Is there a little difference between Washington State and Oregon locals / vibes? (Seattle: appointed, sales)

[SunAndRain808]

I have a former co-worker who works at a facility in the Olympia area, and I happened to have bumped into her while I used to use a dating app on my smart phone.

We chatted a bit via text messaging after I got her phone number through the app.

I asked her how she likes it here in Washington State, and basically, she said she dislike the weather and culture here.

She told me that she wants to move down to the Portland, Oregon area. I asked her why? And she didn't know specifically why.

To me, Portland is just a small plain boring city. I myself prefer metro Seattle over Portland any day.

It's not just her. I have heard others here in WA state that Oregon is more liberal (depending on which part of the state though), Portland is more artsy and quaint (boring to me) and a much cleaner area to live in. Hmmm

Other than no sales tax, I don't see the hype about Portland or the rural parts of Oregon.

[Thom52]

Most of the old time mellow Washingtonians have moved to Oregon and the New Washingtonians now love the crowded urban scene that it has become.

Funny that when I moved to the Seattle area in 1985, Seattle area was considered Liberal and Portland area was considered Conservative.

Life is change.

[StealthRabbit]

Washington State and Oregon locals / vibes?

As a 30+ yr border dweller and schooling / working / teaching / advising businesses on each side..(daily) I feel there is a HUGE difference between the 'vibe' / personalities of OR and WA. (as well as legal / taxation / state government).

Oregon is very much a 'Group Think' environment (as can be Seattle). i.e. think like us... or be damned / cursed / set apart.

in general WA allows free conversation and occasional dispute.

in general OR expects your complete loyalty to state causes and issues.

from a city perspective...
basically... Seattle is coffee drinkers
Portland is very laid back beer brewers.

Amazon (driven / precise / execute) vs, Powell Books (sit in a corner a read a vintage book, all day / all night if you wish)

Each location is +/-, but they are very different! For many, that difference will not matter. For some... it is critical (to business / investments / politics / progress)

That said... living 20 min from all that Portland offers is not too bad (20+ colleges / and 1,000 food trucks + largest inner city forest / natural park in USA / plenty of resources (parts and supplies)) Their GREAT airport (PDX) for fast and frequent escapes!

[j_k_k]

The biggest difference is western vs. eastern and urban vs. rural, not Oregon vs. Washington. Both states have somewhat similar divides in all those areas.

[leastprime]

Stealth008rabbit is rarely "home" .
No income tax in Washington. It's also drier north of Oly because of the Olympics vs Valley Oregon .
Portland is weather greatly affected to the extremes because it lies at the western edge of the Gorge.
Stealth, are you home or elsewhere?

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by leastprime

Stealth008rabbit is rarely "home" .
No income tax in Washington. It's also drier north of Oly because of the Olympics vs Valley Oregon .
Portland is weather greatly affected to the extremes because it lies at the western edge of the Gorge.
Stealth, are you home or elsewhere?

Where is "HOME"?

I will be changing my USA Income Tax Free Domicile to SD, as soon as I am totally done with earning statements / W2's (off and on at the moment). Need Healthcare for ill spouse. International will be the likely spot for a more permanent "HOME".

which... Healthcare (costs) will be VERY different WA and OR, as well as Estate law / taxation is quite different. + Community Property State in WA, which OR is NOT! +/-

[Seacove]

IMO there are Oregon people and Washington people. When we were first traveling through, we were talking about moving to Portland but were disappointed when we got there. We drove further north to see the USS Missouri and instantly fell in love with the area. The decision was made in a matter of hours. Seattle is definitely more corporate but that is an environment I understand. Oregon certainly has its devotees and I take nothing from them. I want Oregon to be a very successful Washington alternative.

[j_k_k]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Oregon is very much a 'Group Think' environment (as can be Seattle). i.e. think like us... or be damned / cursed / set apart.

in general WA allows free conversation and occasional dispute.

in general OR expects your complete loyalty to state causes and issues.

Now, Stealth, I realize you've lived along the border of the two states just about as long as I have, so I take your perspective as educated and experienced. That said--and since you have expressed this a number of times--I'd like to hear you amplify this, because I myself do not find this distinction so clear. Why do you say this? Can you offer some examples? I lived in Seattle for quite some years, and from a standpoint of tolerance for differing views, I found it about the same as I find Portland today. I lived in eastern Washington for about the same length of time, and I found it more of a mind-one's-own-business place where there wasn't a lot of squashing of dissent, but I never found much of that in my many travels across and in eastern Oregon (including seven years across from The Dalles, where we shopped there and had numerous other activities in what is at least charitably eastern OR).

I'm open to being convinced, but from where I stand, Portland doesn't exactly seem to be the capital of the Thought Police. What's more, my wife works in a field that services academia, which one might imagine the epicenter of groupthink. And it can be, often is (much as was UW when I attended), but she often dissents, and when she stands by her dissent it doesn't seem to make her a pariah. Not even among students, who fight over the right to embrace the newest speech policing trends with the greatest possible zeal. What's more, out here in the Beav, I can reliably expect to see SUVs and trucks and such covered with stickers proclaiming the virtues of God, guns, and Murrica, and hating the other political faction in graphic terms. Polls say that's a decided minority viewpoint around here. If OR were that oppressive, wouldn't those people be expecting their cars keyed, or valve stems sliced off? Everyone has to go into the grocery store sometime.

Let's take another area: college football. Now admittedly, this is Portland and not Eugene, and CFB is not that big here (PSU could win a I-AA title and probably no one here would notice), but when I came here I did expect that purple gear would get me some static. So far, it hasn't. The only thing it has gotten me is fellow Dawg faithful nodding or even striking up conversations. I'd probably even be safe with a purple W on my truck. And I live three miles from UO's parent company. I drive by it often enough I've almost ceased to notice it (small mercies).

The biggest distinction I see so far is that OR's state government arms are much, much more fascist than WA's. It's not even close. Control here is tight that way. But that's a style of government behavior, not a whole-environment thing. You might reasonably argue that Oregonians' tolerating this is evidence of a greater sympathy for authoritarianism (although the recent protests might make one question that). Fair enough, as far as it goes. But can you give me specific reasons why you see the cultural difference so sharply?

[Angry-Koala]

"Is there a little difference between Washington State and Oregon locals / vibes?"

Not really. As j_k_k says, the bigger difference is between the eastern and western sides of the states. Also between city folk versus country folk.

[MarciaMarshaMarcia]

I can only speak for the rural area of Western Washington, which is where I live. I've experienced a lot of unfriendliness, passive-aggressivity & open hostility from rural Washington "locals", including their driving habits, that I haven't experienced in rural Oregon.

I could be biased, as much of my family once lived in Marion, Clackamas & Multnomah Counties in Oregon...but I doubt it.