Why Is Portland So Liberal?

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by esya

Maybe rain makes people do indoor things--like board games, reading, etc. When you are inside with people you tend to become tolerant of their foibles.

Unlike Colorado where I have lived for years-people just isolate themselves in the sunny weather somewhere.

I don't know why it is, but give Portland some credit for having its own culture.

Good, but can you acknowledge that a lot of liberal places are also smug, full of themselves and unfriendly?

I am still at a loss for trying to figure out why, as an outgoing person originally from LA, in back-to-back moves that included Atlanta, Portland, Sacramento and Seattle, I made a ton of friends quickly in Atlanta and Sacramento and, with a perfect dividing line, no friends to speak of in Portland and Seattle...and I'm the SAME person. My parents who retired to the Northwest look at me like I'm crazy since they don't circulate socially.

I therefore STAY AWAY from a place branded as "liberal." I prefer conventional and pluralistic like most large and second-tier American cities. Help me out, so I can explain this to my parents! I can't wait to jump-start my life again in a place OTHER than the Northwest.

[suncat]

Originally Posted by robertpolyglot

Good, but can you acknowledge that a lot of liberal places are also smug, full of themselves and unfriendly?

I am still at a loss for trying to figure out why, as an outgoing person originally from LA, in back-to-back moves that included Atlanta, Portland, Sacramento and Seattle, I made a ton of friends quickly in Atlanta and Sacramento and, with a perfect dividing line, no friends to speak of in Portland and Seattle...and I'm the SAME person. My parents who retired to the Northwest look at me like I'm crazy since they don't circulate socially.

I therefore STAY AWAY from a place branded as "liberal."

You sound just like me. I've made some good friends here, but sometimes when I'm out and about in Portland, I'm taken aback when I smile at or say hello to someone and get only a blank stare, or a sneer, in return. I'm a relatively pleasant, friendly and reasonably attractive person, but sometimes I feel like a freak in this town. The contrast when I visit the south is pretty stark... people actually talk to you there, often with charm and wit. I'm the same person here and there.

It's odd that "liberal bastions" can come across as so snooty, when they give lip service to being open minded.

It's not you, Robert. I've heard this refrain from many others. There's a reason it's a common topic on the Portland and Seattle forums.

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by suncat

It's not you, Robert. I've heard this refrain from many others. There's a reason it's a common topic on the Portland and Seattle forums.

Why thank you! And I know...my parents can't understand it. I go to California, or the Southern tier of the country in general, and get invited into people's homes, for God's sake, and I barely know them! So, yes, ditto on my experiences. And I've gone traveling through Portugal, Italy and Argentina, only to have people open their homes to me, still to e-mail and correspond 5 to 10 years later.

Just this week, I was transiting down to California for interviews, overnighting in the Central Valley. By the coffee and donuts in a motel lobby, this retired couple from Northern California and I started talking about Suzanne Pleshette's unfortunate death as displayed on USA Today. Turns out they were originally from Orange County (but originally from the Midwest), had 5 children around my age they had put through Catholic school (just like me) and we got into this really animated discussion. They knew I was job hunting and gave me the card of one of their son-in-laws who is in my line of work. They then gave me their address and number in Northern California (a rural community) to stay with them if ever was in transit. I thanked them for all their niceness, shook their hands and the woman gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. One has to kiss the ground that such nice people exist in the world. It salvages everything, doesn't it?

Now, there are wonderful people all over the country, but my experience is that this is much more likely to occur with a Californian than a native Portlander or Seattleite. So, then, some of the natives in PDX or SEA have some serious nerve in their belief as to how unpleasant or abrasive Californians are. I welcome the directness described above and most normal people would too. What I just described above is LIBERAL (open, accepting, friendly) ... the Subaru full of bumper stickers is just "eyewash."

[suncat]

What a great story, Robert. I've had similar experiences with strangers in Raleigh.

Love your comment about the PC bumper-sticker covered Subarus. There's always a "Keep Portland Weird!" sticker in there somewhere, which has become such a cliche that it's no longer weird. In fact, it's conformist.

I feel like being a rebel and putting a "Keep Portland Normal!" sticker on my car. Wouldn't that be weird?

[hymalaia]

Originally Posted by suncat

I feel like being a rebel and putting a "Keep Portland Normal!" sticker on my car. Wouldn't that be weird?

No, it'd just make you profoundly unoriginal. Of course if you manufactured and sold bumper stickers saying such, you'd be an entrepreneur!

I'm no fan of bumper stickers, liberal or other wise.


It's time to close this thread as the topic has wandered away from the main point.

Waterlily