5 Myths About the Pacific Northwest

It’s funny how different people have their own ideas about an area of the world in which they don’t live, or have never been. For example, there are those in New York City who have never ventured out of their hometown and think that Iowa is full of nothing but corn and cows. And that chocolate milk is made out of brown cows. I kid you not. (I hope you’re not one of those people!)

Bottom line is, legend and here-say is pretty powerful if you’ve heard or experienced nothing else to contradict it. Here are a few myths that I will do my best to debunk.

Most People in Oregon are Tree-Hugging Hippies

Marijuana is legal here, it’s true. And we do have our share of dreadlock-wearing, plaid-loving wanderers. But the vast majority of us are hard-working artists and professionals trying to live respectable lives just like the rest of you. But that doesn’t mean we don’t whole-heartedly cater to our hippie brethren in the form of the Oregon Country Fair, the Cascadia Rainingman Festival, and PCT thru-hikes.

It’s All Just a Bunch of Evergreen Trees…and oh yeah, Seattle and Portland

Oh, my goodness…where do I start? The Pacific Northwest is so many things. Diverse, cosmopolitan yet friendly cities, dense forest, temperate rainforest, brush-filled desert, the majestic Cascade mountain range, small-town casualness, and coastal wonderland. I could go on. Unless you move and live here for the rest of your life, you will never fully appreciate all the Pacific Northwest has to offer. And maybe not even then! I’ve lived here more than 20 years and I still haven’t experienced it all.

It rains ALL the time

This myth is probably hardest to debunk. I mean…look at the evidence! Things are most definitely GREEN here and how did it get that way? Yes…RAIN.  Despite that, there generally tends to be cloudy conditions from October through April. That does not mean that it is raining the entire time. And in the summer? Well, for the last three years we have had near-drought conditions where we did not see a lick of water between July and September. And who says global warming doesn’t exist? Wake up, people! I’m writing this in the thick of August and I’ve been dehydrated for weeks now!

Everyone drinks coffee and/or beer

Of course, there are great microbrews (some of the best in the world!) and the coffee here is second to none (ahem, NOT Starbucks), but there are many many of us (myself NOT included) who can’t stand either. I’ve always loved coffee, and if you do too, you would be doing yourself a great disservice if you kept only to Starbucks. On the contrary, steer as clear from the big S as you can. They double roast their beans, making the taste very bitter. Yuck! Please PLEASE visit a local, mom-and-pop coffee roaster and you will never be disappointed. Likewise with the beer. Choose local, property-brewed beer establishments and imbibe on the finest hops in the world.

Isn’t the entire west coast of the U.S. pretty much going to fall into the Pacific Ocean from the ‘Big Earthquake’ that’s coming?

Mmmmm….no. It’s just going to be California that will fall off the face of the Earth. Maybe. Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, while granted are part of the Faultline that will be involved in “The Big One” will no doubt suffer catastrophic damage, with downed buildings and no electricity for weeks on end. But after it’s all said and done, we will still be here and we WILL rebuild. Oh yeah, and we’ll also gladly take donations! So take comfort in that, at least.

But probably don’t expect there to be a Space Needle any longer.