99% chance of relocating to Bend(area options for housing) (bank owned, fit in)

[Coniferian]

Coming from Colorado with humidity in the teens, we were surprised at humidity in central Oregon in the 70s, but considered high desert. This is the first house I've ever had with AC in 40+ years and we're glad to have it.

[BendLocal]

The river and cascade lakes are great for cooling off during the hotter summer days, but they are freaking cold. I didn't have AC for my first summer here and it was miserable.

[whirnot]

Originally Posted by Thom52

On the down side of CC&R's, we are required to have a front lawn. I find that absolutely shocking that Bend(high desert) isn't requiring new construction to be water efficient and at least require homeowners to be allowed to be lawnless, instead allows lawns as a requirement. I am bummed I can't do xeriscaping in the front yard.

That is just irresponsible. Does it state how much of the front is required to be grass? Remember CC&R's can be changed. Many are afraid of the process, but it really isn't that difficult if you have a lot of like minded people. I have been involved in such changes. The CC&Rs are not something the City has a jurisdiction over unless it is in opposition to City ordinances, then the ordinance carries by default.

Change it.

[mikalalnr]

Ok, well my family is moving to Bend at the beginning of July! Yay, super excited. My wife and I have both accepted jobs, so we are good to go with that. Now we are looking at the school situation, and I have been reading all i can about what school to send them to.
Our plan is to rent as cheaply as possible for the first year or two til we find if we want to stay, and then we will possibly look for real estate. We really don't want to transplant our daughter (who will be in third grade this fall) from one elementary to another after our move from Michigan, so we want to be in the district that we will eventually reside in permanently.

She has accepted work at St. Charles, and I will be a Field Service Engineer for a local copier company, servicing the greater bend area. So, St. Charles puts us on the east side of Bend for convenience sake, we'd like a school close to it. Since I'll be on the road everyday, i don't see an issue with my travel to and from work. Right now I commute 1 hour each way a day, and we commute our kids 25 minutes in the other direction for good schools/day care. One promising thing about Bend is its self-contained with nice schools and work so we really want to live/work/study/ all in a small area.

What are some opinions on schooling in the East side of Bend? All the reviews i read tell me that all the schools are good in their own way, and bad in their own respects too. We are a younger hippy oriented family who likes arts, and outdoors... we love our kids and dog. We like parks, and I love disc golf.

[Snownut]

Originally Posted by mikalalnr

Ok, well my family is moving to Bend at the beginning of July! Yay, super excited. My wife and I have both accepted jobs, so we are good to go with that. Now we are looking at the school situation, and I have been reading all i can about what school to send them to.
Our plan is to rent as cheaply as possible for the first year or two til we find if we want to stay, and then we will possibly look for real estate. We really don't want to transplant our daughter (who will be in third grade this fall) from one elementary to another after our move from Michigan, so we want to be in the district that we will eventually reside in permanently.

She has accepted work at St. Charles, and I will be a Field Service Engineer for a local copier company, servicing the greater bend area. So, St. Charles puts us on the east side of Bend for convenience sake, we'd like a school close to it. Since I'll be on the road everyday, i don't see an issue with my travel to and from work. Right now I commute 1 hour each way a day, and we commute our kids 25 minutes in the other direction for good schools/day care. One promising thing about Bend is its self-contained with nice schools and work so we really want to live/work/study/ all in a small area.

What are some opinions on schooling in the East side of Bend? All the reviews i read tell me that all the schools are good in their own way, and bad in their own respects too. We are a younger hippy oriented family who likes arts, and outdoors... we love our kids and dog. We like parks, and I love disc golf.

Below is a summary I found of some of the Bend Neighborhoods. Moderator cut: Link to neighborhood summary provided instead of just copying & pasting info. Information taken from http://www.centralorhome.com/bend-neighborhoods/ . You are really not far from St Charles and schools no matter where you live in Bend. We live on the west side on Awbrey Butte and my wife works at St Charles. Takes her about 15 minutes to get to work. Rentals are tricky to find, I think there is one in our neighborhood. PM me if you want a link?

[oregonwoodsmoke]

All the schools are good as long as the parents pay enough attention to make sure the child does the school work and doesn't hang out with the wrong crowd.

Cheap rent and best school are a contradiction. The best school is where parents make the most noise and participate the most and that is where families have money and expect their child to get into the best college.

[mikalalnr]

Its a shame that only peopme that make good money care about their child's education.

Were hard working and middle class and we care immensely about the education of our children. Too bad there isnt an area for up and coming families.

[BendLocal]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

Cheap rent and best school are a contradiction. The best school is where parents make the most noise and participate the most and that is where families have money and expect their child to get into the best college.

Why do you say that the best schools are where the parents make the most noise, and noise about what? How does that statement apply to schools located on the east side of town, where the rent is lower than on the westside?

[delta07]

Let's please not steer this convo off topic, thanks!

OP, what is your budget for rental housing? Right now, the Bend rental market is extremely tight everywhere. You may not have a choice as to where you want to live. Living cheaply, especially when it comes to rent, is going to be your biggest challenge in Bend.

In terms of schools, I honestly do not think there are any bad schools here. I am a former elementary school teacher and substituted at many of the Bend schools when I first relocated almost 7 years ago. While there may be some schools that score lower on standardized testing overall, it has nothing to do with the quality of education the students are receiving.

All of Bend is located within the Bend-La Pine school district, so you won't have to worry about switching districts unless you look outside of Bend proper. Tumalo is Redmond school district, so be aware of that. Personally, I have heard great things about both Juniper and Bear Creek Elementary Schools here on the east side of town. They are both magnet schools (Technology and Dual Language Immersion respectively). My husband and I live within the Juniper school district boundary, but we don't have children so I can't give you experience other than friends/neighbors satisfaction. I will say though, he appreciates being over here by the hospital for work, compared with living on the west side of town. Sometimes the traffic can be bad, compared to other small towns.

[Snownut]

Originally Posted by mikalalnr

Its a shame that only peopme that make good money care about their child's education.

Were hard working and middle class and we care immensely about the education of our children. Too bad there isnt an area for up and coming families.

Please don't be distracted by generalizations. I think you will find most parents and schools here are good.

In my experience, as a parent of 4 (ages 10-21) the child parent engagement becomes more challenging in middle and high school. The friends they choose, and school extra curricular activities are very important.

Parenting teen advise I received and I think is wise is : " Keep them busy and broke" Bored teens get into trouble with or without money.