why does almost nobody live here?

Comments

• fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  There’s a mountain separating House of Oregon oh well I’m old valley, which is the good agriculture land in the state. The city of Portland is located where the Willamette River reaches the Columbia river. The mouth of the Columbia, where Astoria is, is not navigable. The mouth of the Columbia river is famously called the graveyard of the Pacific because it’s so treacherous to try and cross by boat. The coastal Oregon is hilly without natural ports

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• Otherbarry@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Not sure if this applies to the entire northwest coast but I had a friend from a small town in the northwest who said the water was colder and there were more sharks in those waters. So it wasn’t like beachfront property where people would regularly go swimming.

  Also like the other comment mentioned those areas also tend to be steeper, more cliffs, etc so I imagine developing property around there could get expensive, and that’s ignoring if any of those areas are park / natural preserve areas.

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  • rhymeswithduck@sh.itjust.works ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Sharks? Lol, no. At least I’ve never heard of any, and I’ve lived in the northwest for a long time. But the water is cold, yes. Also I think tsunamis are possible in that area, though uncommon. The main highway runs north-south along the coast rather than turning inland, so it might be hard to evacuate if there was one.

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• etherphon@piefed.world ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  There’s lots of small chill beach towns, seems like a lovely place to live really. Been considering moving there actually 😆

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• andrewrgross@slrpnk.net ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  First, I’ve been to Astoria Oregon, and I assure you that people live there. It’s not Vancouver, but it’s a legit town.

  But I get your question. I think the answers are complex and technical, but my understanding is that people migrate and settle, and then population centers often grow based on a mix of natural features and where human-made resources like centers of education are constructed. So it’s really more of a question of why were the locations of Portland and Seattle better.

  I’m not a geographer, so I don’t know the precise features, but my guess is that Portland and Seattle were located in areas that offered most of the benefits of this coastal region in terms of access to the ocean but had greater benefits and fewer downsides. I’m just speculating here, but my first guess would be that the weather inland is less intense. It might also provide better access to freshwater and arable land.

  But people do live there. And if you live in Newport or Lincoln City you’re two hours from an international airport. That’s not exactly undeveloped wilderness. People just chose to settle a bit more inland along bays, which considering how rough the weather in the coastal Pacific northwest can be, seems sensible.

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• huquad@lemmy.ml ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  In addition to what the other commenters have said about being hilly, the water side is also difficult to live on without a good boat. Might be an up and coming spot in the water world though.

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• Blaster_M@lemmy.world ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  The Olympic Exclusion Zone is expanding

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