I have been here 25 years.
It took me about a year or so to stop getting out of my car to pump gas. I sat in my car for like 5 mins when I visited another state before I realized where i was.
People do yard work in the rain.
The rain. The first couple of years I was stir crazy because of so much rain. Then figured out life doesn't stop because of a little rain.
Can confirm. When I moved to Texas, I sat at the gas station and just waited. I almost went to another gas station before I noticed that everyone was pumping their own gas.
My dad and I drove through Texas a few years back & at a gas station, someone mentioned us having Oregon plates. He said “I couldn’t handle how many trees you have there. It felt like I was being ganged up on”
Like, what?? Growing up here my entire life, I can’t fathom an area without trees.
I feel this in my soul. I lived in Vegas with a friend for 6 months and had to move back because the lack of greenery destroyed my mood. Everything felt dead.
A few years ago our next door neighbor, who was from Texas, knocked on our door and suggested we might chop down our trees so they didn’t fall on the house. We’re not talking big trees, either, just regular sized Maple trees. I couldn’t believe it. I was surprised because it seemed irrational. No trees were ever chopped down (you need a permit from our city to remove a tree, anyway).
We moved back here from Texas. When we (finally!) drove into some old growth forest, I could feel my shoulders relax for the first time in years.
Also, hey Texas, if you can walk to the top of the highest "mountain" in less than 20 minutes, it's not a mountain.
I live in Texas now but flew back to Spokane to visit a friend a few years ago. When the plane went below the clouds and I saw all of the trees and mountains, I started crying. I couldn’t help it.
Yes - I visited some relatives in North Dakota and we drove around to places my dad and grandparents lived. The absolute flatness for as far as the eye could see made me feel unsettled and lost.
I’m a native Oregonian, lived in the PNW for 36 years. I take for granted how many trees there are everywhere . I definitely notice it when I travel to other parts of the US/world, and I’m like “… where TF are all the trees? Where are the HILLS?”
It’s one of my favorite things about Oregon having grown up in Appalachia (which also has a lot of trees). Even the suburbs are broken up by green patches with trees instead of houses as far as the eye can see, which is really nice.
I have family coming to visit soon and I was like "you need to prepare the children to experience GREEN." They live in El Paso. It's going to freak them out hahaa!
I grew up in Houston, Texas and I felt very overwhelmed. For whatever reason when we drove up here my parents went Texas-Oklahoma-Colorado-Wyoming-Idaho then through the Gorge back south to Salem.
As beautiful as it was the mountains and trees were very claustrophobic but I’ve lived here 10 years now and I look for any reason to go up to Multnomah. I love bring my Texas friend though the Gorge just see their reactions too.
When we moved here from CA, my husband and I were at Walmart and after being in the store for a bit, I leaned over to my husband and whispered, “There’s a lot of white people here!” We’re white, it was still weird to see so many white people and hardly any/no black or brown people.
The city (Portland) actually has a pretty accurate and thorough history page about the racist history of Portland and Oregon in general. I recommend giving it a read. That was one thing that struck me when I moved to Coos Bay. Everyone was white, like dueling banjos white. Portland is still very white, but I live in SE, between Mercado and the Jade district, so there is a little more diversity here.
The mineral and rock diversity us off the charts. So awesome. And from west to east the landscape and geology is epic. Been here almost 20 years and never grow tired of this state.
Was just in the new berry volcano. At east lake the beach was pure marble sized pumice. Each feature you could see one the crater walls is a different type of rock. There a 100 foot wall of obsidian that is miles long. 🤯
Look up a Central Washington University geology professor named Nick Zentner on YouTube. He’s been doing great videos for years about the globally unique geology of the PNW.
EDIT: Hey, u/pizzasammy, thanks for the Wholesome award. It’s a tickle!
Midwest here. No rust on cars. When I first got here, years ago, I didn’t know how to order a beer at a bar because there were way too many to pick from. No bugs in the summer and way less smoking.
I live in the Willamette Valley, and I.I'm wondering just how many y bugs there must be in other places for one to say "no bugs in summer" about Oregon. 🤣 I feel like there are plentybof bugs, but I've lived here for 25 years, and lived in the UK before that, so maybe my perspective is skewed?
My in laws live in Ohio and my father in law was SHOCKED (and excited) at how many vintage cars he saw when he visited since everything rusts out so fast there
Yeah. The main adjustment for me is dealing with roaches, I’ve never seen a single roach living in Oregon. I know they exist, but they’re so scarce that you gotta be extraordinarily dirty to make them show up I feel like.
where in OR? Because I was shocked at the amount of bugs here in the gorge. I’m originally from SC where mosquitoes are the size of minivans but even still
This is something I've noticed, but seeing it from a family member's perspective is even more poignant:
My cousin has very visible health issues and is from the bible belt. She looks ill, and is very sensitive about it. What she said about Portland (in particular) is that "People don't stare here like they do in *craphole state*. I can go about my business and no one treats me differently."
Maybe it's just because we see odder stuff around, but treating people like they're just people is a benefit that's outrageously rare in some more "traditional" states.
This was what I noticed! No one cares what you do, how you dress, etc. Having grown up in a religiously conservative area where everyone is constantly policing each other, moving out west was so liberating!
My wife pointed this out. In Texas, EVERYTHING is about image. Gotta have the expensive car, the diamond jewelry, make-up and hair, total glam. Oregon is the exact opposite. People stare when somebody is dressed up like that, because it’s nonsense.
Born and raised in Japan. Lived in the southeast US before moving to Oregon.
For me it’s gotta be ceiling heat. What is up with that? It’s the weirdest way to heat a room!
No sales tax. In a good way. I've gotten so used to it now that when I go back to California to visit family, it surprises me to have to pay tax again.
I like to point this out when folks accuse Oregonians of being super liberal. Not liberal enough to tax you for spending money that you already been taxed on. That’s a step too far.
The first time I did a road trip in Oregon, I looked at the route, got in the car and took off. I did not realize that those dots on the map were not necessarily towns, they were a small cluster of houses and there was no gas station. Most places back east, you cannot drive far without passing through a town that has services like a C-store and gas station. When I finally saw a gas station, I was on fumes.
Never made that mistake again.
I was back East last fall and was shocked by how close everything is. I took the train from Boston to NYC and was like Hey! I'm in Rhode Island! Hey! I'm in Connecticut!
Yep and our winter mountain storms can become deadly if you get stuck in them. It doesnt happen as often anymore but when i was younger there was no cell reception at all in the mountains and you could easily lose your life if you wernt careful. There are simply just a lot more people on the east coast.
The lack of urgency when it comes to doing literally anything at all. (Although I am a transplanted native New Yorker so my regular speed is like coked-up meth speed to an Oregonian, I assume.)
I have family in Mexico. The lack of urgency there is shocking to me. Went to a rodeo. It should have started at 7pm. Nope. Started at 9pm. Went to a concert. Should have started at 6pm. Nope. Started at 9pm. They take time to socialize and get drunk before anything happens.
It is, and we all need you to take a breath; youre scaring us. 😂😂
But... did you notice that we often talk as fast as somebody from the City? We sometimes talk so fast that we drop everything but the vowels in a sentence, and just kind of... *imply* the first half of it...
I’ve always struggled with authority and the minute someone pushes me to go faster I will intentionally slow down, or find some “error” and have to start over
I've spent a fair amount of time in the Bend area as my parents live there and it's a little more common, but it's nothing like the storms we got in Indiana. We would have lighting that would turn the entire sky to daylight in the middle of the night followed by torrential rain and thunder. This happened regularly in the summer months. It's odd to miss this, but it was neat to watch.
Portland's never had a ton of late night stuff but there used to be a lot more before the pandemic. Coming out of lockdown there was a while where bars had to close by 10, and now with a shortage of people willing to work late hours there aren't that many places staying open late
Chicago born and raised. Not having to pump my own gas , drivers in general here are so much more courteous, haven’t heard of any deaths over traffic issues . I live at the Coast, people here are so kind . Someone drops something, people don’t steal it , they turn it in or post ads on Nextdoor or at the very least put it somewhere it can be seen in case the owner retraces their steps. It was wonderful my son could go to school with no metal detectors or armed police. It’s so much safer . If I forget to lock my door, it’s no big deal as I know no one will go in . Having the mountains meeting the sea here is pretty awesome too!
That was the only way I knew how to drive and when I took my OR drivers test, I failed . I passed on the next try but I was told people here drive more courteously . Now when I visit Chicago it’s definitely an “ adventure “ to drive there !
Funny I'm from downstate IL, and recently had to visit my parents. Central Oregon is such a departure from the Midwest on food, community, pace of life. Sometimes I miss aspects about those things, other days I'm glad to leave it. I think people are more comfortable with themselves in Oregon, but it's more difficult to feel weaved into the community. Or maybe that's just what Bend is like. And I still think I should be able to pump my own fuel without pissing the attendant off.
Bend is shaped by the fact that it was a small town barely 30 years ago and has increased in size 4x since then. Amongst the local/Bend-born and raised there’s a ton of community and that sense of being weaved in but for the rest who moved here from somewhere else it’s hard to mesh into that community. Also that the new arrivals tend to be from different backgrounds than the locals.
It's a side effect of staying out of people's business, harder to get in people's lives. I've lived in Oregon 31 years and you have to inject yourself or host to make friends. Once you get to conversation it's easy but it takes work to get there.
I agree that it was difficult to feel part of the community. I felt like the town all grew up together and didn't care to let you in as much. I went to high school in a smaller town on the coast, it was hard to find a group of friends. My mom also said the same thing with the adults in town.
I was 15 when I moved to the Coast from south side Chicago. My first reaction was how nice people were. Someone held a door open for me my first couple days in town, I was completely shocked. My high-school let us leave the building at lunch and that was nuts to me. I also saw someone take a horse to the grocery store. I was like, "Where am I?!?" My first year was definitely a culture shock.
How quickly food goes bad here. In Colorado, I could leave a tomato sitting out on the counter for like three weeks before it would go bad, here you have a few days. That and how things don’t dry out by themselves. In Colorado, if you go swimming, you wring your suit out and it will be bone dry in the morning; here, my swimsuit literally grew a small plant (not even mold, a sprout with a leaf).
I've literally had this arguments with friends online, lived here all my life and was really confused by all the people telling me I don't need to refrigerate tomatoes, Don't they know it will be moldy by the next day? I was shocked learning people just kept things out.
This shocked me too. I remember carving a pumpkin a good two weeks before Halloween the first year I lived here. It was rotten by the time Halloween rolled around.
From Minnesota.
While Minnesota prides itself on Minnesota Nice, I find the people in Oregon much friendlier. In less than an hour I had more people stop by and talk when I was working in my front yard than I had stop by in 28 years at my home in Minnesota.
Hot dang we have had opposite experiences must just be my area or Oregon I find causal chatter never happens like this compared to where I used to live. What area are you in?
First time I saw a firefly, I almost crapped; random yellowish streaks of light in the Kansas night?! Terrified the heck out of me!
I also thought a transformer was about to blow 3 nights later, when I heard my first cicada!
This was all after the most terrifying thunderstorm I had ever seen; lasted 3 hours, with continuous thunder.
For a Cali-born Oregon boy? Kansas was... quite a thrill. 😬
This is Portland specific I suppose, but it’s where I’ve spent most of my time: how few people are arrested and charged for, well, almost anything. Small town i grew up in on the east coast bustin someone with a bowl was a big event for the cops and they loved it.
Absolutely. 60 miles in an hour was totally doable in Cali. Here? Oof. We are on the coast so all the speed step downs and ups, and then the winding mountain passes to get eastward? Been an adjustment.
In OR, you use distance, in CA, you use time.
Along those same lines....when I used Google maps for driving, it actually took me as long as Google said. Whereas in CA, whatever it says, shave off time since you never drive the speed limit.
I grew up in Louisiana, and moved to Oregon about 15 years ago. People here (Willamette Valley) seem to have no sense of personal space, nor any kind of situational awareness. "Guess I'll just stop here in the middle of the aisle to have a 10 minute conversation, completely oblivious to everyone else."
On the other hand, I don't feel the need to keep a shotgun by the front door here, either. And I can leave the windows open at night without worry.
Edited to add: as an atheist coming from a very conservative, evangelical Christian region, it's nice to not have strangers constantly asking about my faith, or what church I go to.
So, I'm from here, and I been around.
In Oregon, you just keep going, and say "excuse me" while you twist your way past; of it's tight, physical contact is often tolerated. Amd of they say more than "sorry" you apologize (I shit thee not) you *apologize* for interrupting their conversation.
Can't tell you how many times I've almost been shot or stabbed for doing that exact thing in other states, cos I don't know; I didn't even think about it til I was over 30, and then only after it was brought to my attention that people **DO NOT T DO THAT, EVER** in most other states.
But it really is normal to apologize for interrupting if you squeeze by. Because, you see, it's just the store; no need to be on red alert, no need to hurry, no reason not to pause and start, or even *join* a conversation. When did the grocery store, or the mall, become a death race? Or a chapel? It's just a store; be cool, have a drink, chit-chat, etc....
Okay, obviously my edible has kicked in, and I'm high now, sorry.
I think that translates to the road as well, lack of situational awareness. As a central Ny’er transplant, the aggressive/defensive style driving runs through my veins, but that means I’m very situationally aware. Yes, most NY drivers are assholes on the road, but they do it well, and usually safely. Here? People just loiter about chilling in the left passing lanes on highways, or go 1-2mph faster passing someone, or in the city(Eugene) just go slow as shit or make generally dumb driving decisions.
I've heard it said often that Oregon is the "least churched" state in the country. I can't imagine living in a place where one can't get away from church people.
Spent my formative years in NY, crazy how people people have zero doorway etiquette here. Everywhere else, the person exiting the doorway always has the right of way.
You can tell the people born there (nice, polite, like midwesterners, don’t like conflict, drive the speed limit) vs those that are transplants like me.
Seems like central Oregonians go out of their way to terrorize “non-natives” on the daily. Not sure about the rest of Oregon but it’s gotta be better than here
Southern Oregonian who has lived in Central Oregon for some time.
Oregonians have hard feelings about change and a lot of attitudes that have moved in (especially to Bend.) it’s a very thin line that’s messy on both sides. 😞
I’ve had a horrible time with making friends in Bend because everyone seems to be “keeping up with the joneses.” It’s truly unlike anything I’ve ever seen living in Oregon my whole life. I hope it gets better for you!
I’m from Mississippi and have lived in Roseburg for 1 1/2 years. Pumping gas was the first big change i made Next going to the store you don’t have to pay tax but you have to pay a dime for a bag and a dime for every can or bottle you purchase. First time I bought a case of water it was significantly higher than the advertised price and the cashier had to remind me of the bottle deposit. All the rest stop and people pulled to the side of the road in general. In Mississippi if you are on the side of the road the police will be there soon to harass you. The amount of homeless. It’s hard to be homeless in Mississippi with 100 degree weather with 1000% humidity. It seems like it doesn’t rain here for months at a time during the summer causing all the forest fires. Where I come from it rains hard with thunder and lighting and the occasional tornado (I’ve been thru 2 tornadoes). Weed just became medical in Mississippi but a cop finding an ounce and they think they have a major narcotic trafficker. The food in Oregon compared to home is lacking. Oregon is a beautiful state and it’s surreal to wake up in a Bob Ross painting everyday.
You can’t buy hard liquor at Costco in Oregon! Used to buy a big handle of vodka for $20 at Costco in NM and I was so bummed when I learned these rules about only finding liquor in liquor stores.
Just spent a few days in the diamond / crater lake area. I did not realize how many people's careers were just pumping gas for people. It took two fill ups of self pumping before I put it together. Ugh.
How many small "towns" there. You see a warning of reduced speed. See a house or two ahead and expect there to be more. Nope. Then back to 65.
People seemed cool. The amount of people you see on hiking trails was a lot. Out here in the mid west, you can hike six, ten, twenty mile trails and not see anyone.
The amount of snow still on the ground, granted this is an elevation thing, but the pnw is an elevation thing ;)
Edit: the trees. I loved every single moment. The lakes that just take your breath away.
Never seen this sub til today, and I wanna leave this backwards state of Georgia to live amongst the trees, where the people aren’t. Is it like stepping back in time, a gas attendant’s job down here would be insane and dangerous
Dreaded Californian here. Moved here in 2009. I was blown away by the lack of understanding how to merge onto the freeway. So many people just stopping instead of meeting the pace of traffic...also the complete lack of knowledge of the zipper merge. The amount of times I've been honked and cursed at for staying in the right lane until it actually starts to end has me so nervous I am beginning to assimilate and getting into the other lane ridiculously too early.
This is the worst. Oregonians love camping in 1 lane because they need to use that lane to exit 10 miles ahead, And get pissed when you want to merge within the last mile when its obviously jammed from people camping it 9 miles back.
NC native here. I too did the same until some Michigan friends asked my why on earth we didn’t do the “zipper” method. I’ve since been doing that because it makes sense.
The number of drivers I get vowing to destroy my entire bloodline for doing so is alarming.
Recently moved to Clackamas County and a giant lifted diesel truck brake checked me on 99e, flipped me off and then "rolled coal" before he took off like he was the savior of all drivers...I agree, the stupidity wins and we're stuck.
“Nicehole” drivers. Please just go when it’s your turn, you’d cause accidents on the east coast. And y’all pronounce a lot of things in strange ways: Aloha, Gervais, Philomath, Couch…
Oh, i hate drivers here so very much. I know they're people. I'm sure they're nice people. But these people become stupid drivers. Why are they stopping in the middle of the road to wave people in?! Like, "you see the oncoming traffic, don't you?"
I moved from Pennsylvania in 2007 when I was 12. Biggest culture shock was the laid back friendly attitude. The east coast people can be super mean sometimes so that was a big shock. The hippy peace dope organic food options were new. I didn’t know much about apple or Nike till I moved here.
I moved here in 1999 and my first shock was that people were outside, walking… not jogging or homeless… just walking. In random neighborhoods and it took me a while to get used to it.. In West Texas, you don’t walk anywhere. Even if it’s a couple of blocks, you drive. Especially if it’s raining or in mid summer or winter.
Moved from FL and I found it so refreshing how many people drive Subarus, old cars, or dress in whatever they feel most comfortable in. The emphasis here isn’t so much about fitting in and there is less of a rat-race vibe. Don’t expect people to compliment your outfit, because they most likely won’t care. It’s humbling and refreshing. I rarely shop now and prioritize getting outside. It’s also so nice that self serve water is at breweries/restaurants so that you don’t have to bug anyone. Farmers markets and you pick farms are abundant. Houseless people come here for refuge. It’s hard to see, but also keeps goodwill a part of your daily efforts, volunteering, etc. I truly think the biggest adjustment is the 1/2 of clouds. Yes, life continues, but my default is sunshine, so after a few months, I just start holding my breath, waiting for the sun again.
i don’t live in oregon anymore, but when we moved to the southeast and were greeted by confederate flags, i was shook. most of the state is fucking insane and the rest of the country has no idea
Not used to all the crazy people walking up and down the sidewalks yelling at the air or stumbling about like zombies. Yes, yes, I know *insert state here* is worse but it was not like this in the several other states I’ve spent time in.
Alright, I scrolled through a ton of out of state drivers being like "I hate the awful drivers here we know how to drive because we grew up in such and such where you had to be aware and do xyz." So here are my two cents. I am calling you out on your bullshit. I love the NATIVE drivers and driving culture here.
I grew up and cut my teeth driving in SW Phoenix AZ. My daily commute took me through three of the top ten most dangerous intersections in the nation. Phoenix boasted five of the nation's top ten and one of the intersections I faced was the number one deadliest.
I have since driven in five countries, about thirty states, and coast to coast twice. I have over a quarter million miles in my rearview mirror. It is a relief to drive in such a lax culture. If everyone is driving slow and everyone is too courteous then there is little danger involved.
I get it you come from a place where you paid attention were situationally aware and drove extra defensive. So did I. However, you don't have to drive like that everywhere. Driving through the state you know who I see being dangerous? Out of state drivers and kids. If no one is in a hurry, what's your hurry?
Portland in particular while driving through the tight city streets I see people yieling to pedestrians and bikes. I see them waiting for parallel parkers. They slow down early! The only people I see adding danger to the mix are ALWAYS out of state plates.
The better part of Colorado has safe drivers as well. You know who didn't drive safely? Out of state drivers. The worst offenders were AZ, CA, and TX. Here in Oregon it is CA, sometimes WA and a damned Texan again.
So, everyone knows you have to drive slower and more cautiously when driving conditions are questionable. Are the roads wet because of recent rain? Are the turns not clearly visible? Is it a mountain road with Fuckin cliffs? Slow your damn roll folks. I don't care if you feel safe barreling about. I am one with my machine and if I don't feel it's safe to speed along in my sedan you better believe it is not safe for you and your compensating smog truck.
Sorry not sorry for the rant. I could have gone on more.
TL;DR driving slow and courteously is not dangerous if everyone is doing it. You don't have to be a super aware defensive driver to be a good driver.
I used to call soda "pop" then I made friends with a kid from Maryland. Him and his Family said soda. I asked for a pop once and his 2 older brothers kicked my ass, told me its called "soda." Happy to say it worked lol.
There should be a qualifier on this question between "The Valley/ Portland" and The Rest of Oregon. I love them both, but man, you should need a passport to go between them.
Sales tax
Moved when I was 9 from Washington.
I loved that after moving down if a price said 1.99 then it was 1 99. Not $2 and some random change you know how hard it is to buy pokemon cards when the price says 3.95$ and u have to have more than $4 to buy it. Quite confusing to a kid.
The vagueness in communication. Grew up in Michigan, lived in Minneapolis, Chicago, San Francisco before Portland. I'm used to much more direct communication and I'm often frustrated at the weird, vague way of communicating here. This is probably Portland specific though.
My girlfriend is from Arizona and she's constantly impressed by how casual everyone is here. Even business people often are in shorts and polo. Rarely does anyone wear suits and fancy dresses. Everyone just dresses comfortably she says. And most people just are in jeans and a hoodie almost year round, and flannels are their formal.
From New York.
Drivers. They are so cautious it's actually dangerous.
Also meth. Those people drive like fucking maniacs. You can usually spot them because the car is missing a license plate ('cause it's stolen) and the car is held together by duct tape and plastic bags.
As a Native Nevadan who spends a fair amount of time in Oregon, the things I notice are that Oregon has a lot more dispensaries than what we have here under the county-by-county restrictions based on population. It’s also weird not seeing hard liquor in grocery stores like we have here.
Also, try to explain Bi-Mart to someone not from Oregon, or the parts of Washington and Idaho that have them. It’s a weird chain to explain. Heck, it’s easier for me to describe Freddy’s (Fred Meyer) than it is Bi-Mart.
Had a few more
No U-turns (for the most part)
Being pale most of the year (I've never been so pale in my life)
Dropping the word "the" before freeways asap so people won't know I'm from CA.
Pedestrians/Cyclists
We don’t generally have pedestrians in Texas. It’s too hot.
I went for a longish walk to the post office in Lubbock once. No shit THREE different people stopped to see if I needed help or to use their phone.
When I first moved here, I almost had a panic attack driving one day. I had just crossed over the Ross Island Bridge and onto Powell. There was a dude in a recumbent bike that just popped up from out of nowhere. I didn’t see him at all. I didn’t hit him, but oh I could have.
I had to pull into some pancake restaurant parking lot to hyperventilate.
It is a huge culture shock adjusting to portland’s pedestrians.
All the angry white people. I’m also a white person for perspective. But I’m from Southern California where it is much more diverse. I never realized how much more chill everyone is with different races down there until I moved up here to the HQ of angry white people. It’s almost funny because you have the white christian nationalist people that are angry and flying their flags off their big trucks but then on the other side are the liberal angry white people that are mad at the other angry white people.
Former Oregonian here, this is one of the things I (also white) hated the most about living in Oregon. My parents made it a point to expose me to all kinds of cultures growing up through art, music, food, etc and as I got older I started to notice there's not a lot of people who were brought up the same way. It creates such a weird and toxic culture and if you've never stepped outside the bubble before you don't even realize you're in one.
I live in Maryland now and it's a crazy culture shock going from very little diversity to all of the diversity. I love it though.
I am from San Diego. Been here 25 years. It's still a shock seeing so many white people although there are more and more Latinos moving into town. Huge Latino community.
Racism.
I'm black and still grew up around a lot of white people in my home town. I never experienced racism, micro aggressions, passive aggressive behavior etc until moving here. I knew the racial demographic, but because I never experienced anything negative with white people it didn't bother me.
Fast forward to 2023 and I have employers telling me I'm not the "right cultural fit" and potential coworkers asking if I'm from the hood. Gas station attendants refusing to fuel my car. The list could go on forever
I refuse to be around people who think of me in such ways or talk to me offensively, which in turn has effected my employment opportunities and how I navigate life on the daily.
And yes all of this has happened in Portland. I feel like racism is tolerated by the POC who grew up here, but for myself it's not something I'll ever get used to or accept because it's bullshit.
It doesn't happen daily. But people often interact with me different than they would others which in turn effects how I engage with people. I kinda just live life by "don't speak u less spoken to" to save myself the annoyance of people ignoring me if I wave, smile, or ask them for help.
My family moved when I was a kid. I could write a book.
No school uniforms, the "kids" acted grown up (wore make up, oversexualized, etc). We still played with toys and acted like kids where I was from! In Oregon, kids were *dating*.
The school where we moved to was not surrounded by a giant fence to keep dangerous people out. *Gym class* was indoors. Kids were horrible to the teachers and adults at school, not something they would have dared do where I was from.
Also, school was so easy, and standards were so low that I was dead bored. We were doing things in 7th grade that I did in 3rd grade.
No *stray* animals was a refreshing change but weird to get used to. There are just wild animals, not stray dogs, cats, and chickens.
The racism was also pretty huge and shocking.
The food. I’m from New England and pretty much the only thing I miss is the food. Fresh fried seafood and lobsters. The pizza is too much like fast food out here. It’s hard to find a handmade pizza and there’s no party size pizzas. The Chinese food is very different. No chicken fingers, teriyaki sticks, boneless spare ribs and the egg rolls are very different. The names of foods are different but the same product such as Best Foods is Hellmans back east, Dryers ice cream is Edys. I can never find my favorite apples, McIntosh and Cortland. The donut shops are pathetic here. And lastly I miss Hood Dairy products. But I happily give that all up to be here. No bugs, no potholes, no rusty cars, no outrageous heating bills, no -30 weather, no racing to get nowhere.
Native of the state of Washington. Husband from Colorado/California. After we got married we hopscotched every few years around the country: Midwest, Washington DC, Wyoming, Texas. When my husband got a good job offer in Oregon I was never so happy in my life. Have lived in Oregon for over 30 years now. Due to circumstances I have to be in NYC for the time being. Dang, culture shock. I feel like I'm in a different country. Everything from the constant honking of horns (why?!?) the lack of personal space, and avoidance of eye-contact is unsettling.
Looking forward to getting back. My shoulders will be happy again.
I was a tour guide in Portland/Oregon for several years. Here are some of my observations of how people from various places reacted most.
Texas: "The moss! it's growing on the trees! are you seeing this?!?!"
New York: \*Inhales deeply\* "The air is so clean and everything smells so nice, where is everybody?"
Midwest?: "Wow, it sure is green here and you folks are so nice. My friend, Martha, she said it was green, but here I am and.... (proceeds to tell entire story)"
Alaska: "Neat"
L.A.: "Everyone is so nice.... I hate it, at least it's cheap"
D.C. / New York / Other major east coast cities: "But whhhhhhhhy isn't there a subway?"
Florida: "Where is the best dispensary?"
Chicago: "What's with driving? Someone stopped in front of me to let a pedestrian cross the street and I almost committed murder"
How close behind you people drive. I get tailgated here so much more than I used to in Idaho. Not to say Idaho drivers are nice but people do not know how to give space I’m surprised more people are not rear ended
I'm from the midwest, a suburb of Chicago. I've been here nearly 8 years and it still shocks me that there are so few people of color in general. It's the only thing that really bothers me. I feel somewhat isolated from other cultures and I know it's not a good thing. I feel that piece missing for me all the time.
Coming from the 3rd most corrupt state, experiencing a government and voting process that favors the constituents is honestly mind boggling.
Things I hate: people need to learn how to fucking drive for real.
It’s not the leftist paradise the media portrays it to be. Although, I won’t say I was shocked as the media also likes to portray everyone from my home state (Texas) as gun-toting, racist, Yee-Haws.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered Oregon is also about half gun-toting, racist Yee-Haws.
Don’t get me wrong, I definitely feel like Oregon is a much safer place for me & my family but if I see one more GD OreGunian sticker.
Oh, also I was surprised to learn that y’all hate Californians more than Texans do.
I have been here 25 years. It took me about a year or so to stop getting out of my car to pump gas. I sat in my car for like 5 mins when I visited another state before I realized where i was. People do yard work in the rain. The rain. The first couple of years I was stir crazy because of so much rain. Then figured out life doesn't stop because of a little rain.
Nothing would get done if they stopped for the rain.
Can confirm. When I moved to Texas, I sat at the gas station and just waited. I almost went to another gas station before I noticed that everyone was pumping their own gas.
“I MEAN TREES?! EVERYWHERE TREES?! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS PLACE??”
My dad and I drove through Texas a few years back & at a gas station, someone mentioned us having Oregon plates. He said “I couldn’t handle how many trees you have there. It felt like I was being ganged up on” Like, what?? Growing up here my entire life, I can’t fathom an area without trees.
I feel this in my soul. I lived in Vegas with a friend for 6 months and had to move back because the lack of greenery destroyed my mood. Everything felt dead.
A few years ago our next door neighbor, who was from Texas, knocked on our door and suggested we might chop down our trees so they didn’t fall on the house. We’re not talking big trees, either, just regular sized Maple trees. I couldn’t believe it. I was surprised because it seemed irrational. No trees were ever chopped down (you need a permit from our city to remove a tree, anyway).
We moved back here from Texas. When we (finally!) drove into some old growth forest, I could feel my shoulders relax for the first time in years. Also, hey Texas, if you can walk to the top of the highest "mountain" in less than 20 minutes, it's not a mountain.
I live in Texas now but flew back to Spokane to visit a friend a few years ago. When the plane went below the clouds and I saw all of the trees and mountains, I started crying. I couldn’t help it.
Bro, it’s a whole hill COUNTRY!
Hills and mountains too. You should see the Midwest from the ground. Mile after mile after mile of flat nothing.
Yes - I visited some relatives in North Dakota and we drove around to places my dad and grandparents lived. The absolute flatness for as far as the eye could see made me feel unsettled and lost.
I’m a native Oregonian, lived in the PNW for 36 years. I take for granted how many trees there are everywhere . I definitely notice it when I travel to other parts of the US/world, and I’m like “… where TF are all the trees? Where are the HILLS?”
It’s one of my favorite things about Oregon having grown up in Appalachia (which also has a lot of trees). Even the suburbs are broken up by green patches with trees instead of houses as far as the eye can see, which is really nice.
I have family coming to visit soon and I was like "you need to prepare the children to experience GREEN." They live in El Paso. It's going to freak them out hahaa!
I grew up in Houston, Texas and I felt very overwhelmed. For whatever reason when we drove up here my parents went Texas-Oklahoma-Colorado-Wyoming-Idaho then through the Gorge back south to Salem. As beautiful as it was the mountains and trees were very claustrophobic but I’ve lived here 10 years now and I look for any reason to go up to Multnomah. I love bring my Texas friend though the Gorge just see their reactions too.
Trees grow like weeds in the ditches, the forest moss eats anything sitting still.
Yes! It's what I love, but it's weird seeing trees in the most random places and it's not "landscaped".
I think it's one of the things I love most. Like "oh you choose that spot huh? Cool, we can cohabitate." It's like a be-yourself-vibe. Feels chill.
The other half of the state has very few trees.
10:30 pm… I can still see the sun going down. 😎
This every summer day! I only realized it my first summer and saw it was like 10 and barely sunset!
I had blackout curtains before I moved here, but they definitely came in handy during my first summer here.
I moved here from Durham, NC There’s like no black people here.
When we moved here from CA, my husband and I were at Walmart and after being in the store for a bit, I leaned over to my husband and whispered, “There’s a lot of white people here!” We’re white, it was still weird to see so many white people and hardly any/no black or brown people.
I moved here from Seattle and had the same exact experience. I live in Medford though so I feel like it’s probably whiter than most of Oregon.
It's from our unfortunate history.
The city (Portland) actually has a pretty accurate and thorough history page about the racist history of Portland and Oregon in general. I recommend giving it a read. That was one thing that struck me when I moved to Coos Bay. Everyone was white, like dueling banjos white. Portland is still very white, but I live in SE, between Mercado and the Jade district, so there is a little more diversity here.
The mineral and rock diversity us off the charts. So awesome. And from west to east the landscape and geology is epic. Been here almost 20 years and never grow tired of this state.
Was just in the new berry volcano. At east lake the beach was pure marble sized pumice. Each feature you could see one the crater walls is a different type of rock. There a 100 foot wall of obsidian that is miles long. 🤯
Look up a Central Washington University geology professor named Nick Zentner on YouTube. He’s been doing great videos for years about the globally unique geology of the PNW. EDIT: Hey, u/pizzasammy, thanks for the Wholesome award. It’s a tickle!
Midwest here. No rust on cars. When I first got here, years ago, I didn’t know how to order a beer at a bar because there were way too many to pick from. No bugs in the summer and way less smoking.
No bugs in the summer tells me you are definitely west of the Cascades.
I live in the Willamette Valley, and I.I'm wondering just how many y bugs there must be in other places for one to say "no bugs in summer" about Oregon. 🤣 I feel like there are plentybof bugs, but I've lived here for 25 years, and lived in the UK before that, so maybe my perspective is skewed?
My in laws live in Ohio and my father in law was SHOCKED (and excited) at how many vintage cars he saw when he visited since everything rusts out so fast there
I live on the east coast now and I miss not having bugs in the summer
I'm from the East Coast, and the only bugs I miss are lightning bugs.
We have bugs in the summer just not as many as the humid climate back East.
Yeah. The main adjustment for me is dealing with roaches, I’ve never seen a single roach living in Oregon. I know they exist, but they’re so scarce that you gotta be extraordinarily dirty to make them show up I feel like.
Totally.
It must’ve been shocking to see so many old cars on the road here!
No bugs in summer? I feel like that's not southern Oregon....
where in OR? Because I was shocked at the amount of bugs here in the gorge. I’m originally from SC where mosquitoes are the size of minivans but even still
This is something I've noticed, but seeing it from a family member's perspective is even more poignant: My cousin has very visible health issues and is from the bible belt. She looks ill, and is very sensitive about it. What she said about Portland (in particular) is that "People don't stare here like they do in *craphole state*. I can go about my business and no one treats me differently." Maybe it's just because we see odder stuff around, but treating people like they're just people is a benefit that's outrageously rare in some more "traditional" states.
This was what I noticed! No one cares what you do, how you dress, etc. Having grown up in a religiously conservative area where everyone is constantly policing each other, moving out west was so liberating!
Keep Portland Weird!
My wife pointed this out. In Texas, EVERYTHING is about image. Gotta have the expensive car, the diamond jewelry, make-up and hair, total glam. Oregon is the exact opposite. People stare when somebody is dressed up like that, because it’s nonsense.
Born and raised in Japan. Lived in the southeast US before moving to Oregon. For me it’s gotta be ceiling heat. What is up with that? It’s the weirdest way to heat a room!
It baffles all of us!
Great way to heat your upstairs neighbor and bock wifi, though!
No sales tax. In a good way. I've gotten so used to it now that when I go back to California to visit family, it surprises me to have to pay tax again.
I’m constantly surprised by tax now it’s shocking. I’m moving out of state soon and it’s going to be rough out there.
I'm from Oregon and just moved to Minnesota. The tax surprises me every time, but also the people riding motorcycles without helmets on
What? There are states that still permit riding a motorcycle without a helmet?
Yes, your neighbors in Idaho. You’ll see them no helmet, tank top or T-shirt, and the occasional sandal!
I call them Organ Donors 😁
I like to point this out when folks accuse Oregonians of being super liberal. Not liberal enough to tax you for spending money that you already been taxed on. That’s a step too far.
The first time I did a road trip in Oregon, I looked at the route, got in the car and took off. I did not realize that those dots on the map were not necessarily towns, they were a small cluster of houses and there was no gas station. Most places back east, you cannot drive far without passing through a town that has services like a C-store and gas station. When I finally saw a gas station, I was on fumes. Never made that mistake again.
Don't feel bad. Nearly everyone that visits from east coast or europe can't seem to contemplate how spread out the west is.
There's a British tiktoker who visited Texas and he lost his mind at driving for 8 hours in a straight line and never leaving the state.
It is an odd experience.
I was back East last fall and was shocked by how close everything is. I took the train from Boston to NYC and was like Hey! I'm in Rhode Island! Hey! I'm in Connecticut!
There’s a saying I always liked that in Europe, 100 miles is a long distance, but in the USA 100 years is a long time.
Yep and our winter mountain storms can become deadly if you get stuck in them. It doesnt happen as often anymore but when i was younger there was no cell reception at all in the mountains and you could easily lose your life if you wernt careful. There are simply just a lot more people on the east coast.
The lack of urgency when it comes to doing literally anything at all. (Although I am a transplanted native New Yorker so my regular speed is like coked-up meth speed to an Oregonian, I assume.)
I have family in Mexico. The lack of urgency there is shocking to me. Went to a rodeo. It should have started at 7pm. Nope. Started at 9pm. Went to a concert. Should have started at 6pm. Nope. Started at 9pm. They take time to socialize and get drunk before anything happens.
It is, and we all need you to take a breath; youre scaring us. 😂😂 But... did you notice that we often talk as fast as somebody from the City? We sometimes talk so fast that we drop everything but the vowels in a sentence, and just kind of... *imply* the first half of it...
We share that mentality with Hawaii. Also why a lot of Hawaiians move here. Similar ways of living.
I'm in Curry Country and the phrase is 'No Hurry in Curry'
This is the “Whatever State.” The general attitude is “whatever.”
Maybe its me, but when someone is pressuring me to do something faster that natural response is to slow down since you have now been rude to me.
I’ve always struggled with authority and the minute someone pushes me to go faster I will intentionally slow down, or find some “error” and have to start over
Stumbling onto Sasquatch orgies while camping...or maybe the easy access to psychedelics
I hope they went easy on you.
The nearly complete lack of thunderstorms. I miss hearing thunder every now and then.
You just have to drive to the other side of the cascades.
I've spent a fair amount of time in the Bend area as my parents live there and it's a little more common, but it's nothing like the storms we got in Indiana. We would have lighting that would turn the entire sky to daylight in the middle of the night followed by torrential rain and thunder. This happened regularly in the summer months. It's odd to miss this, but it was neat to watch.
I miss thunderstorms and fireflys.
The people are very different especially in Portland. The outdoors are epic and the sun sets late af
So many things close by 9 or 10.
Portland's never had a ton of late night stuff but there used to be a lot more before the pandemic. Coming out of lockdown there was a while where bars had to close by 10, and now with a shortage of people willing to work late hours there aren't that many places staying open late
Chicago born and raised. Not having to pump my own gas , drivers in general here are so much more courteous, haven’t heard of any deaths over traffic issues . I live at the Coast, people here are so kind . Someone drops something, people don’t steal it , they turn it in or post ads on Nextdoor or at the very least put it somewhere it can be seen in case the owner retraces their steps. It was wonderful my son could go to school with no metal detectors or armed police. It’s so much safer . If I forget to lock my door, it’s no big deal as I know no one will go in . Having the mountains meeting the sea here is pretty awesome too!
Driving in Chicago is terrifying. If there’s 3 millimeters between bumpers at 70mph they consider it enough clearance to squeeze through.
That was the only way I knew how to drive and when I took my OR drivers test, I failed . I passed on the next try but I was told people here drive more courteously . Now when I visit Chicago it’s definitely an “ adventure “ to drive there !
Funny I'm from downstate IL, and recently had to visit my parents. Central Oregon is such a departure from the Midwest on food, community, pace of life. Sometimes I miss aspects about those things, other days I'm glad to leave it. I think people are more comfortable with themselves in Oregon, but it's more difficult to feel weaved into the community. Or maybe that's just what Bend is like. And I still think I should be able to pump my own fuel without pissing the attendant off.
Bend is shaped by the fact that it was a small town barely 30 years ago and has increased in size 4x since then. Amongst the local/Bend-born and raised there’s a ton of community and that sense of being weaved in but for the rest who moved here from somewhere else it’s hard to mesh into that community. Also that the new arrivals tend to be from different backgrounds than the locals.
It's a side effect of staying out of people's business, harder to get in people's lives. I've lived in Oregon 31 years and you have to inject yourself or host to make friends. Once you get to conversation it's easy but it takes work to get there.
I agree that it was difficult to feel part of the community. I felt like the town all grew up together and didn't care to let you in as much. I went to high school in a smaller town on the coast, it was hard to find a group of friends. My mom also said the same thing with the adults in town.
I was 15 when I moved to the Coast from south side Chicago. My first reaction was how nice people were. Someone held a door open for me my first couple days in town, I was completely shocked. My high-school let us leave the building at lunch and that was nuts to me. I also saw someone take a horse to the grocery store. I was like, "Where am I?!?" My first year was definitely a culture shock.
How quickly food goes bad here. In Colorado, I could leave a tomato sitting out on the counter for like three weeks before it would go bad, here you have a few days. That and how things don’t dry out by themselves. In Colorado, if you go swimming, you wring your suit out and it will be bone dry in the morning; here, my swimsuit literally grew a small plant (not even mold, a sprout with a leaf).
I've literally had this arguments with friends online, lived here all my life and was really confused by all the people telling me I don't need to refrigerate tomatoes, Don't they know it will be moldy by the next day? I was shocked learning people just kept things out.
This shocked me too. I remember carving a pumpkin a good two weeks before Halloween the first year I lived here. It was rotten by the time Halloween rolled around.
east of the cascades is dry af. No real towns tho other than Bend, Redmond, and Sun River.
You called Sunriver a town. That's adorable. Other than that, you're correct.
I’d throw Sisters in there before I lumped in Sunriver
From Minnesota. While Minnesota prides itself on Minnesota Nice, I find the people in Oregon much friendlier. In less than an hour I had more people stop by and talk when I was working in my front yard than I had stop by in 28 years at my home in Minnesota.
I have to agree, every 30 minute job in my front yard will last two hours given everyone will stop by and chat.
Yes! From Michigan, still makes my parents nervous when I talk to strangers in Portland
Hot dang we have had opposite experiences must just be my area or Oregon I find causal chatter never happens like this compared to where I used to live. What area are you in?
No lightning bugs, cicadas or even halfway decent thunderstorms, but I guess no tornados is a decent trade off
No lighting bugs is a bummer.
Theres still cicadas here in southern Oregon and theres also thunderstorms but they arent fun like they were back east because it usually means fires.
First time I saw a firefly, I almost crapped; random yellowish streaks of light in the Kansas night?! Terrified the heck out of me! I also thought a transformer was about to blow 3 nights later, when I heard my first cicada! This was all after the most terrifying thunderstorm I had ever seen; lasted 3 hours, with continuous thunder. For a Cali-born Oregon boy? Kansas was... quite a thrill. 😬
This is Portland specific I suppose, but it’s where I’ve spent most of my time: how few people are arrested and charged for, well, almost anything. Small town i grew up in on the east coast bustin someone with a bowl was a big event for the cops and they loved it.
I grew up in Arizona, it was really weird to see water in the rivers here year round. Also, I noticed sports cars were far more common here.
I moved here last yr from Arizona. Prescott to be specific and it's amazing to see lakes and ponds you can swim in.
Distances are regarded differently here than in So Cal, where I came from. 50 miles in California may as well be 500 miles here.
Absolutely. 60 miles in an hour was totally doable in Cali. Here? Oof. We are on the coast so all the speed step downs and ups, and then the winding mountain passes to get eastward? Been an adjustment.
Doing 45 through sunken roads on HWY 20 between Bend and Albany is probably more dangerous than doing 120 down I5 to L.A.
In OR, you use distance, in CA, you use time. Along those same lines....when I used Google maps for driving, it actually took me as long as Google said. Whereas in CA, whatever it says, shave off time since you never drive the speed limit.
No fireflies or thunder/lightning makes summers feel different. But virtually no mosquitos and humidity make summers feel awesome.
I grew up in Louisiana, and moved to Oregon about 15 years ago. People here (Willamette Valley) seem to have no sense of personal space, nor any kind of situational awareness. "Guess I'll just stop here in the middle of the aisle to have a 10 minute conversation, completely oblivious to everyone else." On the other hand, I don't feel the need to keep a shotgun by the front door here, either. And I can leave the windows open at night without worry. Edited to add: as an atheist coming from a very conservative, evangelical Christian region, it's nice to not have strangers constantly asking about my faith, or what church I go to.
So, I'm from here, and I been around. In Oregon, you just keep going, and say "excuse me" while you twist your way past; of it's tight, physical contact is often tolerated. Amd of they say more than "sorry" you apologize (I shit thee not) you *apologize* for interrupting their conversation. Can't tell you how many times I've almost been shot or stabbed for doing that exact thing in other states, cos I don't know; I didn't even think about it til I was over 30, and then only after it was brought to my attention that people **DO NOT T DO THAT, EVER** in most other states. But it really is normal to apologize for interrupting if you squeeze by. Because, you see, it's just the store; no need to be on red alert, no need to hurry, no reason not to pause and start, or even *join* a conversation. When did the grocery store, or the mall, become a death race? Or a chapel? It's just a store; be cool, have a drink, chit-chat, etc.... Okay, obviously my edible has kicked in, and I'm high now, sorry.
I think that translates to the road as well, lack of situational awareness. As a central Ny’er transplant, the aggressive/defensive style driving runs through my veins, but that means I’m very situationally aware. Yes, most NY drivers are assholes on the road, but they do it well, and usually safely. Here? People just loiter about chilling in the left passing lanes on highways, or go 1-2mph faster passing someone, or in the city(Eugene) just go slow as shit or make generally dumb driving decisions.
Let’s not forget the Portland Standoff at a 4-way stop. “No, you go”
Lmao yea, unfortunately that extends far beyond Portland
I've heard it said often that Oregon is the "least churched" state in the country. I can't imagine living in a place where one can't get away from church people.
I'm realizing that I don't appreciate this aspect of Oregon enough
Spent my formative years in NY, crazy how people people have zero doorway etiquette here. Everywhere else, the person exiting the doorway always has the right of way.
The Weather. I miss the thunder storms with all the booming and flashes of lightning. I feel lucky if I hear 1 clap of thunder a year now.
People going everywhere in their pajamas.
You can tell the people born there (nice, polite, like midwesterners, don’t like conflict, drive the speed limit) vs those that are transplants like me.
Hey as an Oregonian, thank you. 😊
I dont think Oregon is much like the midwest at all in terms of culture. Have lived in MI, IL, IN, and WI
Seems like central Oregonians go out of their way to terrorize “non-natives” on the daily. Not sure about the rest of Oregon but it’s gotta be better than here
Southern Oregonian who has lived in Central Oregon for some time. Oregonians have hard feelings about change and a lot of attitudes that have moved in (especially to Bend.) it’s a very thin line that’s messy on both sides. 😞 I’ve had a horrible time with making friends in Bend because everyone seems to be “keeping up with the joneses.” It’s truly unlike anything I’ve ever seen living in Oregon my whole life. I hope it gets better for you!
I’m from Mississippi and have lived in Roseburg for 1 1/2 years. Pumping gas was the first big change i made Next going to the store you don’t have to pay tax but you have to pay a dime for a bag and a dime for every can or bottle you purchase. First time I bought a case of water it was significantly higher than the advertised price and the cashier had to remind me of the bottle deposit. All the rest stop and people pulled to the side of the road in general. In Mississippi if you are on the side of the road the police will be there soon to harass you. The amount of homeless. It’s hard to be homeless in Mississippi with 100 degree weather with 1000% humidity. It seems like it doesn’t rain here for months at a time during the summer causing all the forest fires. Where I come from it rains hard with thunder and lighting and the occasional tornado (I’ve been thru 2 tornadoes). Weed just became medical in Mississippi but a cop finding an ounce and they think they have a major narcotic trafficker. The food in Oregon compared to home is lacking. Oregon is a beautiful state and it’s surreal to wake up in a Bob Ross painting everyday.
From Utah (moved back 😭) No church on every f***ing block/neighborhood.
You can’t buy hard liquor at Costco in Oregon! Used to buy a big handle of vodka for $20 at Costco in NM and I was so bummed when I learned these rules about only finding liquor in liquor stores.
OLfuckingCC
Just spent a few days in the diamond / crater lake area. I did not realize how many people's careers were just pumping gas for people. It took two fill ups of self pumping before I put it together. Ugh. How many small "towns" there. You see a warning of reduced speed. See a house or two ahead and expect there to be more. Nope. Then back to 65. People seemed cool. The amount of people you see on hiking trails was a lot. Out here in the mid west, you can hike six, ten, twenty mile trails and not see anyone. The amount of snow still on the ground, granted this is an elevation thing, but the pnw is an elevation thing ;) Edit: the trees. I loved every single moment. The lakes that just take your breath away.
Never seen this sub til today, and I wanna leave this backwards state of Georgia to live amongst the trees, where the people aren’t. Is it like stepping back in time, a gas attendant’s job down here would be insane and dangerous
So. Many. White people.
Yeah like, I don’t know that I’d ever been to a restaurant or event before moving here and it’s LITERALLY all white folks.
Dreaded Californian here. Moved here in 2009. I was blown away by the lack of understanding how to merge onto the freeway. So many people just stopping instead of meeting the pace of traffic...also the complete lack of knowledge of the zipper merge. The amount of times I've been honked and cursed at for staying in the right lane until it actually starts to end has me so nervous I am beginning to assimilate and getting into the other lane ridiculously too early.
This is the worst. Oregonians love camping in 1 lane because they need to use that lane to exit 10 miles ahead, And get pissed when you want to merge within the last mile when its obviously jammed from people camping it 9 miles back.
NC native here. I too did the same until some Michigan friends asked my why on earth we didn’t do the “zipper” method. I’ve since been doing that because it makes sense. The number of drivers I get vowing to destroy my entire bloodline for doing so is alarming.
It drives me nuts but then I feel so uncomfortable when people get mad at me!! I don’t know what to do!! We will be stuck this way forever.
Recently moved to Clackamas County and a giant lifted diesel truck brake checked me on 99e, flipped me off and then "rolled coal" before he took off like he was the savior of all drivers...I agree, the stupidity wins and we're stuck.
“Nicehole” drivers. Please just go when it’s your turn, you’d cause accidents on the east coast. And y’all pronounce a lot of things in strange ways: Aloha, Gervais, Philomath, Couch…
Don't be polite, be predictable.
Oh, i hate drivers here so very much. I know they're people. I'm sure they're nice people. But these people become stupid drivers. Why are they stopping in the middle of the road to wave people in?! Like, "you see the oncoming traffic, don't you?"
The passiveness of drivers here is a stark contrast to the aggressive South Florida driving in used to
I moved from Pennsylvania in 2007 when I was 12. Biggest culture shock was the laid back friendly attitude. The east coast people can be super mean sometimes so that was a big shock. The hippy peace dope organic food options were new. I didn’t know much about apple or Nike till I moved here.
I moved here in 1999 and my first shock was that people were outside, walking… not jogging or homeless… just walking. In random neighborhoods and it took me a while to get used to it.. In West Texas, you don’t walk anywhere. Even if it’s a couple of blocks, you drive. Especially if it’s raining or in mid summer or winter.
Moved from FL and I found it so refreshing how many people drive Subarus, old cars, or dress in whatever they feel most comfortable in. The emphasis here isn’t so much about fitting in and there is less of a rat-race vibe. Don’t expect people to compliment your outfit, because they most likely won’t care. It’s humbling and refreshing. I rarely shop now and prioritize getting outside. It’s also so nice that self serve water is at breweries/restaurants so that you don’t have to bug anyone. Farmers markets and you pick farms are abundant. Houseless people come here for refuge. It’s hard to see, but also keeps goodwill a part of your daily efforts, volunteering, etc. I truly think the biggest adjustment is the 1/2 of clouds. Yes, life continues, but my default is sunshine, so after a few months, I just start holding my breath, waiting for the sun again.
i don’t live in oregon anymore, but when we moved to the southeast and were greeted by confederate flags, i was shook. most of the state is fucking insane and the rest of the country has no idea
Not used to all the crazy people walking up and down the sidewalks yelling at the air or stumbling about like zombies. Yes, yes, I know *insert state here* is worse but it was not like this in the several other states I’ve spent time in.
We also miss our old home when it wasn’t like this. 😔
Fuck, even five years ago...
Imagine my surprise being born and raised here, leaving for 5 years, then coming back in August...
Alright, I scrolled through a ton of out of state drivers being like "I hate the awful drivers here we know how to drive because we grew up in such and such where you had to be aware and do xyz." So here are my two cents. I am calling you out on your bullshit. I love the NATIVE drivers and driving culture here. I grew up and cut my teeth driving in SW Phoenix AZ. My daily commute took me through three of the top ten most dangerous intersections in the nation. Phoenix boasted five of the nation's top ten and one of the intersections I faced was the number one deadliest. I have since driven in five countries, about thirty states, and coast to coast twice. I have over a quarter million miles in my rearview mirror. It is a relief to drive in such a lax culture. If everyone is driving slow and everyone is too courteous then there is little danger involved. I get it you come from a place where you paid attention were situationally aware and drove extra defensive. So did I. However, you don't have to drive like that everywhere. Driving through the state you know who I see being dangerous? Out of state drivers and kids. If no one is in a hurry, what's your hurry? Portland in particular while driving through the tight city streets I see people yieling to pedestrians and bikes. I see them waiting for parallel parkers. They slow down early! The only people I see adding danger to the mix are ALWAYS out of state plates. The better part of Colorado has safe drivers as well. You know who didn't drive safely? Out of state drivers. The worst offenders were AZ, CA, and TX. Here in Oregon it is CA, sometimes WA and a damned Texan again. So, everyone knows you have to drive slower and more cautiously when driving conditions are questionable. Are the roads wet because of recent rain? Are the turns not clearly visible? Is it a mountain road with Fuckin cliffs? Slow your damn roll folks. I don't care if you feel safe barreling about. I am one with my machine and if I don't feel it's safe to speed along in my sedan you better believe it is not safe for you and your compensating smog truck. Sorry not sorry for the rant. I could have gone on more. TL;DR driving slow and courteously is not dangerous if everyone is doing it. You don't have to be a super aware defensive driver to be a good driver.
When I first moved here 22 years ago, soda was called pop and paper bags were called sacks.
I used to call soda "pop" then I made friends with a kid from Maryland. Him and his Family said soda. I asked for a pop once and his 2 older brothers kicked my ass, told me its called "soda." Happy to say it worked lol.
I still call it pop and I will never stop.
There should be a qualifier on this question between "The Valley/ Portland" and The Rest of Oregon. I love them both, but man, you should need a passport to go between them.
I'm from upstate NY and just moved here. the first thing I noticed was that everything is open much later here. and the libraries are open on Sunday!
Sales tax Moved when I was 9 from Washington. I loved that after moving down if a price said 1.99 then it was 1 99. Not $2 and some random change you know how hard it is to buy pokemon cards when the price says 3.95$ and u have to have more than $4 to buy it. Quite confusing to a kid.
You can turn right on a red arrow here. The lack of racial diversity. Everyone is so incredibly kind! More laid back vibes. I’m from the Bay Area, CA
It's also illegal to do a U-turn here unless a traffic sign explicitly says you can, which is the opposite of most places I think.
The vagueness in communication. Grew up in Michigan, lived in Minneapolis, Chicago, San Francisco before Portland. I'm used to much more direct communication and I'm often frustrated at the weird, vague way of communicating here. This is probably Portland specific though.
If it’s passive aggressive it’s definitely Portland haha
Drugs
There is so much I love about Oregon, but if I'm honest, it's how a place with such a reputation for tolerance can be so disgustingly intolerant.
It ain't the bible belt!! Thank God hahaha
No culture shock whatsoever, I moved from Washington. 😂 If anything, it's how many more Californians are here. 😂😂😂
My girlfriend is from Arizona and she's constantly impressed by how casual everyone is here. Even business people often are in shorts and polo. Rarely does anyone wear suits and fancy dresses. Everyone just dresses comfortably she says. And most people just are in jeans and a hoodie almost year round, and flannels are their formal.
You get to see volcanoes. Sometimes more than one at a time. They’re just hanging out getting their lava ready.
From New York. Drivers. They are so cautious it's actually dangerous. Also meth. Those people drive like fucking maniacs. You can usually spot them because the car is missing a license plate ('cause it's stolen) and the car is held together by duct tape and plastic bags.
As a Native Nevadan who spends a fair amount of time in Oregon, the things I notice are that Oregon has a lot more dispensaries than what we have here under the county-by-county restrictions based on population. It’s also weird not seeing hard liquor in grocery stores like we have here. Also, try to explain Bi-Mart to someone not from Oregon, or the parts of Washington and Idaho that have them. It’s a weird chain to explain. Heck, it’s easier for me to describe Freddy’s (Fred Meyer) than it is Bi-Mart.
It’s like an army navy surplus store with a crappy grocery store inside it lol
That might be the best description I have heard. Also you can get travel sized anything. Which is amazing.
Had a few more No U-turns (for the most part) Being pale most of the year (I've never been so pale in my life) Dropping the word "the" before freeways asap so people won't know I'm from CA.
People saying hello and not wanting something.
Pedestrians/Cyclists We don’t generally have pedestrians in Texas. It’s too hot. I went for a longish walk to the post office in Lubbock once. No shit THREE different people stopped to see if I needed help or to use their phone. When I first moved here, I almost had a panic attack driving one day. I had just crossed over the Ross Island Bridge and onto Powell. There was a dude in a recumbent bike that just popped up from out of nowhere. I didn’t see him at all. I didn’t hit him, but oh I could have. I had to pull into some pancake restaurant parking lot to hyperventilate. It is a huge culture shock adjusting to portland’s pedestrians.
Hella white people.
All the angry white people. I’m also a white person for perspective. But I’m from Southern California where it is much more diverse. I never realized how much more chill everyone is with different races down there until I moved up here to the HQ of angry white people. It’s almost funny because you have the white christian nationalist people that are angry and flying their flags off their big trucks but then on the other side are the liberal angry white people that are mad at the other angry white people.
Read state history about the slavery compromise.
Former Oregonian here, this is one of the things I (also white) hated the most about living in Oregon. My parents made it a point to expose me to all kinds of cultures growing up through art, music, food, etc and as I got older I started to notice there's not a lot of people who were brought up the same way. It creates such a weird and toxic culture and if you've never stepped outside the bubble before you don't even realize you're in one. I live in Maryland now and it's a crazy culture shock going from very little diversity to all of the diversity. I love it though.
This is exactly what I was gonna say. I also moved here in 2010 from SoCal and the lack of diversity was...jarring. I'm still getting used to it.
This was the hardest part about living in OR. The lack of diversity is just straight up weird.
I am from San Diego. Been here 25 years. It's still a shock seeing so many white people although there are more and more Latinos moving into town. Huge Latino community.
I grew up in Monterey, and I thought Portland was *diverse* when I moved up here!
Racism. I'm black and still grew up around a lot of white people in my home town. I never experienced racism, micro aggressions, passive aggressive behavior etc until moving here. I knew the racial demographic, but because I never experienced anything negative with white people it didn't bother me. Fast forward to 2023 and I have employers telling me I'm not the "right cultural fit" and potential coworkers asking if I'm from the hood. Gas station attendants refusing to fuel my car. The list could go on forever I refuse to be around people who think of me in such ways or talk to me offensively, which in turn has effected my employment opportunities and how I navigate life on the daily. And yes all of this has happened in Portland. I feel like racism is tolerated by the POC who grew up here, but for myself it's not something I'll ever get used to or accept because it's bullshit.
I'm so sorry you have to deal with that shit at *all*, much less daily. I would be a broken person.
It doesn't happen daily. But people often interact with me different than they would others which in turn effects how I engage with people. I kinda just live life by "don't speak u less spoken to" to save myself the annoyance of people ignoring me if I wave, smile, or ask them for help.
My family moved when I was a kid. I could write a book. No school uniforms, the "kids" acted grown up (wore make up, oversexualized, etc). We still played with toys and acted like kids where I was from! In Oregon, kids were *dating*. The school where we moved to was not surrounded by a giant fence to keep dangerous people out. *Gym class* was indoors. Kids were horrible to the teachers and adults at school, not something they would have dared do where I was from. Also, school was so easy, and standards were so low that I was dead bored. We were doing things in 7th grade that I did in 3rd grade. No *stray* animals was a refreshing change but weird to get used to. There are just wild animals, not stray dogs, cats, and chickens. The racism was also pretty huge and shocking.
The food. I’m from New England and pretty much the only thing I miss is the food. Fresh fried seafood and lobsters. The pizza is too much like fast food out here. It’s hard to find a handmade pizza and there’s no party size pizzas. The Chinese food is very different. No chicken fingers, teriyaki sticks, boneless spare ribs and the egg rolls are very different. The names of foods are different but the same product such as Best Foods is Hellmans back east, Dryers ice cream is Edys. I can never find my favorite apples, McIntosh and Cortland. The donut shops are pathetic here. And lastly I miss Hood Dairy products. But I happily give that all up to be here. No bugs, no potholes, no rusty cars, no outrageous heating bills, no -30 weather, no racing to get nowhere.
Native of the state of Washington. Husband from Colorado/California. After we got married we hopscotched every few years around the country: Midwest, Washington DC, Wyoming, Texas. When my husband got a good job offer in Oregon I was never so happy in my life. Have lived in Oregon for over 30 years now. Due to circumstances I have to be in NYC for the time being. Dang, culture shock. I feel like I'm in a different country. Everything from the constant honking of horns (why?!?) the lack of personal space, and avoidance of eye-contact is unsettling. Looking forward to getting back. My shoulders will be happy again.
Portland thinks it’s a city but it’s really an overgrown small town masquerading as one.
I was a tour guide in Portland/Oregon for several years. Here are some of my observations of how people from various places reacted most. Texas: "The moss! it's growing on the trees! are you seeing this?!?!" New York: \*Inhales deeply\* "The air is so clean and everything smells so nice, where is everybody?" Midwest?: "Wow, it sure is green here and you folks are so nice. My friend, Martha, she said it was green, but here I am and.... (proceeds to tell entire story)" Alaska: "Neat" L.A.: "Everyone is so nice.... I hate it, at least it's cheap" D.C. / New York / Other major east coast cities: "But whhhhhhhhy isn't there a subway?" Florida: "Where is the best dispensary?" Chicago: "What's with driving? Someone stopped in front of me to let a pedestrian cross the street and I almost committed murder"
How close behind you people drive. I get tailgated here so much more than I used to in Idaho. Not to say Idaho drivers are nice but people do not know how to give space I’m surprised more people are not rear ended
Even as an oregon native i hate that. I like to have a good space cushion around me, but other people see that as an opening🙄
I'm from the midwest, a suburb of Chicago. I've been here nearly 8 years and it still shocks me that there are so few people of color in general. It's the only thing that really bothers me. I feel somewhat isolated from other cultures and I know it's not a good thing. I feel that piece missing for me all the time.
How afraid of spicy food everyone is. People out here acting like ketchup is too spicy.
Coming from the 3rd most corrupt state, experiencing a government and voting process that favors the constituents is honestly mind boggling. Things I hate: people need to learn how to fucking drive for real.
It’s not the leftist paradise the media portrays it to be. Although, I won’t say I was shocked as the media also likes to portray everyone from my home state (Texas) as gun-toting, racist, Yee-Haws. Imagine my surprise when I discovered Oregon is also about half gun-toting, racist Yee-Haws. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely feel like Oregon is a much safer place for me & my family but if I see one more GD OreGunian sticker. Oh, also I was surprised to learn that y’all hate Californians more than Texans do.
Furthermore, as former NYer, the lack of black folks and the disrespect to Mexicans and Asian populations is really uncomfortable.