Yes, they "trust" you to shoot your own heroin, but not pump your own gas. Having lived in Seattle for 22 years, most of my formative adulthood, And now living in Texas and only 6 hours from Colorado, I have some perspectives.
Oregon is a complete disaster, lead by Portland. Yes, the anarchy you see on TV has always been there. They bounce between agendas in Seattle, Portland and the Bay area freely. Taxes? Through the roof, but not quite NY standards. It is true once you get out of the Portland area and head to Seaside down to Manzanita, Tillamook, Sea Lion Caves and in to Klamath Falls, things are a lot more mellow and people are reasonable. My experience has been that people get older and tired of the political and social drama and left Portland/Eugene. Still liberal, minus the douchebaggery that has become Portland. But, the governor is wishy washy and uses her fear to lead her to make decisions for everyone. The beer, wine and liquor scene here is pretty amazing. The Pacific Coast here is simply beautiful and ready access to Bend, Mt Hood and the Columbia River Gorge make it a pretty amazing place.
Colorado on the other hand has many more small pockets of conservativism. A larger base of traditional values. But, it also home to more true organized environmental activists than Oregon for sure. The upside is more protected areas, the downside is the gateway to potential limited use areas. Denver, Colorado Springs are definitely big city politics. But places like Loveland to the north and Pueblo to the south, are not as challenging. The food and beer scene here is uber legit. I've never lived here but visit several times per year to get away from the dirt and dust of Lubbock.
If I was 35 and looking to move my family? I'd take Colorado. At 53, if my wife and I had the ability to move today, I'd choose Colorado. If resources were unlimited at any point in my life, I'd choose Oregon where I could easily adapt my way of living more rural where Oregon has a better cost of living ratio outside Portland/Eugene.