PNW people vs. New England people (fit in, transplants, home)
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I've been reading a lot about the Pacific Northwest (PNW) lately, and it seems like there is a general consensus that people are aloof, cold and introverted. Is this really the case? I mean, I'm a New England person and everyone says that New Englanders have those characteristics as well.
Anyway, if the PNW really is like New England, in terms of people.....that's awesome....seems like I'd fit in! I'm from CT and generally don't like confrontation or dealing/talking with neighbors and stuff like that. Whenever I walk by people in the hallway, I typically look down and AVOID eye contact, unless I know the person. To me, that's normal and I like that (as weird as that sounds). I respect other people's space and autonomy and expect the same from others.
But, if someone could sort of lay out the similarities and differences between PNW people and New England people (especially southern New England), that would be great.
People in the PNW do not avoid eye contact. They're liable to look you in the eye, smile, and greet you. What they won't do is invite you over to dinner and to be your bestie for life. Especially not upon first meeting you. Some people perceive that as aloof. They're also not likely to confront your or get into your "bidness." It's a very much live-and-let-live place.
I've been reading a lot about the Pacific Northwest (PNW) lately, and it seems like there is a general consensus that people are aloof, cold and introverted. Is this really the case? I mean, I'm a New England person and everyone says that New Englanders have those characteristics as well.
I have lived in both places (born in Rhode Island and lived mostly in Connecticut, Mass and Maine; currently in Washington), and I can tell you that New Englanders and Pacific Northwesterners are complete opposites in everything but political outlook.
I'll do my best to keep this short and to the point. New Englanders are gruff and even cranky, but underneath this hard shell they are passionate, affectionate and loyal. It's hard to make a friend in New England, but when you break through, you've found a lifelong buddy.
By contrast, Pacific Northwesterners are outwardly exceedingly friendly. But mine even an inch beneath that placid, superficial surface, and you'll discover a vile combination of anger, distrust, and -- most prominently -- emptiness. People in New England are harshly real. People in the PNW are inescapably fake. They are night and day when it comes to their demeanor.
These competing attitudes can best be summed up in our relationships with our respective local sports franchises. New England sports fans love their teams win or lose. We have rallied behind our boys even in the midst of crushing defeat, and only in the past decade has that undying support been rewarded.
In Seattle, fans align themselves whichever way the wind is blowing. Are the Sounders hot? Oh, boy, we have a bunch of new soccer fans. Oh, did the Seahawks win the Super Bowl? Oh, gee, look at these 'lifelong' fans coming out of the woodwork. Mariners' 'fans' are arguably the worst of all, fully supporting the team through spring training, then angrily abandoning them by the All Star break. New England can love a loser; Seattle hates anything that isn't a winner.
Last edited by PrincessoftheCape; 06-18-2014 at 05:03 PM..
What they won't do is invite you over to dinner and to be your bestie for life.
I've been here a year and have made plenty of friends inviting me to hang out after only one day of meeting them. It's gotten to the point where my girl and I have to plan ahead what nights we'll devote to certain groups of friends because we don't have enough days off to spend with everybody.
I really think the only people that feel the icy chill from PNW'erners are those who are socially lackluster to begin with...
There's so many transplants in the cities of the Northwest from other parts of the US that saying that Pacific Northwest people are a certain sterotypical way means little if you're talking about a place like Portland these days. And at the same time there's a big difference between the cities and suburbs and rural areas--as well as between the west and eastern halves divided by the Cascades. I've got friends who grew up in the Northwest who are completely friendly and direct about things(that's sort of why I'm friends with them) some of whom I've been friends with since the first week I showed up here 15 years ago and don't seem like any of the typical stereotypes from the region. Other people I know are friendly but cliquish to the point where they won't hang out or be that good a friend with anyone they didn't go to high school with. People are people, not everyone falls into a sterotype.
I don't feel like New England really has a similar overall demeanor either--I've known all sorts of people and people from Northern Vermont who don't seem like people I know from Boston one bit and my friends from New Hampshire are all sorts as well... People just like to lump everyone into these general huge big categories. As a born Californian in the Pacific Northwest for 15 years I know all about it.
We owned a home in Washington state for 5 years, though we mostly avoided the cities. We found the people there to be a nice mixture.
Due to my approaching retirement, we left that area, as we found it to be fairly expensive. My pension would not have been enough to support us there.
We settled here in rural New England in 2005. There are some aloof people here, and there are some very friendly people here.
I think that stereotypes are overly played in media.
Then again, if your comparing urban to urban, it might be more accurate.
Both areas include urban and rural though. There is a far greater difference between urban and rural, then there is between East and West.
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