Is there a "Portland Freeze" (Sheridan: middle school, living in)

[EnricoV]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

I find it disheartening to a certain extent. My perspective is "Why can't I move here? What if I WANT to be here and live here?"

Well, he didn't say you can't ... just that he'd prefer it if you didn't.

Actually, it was a brilliant marketing statement. Look how long ago it was, and people are still talking about it ... and in the same breath wanting to move to Oregon.

But there was seriousness behind it, too. Tom McCall was monumental in efforts to preserve the essence of Oregon. He was responsible for making all of Oregon's beaches open to the public.

[pretzelman]

I lived in Portland for three years and had great experiences with nearly everyone I met....in fact I'd say that factoring in the size of the population it's the friendliest place I've ever lived (based on a bigger-is-less-friendly idea). I certainly miss the friends I made more than Portland itself, although I do miss some things about the city.

But as far as this "don't move here" attitude goes, people can and should live/move wherever they want or need to....end of story. Any Oregonians (or folks anywhere) with a dislike for newcomers need to wake up & deal, especially the ones who are transplants themselves, no matter how many years ago. Ridiculous....and comes across as very arrogant, too. None of my friends in OR feel this way about newcomers/growth (and many are natives), but clearly some people do.

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by Minervah

Actually I moved here in 1978 from Chicago and there was strong resentment against any transplant who took a job "away from an Oregonian" as I was so roughly told I had done. But every "native" I met disliked Californians more than anyone. I heard the same thing now as I do today from my "native" friends; the Californians moved here and upped the cost of living and the housing prices.

That's right. That sentiment actually went on through the 90s. They'd rather have a "white trash" local than an interesting, educated Californian who could do the job better. For some, the California label is something they can't get past. And that's the sad part.

From my personal experiences, whether I like a place or not (and I read the OR-WA-DC-MA post/story) is roughly evenly divided by whether I had to "walk on eggshells" or not.

California, Metro Atlanta, NY/NJ suburbs: liked them, no "walking on eggshells"
Nevada: didn't have to "walk on eggshells," but too much of a bad element from the "industries" that are there, moved out as quickly as I could
Oregon, Washington: didn't even mind the rain as it kept everything clean and green, but had to "walk on eggshells"

I'm surprised that the person who didn't like the NW also disliked the NE which, for me, is the "other side of the coin," an almost "180."

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by EnricoV

Tom McCall

This guy must have been one helluva provincial a-hole. Even if he didn't say "can't," and instead "preferred" people didn't move there, what gives him the right? Where was he born? His parents? His grandparents? I found it almost tragic that downtown's Waterfront Park was named for him, notwithstanding that he might have done other positive things for the state.

The other thing about OR is that it only has 3.5 million people. In the next 20 years, they are only expecting to add another .5 to 1 million people.

The ENTIRE New England region (6 states, albeit smaller ones) contains over 12 million people and FITS INTO Oregon. Yet, Maine's shoreline is pristine and there's plenty of room for visitors to view the fall colors without crawling all over each other in each of the region's states. Perhaps the people in the PNW are too reactionary and too stupid to do that kind of quick calculation.

[GB1]

Originally Posted by robertpolyglot

This guy must have been one helluva provincial a-hole. Even if he didn't say "can't," and instead "preferred" people didn't move there, what gives him the right? Where was he born? His parents? His grandparents?

I always wondered which to which tribe his ancestors belonged.

[Bluesmama]

1978 is when I moved here, and I can still recall a couple of conversations with natives who remarked about "all the Californians" moving in.

So the fear was felt a lot longer ago than many people realize.

[findingmesomeday]

University of Oregon is often referred to as "UC/Eugene" as a comment about all the California students who attend there.

[subsound]

I would say the biggest quantity of recent, and old, transplants I've known are from California from working in Oregon and Colorado. I think it's because after WW2 and before the 90's it was the place to be, lots of start ups and cheap housing in what has become the financial center outside of New York and Chicago.

I think it's great to have people from all over, it gets tons of different views and different ideas.

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by GB1

I always wondered which to which tribe his ancestors belonged.

Just did the "wiki" thing. Mr. McCall himself was a transplant, a native of Massachusetts.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by EnricoV

Well, he didn't say you can't ... just that he'd prefer it if you didn't.

Actually, it was a brilliant marketing statement. Look how long ago it was, and people are still talking about it ... and in the same breath wanting to move to Oregon.

But there was seriousness behind it, too. Tom McCall was monumental in efforts to preserve the essence of Oregon. He was responsible for making all of Oregon's beaches open to the public.

I never said he didn't say that "I can't".

I don't find it that brilliant. Besides, he was a transplant, so who was he to say that?

I feel like you should be able to live wherever you want. If a person wants to live in Oregon, that should be my choice. The point I was trying to make is that sometimes people of the local population in many places might "freeze" out-of-staters out because they don't really want out-of-staters there. Sometimes out-of-staters find this discouraging and find it hard to assimilate to the local culture if they wanted to. I used Tom McCall's quote as an example. I used the question "Why can't I move here?", as emphasize Tom McCall preferring that people don't move to Oregon.

On another note, Oregon does have a history of trying to keep some people out. Oregon had the Exclusion Act as a way to keep blacks out of Oregon. It was repealed in 1926.

As for the "Portland Freeze", making friends tends to be difficult for many reasons and it isn't just in Portland. Some parts of the Midwest and the South it can be hard to make friends.