Outsiders unwanted (Portland: for rent, credit check, homes)

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by doggiemama

To me it sounds like the bartender was joking for the sake of the people at the bar.

That's what I was going to say.

If it happened in a bar I wouldn't take it too seriously. They were probably just having a little fun at your expense.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by deckard9080

My wife and I went to Portland and Seattle (from LA) to look for places to live. To scout out house rental prices.

Our only requirement was that we wanted to rent a house. Had to be a house.

We found a hip little area, might have been near the college, I forget but I asked the bartender and some other locals if there was a bulletin board for rentals nearby. It seemed like a place that would have one. She asked me where I was coming from. I said, California. She made a face and said, I can't help you. I thought she was joking, so I said, well we're staying in Washington right now. She said, even worse. And a couple people at the bar were laughing.

Is this attitude prevalent or it is just an isolated case?

Were you in an inner Portland neighborhood? The bartender and clientale were most likely originally from the Midwest or Boston or New York or some other region.

Real Oregonians, when they get their pants wet with anger about the existence of Californians, usually just turn bright red and blow steam out their ears(and other orifices) when they're faced with California transplants---they wouldn't be laughing. And by real Oregonians I mean those whose family roots go back to the Oregon Trail days--or at least the 1970s.

Don't worry, I'm just joking just like those folks at the bar...

[sorupaa]

i had a great whatever grandpa that was on the oregon trail

im glad the californians haven't changed the portland metro into one of there cities, with wide streets and a lot of highways.

[loot87]

I think Californians get a bad wrap. Most of the Cali natives that I know don't leave. It's the ones from other parts of the country like the Midwest that migrated there in the 80s, caused a housing bubble and then moved north once it burst.... like locusts.

[Minervah]

I always find it interesting that often when I look at other cities on the CD forums I find that they have a bias against transplants from other places too. I think it's all about in influx of "outsiders" being a perceived threat to the status quo.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

The most charged confrontations are going to be between Californians who are like post Modern Portlandians on steroids and rural Oregonians. For example, someone moves from the Mission in SF to a place next to a turkey farm (I know, sort of an outlandish scenario, I'm exaggerating for effect). The Mission hipsters b___ and moan about the smells, the very non ALF concept of turkey houses, maybe some chemical assistance in use. The old time locals start to fear intrusion into their way of life.

[Jackalope78]

We (Cali expats) are starting to outnumber the locals. They're just getting defensive. Don't take it too hard. Odds are, the bartender was probably from Fresno.

[Nell Plotts]

Ya, another member of the 'haul up the moat bridge, were in the castle' club.

[sorupaa]

some bar tenders are asses

[pw72]

My read on this, as others have mentioned, is it is the "expected" response, so what a better setting than a bar to take advantage of that, and maybe increase your tips.

Why is this an "expected" response? Complicated, but it probably goes back 40 years when Governor Tom McCall made his famous statement, (paraphrasing), "Welcome To Oregon, but please don't stay".

The media is to blame as well. They ran with this story throughout the Pacific Northwest, especially in Portland and Seattle. Believe it, it was a hot topic, and one that got many riled up in the late 80's and early 90's. The media ate it up.

The facts probably demonstrate something else. While many Californians have moved to WA and OR in the past two or three decades, many NW people moved to California as well. The difference may be at one time, many CA residents sold their homes at an inflated price, (before the bust), and then inflated prices in the NW. However, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing for homeowners up here. It did make it more difficult for first-time buyers however. Now everything is upside down due to the recession.

Bottom line for me is, if Californians can move here and become part of the NW in its sensibility, then welcome. And plenty have done just that. If you are moving from CA to create the same problems that exist today in CA, then I would be less favorable to that.