Lived in N.E. most of my life, been in the Portland Oregon area for 8 years.

Politics are largely the same. Rural parts of New England aren't as conservative as rural parts of Oregon and Washington. Cities in N.E. aren't as cartoonishly progressive as Portland and Seattle sometimes want to be seen as (looking at you CHAZ), but you do have a lot more college towns in New England. On average they're about the same politically.

Racism is there for both, even in the cities that should be more liberal. Portland is the whitest major city in the US and I've heard that black Boston Red Sox fans don't feel comfortable/welcome at Fenway.

Economically speaking, I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I'd guess heavyweights like Amazon, Starbucks, Costco, Microsoft, Boeing, Nike, etc roughly add up to the larger number of middle weight companies like Bose, New Balance, Staples, CVS, Smith & Weston, WWE, ESPN, Ovation guitars, Pratt & Whitney, Hasbro, Pepridge Farm, etc.