Please help me live in a nice part of Bend!! (Portland: vacation, rent)

[lmacfa2]

Hey, anyone out there who knows some stuff about Bend, OR??
What are the different neighborhoods like (N, NE, W, SW, etc). Where is downtown, is that different from the Old Mill and is there affordable housing available? I live in Missoula, MT and love living around other young people or families, not in "nicer" neighborhoods necessarily, but possibly "burgeoning". Help please! Thanks!!
Signed,
A young professional about to move to Bend, OR to start her career!!

[Bendite]

Originally Posted by lmacfa2

Hey, anyone out there who knows some stuff about Bend, OR??
What are the different neighborhoods like (N, NE, W, SW, etc). Where is downtown, is that different from the Old Mill and is there affordable housing available? I live in Missoula, MT and love living around other young people or families, not in "nicer" neighborhoods necessarily, but possibly "burgeoning". Help please! Thanks!!
Signed,
A young professional about to move to Bend, OR to start her career!!

Bend is pretty much divided into four quadrants - NW, SW, NE and SE - as far as mailing addresses and street signs. Very generally, "old" Bend is just east of the Deschutes River (downtown) and across the Descutes into NW Bend. NW beyond that has newer housing and the Community College/ OSU campus. The further west you go, the more expensive the housing can get. SW Bend is newer and the housing overall is expensive. NE Bend has probably the least expensive housing choices, much of the housing is newer. The neighborhoods tend to be more cookie cutter the less expensive they are, but Bend is a friendly town and you'll find good neighbors nearly anywhere. SE Bend has some older expensive homes around the Bend Country Club and some inexpensive housing in a couple of areas around the railroad tracks that I consider Bend's worst place to live. Downtown is on the west side (not far from the east side) along the Deschutes River which spreads out and slows down into what is called Mirror Pond which you likely have seen a lot of pictures of. The Old Mill District is south of downtown, but in walking distance to downtown. It used to be the center for the lumber mills in Bend and is now a shopping area with some housing, mostly expensive, and one of Bend's largest employers, iSky. The east side of Bend is less expensive, generally speaking, than the west side - there are of course exceptions to that general rule. Not sure what affordable housing is to you, but for example, my daughter & son-in-law rent a two bedroom townhome with a nice size yard on the NE side and they pay about $800. The housing in the downtown area is varied. There are many old, very small houses in that part of town, which is where the millworkers lived. Some of them are teeny tiny and they rent for more than the townhomes on the NE side of town. If you don't have a job here yet, you might drive out first before packing up for a move. Check out the Bend Bulletin's online classifieds for housing and job listings. And good luck on your beginning career, whatever that may be!

[rtaryn]

There is definately a difference between the East and West side, at least to the Portlanders that moved here. I would definately say the westside is best. NW is downtown/college living, older cute bungalows and such. Out toward the mountain on that side you get into new developments. SW is also a lot of new housing, especially around the Old Mill. NE and SE also have all the norm, old and new. Like I said, West is best.
As for pricing, rent is starting at 700 for a small 2 bedroom... the housing has taken off and can get pretty expensive.
Just to let you know, the area is basically a mountain town in the desert like area of Oregon. It if full of yuppies, hippies and retired. A lot of vacation homes are located here and the summer is busy. I love it.