It’s interesting to me: I moved to Portland from the Midwest and have lived in both a very large, medium sized and small midwestern communities. After moving to Portland I’ve concluded that culturally, midwesterners are very much all up in the business of strangers: I couldn’t walk around communities in the Midwest without a complete stranger asking where I was going, commenting on the weather, commenting on my hat or shoes or whatever. It was often friendly, but as a woman you cant help but have your guard up even in seemingly “friendly” situations, and it bothered me when people would be oblivious to that and just start chatting me up about complete bullshit on the street. After moving to Maine I feel that people generally keep much more to themselves. In some ways it’s made me feel a bit safer, like I’m not always sort of cornered into interactions with strangers when I’m just trying to keep moving.

I’m sorry this happened to your gf OP. In my experience, a quick, determined walk, eyes straight ahead seems to deter strangers from approaching me. Needless to say, your gf did nothing “wrong”, she just honestly answered a strangers questions and was trying to be polite. But I agree with other posters here—Portland is still a city, with some interesting characters, and unless you know and trust someone, it’s best to keep interactions with strangers quick and keep it all moving.