A social phenomenon that occurs in the Portland
Oregon area. It explains the difficulty of making new friends in the city of
Portland, OR, especially being a transplant from outside of the city or state. New residents tend to describe Portlanders as generally polite but not warm and friendly. Very similar to the Seattle Freeze but possibly more perplexing because of the significant number of
non-Oregonian/transplants in recent years.
Transplant: Hey, let's meet up sometime!
Portlander: *awkward
silence for a few seconds*... Yeah. But I don't think I can,
sorry.
Transplant: Hey, you heard of the
Portland Freeze?
Portlander: Not really. Most people are transplants anyway. Maybe you're just not social.