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I keep hearing and reading that Portland is a really liberal place. I'm curious as to why this is. When I think of liberal places I first think of Cambridge, Berkeley and New York. But people tend to rank Portland right up there with all of these places. Does anybody have any ideas why this is? I thought it might have to do with all of the people from San Francisco moving in..........but its just a thought.
Some of it has to do with Califonians moving up here and bringing their 'values' with them. I don't know what to blame it on but I wish it wasn't so much this way. Seattle seems to be even worse.
Once again, the Californians take it in the neck for anything the Oregonians don't like.
Last week I was reading something about "Rush Limbaugh-loving, SUV-driving, California conservatives" ruining everything in Portland.
So which is it? And why is Bend, which probably has a higher per capita ratio of California transplants, significantly more conservative than Portland.
Portland needs to get over the reflexive need to take credit for its own impressive achievements, while blaming anything not-so-good on Californians; it's a juvenile pose.
Anyway: the answer to your question, Busch71, is more likely to be: Like attracts like. In Berkeley, a few hippies congregated, which attracted more hippies, and those who didn't like hippies left, and more hippies came, etc. You could say the same thing about Salt Lake City and Mormons; those who weren't comfortable with the LDS lifestyle left, and more Mormons moved in.
I keep hearing and reading that Portland is a really liberal place. I'm curious as to why this is. When I think of liberal places I first think of Cambridge, Berkeley and New York. But people tend to rank Portland right up there with all of these places. Does anybody have any ideas why this is? I thought it might have to do with all of the people from San Francisco moving in..........but its just a thought.
Not everywhere in Oregon is liberal. Portland/Ashland/Eugene may be, but most of the smaller towns outside of those areas have a more conservative bent.
I keep hearing and reading that Portland is a really liberal place. I'm curious as to why this is. When I think of liberal places I first think of Cambridge, Berkeley and New York. But people tend to rank Portland right up there with all of these places. Does anybody have any ideas why this is? I thought it might have to do with all of the people from San Francisco moving in..........but its just a thought.
It's only been within the last 8-10 years that Portland has had a large influx of San Franciscians. But Portland has been liberal for much longer than that. Personally, I felt that Portland was more liberal 20 years ago than it is today. It had more of a granola, hippy vibe than today. While that vibe is still there it's smaller... it seems to have been replaced with hipsters that are just as concerned about what fashion label is on their jeans as driving a hybrid b/c it's green.
BTW, Portland is comprised of people from ALL over the country and world. Not just Californians. The majority of my friends in Portland are from East of the Rockies.
I personally think Portland is liberal because Oregon is somewhere that hippies gravated to in the 60s. Many of them did not leave, and they raised their families there. Others moved there seeking like minded people. That is my unresearched guess.
I keep hearing and reading that Portland is a really liberal place. I'm curious as to why this is. When I think of liberal places I first think of Cambridge, Berkeley and New York. But people tend to rank Portland right up there with all of these places. Does anybody have any ideas why this is? I thought it might have to do with all of the people from San Francisco moving in..........but its just a thought.
Hi,
I read your post and it brought back so many memories of Portland. My husband and I relocated to Portland in 1989 from San Francisco with the intent of purchasing our first home, since San Francisco's real estate was prohibitively expensive. In 1989, Portland was nothing more than an old timber town fairly down on its heels and populated by a majority of people who were born and raised there. We rented a a 1 bedroom apartment for $175 per month in an old, beautiful brick building just a block away from NE Broadway, near Kitchen Kaboodle. At the time, NE Broadway was a place filled with closed, boarded-up shops and litter everywhere. There was an old-time barber shop there, and I think, an old-time trophy store that looked like it hadn't been changed since the 1940's. Gangs were fairly prevalent in the area, and homes in Irvington were mostly run-down and falling apart and selling for $40,000-50,000. Realtors couldn't give them away. Homes in other parts of the city were even cheaper - 25,000 for a small 2 bedroom bungalow! We had no idea at the time, but when we moved to Portland back in '89, we were a part of a huge migration from California that eventually changed the city completely. Every week in the newspapers, Portlanders would complain about the Californians "taking over" their city. We even had the headlights on our car smashed out when we came with our California license plates! Anyway, over time it became increasingly more difficult to find people that were even born there. Naturally, of course, when people move in droves from other places, they tend to take their politics with them. We considered ourselves to be liberal San Franciscans, (is there any other kind of San Franciscan? LOL) so when we moved, of course, we never changed our liberal ways! It is important to add another footnote about Portland here that is also essential to the understanding of how Portland became so "liberal". In prior years, Portland had already experienced the first wave of people who relocated to Portland with their 60's politics and worked together to help shape the city. While these early "granola-crunchers", were at that time in the minority, their hopes, aspirations and collective efforts to create a "utopian" Western city, eventually helped set the stage for an area which was soon to become the liberal "mecca" that it is today. In a way, the level of community effort that these people put forward has never been matched ANYWHERE in the U.S. Of course, Portland does have it's drawbacks as being known as a "liberal city". Entrenched dogma - whether it is "left" or "right" can become annoyingly conformist over time. The local Portland adage: "Keep Portland Weird" can be construed as "prima facie" evidence of this cultural and political liberal entrenchment. Personally, I miss the real "funkiness" and true "diversity" that could once be found in Portland. When we moved to Portland all those years ago, there were REAL ARTISTS squatting in a largely abandoned, undeveloped Pearl Street district, and average middle-class, blue collar families living in the neighborhoods. My friends and I found all kinds of treasures at the local Goodwill and happily filled our homes with it all. I still have a painting that I found there for 1.99, that is worth 2,000 today! (although I will NEVER sell it!) But in 2003, when I went downtown one day, and walked into a new store that sold "French furniture" and was also run by a smug European man who looked down from his nose at me, and when my artist friends suddenly became smug themselves and moved from the NE to the tony NW - I knew it was ALL OVER and that my beloved, Portland had changed forever into the self-absorbed, and self-congratulatory place that it is today. It has, unfortunately, become very similar to San Francisco (an irony that is not lost on me, of course!) And so, like San Francisco, in order to live successfully in Portland, you will need to have a liberal "angle" to your personality that is "different" in some way than the "rest of the country". Expect yourself to begin to mouth the local shibboleths (of course, you will "hate Walmart", and you will need to eat only organic food. You will begin to read very obscure authors (the more obscure, the better, of course!) to become marginally accepted there. And the way you dress, is of course, profoundly important there. Now, this is all well and good in your 20's or 30's, but as you approach your 40's and beyond, "personality" and how you are perceived by others does become less important - if you have learned anything in life, at all. My advice for anyone considering moving to Portland? Move there when you are young, stay and have a great time, but get out when the party's over. If you cannot afford to buy a home there, and are paying some landlord for an overpriced rental, just because you can say: "I live in Portland." Well then, you are just a hopeless follower, and far from the original creatives who took a chance on a very down-on-its-luck city and worked very, very hard to imagine and create something better. If you are a true liberal like me, you can go ANYWHERE in the country and use your own creativity, imagination, and hard work to spark another neglected American city and create something beautiful. Just don't tell too many people and brag about it!
Hope this post wasn't more than you bargained for!
Some of it has to do with Califonians moving up here and bringing their 'values' with them. I don't know what to blame it on but I wish it wasn't so much this way. Seattle seems to be even worse.
No. Californians are NOT liberal. Happened way before they moved to Portland. Seattle is not as liberal - not conservative, mind you, but not as liberal.
In response to the last post: I can understand very much your feelings having lived in Portland since 1989. To us who were not there then, we find the city appealing in its own right these days and am glad it has been able to retain its liberal focus.
No. Californians are NOT liberal. Happened way before they moved to Portland. Seattle is not as liberal - not conservative, mind you, but not as liberal.
In response to the last post: I can understand very much your feelings having lived in Portland since 1989. To us who were not there then, we find the city appealing in its own right these days and am glad it has been able to retain its liberal focus.
You are quite correct - Californians as a whole - outside of places like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Arcada, perhaps - ARE fairly conservative with a large voting block. How else would you explain Ronald Reagan? However, the people who moved OUT of California and relocated to Portland in the early days, WERE very liberal, which is why Portland is the "liberal city" you love today. Nothing wrong with that! But if you really want to split hairs, the West itself has always attracted people who were looking for something better and completely different from where they came. Aurora, a small
rural community near Portland, started out as a 19th century commune before it finally disbanded after the turn of the century. (you can thank Tocqueville, the doctrines of Manifest Destiny, and also some of the American, Romantic Naturalists for that! So, yes, Portland has always had a liberal and progressive bent. I find it fascinating that most people do not even realize what a "product" of history their lives actually are! By the way, I am now living in the deep South, which I would say, is 100 times more fascinating culturally and historically than the West! So much more history here, and also an equally fascinating mindset that has been shaped by unusual historical forces, that I see everyday-even in the language and the postures of its (very unaware!) population! Oh, I just I love this world - warts and all!
Wow, ncgalnow. I don't know what Portland you lived in, but the one I've lived in all my life bears no resemblence whatsoever to the town you apparently left. I can say for certain, that you and I lived very different lives here. My Portland is just as wierd and funky as it ever was. I stay out of overly pretentious establishments. And they affect my life, and my experience, not a whit. I'm sure others could manage that, as well.
I'm ecstatic that you've moved somewhere that makes you happy. But try stepping off that superiority soapbox and losing the attitude that should everyone not make your life choices, they're "hopeless followers." Seems rather to me that to follow your example, because you say so, would earn one the title of "follower."
As for the politics. They've not changed much at all. The only thing your fellow Californians contributed to the city was to blow housing prices out of the water. The percentages of registered Republicans vs. Democrats has changed very little through the years. Democrats have almost always been in the majority, and reached their greatest variance in the 1970s when they surpassed republicans by 20%. Since the 80s, they've been working their way back to being fairly even.
As for the Aurora Colony - they can thank the Bible for its inspiration, much like the Shakers. And it formally disbanded in 1883, a few years after Dr. Keil's death. The communal holdings then became privately owned, mostly by individual members. But then, I'm sure those pesky little details are part of what makes the history of the west not as fascinating as that of the deep south.
Not everywhere in Oregon is liberal. Portland/Ashland/Eugene may be, but most of the smaller towns outside of those areas have a more conservative bent.
I understand that not EVERYONE in Portland is liberal. I simply mean as a whole. If you read anything you would definitely see that Portland holds a stereotype as being a liberal place. To say that everyone in Portland is liberal is like saying everyone in San Francisco is gay, it isn't true.
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Why is Portland Liberal? I'll tell you!
Californians NOT Liberal?
However, the people who moved OUT of California and relocated to Portland in the early days, WERE very liberal, which is why Portland is the "liberal city" you love today. Nothing wrong with that! But if you really want to split hairs, the West itself has always attracted people who were looking for something better and completely different from where they came. Aurora, a small
