As a native Oregonian, I remember the times when people couldn’t correctly place Oregon on a map. Sure, a few people who thought trees were cool thought it was “a nice place.” But for the most part, I felt like Oregon didn’t exist to everyone else in the world. Oregon seemed to be easily forgotten.
At 18 years old, I moved to southern California for my first semester of college and that’s when I knew that Oregon was cool. After telling people where I was from, I’d get a lot of the same responses. “Oh my god, I’ve always wanted to go to Oregon. I hear it’s so pretty!” or “Is it really like in Portlandia? Isn’t everyone a hipster there?” I also began to see my home state on the Travel Channel, in more films and on every top list for breweries, coffee shops and local food around the country.
Scott Steinman, a junior at UO from Bend, Oregon, has experienced the same thing. “I would definitely agree that Oregon’s popularity as a state has grown pretty significantly. I went back to my hometown and noticed a huge influx in the amount of people, not only for tourist reasons but also for residency,” said Steinman.
How did this all happen, you might ask? Here’s my analysis of how Oregon became cool.
Reason #1: Social media let the secret out.
There’s no denying that Oregon is beautiful. So much beautiful foliage, an abundance of water and many scenic views. But Oregon was the nation’s best-kept secret until social media started showing it off. With the creation of Facebook and Instagram, suddenly the whole world was catching on to how gorgeous it really is here. Telling someone about an awesome hike you did or a waterfall you saw is one thing, but post a picture of it and people will want to experience it too.
Reason #2: The outdoor fitness fad.
For some reason, the super cool thing to do right now is to go on epic, outdoorsy adventures and then post about it. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but it’s certainly a trend right now. And what better place to go on adventures than in Oregon? We have tons of hiking trails with scenic views, several mountains to snowboard or ski down and beautiful parks for camping and rock climbing. For the H2o lovers, we have an ocean, rivers, lakes and even hot springs. Oregon is an adventurer’s dream.
Reason #3: Oregon has developed its own culture and brand.
Oregon now has symbols other than just the fir tree. Our state is now coffee snobs, beer and food buffs, hipsters, outdoor adventurers and environmental activists. Though this type of culture has been around in Oregon for quite some time, Portlandia was the first to successfully advertise it. Though the show’s characters exaggerate Oregonian personalities, I’d have to say that they’re at least a little bit accurate. More than anything, Portlandia put a face to those who live in Oregon, a memorable stereotype that helped make our state famous.
Of course, there are several factors that have contributed to Oregon’s popularity over the years. But these three particular reasons have stood out to me over my 20 years of growing up in the state.
The UO demographics also reflects these trends on a more local level. In 2004, only 29.2 percent of UO students were from outside of Oregon. Since then, that number has risen to 46 percent. That means that almost half of our enrollment is made up of students coming from outside of Oregon. Obviously something is drawing people to Oregon now more than ever.
When asked why he wanted to move to Oregon, John Leonard, a student from Boulder, Colorado said, “I really like the weather here. . . It’s very lush and I like that a lot.”
Oregon’s weather and environment were popular reasons for coming to Oregon for out-of-state students. Anthony Meyer, a Ph. D. student from Modesto, California, chose Oregon for grad school because of its “proximity to California,” while also being “more green here. Where I’m from, it’s so dry.” Meyer also spoke a lot about loving to be outside and how “people are very outdoorsy here.”
Whatever your reason for living in Oregon—the trees, the caffeine, the adventures or the granola vibes—you can be proud that you live in a state that’s so damn cool.
Follow Lindsay McWilliams on Twitter @lindsaymacwill