It's Bend! Oregon!

Well, we're not going there to look for a job, and that's probably a good thing given the story below from the local paper, but we have decided to go give Bend, Oregon a try rather than other parts of the state or areas in Washington as discussed over the last few months.

Thanks again everyone for helping out in this decision. We'll be renting for a while, so it's anything but a permanent change - of all the places we looked, we liked Bend the best.

Mostly, it had to do with the winter weather (sunnier but colder versus gloomier and wetter) and the size of the town (big enough for all the good shopping, dining, etc. but with no freeway running through it).

The local real estate market offers some fantastic bargains on rentals and home prices appear to be in a virtual free-fall at the moment with lots of home built in 2004-2007 now going back to the bank faster than they know what to do with them.

Of course, the outdoor activities are why people go there and we'll be sure to take advantage of all of them - we might even take up fly-fishing.

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UPDATE: Wednesday, March 4th, 9:25 PST

In no particular order, a few of the most important pros and cons about the Bend area that are specific to our situation (e.g., things like the local job market and being so far from the ocean are just not that important to us):

Pros:
- Moderate summer temperatures
- Outdoor activities - hiking, camping, winter sports, golf
- Shopping and restaurants
- Not too big of a town (~80,000)
- Good selection of rental and foreclosed housing
- ROUNDABOUTS!!

Cons:
- Cold winters
- A little more isolated
- May be hit hard during this recession