"Seattle Freeze" In Portland? (Detroit: house, high school, college)

[Minervah]

I mentioned in another thread that when I was transferred to Portland by the company I had worked for in Chicago I was met with sheer unadulterated hostility. One coworker threatened to beat me up. They had already frightened off another transferee from Chicago before I moved here.
I had only been working in this office a few days so they couldn't have possibly known me or had time to develop a dislike for me when this happened. I was told simply that in taking this job I was taking it away from a true Oregonian who needed it.
It was truly bizarre. I did not judge all of Portland by these people but I certainly would not call any other city unfriendly after what I experienced.
Actually I have made friends in Seattle and always felt welcome there.

[oldtintype]

And how long ago were you transferred to Portland? Given that half of Portland is from somewhere else at this point (if not more) I find it hard to believe this attitude still exists in the present.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by oldtintype

And how long ago were you transferred to Portland? Given that half of Portland is from somewhere else at this point (if not more) I find it hard to believe this attitude still exists in the present.

Well as I have said before in other posts, I was transfered here 30 years ago. I didn't say the attitude existed today. My point was that because of my experience I would not judge other cities.

I think the author of the article about Seattle is speaking from personal experience too. I can't fault him for what he feels or perceives but I don't agree that all of Seattle is as bad as he describes because I have always been treated nicely there.

[HR-Hack]

Good Grief, what a thread. I tried to read the Seattle article - twice - but just couldn't gag it down. How can someone blather so long and say so little? It's naive to ascribe a personality type to a large metropolitan area based on a few encounters. I'm not very outgoing myself but neither am I toxic. Generally, in my experience, you get what you give. Or, as Lennon and McCartney more eloquently put it: "In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by findingmesomeday

Actually I do think the "Seattle Freeze" exists in Portland. I lived there for about 4 years and never found myself truly accepted (though I had friends) until I started dating a guy who was a native.

I lived in Portland for 20 years... moved to NC about a year ago. I agree that there is a version of the Freeze in Portland. It really didn't bother me when I lived there though. The neighborhood I lived in, people were from everywhere. People weren't rude to me.... but we knew alot of "hey neighbors". You wave and say hello and talk about the weather or your garden. Then you go into your own houses. In retrospect I realize it took longer in Portland to make friends and to get to the point of having people over for dinner etc. I think it's the weather.... people cocoon a far amount. Not the full 9 months... but more than what I've seen here in NC. Most of our really close friends in Portland were not from Oregon... they were transplants like us

In comparison, here in NC, we moved here in July... no one comes out of their homes in July or August. But September - June everyone is out of their houses being social. We made fast really good friends here in NC. In the first 6 months in NC we were invited to more potlucks and dinners than we had been invited to in 3 years in Portland. Our NC neighborhood has alot of transplants too, so I figure the difference is in part the weather.

But I did read more in Portland. I have so many unread books on my nightstand right now! But I play more outside now.

[subsound]

Journalists like to take slight social variabilities, real or imagined, and make a story out of them. They make money by writing stories, and stories get read because they make controversy.

Social types associated with each region are the minority, but you don't notice the 9 people who are normal but notice the 1 person that acts bizarrely.

[Tesaje]

I haven't noticed the Portland freeze in my many trips to PDX or the people I work with there - but then, a good number live in Vancouver and/or are transplants themselves. My new native Portlander niece-in-law's family were gracious and friendly to all of us.

I have a old college friend who has lived in Seattle for the past 30 years. She has a friend who lives near her and while I was visiting, we were invited to a little party there. During the evening, there was a statement made to my friend that she was an outsider and not a real Seattleite because she wasn't born there. My friend said, 30 years isn't enough? Her friend said, well for her, they would make an exception. It struck me as odd and my impression of her friend was that she was a real friend to my friend ... but by that little interchange, I think I understand the Seattle freeze thing.

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by Tesaje

I haven't noticed the Portland freeze in my many trips to PDX or the people I work with there - but then, a good number live in Vancouver and/or are transplants themselves. My new native Portlander niece-in-law's family were gracious and friendly to all of us.

I have a old college friend who has lived in Seattle for the past 30 years. She has a friend who lives near her and while I was visiting, we were invited to a little party there. During the evening, there was a statement made to my friend that she was an outsider and not a real Seattleite because she wasn't born there. My friend said, 30 years isn't enough? Her friend said, well for her, they would make an exception. It struck me as odd and my impression of her friend was that she was a real friend to my friend ... but by that little interchange, I think I understand the Seattle freeze thing.

I've said it before, but you'll find that attitude anywhere those "Native" bumperstickers are popular, and in any town/state where the population has grown by double-digit percentages in the last 10 years or so. Rapid population growth brings rapid change, and in many cases the negative changes really stand out to people who watched them come.

[abigailprettycat]

I moved to Portland from Seattle in April. Previously was in the Seattle area for about 25 years. Originally from California. Moved down here because Seattle was getting too expensive on my income. Single retired woman. I find Portland much more friendly than Seattle. Seattleites are indeed polite - but only because they really want you to go away. If you make eye contact with a stranger here in Portland, you will probably get a smile and a nice hello rather than the 30-yard stare you get from people in Seattle. I gave up on trying to make friends up there. You need to be thick-skinned and assertive to make a go of it up there. I was surprised and delighted to find Porlanders friendly, open and willing to share their lovely city with newcomers.

[meltinjohn]

This whole Seattle vs Portland thing with the freeze vs more friendly ppl in Portland remind me exactly of what goes on in South FL in a small city kinda version when it comes to Sarasota and St Petersburg.
Sarasota = The cold snobby kinda place where many are out for themselves but polite up front but you can tell many dont wanna bother with you and St Pete simply I can say I had much better luck meeting friendlier people and the city has a more nostalgic old feel to it. Its funny because people who live in both these cities can have a tendency to have PNW ties to them and good coffee in both cities too. Both cities are green also to a good extent. Sarasota tho same as Seattle, you may find a cool spot and find a tiny element of down to earth people with the majority being snobs. I went to a beer bar for awhile ok, and after going 60 times or so, socially it felt like I started at the beginning no lie.
In Portland, I went to a bar once and I got a vibe like if I only kept going, Id get a lot out of it socially and enjoymentwise unlike the experience I stated above.