East Coasters - what surprised you about moving to Oregon? (Portland: live, legal)

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by signalfire

What I was thinking about was the 'Grand Latte Double Shot of Caramel Syrup and Espresso with low fat Whipped Cream on top' Starbucks carrying, cell phone yakking, 14 bracelets between each wrist, high heel wearing strange entities I see in the commercials filmed in NYC. Also San Francisco although there, they might be smart enough not to wear high heels. What a strange culture we've become...

Teenagers. Whatta ya gonna do? People like that don't really like coffee, and the sugar rots your teeth. Plus, why spend $6 for a cup of coffee? We make some of the best Joe going right here at home, fresh roasted, fresh ground, all Arabica and served black.

I have no idea why Starbucks would think tasteless commercials would make people think their coffee tastes good. It's just expensive, not that good. The coffee I make at home is a lot better, for a lot less money.

Originally Posted by signalfire

Obviously, don't get me started about Rodeo Drive.

That's in LA, isn't it? Do you detect a recurring theme? People who live in big cities are crazy, and the consumer society tells people they have to spend money, which is exactly the wrong thing to do with it. After 45 years of brown bagging my lunches and making my own coffee, I can tell you a little modest frugality really does add up. Just think how you would like to be able to buy lunch and a cup of coffee for 40,000 people.

[frogcreekwoods]

Originally Posted by signalfire

People: I got pretty tired of the NYC slant on everything from the news to the 'fashion' to the hurry-hurry of get a good education followed by get into a competitive college, followed by a good job followed by a huge house followed by stuffing it full of consumer goods mentality. Like they said in Fight Club, 'most people work their whole lives at a job they hate to buy stuff they don't need'. I think there's pockets, big ones, of people in Oregon who have figured that out.


In a nutshell: If you're a caffeine-freak gossipy fashionista snob, stay back east and let it suck up your life. Otherwise, you might enjoy more free time and long summer days of blue skies (and stars at night!).

I think this is what I like best about what I've heard and seen about Oregon. I hate that NYC influence you describe here in southern CT.

[PNWdrifter]

I've grown up in oregon my whole life and my friends dad moved here from boston a couple of years ago. He always joked around about oregon being hick country (not necessarily a bad thing) and I'm sorta curious, do all East coasters think of oregon this way?

[Larry Caldwell]

I think so. Hard as it may be to believe, many east coasters live their whole lives without getting out of a city. They have a very narrow world view, and dismiss anything outside their experience as irrelevant.

Originally Posted by PNWdrifter

I've grown up in oregon my whole life and my friends dad moved here from boston a couple of years ago. He always joked around about oregon being hick country (not necessarily a bad thing) and I'm sorta curious, do all East coasters think of oregon this way?

I spent 20+ years on the east coast. I never heard anyone espouse that belief. Lots of misunderstanding about it (like thinking that the whole state is covered in snow or populated solely by unemployed hippies and emo kids), but never heard that one in particular.

That said, there are some parts of Oregon that would be right at home in the deep south.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

That said, there are some parts of Oregon that would be right at home in the deep south.

This is interesting.
Which parts?

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

This is interesting.
Which parts?

Most of Linn county in particular stands out.

[carolinajack]

It was said back east that Portlanders and Oregonians were friendly, yet i have found that they arent any friendlier than urban cities on the east coast. People tend to be quite self absorbed, insular, and rude-approaching them on the street and saying hello many i meet and pass will not respond or will actually look the other way. Now I am african american and they might not like blacks, another thing we heard about oregonians(a comfortable atmosphere for white supremacists) but i try not to paint someone racist or look for the race card very easily.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by carolinajack

It was said back east that Portlanders and Oregonians were friendly, yet i have found that they arent any friendlier than urban cities on the east coast. People tend to be quite self absorbed, insular, and rude-approaching them on the street and saying hello many i meet and pass will not respond or will actually look the other way. Now I am african american and they might not like blacks, another thing we heard about oregonians(a comfortable atmosphere for white supremacists) but i try not to paint someone racist or look for the race card very easily.

Hello, Jack,

This is from a post I wrote on another topic, but it's relevant to your comment:

"Oregonians are pretty self sufficient, and you may find that people don't "neighbor" as much as they do in other states. I don't know about the east coast, but several people who have moved here from the Midwest have commented on how isolated they felt. Look for friends through mutual interest groups."

Even mutual interest groups are not a sure thing. I have been associating with one group for 15 years without developing a single friend there, which is not what I was expecting at all. Fortunately, I really am interested in the subject, which is what keeps me going back.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Jack,
You have to realize that it's pretty hard to find a 100% genuine native Oregonian these days.
Most people you will meet are transplants from somewhere else and bring their own culture and views here.

With all the hype and BS about Portland and Oregon being some green eco-friendly koombaya nirvana place where everybody is your brother and takes care of you and hugs and kisses abound, people don't realize that Portland is just another mid size city just like anywhere else.

And once you get out of the Willamette Valley, the I5 corridor and over the Cascades, you might as well be in a different intermountain state like Idaho.

The only thing different from where you came from is the scenery and particular regional culture, but even that "particular regional culture" is quickly being diluted as Portland has become a melting pot of people from all over the US.