interacting with other Oregonians.
A pleasure, I'm sure.

[Kareboo]

I am born and raised in Hillsboro. Though the landscape has changed, I do think that people are friendly in Oregon. Recently when I picked my husband up at the airport, I struck up a conversation with two other women. I think you can do that here more often than in other places. People here are nice to talk to and even if they don't want to talk, they aren't rude and won't blow you off. Oregon is a great place to be.

[JakeDog]

I grew up in Oregon and now live in a sunnier area. Whenever I go back I'm suprised at just how quiet people in the Northwest are. I think the climate is a big part of it- Finland is supposedly the shyist country in the world, and that likely has something to do with the darkness there. Similarly, people in the rainy parts of the Northwest tend to be less outgoing in my opinion. Not less nice or even less "friendly" per se, just not as outgoing.

[OREGONRAIN]

Well I live here, but I am originally from a small town between Boston and Providence RI. Im Irish, and we have a tendency to speak to strangers and be friendly, alot like australians also do. I have a tendency to say hello to a stranger on the train or a max station, or just about anyplace. I have found more here than anywhere, I have been snubbed for doing so, Im not exaggerating it has happened a number of times. I have also had people that were very friendly, and go right into a conversation, if there was time for one. I try to remember the friendly people I have met, I know there are many here, but I don't understand the snubbing, its just a hello, I don't want to marry you, or know your address. It seems quite strange to me, I also have noticed that some of these people will immediately strike up a converstation with someone that has a dog, about the dog. Im sorry but this is very strange and very rude, and could be considered some form of predjudice. Either or I get around town and this has happened to me, Im sorry if anyone feels this could never happen in Portland, it has, and your entitled to your opinion.

[aplwh]

Do you suppose that new comers become more reserved as they live in Oregon? It's a wonder with all the out-of-towners moving in that they haven't infused their more outgoing ways...

I'm in Long Island now and have found some of the friendliest neighbors here, so much so that it continues to amaze me. Having been raised in NYC where people are rude for a reason - believe me, you'd be the same way if you had to commute with 4 million others and half of them are sitting on you in the subway. However, if you'd simply step aside as we try to rush past, we'd be happy to help you with anything.

[oregon63]

i just moved here from az and the people in salem are very nice and helpful its alot better then where i came from lol