Does Portland,Oregon have a large Hawiian population?

Question

While I was on vacation in Portland I was in a Rite Aid talking to a woman who moved to Portland from Hawaii. She tells me that there are tons of Hawaii transplants in Portland. Is this true?

Answer 1

They may not all be Hawaiian...But yes many people who live in Hawaii do move to Portland, Oregon.

I believe it can start in college. Many students go to these colleges because they both close to home so they can fly back for vacations. But at the same time be away from their parents and learn independents.

They might live there for the rest of their lives and come back to Hawaii for vacation.

Or be like my Hawaii born aunt who lived there for several years and came back to Hawaii to live.

Answer 2

There are more Hawaiian Transplants in Las Vegas and Phoenix then there is in Portland...

But Hawaiian transplants are all over the 50 states!!

So spread the Aloha!!

Answer 3

There is a small, but growing community of not just Hawaiians, but Pacific Islanders in generall.

A guy I graduated with this Spring presided over the Pacific Islanders student group at Portland State and grew it into a vibrant organization.  They host a big luau and do alot to promote PI culture.  He really worked hard on the group because the PI community was kind of isolated when he was growing up.  He was always pushed into Black or Native American Studies classes as he tried to learn about his own heritage.

PSU does recruit students from Hawaii quite a bit, especially in pursuit of the stereotypical "Samoan Football player" and one of the main goals of the group was to get people to know that Pacific Islanders have rich culture that offers so much more than just big guys for the defensive line.  The islanders that did play ball also used the group to help fight that stereotype.