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Bend, Oregon?
Monday, February 16, 2009
We still haven't made a final decision on exactly where in Oregon we are moving in a few months. Weather permitting, we're going to visit Bend later this week.
Anyone with any thoughts on the area they'd like to share is encouraged to do so in the comments section. Yeah, I know it's cold there in the winter, but aside from that...
11 comments:
You should move to Vancouver, BC: nice city, mild weather, loads of mining and.....hey are not bankrupt there.
the good thing about your choices is that you've picked some great places. we moved from chicago to portland about 6 years ago --- portland is a great mid-size city that many describes as a european feel to it --- bend is a picturesque big town ---- vancouver BC has an international and cosmopolitan feel to it --- but more expensive. f these are your top 3, you've done well on your picks! keep us posted.
kevin
www.bullinachinamarket.com
Let me know if you need some insight from a trader who has lived in Bend for 8 years. Happy to share insight.
misstrade@gmail.com
Most overpriced residential market in the US??
There is a lot to like about Bend, and then some not-so-great stuff. Marku and I like the high desert and the Ponderosa pine forests on the eastern slopes of the Cascades. I am a geologist by training, so wandering around whacking volcanic things with a rock hammer is always high on my list.
The pluses: The outdoors. More sunny days than the other side of the Cascades (they'll say 300 days of sun but that's pure BS), and even with the increase in altitude the sky doesn't seem so low overhead when it's cloudy. Reasonable array of shopping and amenities, especially given the size of the town (Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, a great fish market on Revere St. that also serves fish tacos, many good restaurants). Some fun festivals (Winter, Summer, film, etc). Really good beer.
Downside: far too-rapid growth over the last decade left the infrastructure in the dust. The traffic jam that is Old Hwy 97 and the new 97 bypass is ridiculous for how small the town is. Tourist season makes it much worse. Even during the construction boom, good jobs were scarce. Huge disparity in income levels - the big houses that went up in the hills are, often as not, part-time summer or winter places. During the RE boom, Bend had Aspen-like problems, where the people who worked the low-paying jobs couldn't afford to live in town and had to commute from outlying communities. Short gardening season with very cool-to-cold springs.
The big question is: if Bend isn't going to be a retiree or second-home mecca, surviving on building new houses for the burgeoning population, then what will people do for a living?
Oh, and...
Bend has a thriving-if-very-bitter Doomer community:
http://bendbubble2.blogspot.com/
I went on a mountain biking trip for a week in Bend a couple summers ago. Great place-- some wonderful cafes in town, very picturesque location, great mountain biking.
At the time (summer '07), prices seemed pretty crazy-- it felt almost as expensive as Vancouver, BC at the time. A bit cheaper, but a heck of a lot more expensive than I'd have expected.
Lots of residential construction going on-- dump trucks madly scurrying about while I was biking around town, lots of developments on the edge of town. Visiting a friend-of-a-friend (an architect), indicated that the construction-driven local economy was on its way out, and prices were dropping.
Prices look downright reasonable now!
Thanks for all the thoughts - as soon as it stops snowing long enough, we're going to go have a look.
Tim
Bend Oregon is one of the best places on earth to live. As a real estate broker I have several retired couples a year moving here from out of state.
You are missing out on Denver, CO or Colorado Springs, CO.
Check this out http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1096/community-satisfaction-top-cities.
Have family in both Colorado Springs and Denver - Denver (to me ) is too crowded and far too smoggy, and Colorado Springs, due to the influence of Focus on the Family and the AF Academy is far too right-wing. Even in casual visits every year or so it's very clear that there is an AGENDA in town.
Fort Collins/Loveland would be a better pick, IMO.
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