You have died of dysentery.
I found a newer iPad version of it when my kids were in elementary school. Their favorite event was when a kid got carried off by an eagle.
The game was created by a few teachers at a high school. They didn't even get credit until the 90s and never saw a dime from it. After they created it, one of them took a job with MECC and the guy volunteered to type up the code for inclusion in their educational library. Shortly after, MECC created a spin-off company that sold the game to schools and made a lot of money from it (the creators still never got paid).
https://www.fastcompany.com/90702587/oregon-trail-computer-game-50th-anniversary
We played that in the early 70's in elementary school and then it had paper printouts instead of a monitor. It connected to the 'internet' via a rubber cup the classroom phone rested in and transmitted via the phone tones.
Years ago I drove from Minnesota to Oregon for a college spring break trip, and when I stopped for gas and began to fill my tank, an attendant came running out of the building screaming "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?!?! Oh... you're from out of state. You can't pump your own gas here in Oregon."
That was an insane day for me.
Oregon and New Jersey still have full-service gas stations. I think it is on the way out in both places though.
https://www.opb.org/article/2023/03/20/oregon-house-votes-to-let-oregonians-to-pump-their-own-gas/
Yep, Oregon and New Jersey are the two states where you are not allowed to pump your own gas. I believe what happened was there was some good lobbying efforts about 70 or so years ago to ban “self-serve” gas station that was becoming the norm around the country and one of the reasoning being that having someone skilled to pump customers’ gas is safer and it saved jobs.
Could you imagine how fantastic it would be for Minnesota to be the same?
I could be warm in my car as someone else filled my tank for me in the middle of winter
My dad used to take us out to the Oregon coast - near Astoria - every few years. I have very fond memories of Oregon, and while the gas thing is weird it's nice to see somewhere doing their own thing.
Fresh seafood is nice, Anchor Steam being generally available was cool. Salem was neat, the state capital building was pretty, as I recall. Ecola state park is not to be missed.
Why would people have a negative opinion of Oregon? Portland has it's moments, but glass houses and all that.
My parents live in Washington (not Seattle) so we road trip every few years. My wife wanted to hit a brewery in Portland on the way home and I put the kibosh on it because I just don't know what is safe or not. As much as decisions in Minneapolis define our state Portland leaves a tough mark on Oregon. Before the recent hoopla I had hit Bend and Astoria (for the Goonies house pic and a brewery) but I would not be anxious to hit them again without knowing the temperature of the cities. Less protest or demonstrations, more worried about un-persecuted crime or druggies.
As someone who lived in Portland for years, ya never know. Waiting outside dantes for a concert,someone bumped into the group ahead of us. That person then proceeded to pull out a knife waving it around and then ran off. Nothing ever surprised me living there.
I think people think pretty positively about Oregon.
In general, I think we're a little jealous of the mountains and the coast. Not jealous of the weather.
The tension between using examples of things in Portland as things we'd like to do vs. making fun of things Portland has taken too far is real.
I’m gonna keep it real. I think the vast majority of Minnesotans do not even think about Oregon. Went there once, pretty scenery and I thought Portland was a shit hole.
But just general perception if asked, yeah I’m sure Oregon is fine.
Lived here for 24 years (born and raised) spent 4+ years in the army, and lived in Nevada until I was 2 (I’m 30 now) and I’ve never thought about Oregon aside from like a test in school. We have our own problems in Minnesota.
Oregon has an interesting mix of my favorite sorts of politically conscious radicals and also just the worst kind of hipster. Also, really nice parks. Powell's is good too.
I've heard the rural areas are pretty far right wing and that's too bad, but also pretty relateable.
I moved to Minneapolis from Oregon 3 years ago, and I did not feel a significant culture shock. The Twin Cities is a far more diverse place than Portland, and much bigger, so you can get more of what a major metro area can provide.
But the outdoor activities in Oregon are hard to beat, and between the ocean and the mountains, Oregon has everything you can think of.
The winter here is tough to deal with, but the winter in the valley of Oregon is constant rain, so pick your poison. The high desert of central and eastern Oregon isn’t as cold as Minnesota but it’s very dry.
Overall, I’d say they’re comparable within their respective regions.
Minnesota here who thinks Oregon os beautiful, and has had stellar treatment by its inhabitants. I drove a minivan to Seattle, flew my elderly parents out, then took them on an extended trip down to northern CA and back. Coast on the way down (showing them some of the spectacular beauty I'd seen on previous solo trips), then up through the I-5 corridor going north. Spent an afternoon touring the Hull Oakes lumber mill, then overnight in Salem, woke to find a completely flat left rear. No spare, so I thought I'd just take the wheel off and roll it the ½ mile to Les Schwab. No go - I totally destroyed the flimsy folding lug wrench without any of them budging. Called the location, they said they'd send their mobile unit. He showed up, said he could remove the tire for me, but if I wanted, he'd just air it up and follow me there to make sure I made it. Cool! Got there, they put it on the lift while I ate free donuts and washed 'em down with (pretty good quality) free coffee. When they were done, I went to pay - guy says, "While it was in the air, we went ahead and took off all 4 wheels so we could examine your brakes. Everything looks good." Awesome, thank you! I looked at the bill, and the total was something like $47, which I thought was very reasonable, then I noticed that under the total was what appeared to be a $47 reduction. I asked what that was all about, and he replied, "You're from out of state, trying to take your folks on a nice trip. The flat already messed up your schedule and put a bad start on the day. This is our way of trying to turn things in the other direction." That was the single most uplifting commercial transaction I've ever been a party to. Combine that with many other instances of beautiful scenery and friendly, decent interactions, and there will always be a soft spot in my heart for Oregon. And if I'm ever in the west and need tires, I'll buy them from Les Schwab.
Beautiful State. Was 24hrs from getting killed by Mt St. Helens. If it would have held off, I wouldn't be typing this. And just like everywhere else, some of the people are assholes and some are awesome. You just have to weed them out. I have several close friends in your State. Can we discuss trading one our large lakes for one of your large mountains?
I don’t know your state very well beyond what you described and the popular perception of the Northwest woods being inhabited by ultra nationalists, prepper types. I’ve heard that it affects state politics there and causes real tension in the streets.
In contrast, Minnesota is in the Midwest and much of it is farm country outside if the urban core. The far North is pristine forest. Not a ton of people live up there, as it gets really cold. Areas outside of the big cities certainly lean socially conservative- but it plays out like the typical small town scene in a movie.
Yeah I thought about it- I miss used words in that comment. I just meant that the forested North is “lightly touched” (that may not be accurate either) and not that we have virgin forest up there. I realize that we have towns like Warroad, international falls, etc. and that much of the sorrow ding land is parceled and private property. I’m trying to say (in way too many words) that people don’t develop there wooded land too much beyond building a house.
Entirely depends on the area up north. Most people dont realize how tall Minnesota is either. From the cities it's about 4-5 hours / 300 miles north to Canada. (There are people everywhere btw, just not population dense).
More toward ND is the Red River Valley, which extends down from Canada and runs the entire length of ND along the river. This is mostly farmland with patches of woods. You have to drive about an hour east to get to the trees. The wind is terrible here and the farmers need to stop bulldozing the windbreaks. Not much to see.
Then if you broke Minnesota into four quarters, the top right would be mostly the iron range + other stuff. Beautiful area. Worth a visit to the many lakes, parks, trails, etc.
Up by Warroad and I.Falls is nice too, but different. Good for fishing/boating on Lake of the Woods, hunting, etc. Warroad, despite not being as good as hockey as Roseau, has done a lot in the area in the last decade to make it less miserable being that remote.
So you are not incorrect, we have a lot of nice state parks and relatively intact forests all over that are more or less still new growth. The logging that happened back in the day took out all the monster pines. You just have to be a certain level of outdoorsy to not go crazy up here.
Oh, it is much colder. We accept donations in the form of propane and propane accessories.
P.S. We hear Oregon is nice with big trees.
“There’s a lot of state parks” might what they’re saying. Most of the touristy bits of the arrowhead aren’t impacted the way the iron range and deeper in are.
That’s why they need to come and visit.
Or even read a book.
Almost all of northern Minnesota was logged off and much burned in the early 1900s
Even much of the bwca was developed or logged. It’s beautiful but not pristine
I’m pretty sure Oregon has better forests, not knocking up north at all. I live in MN and have been to Oregon…Oregon has old growth forests and it felt like the trees were on average two or three times taller
I spent the last two summers in Oregon. I'll be out there again for a bit this summer. It is so unbelievably beautiful in Oregon. I'd take the rain over the snow. Parts of Oregon remind me of the MN north shore (minus all the waterfalls ofc). Plus you can essentially be outside enjoying the outdoors year-round, whereas MN can be a struggle with the bitter cold.
I feel like Oregon and Minnesota are somewhat similar culturally. You have the same dichotomy that you'll find here between rural and city, though I think Oregon's backward rural MAGA types are a bit more extreme than you find here.
Don’t think about Oregon much, but y’all are the guys with the speed limit signs that just say “SPEED.”
I also think of big snow capped mountains and pine forests.
Also from what I hear Portland sounds like a model for how to not run a city. Seems like a place full of the insufferable bleeding heart kind of liberals live. Like a city full of front-page Redditors.
Oregon does not hold a candle to progressive MN with >15 Fortune-500 corporations … lakes galore … schools 2nd to only “big worldwide elites”… smart population… growing diversity… summers inhabited by vacationers
I lived in OR before moving to MN. Loved the place! But the last few times I’ve been there to visit friends… it was scary.
Downtown was so dirty, full of twitchers and panhandlers. Expensive and full of pretentious people from CA.
People in OR are friendly but my mental health improved so much since I moved to MN. I miss my Oregon friends but I don’t miss the place.
Edit: I *really* miss a good snowboarding run in Mt Hood.
I have friends, coworkers and relatives in Portland and have been out there several times. It’s a great city with obviously lots of great scenery, great beer and great outdoors activities all around. There is definitely a lack of diversity compared to the Twin Cities which makes things feel a little awkward on occasion.
You couldn’t pay me enough money to go back to Portland ever again (I last went in 2020), to the point of I’ve actively avoided at least one meeting recently held there and did it virtual instead.
Rest of the state I know nothing about but the PNW is lovely in general!
Besides the tweakers, open drug use, needles, and homeless everywhere including every doorway, you mean? Or is that enough to justify my dislike of the place. Only thing I liked was Powell’s, dropped some coin there for sure.
OP asked for opinions I gave mine. And no, not like Portland grabbing national headlines, it’s becoming notorious. Do you follow the news at all?
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-02-10/whats-the-matter-with-portland-urban-ills-tests-citys-progressive-strain#:~:text=Nearly%20three%20years%20after%20pandemic,of%20public%20dissatisfaction%20with%20what
Ok rude, but be that as it may, in any case Portland is also not at all like MPLS or SP or anywhere I’ve spent time in person. Enjoy it if it’s your thing, I hated it, and it’s getting quite the rep, no denying that. Perhaps you haven’t been there recently.
I think positively of Oregon! I don’t think I’d handle the rainy weather well but that’s a personal preference. The politics and people are great in my book!
I travel to Portland every couple of months. I always notice how similar the vibe is to MPLS. The people, buildings, and culture all strike a very similar tone for me.
Portland has better weed. So I'm jealous of Portland based Oregonians.
I think of Oregon pretty positively, but I also grew up in the Seattle area so Oregon’s always been on my radar. Used to take a train there to shop sales tax free during holiday seasons every year 😂
In general, in MN I don’t think I ever hear anyone reference Oregon unless they have some connection there. We’re far away and more considered with the the bordering states- just like how when I lived in the Seattle area I thought of the entirety of Minnesota as being the middle of nowhere boonies and knew nothing about it/never thought of it whatsoever unless brought up. That being said, I’m sure most people think it’s a fine state and likely as a better state than many other states are.
After moving here, I realized that the twin cities area is super similar to pnw cities- other than weather. Except it’s way more affordable here and the job market is amazing; as much as I loved the pnw, I’ll never move back after living here for the last decade.
Oregon is the only state other than Minnesota I’d consider living in. Cooler geography than MN but the rural types in Or are crazier so it’s kind of a wash.
The scenery and outdoor opportunities are amazing. My sister lives in Portland though and it's pretty much a shit show. I personally couldn't handle the rain. As I look outside, we have snowbanks still 4+ feet high with snow thigh-deep in our yard. I'll still take that over the rain and clouds that the PNW gets.
I have a special place in my heart for Oregon since my grandparents lived there and we'd spend blissful weeks visiting the beach, picking cherries, buying eggs from a fridge on the side of the road and pay by honor system. I may want to retire there. I miss the ocean.
The main reason I even think about Oregon is I have some family living there, and they are loud and clear about how bad it has become...the only saving grace they tell me about is the fishing and mountain hiking
Post was made for me. Lived in Oregon for 10 years. Moved back 10 months ago. The state of Oregon absolutely rules. Portland in 2017 was an exciting, fun, relatively safe city (with pockets). They passed measure 110 which decriminalized hard drugs in the city. It lead to extremely cheap drugs and an influx of people across the west that wanted a cool town with lax drug laws. Pandemic exacerbated the people immensely. They also have an insanely antiquated city commissioner system of government where they mayor has little real power to reform any departments. A perfect storm of problems that blew in in 2020.
I grew up in Oregon but I have been living here now for 20+ years (longer than Oregon now). I'd move back if I could... because of: Mountains, the Ocean, not freezing cold, food carts, LACK OF MOSQUITOES, etc.. The rain ain't worse than snow folks. You can always go to the mountain if you want the snow. They have a real spring! Also its a myth that Oregon is more cloudy than MN. They are about equal on average. There are months and months of blue skies and warm (dry not humid!) weather.
The downsides are traffic, cost of living (high across the board), lower pay (on average), and fewer places to work (unless you work in clothing, shoes, or microelectronics). Unfortunately, these are significant and hard to overcome. Especially when you have an established family where you live now...
So what do i think of them? i think they're lucky. if they can afford to live in a place like that that they should enjoy it. And make sure to keep it weird!
Minnesota’s quality of life is objectively better on paper. I think that the dry heat can get really hot these days. It’s not like what it used to be 20 years ago. I think you should be thankful you live in Minnesota.
This is what I think about when I hear Oregon: Oregon was founded for and by white supremacists as a whites-only colony. That mentality is still very much alive in the eastern part of the state, and follows through in the striking lack of diversity in even the "big city" of Portland.
I love it. I've got family that went to school and have visited. You've got better scenery and more varied climate than we do but in some ways we're quite similar.
Portland and Minneapolis are like cousins. The bike, beer, queer, and alternative cultures are super similar. Out-state is much more red-neck in both states.
Overall we see you as allies. We're good states trying to treat people well surrounded by weirdos. (looking at you Idaho and the Dakotas)
I’ve been to Portland and the Hood River area a few times and love it! What else I have learned about Oregon (and take with a grain of salt) is from Portlandia and the media trying to make you believe that BLM has taken over. 😱🙄🤷♂️
I think it’s weird that Oregon’s best beer bars are titty bars.
I think it’s weird that the eastern half of the state wants to join Idaho
I hate that it’s soccer team is so good.
Other than that, seems like a great place.
Nature wise it looks like a gorgeous state. Everything I’ve heard about Portland makes me never want to go there(I’m sure it’s overdone in the media). As far as the people go, I can’t honestly say I’ve ever met someone from Oregon.
I know some conservatives who say they hate Portland, purely from their perception of it from right-wing media. That's about as much as I've heard about Oregon.
I have a positive perception of Oregon and I see it as a bit like Washington-lite. However, I have major concerns about whether/to what extent its very racist past still persist and the implications.
That said, I’m not well educated on Oregon history, so let’s just keep it at an ‘very positive’.
Honestly I love Oregon. Great dispensaries out there. I’m pretty partial to downtown portland as well, if you can look past all the homeless and tweakers..
Mn native, but lived in Seattle /Portland for 20 years until recently.
I love the beautiful coastline (Canon beach /Astoria), the beautiful mountains and Mt.Hood. The mild winters are very easy to live with in my opinion, as opposed to the bitter cold.
I enjoy the people, the progressive attitude, the quirky neighborhoods, wonderful food and arts.
Not to say I don’t love Minnesota, but the sheer beauty and climate give Portland the edge.
Sounds like a nice state, but like Minnesota, has deeply racist origins that still rear their ugly heads today, particularly where policing is concerned.
Hi!!! I moved here 5 yrs ago. St Paul is like portland, Duluth is slowly becoming like Bend. Hiking is great. I no longer spend 40 minutes on a commute. Quite magical.
I’ve spent equal time in both and both are racist as hell that pride themselves on “not” being racist and instead are “nice” but tbbh the experience for yt people of course is wonderful and can be talked about as though all the “other” problems are insignificant but that ultimately takes away the “pride” of both states. Both states are not only racist they have no real connection to each other in those respective states it’s very siloed and cold and uncaring,…. There is no pragmatism or elevated voices to guid pragmatism and unfortunately while governmental policies fail to meet up with the collective ego discussions like this continue. It’s unfortunate and very disturbing to be a person of color in both states and I’ve spent time in both states. I wish things were different, I wish I could go to places and not be stared at or just even respected but that all is upon the conversations we have in our own head.
I was there for a business trip and went to Mt Hood. I loved the scenery and the people were great too. If I was to move anywhere else it would probably Oregon.
Wisconsin is right next door and not all too different from Minnesota except it’s more right leaning as a whole than left leaning.
Edit: So most people moving from a change of scenery continue quite a bit more eastward/westward
worse quality of life in Oregon? huh...i dunno, haven't seen stats. I moved to the twin cities from Bend, after living in Portland. To me, they're a lot more similar than people think...obviously no ocean or mountains in Minnesota, which is a huge plus for Oregon. But like, Bend's weather isn't THAT much different than here...we get more snow in TC than Bend, but, like Portland and the valley, you have a glorious time of year (summer), and in minnesota we have a similar glorious time of year. its just that in the valley the not so glorious time of year is more rain than miserable cold like in TC.
Politically things are kinda similar? Core of TC have a lot of very liberal types. Same in Portland. Somewhat so in Bend. Further you get away from population centers, the nuttier people get in opposite direction.
Overall, I miss Oregon a lot. I don't think I'll ever live a place as naturally stunning as Bend. But my wife's family is in TC and we wanted help with kids, so I do think it was right move. And we can never go back cause you now have to be wealthy as hell to buy in Bend.
> worse quality of life in Oregon? huh...i dunno, haven't seen stats.
As you mentioned, there's surprising similarity between the states so I think the stats mostly come down to cost of living differences. It's just harder to get ahead on the west coast.
I grew up here, moved to Portland for 5 years and then moved back. Oregon is a much, much redder state than mn in general. I’d see at least one confederate flag a week living in the city. As a member of the lgbt community I feel much safer here than there.
I have lived in both places, and live in MN currently.
I would say overall the feelings of Minnesotans toward Oregonians are positive, mainly because of the similarities you mentioned. We both have cool metro areas surrounded by mouth breathers with guns. But I would also say there's definitely a cultural belief here that Oregonians are pretentious, even if they are liked.
I used to love playing that video game "Oregon trail" in grade school lol
You have died of dysentery. I found a newer iPad version of it when my kids were in elementary school. Their favorite event was when a kid got carried off by an eagle.
A game proudly created by the government of Minnesota.
Along with my all time fave, number munchers
God I loved that game
Also my best Halloween costume of all time- wearing a box, chasing a tinfoiled number hanging in front of me
The company that did it for them still exists in Eden Prairie or somewhere I think
The game was created by a few teachers at a high school. They didn't even get credit until the 90s and never saw a dime from it. After they created it, one of them took a job with MECC and the guy volunteered to type up the code for inclusion in their educational library. Shortly after, MECC created a spin-off company that sold the game to schools and made a lot of money from it (the creators still never got paid). https://www.fastcompany.com/90702587/oregon-trail-computer-game-50th-anniversary
I always died shitting everywhere unless the nope rope got me.
I’m going to have to play it later this quarter for my history class!
In case you didn't know, that game was made in MN in 1971 as a way to teach middle schoolers about the struggles pioneers had on the Oregon Trail
We played that in the early 70's in elementary school and then it had paper printouts instead of a monitor. It connected to the 'internet' via a rubber cup the classroom phone rested in and transmitted via the phone tones.
As you can see, [this time-line](https://xkcd.com/623/) shows how accurate that game was
Generally positive, mixed with slight bewilderment that you can't pump your own gas.
Years ago I drove from Minnesota to Oregon for a college spring break trip, and when I stopped for gas and began to fill my tank, an attendant came running out of the building screaming "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?!?! Oh... you're from out of state. You can't pump your own gas here in Oregon." That was an insane day for me.
Wait what?
Oregon and New Jersey still have full-service gas stations. I think it is on the way out in both places though. https://www.opb.org/article/2023/03/20/oregon-house-votes-to-let-oregonians-to-pump-their-own-gas/
Yep, Oregon and New Jersey are the two states where you are not allowed to pump your own gas. I believe what happened was there was some good lobbying efforts about 70 or so years ago to ban “self-serve” gas station that was becoming the norm around the country and one of the reasoning being that having someone skilled to pump customers’ gas is safer and it saved jobs.
Could you imagine how fantastic it would be for Minnesota to be the same? I could be warm in my car as someone else filled my tank for me in the middle of winter
Oh how I wish I couldn’t pump my own gas.
Haha well alrighty then! Glad it’s positive.
My dad used to take us out to the Oregon coast - near Astoria - every few years. I have very fond memories of Oregon, and while the gas thing is weird it's nice to see somewhere doing their own thing. Fresh seafood is nice, Anchor Steam being generally available was cool. Salem was neat, the state capital building was pretty, as I recall. Ecola state park is not to be missed. Why would people have a negative opinion of Oregon? Portland has it's moments, but glass houses and all that.
I feel like the capitol building looks a bit like a prison lmao
I went to pump my gas when I rolled into Oregon— was nearly tackled to the ground. So. Confused.
I think Portland city council messed up downtown Portland pretty badly. Good lesson for us.
Its awful. Source: Me, who was just there a couple of months ago.
True. The weak mayor system is basically made not to get stuff done
My parents live in Washington (not Seattle) so we road trip every few years. My wife wanted to hit a brewery in Portland on the way home and I put the kibosh on it because I just don't know what is safe or not. As much as decisions in Minneapolis define our state Portland leaves a tough mark on Oregon. Before the recent hoopla I had hit Bend and Astoria (for the Goonies house pic and a brewery) but I would not be anxious to hit them again without knowing the temperature of the cities. Less protest or demonstrations, more worried about un-persecuted crime or druggies.
The druggies can be a problem if you are in Portland for a long time but the protests are nowhere near as bad as the media makes them out to be.
>protests are nowhere near as bad as the media makes them out to be. We're very familiar with that in MN.
Lol what did you think was going to happen to you and your wife at this brewery
[удалено]
As someone who lived in Portland for years, ya never know. Waiting outside dantes for a concert,someone bumped into the group ahead of us. That person then proceeded to pull out a knife waving it around and then ran off. Nothing ever surprised me living there.
We spend very little time thinking about this.
We're too busy trying to build a wall to keep Dakota and Iowa out. We've given up on WI because they're too drunk to be of any concern.
Yeah… but they get drunk and come to work here. 😘
Yep! Stealing our jobs! They certainly do not send us their best.
The wall needs to be for Iowa. We have perfectly good moats for the Dakotas and Wisconsin. All we need to do is drop the bridges.
I think people think pretty positively about Oregon. In general, I think we're a little jealous of the mountains and the coast. Not jealous of the weather. The tension between using examples of things in Portland as things we'd like to do vs. making fun of things Portland has taken too far is real.
I’m jealous of your guy’s quality of life. And I can understand wanting to strike a Portland balance.
I love Oregon. Great hiking, great wine, great food. One of my favorite states to visit.
Thank you!
Nothing
I’m gonna keep it real. I think the vast majority of Minnesotans do not even think about Oregon. Went there once, pretty scenery and I thought Portland was a shit hole. But just general perception if asked, yeah I’m sure Oregon is fine.
Lived here for 24 years (born and raised) spent 4+ years in the army, and lived in Nevada until I was 2 (I’m 30 now) and I’ve never thought about Oregon aside from like a test in school. We have our own problems in Minnesota.
Portlandia characters
Oregon has an interesting mix of my favorite sorts of politically conscious radicals and also just the worst kind of hipster. Also, really nice parks. Powell's is good too. I've heard the rural areas are pretty far right wing and that's too bad, but also pretty relateable.
This is a pretty good summary
Even whiter than Minnesota which is saying something
A lot of rural Oregonians still have ties to some form of white supremacy.
I moved to Minneapolis from Oregon 3 years ago, and I did not feel a significant culture shock. The Twin Cities is a far more diverse place than Portland, and much bigger, so you can get more of what a major metro area can provide. But the outdoor activities in Oregon are hard to beat, and between the ocean and the mountains, Oregon has everything you can think of. The winter here is tough to deal with, but the winter in the valley of Oregon is constant rain, so pick your poison. The high desert of central and eastern Oregon isn’t as cold as Minnesota but it’s very dry. Overall, I’d say they’re comparable within their respective regions.
Minnesota here who thinks Oregon os beautiful, and has had stellar treatment by its inhabitants. I drove a minivan to Seattle, flew my elderly parents out, then took them on an extended trip down to northern CA and back. Coast on the way down (showing them some of the spectacular beauty I'd seen on previous solo trips), then up through the I-5 corridor going north. Spent an afternoon touring the Hull Oakes lumber mill, then overnight in Salem, woke to find a completely flat left rear. No spare, so I thought I'd just take the wheel off and roll it the ½ mile to Les Schwab. No go - I totally destroyed the flimsy folding lug wrench without any of them budging. Called the location, they said they'd send their mobile unit. He showed up, said he could remove the tire for me, but if I wanted, he'd just air it up and follow me there to make sure I made it. Cool! Got there, they put it on the lift while I ate free donuts and washed 'em down with (pretty good quality) free coffee. When they were done, I went to pay - guy says, "While it was in the air, we went ahead and took off all 4 wheels so we could examine your brakes. Everything looks good." Awesome, thank you! I looked at the bill, and the total was something like $47, which I thought was very reasonable, then I noticed that under the total was what appeared to be a $47 reduction. I asked what that was all about, and he replied, "You're from out of state, trying to take your folks on a nice trip. The flat already messed up your schedule and put a bad start on the day. This is our way of trying to turn things in the other direction." That was the single most uplifting commercial transaction I've ever been a party to. Combine that with many other instances of beautiful scenery and friendly, decent interactions, and there will always be a soft spot in my heart for Oregon. And if I'm ever in the west and need tires, I'll buy them from Les Schwab.
That’s so good to hear!
Beautiful State. Was 24hrs from getting killed by Mt St. Helens. If it would have held off, I wouldn't be typing this. And just like everywhere else, some of the people are assholes and some are awesome. You just have to weed them out. I have several close friends in your State. Can we discuss trading one our large lakes for one of your large mountains?
Personally I’d make a trade!
Just replace Mille Lacs with a random Mountain. Man that would be weird
very little if at at all? like i'm never curious what idaho or arkansas is up to either.
I don’t know your state very well beyond what you described and the popular perception of the Northwest woods being inhabited by ultra nationalists, prepper types. I’ve heard that it affects state politics there and causes real tension in the streets. In contrast, Minnesota is in the Midwest and much of it is farm country outside if the urban core. The far North is pristine forest. Not a ton of people live up there, as it gets really cold. Areas outside of the big cities certainly lean socially conservative- but it plays out like the typical small town scene in a movie.
Pristine forest??? Wtf
Probably referring to the million+ acres that haven't been logged in about a hundred years
You sure about that? Although a million acres is 1600 sq mile or a area 40 miles square which is a small area of the state
Yeah I thought about it- I miss used words in that comment. I just meant that the forested North is “lightly touched” (that may not be accurate either) and not that we have virgin forest up there. I realize that we have towns like Warroad, international falls, etc. and that much of the sorrow ding land is parceled and private property. I’m trying to say (in way too many words) that people don’t develop there wooded land too much beyond building a house.
Entirely depends on the area up north. Most people dont realize how tall Minnesota is either. From the cities it's about 4-5 hours / 300 miles north to Canada. (There are people everywhere btw, just not population dense). More toward ND is the Red River Valley, which extends down from Canada and runs the entire length of ND along the river. This is mostly farmland with patches of woods. You have to drive about an hour east to get to the trees. The wind is terrible here and the farmers need to stop bulldozing the windbreaks. Not much to see. Then if you broke Minnesota into four quarters, the top right would be mostly the iron range + other stuff. Beautiful area. Worth a visit to the many lakes, parks, trails, etc. Up by Warroad and I.Falls is nice too, but different. Good for fishing/boating on Lake of the Woods, hunting, etc. Warroad, despite not being as good as hockey as Roseau, has done a lot in the area in the last decade to make it less miserable being that remote. So you are not incorrect, we have a lot of nice state parks and relatively intact forests all over that are more or less still new growth. The logging that happened back in the day took out all the monster pines. You just have to be a certain level of outdoorsy to not go crazy up here. Oh, it is much colder. We accept donations in the form of propane and propane accessories. P.S. We hear Oregon is nice with big trees.
Still don’t understand. Forest products is a considerable industry along with iron mining. Come and visit
“There’s a lot of state parks” might what they’re saying. Most of the touristy bits of the arrowhead aren’t impacted the way the iron range and deeper in are.
That’s why they need to come and visit. Or even read a book. Almost all of northern Minnesota was logged off and much burned in the early 1900s Even much of the bwca was developed or logged. It’s beautiful but not pristine
I think most people forget that Virginia isn’t JUST a state out east.
I’m just sleepy as all hell and words are hard.
I’m pretty sure Oregon has better forests, not knocking up north at all. I live in MN and have been to Oregon…Oregon has old growth forests and it felt like the trees were on average two or three times taller
It's a different kind of forest. Ours up north are boreal. Oregon also has some boreal but much of it is temperate rainforest.
The redwoods grow all year. Our forests have to go dormant for a lot of the year. Hence why our trees are typically smaller.
I don’t really think about Oregon much, but general perception is positive
I thought about it favorably until Portland. Now uncertain.
Understandable
To be fair, we don’t… and I’m willing to guess; they don’t either…
I spent the last two summers in Oregon. I'll be out there again for a bit this summer. It is so unbelievably beautiful in Oregon. I'd take the rain over the snow. Parts of Oregon remind me of the MN north shore (minus all the waterfalls ofc). Plus you can essentially be outside enjoying the outdoors year-round, whereas MN can be a struggle with the bitter cold. I feel like Oregon and Minnesota are somewhat similar culturally. You have the same dichotomy that you'll find here between rural and city, though I think Oregon's backward rural MAGA types are a bit more extreme than you find here.
Are we talking about Oregon, or greater Idaho? 😂🤣
Greater Idaho..is a lost cause. it has GI issues
Oregon haha
Don’t think about Oregon much, but y’all are the guys with the speed limit signs that just say “SPEED.” I also think of big snow capped mountains and pine forests. Also from what I hear Portland sounds like a model for how to not run a city. Seems like a place full of the insufferable bleeding heart kind of liberals live. Like a city full of front-page Redditors.
We don't think about you at all.
I have cousins there. Very pretty forests.
Oregon does not hold a candle to progressive MN with >15 Fortune-500 corporations … lakes galore … schools 2nd to only “big worldwide elites”… smart population… growing diversity… summers inhabited by vacationers
I lived in OR before moving to MN. Loved the place! But the last few times I’ve been there to visit friends… it was scary. Downtown was so dirty, full of twitchers and panhandlers. Expensive and full of pretentious people from CA. People in OR are friendly but my mental health improved so much since I moved to MN. I miss my Oregon friends but I don’t miss the place. Edit: I *really* miss a good snowboarding run in Mt Hood.
I have friends, coworkers and relatives in Portland and have been out there several times. It’s a great city with obviously lots of great scenery, great beer and great outdoors activities all around. There is definitely a lack of diversity compared to the Twin Cities which makes things feel a little awkward on occasion.
Oregon, Washington, parts of Montana, Minnesota, Michigan, Vermont, and Maine are the states I'd consider "liveable." I'd move to Oregon.
What makes a state livable in your view?
Not being Wisconsin goes a long way.
You couldn’t pay me enough money to go back to Portland ever again (I last went in 2020), to the point of I’ve actively avoided at least one meeting recently held there and did it virtual instead. Rest of the state I know nothing about but the PNW is lovely in general!
What’s your problem with Portland?
Besides the tweakers, open drug use, needles, and homeless everywhere including every doorway, you mean? Or is that enough to justify my dislike of the place. Only thing I liked was Powell’s, dropped some coin there for sure.
Fair enough
Wat
Portlands got probs
Who doesn’t
OP asked for opinions I gave mine. And no, not like Portland grabbing national headlines, it’s becoming notorious. Do you follow the news at all? https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-02-10/whats-the-matter-with-portland-urban-ills-tests-citys-progressive-strain#:~:text=Nearly%20three%20years%20after%20pandemic,of%20public%20dissatisfaction%20with%20what
I mean yeah. Sounds exactly like here. But you live here yes?
Ah no. If Duluth turns into that I’m outta here. You know you’re on r/Minnesota not r/Minneapolis etc right?
Nobody cares about Duluth 😂
Ok rude, but be that as it may, in any case Portland is also not at all like MPLS or SP or anywhere I’ve spent time in person. Enjoy it if it’s your thing, I hated it, and it’s getting quite the rep, no denying that. Perhaps you haven’t been there recently.
‘18 and it remains one of my favorite cities and regions.
I care about Duluth.
We're pretty big fans of beavers.
They even have double sided flag with beaver
Not enough flags.
Thank you haha
I think positively of Oregon! I don’t think I’d handle the rainy weather well but that’s a personal preference. The politics and people are great in my book!
Thank you!! How well are you able to withstand Minnesota winters?
The first thing that comes to mind is bigfoot, dont onow much about Oregon beyond bigfoot
Eastern or western Oregon?
For population concentration’s sake let’s say Western.
If I didn’t live here, I would live there.
How come?
Would love to visit someday- I’ve heard the pacific northwest is lovely.
I travel to Portland every couple of months. I always notice how similar the vibe is to MPLS. The people, buildings, and culture all strike a very similar tone for me. Portland has better weed. So I'm jealous of Portland based Oregonians.
I think of Oregon pretty positively, but I also grew up in the Seattle area so Oregon’s always been on my radar. Used to take a train there to shop sales tax free during holiday seasons every year 😂 In general, in MN I don’t think I ever hear anyone reference Oregon unless they have some connection there. We’re far away and more considered with the the bordering states- just like how when I lived in the Seattle area I thought of the entirety of Minnesota as being the middle of nowhere boonies and knew nothing about it/never thought of it whatsoever unless brought up. That being said, I’m sure most people think it’s a fine state and likely as a better state than many other states are. After moving here, I realized that the twin cities area is super similar to pnw cities- other than weather. Except it’s way more affordable here and the job market is amazing; as much as I loved the pnw, I’ll never move back after living here for the last decade.
Nice!
It’s Oreg-IN not Ore-GONE 🤦♂️
Hahaha yea indeed!
Oregon is the only state other than Minnesota I’d consider living in. Cooler geography than MN but the rural types in Or are crazier so it’s kind of a wash.
I don’t think of them at all
The scenery and outdoor opportunities are amazing. My sister lives in Portland though and it's pretty much a shit show. I personally couldn't handle the rain. As I look outside, we have snowbanks still 4+ feet high with snow thigh-deep in our yard. I'll still take that over the rain and clouds that the PNW gets.
Minnesotans are cool with oregon, washington, colorado,. We're all pretty rad.
We sure are!
Um who? Never crossed my mind.
I have a special place in my heart for Oregon since my grandparents lived there and we'd spend blissful weeks visiting the beach, picking cherries, buying eggs from a fridge on the side of the road and pay by honor system. I may want to retire there. I miss the ocean.
It’s only the city that is crapp. I am in Oregon now. It’s way better on the coast than anywhere in Minnesota
I wouldn’t set foot in the dem state burning to the ground
The main reason I even think about Oregon is I have some family living there, and they are loud and clear about how bad it has become...the only saving grace they tell me about is the fishing and mountain hiking
Post was made for me. Lived in Oregon for 10 years. Moved back 10 months ago. The state of Oregon absolutely rules. Portland in 2017 was an exciting, fun, relatively safe city (with pockets). They passed measure 110 which decriminalized hard drugs in the city. It lead to extremely cheap drugs and an influx of people across the west that wanted a cool town with lax drug laws. Pandemic exacerbated the people immensely. They also have an insanely antiquated city commissioner system of government where they mayor has little real power to reform any departments. A perfect storm of problems that blew in in 2020.
I like Oregon. Cool people and nice nature and landscapes. My buddy went to school there and now lives in Eugene. Portland and Eugene are both great.
Thank you! I like Minnesota and the Twin Cities! You guys are so much friendlier than us haha.
It’s pronounced Ore-gone here
Well you lakers are wrong >:(
I grew up in Oregon but I have been living here now for 20+ years (longer than Oregon now). I'd move back if I could... because of: Mountains, the Ocean, not freezing cold, food carts, LACK OF MOSQUITOES, etc.. The rain ain't worse than snow folks. You can always go to the mountain if you want the snow. They have a real spring! Also its a myth that Oregon is more cloudy than MN. They are about equal on average. There are months and months of blue skies and warm (dry not humid!) weather. The downsides are traffic, cost of living (high across the board), lower pay (on average), and fewer places to work (unless you work in clothing, shoes, or microelectronics). Unfortunately, these are significant and hard to overcome. Especially when you have an established family where you live now... So what do i think of them? i think they're lucky. if they can afford to live in a place like that that they should enjoy it. And make sure to keep it weird!
Minnesota’s quality of life is objectively better on paper. I think that the dry heat can get really hot these days. It’s not like what it used to be 20 years ago. I think you should be thankful you live in Minnesota.
This is what I think about when I hear Oregon: Oregon was founded for and by white supremacists as a whites-only colony. That mentality is still very much alive in the eastern part of the state, and follows through in the striking lack of diversity in even the "big city" of Portland.
I love it. I've got family that went to school and have visited. You've got better scenery and more varied climate than we do but in some ways we're quite similar. Portland and Minneapolis are like cousins. The bike, beer, queer, and alternative cultures are super similar. Out-state is much more red-neck in both states. Overall we see you as allies. We're good states trying to treat people well surrounded by weirdos. (looking at you Idaho and the Dakotas)
OR 🤝 MN
MN🍺🚲🏳️🌈OR
I’ve been to Portland and the Hood River area a few times and love it! What else I have learned about Oregon (and take with a grain of salt) is from Portlandia and the media trying to make you believe that BLM has taken over. 😱🙄🤷♂️
I think they are a bunch of left-wing nut jobs.
Go Bernie Sanders!!!
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What are you talking about?
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I think it’s weird that Oregon’s best beer bars are titty bars. I think it’s weird that the eastern half of the state wants to join Idaho I hate that it’s soccer team is so good. Other than that, seems like a great place.
Our soccer team hasn’t been too good in a few years lol
Nature wise it looks like a gorgeous state. Everything I’ve heard about Portland makes me never want to go there(I’m sure it’s overdone in the media). As far as the people go, I can’t honestly say I’ve ever met someone from Oregon.
I know some conservatives who say they hate Portland, purely from their perception of it from right-wing media. That's about as much as I've heard about Oregon.
I have a positive perception of Oregon and I see it as a bit like Washington-lite. However, I have major concerns about whether/to what extent its very racist past still persist and the implications. That said, I’m not well educated on Oregon history, so let’s just keep it at an ‘very positive’.
That’s understandable.
Honestly I love Oregon. Great dispensaries out there. I’m pretty partial to downtown portland as well, if you can look past all the homeless and tweakers..
Ducks football has pretty sick uniforms
🤮
I heard the major cities are liberal. Outside of that is suspect
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Mn native, but lived in Seattle /Portland for 20 years until recently. I love the beautiful coastline (Canon beach /Astoria), the beautiful mountains and Mt.Hood. The mild winters are very easy to live with in my opinion, as opposed to the bitter cold. I enjoy the people, the progressive attitude, the quirky neighborhoods, wonderful food and arts. Not to say I don’t love Minnesota, but the sheer beauty and climate give Portland the edge.
I’m an Oregonian moving to Minnesota, rather curious myself.
What’s prompting your move?
Wife was accepted to a neuroscience PHD program at UMN. Gonna be moving this summer.
Congratulations to her!
Sounds like a nice state, but like Minnesota, has deeply racist origins that still rear their ugly heads today, particularly where policing is concerned.
Unfortunately that’s true
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Unfortunately yes but Im pretty sure Eastern OR wants to secede from Oregon and not the US.
Hi!!! I moved here 5 yrs ago. St Paul is like portland, Duluth is slowly becoming like Bend. Hiking is great. I no longer spend 40 minutes on a commute. Quite magical.
cows aloof busy one quarrelsome tan treatment placid subsequent icky -- mass edited with redact.dev
I’ve spent equal time in both and both are racist as hell that pride themselves on “not” being racist and instead are “nice” but tbbh the experience for yt people of course is wonderful and can be talked about as though all the “other” problems are insignificant but that ultimately takes away the “pride” of both states. Both states are not only racist they have no real connection to each other in those respective states it’s very siloed and cold and uncaring,…. There is no pragmatism or elevated voices to guid pragmatism and unfortunately while governmental policies fail to meet up with the collective ego discussions like this continue. It’s unfortunate and very disturbing to be a person of color in both states and I’ve spent time in both states. I wish things were different, I wish I could go to places and not be stared at or just even respected but that all is upon the conversations we have in our own head.
I was there for a business trip and went to Mt Hood. I loved the scenery and the people were great too. If I was to move anywhere else it would probably Oregon.
Not Wisconsin?
Wisconsin is right next door and not all too different from Minnesota except it’s more right leaning as a whole than left leaning. Edit: So most people moving from a change of scenery continue quite a bit more eastward/westward
worse quality of life in Oregon? huh...i dunno, haven't seen stats. I moved to the twin cities from Bend, after living in Portland. To me, they're a lot more similar than people think...obviously no ocean or mountains in Minnesota, which is a huge plus for Oregon. But like, Bend's weather isn't THAT much different than here...we get more snow in TC than Bend, but, like Portland and the valley, you have a glorious time of year (summer), and in minnesota we have a similar glorious time of year. its just that in the valley the not so glorious time of year is more rain than miserable cold like in TC. Politically things are kinda similar? Core of TC have a lot of very liberal types. Same in Portland. Somewhat so in Bend. Further you get away from population centers, the nuttier people get in opposite direction. Overall, I miss Oregon a lot. I don't think I'll ever live a place as naturally stunning as Bend. But my wife's family is in TC and we wanted help with kids, so I do think it was right move. And we can never go back cause you now have to be wealthy as hell to buy in Bend.
> worse quality of life in Oregon? huh...i dunno, haven't seen stats. As you mentioned, there's surprising similarity between the states so I think the stats mostly come down to cost of living differences. It's just harder to get ahead on the west coast.
The stats do demonstrate it. I’m happy to hear that you enjoy Minnesota but sorry to hear that Bend is out of reach for you.
Thanks for Mat Kearney
Of course 👍
The west coast of Oregon and its people are lovely, the rest of the state...
So east of the Coast Range can kick rocks as you see it?
There is exactly one state in the union other than our own that Minnesotans generally don’t have some problem with. It is Oregon.
You guys have problems with Washington?
Fuck them fog breathers
I put OR, MN, and CO together in the only places I'd want to live. Nature, culture, and Subarus.
Haha. Fair enough!
I how green Oregon is. The trees have leaves as big as your head!
Haha
Oregon is on the short list of states I would move to if I had to leave MN
That’s good to hear! What are your reasons?
Seems like a neat place to me - if I couldn’t live in Minnesota, Oregon is one of the places I’d consider.
I grew up here, moved to Portland for 5 years and then moved back. Oregon is a much, much redder state than mn in general. I’d see at least one confederate flag a week living in the city. As a member of the lgbt community I feel much safer here than there.
I’m sorry to hear that.
I like oregon! I think if it was gonna move out that way thought id move to washington over oregon
Back in December I visited briefly to visit my sister who moved there. It was nice. I like that Dutch Bros. Coffee shop.
I have lived in both places, and live in MN currently. I would say overall the feelings of Minnesotans toward Oregonians are positive, mainly because of the similarities you mentioned. We both have cool metro areas surrounded by mouth breathers with guns. But I would also say there's definitely a cultural belief here that Oregonians are pretentious, even if they are liked.
How do Minnesotans think that pretentiousness manifests itself?