Muff, thanks for describing the rural PNW experience as well. I think the articles posted were more about the urban and suburban experience, so it's a good reminder that there is more to the PNW than Seattle and Portland. I think the neighborhoods that I've lived in around Seattle, Seattle burbs, and Olympia burbs, very much had that genuine desire to help each other out when needed, whether it was jumping someone's car, moving a couch, or building a fence. But as far as the kind of closeness, such as knowing when your neighbor's aunt has cancer, I think that's kind of rare. Maybe that's what people find so wierd about us: that the desire to avoid conflict or negativity is stronger than the desire to connect.