I hear from some people that it is an atrocious environment for people of color. Others say it's an amazing, laidback environment which is highly tolerant, not expensive and safe. Who is correct?
Heaven. Its just like heaven. Well, if you stay west of the mountains. Eastern half of the state might as well be Idaho or Wyoming. Looks like them and the culture is the same. Western Oregon (Eugene, Portland) are more like you imagine Seattle. Depends on what you mean "people of color"---after leaving it I went to Maine for two years which I loved but it made me realize that Oregon was very Asian and had significant Hispanic and Black populations in the city I was in. That doesn't make Oregon as a whole any less "white" but the western urban/coastal half definitely has more racial/ethnic/religious mix and the cultural attitudes reflect that.
At the publishing company I worked in while in Oregon, there was a significant portion of the workforce (staff and editorial) who were minority. I'm sure many people had problems at some point but in the 1990s, when I was there, my friends seemed to find it extremely laid back and more "livable" as people of color than most places they had lived. Again, we are talking about a fairly well educated sampling in an urban area but they talked about it often and liked their area of Oregon.
I loved it and would return in a heartbeat. Lots of music, art, coffee, etc. Also, the idea that its pouring rain all the time is untrue. Fair number of "misty" or gray days so if you have one of those seasonal disorders, head for Arizona or somewhere.
