What Is Bends Big Secret?

[Stiigander]

Originally Posted by Pablo

Bend has a large African American population and is a very open community.

Um... try NOT!
Bend is, unfortunately, pretty 'pale' on the diversity scale.

[toulousaine]

To be serious, unfortunately Bend (as well as many towns in Oregon) do not have much racial diversity. I remember when we moved to Oregon ( I was 8) from So Cal, I was wondering why everyone was so white? (I am white, but never gave a thought to race since i was around all colors of people until then).
Bend used to be a small redneck cowboy town/ski destination (LOL) but now it is very "trendy" (but you still have the rednecks mixed in). Redmond is less desireable for the reasons another poster relayed.
Bend is a wonderful place to visit, but much too cold and expensive for me. It's fun to go for a weekend and eat at some great restaurants and take in the sights.
And the 300 plus day of sunshine a year is what we were told too...but it's not true.

[Lintee]

My husband and I moved to Bend from the Cincinnati area about 1-1/2 yrs ago. We love it here, but it is quite expensive. Most of the newcomers are from California. I have seen probably 5 African American's the entire time I have been here. This is a very friendly town... service people in restaurants, stores, grocery stores - everyone is very helpful and friendly. It is colder in the winter than I had expected, but pretty sunny. You can see the snow-covered mountains from the city. The downtown is very quaint with botiques, nice restaurants, outside markets in the summer - connected to Drake Park with the scenic Deschutes River running thru it. Lots of walking and biking paths. Snowmobiling/skiing 1/2 hr away.
I live on the NE side of Bend - The West side is a LOT more expensive. I have a problem with the very small sized lots that they are building new houses on. If you want a new house 2000 sf with decent size lot on the west side it would be 1 mil +. Average newer size 1600 sf house in rest of Bend is about $350,000. Redmond does have more "rednecks" and just doesn't have the "character" of Bend... houses are a little less in Redmond. They have a good hospital with great drs/dentists. They do need more shopping and restaurants. My husband misses sports.... there is a big community college here - no 4-yr college. The closest big city is Portland which is a 3-hr drive over the mountains, which can be tricky in the winter. The job market can be tricky also - lots of home construction jobs, but not too much else. A lot of people complain that Bend is getting too big and traffic is horrible, but coming from a bigger city like Cincinnati I just laugh.... in rush hour it may take you 3 minutes longer to get home!

[Shnanigan]

My family & I currently live on the Oregon Coast. My family is trying to talk me into entertaining the idea of moving to Bend. I am a Supervisor at a large in-bound call center and given my experience I would prefer to stay with that industry. I heard a rumor of an AOL call center in Bend. Can anyone confirm if there are any call centers in the Bend or Redmond areas? I would appreciate it if someone could share the call centers, their names, and possibly if you are aware if they are hiring management staff. I will continue to monitor this forum for any new postings.

[sunshine48]

We've lived here since 1999 and I can tell you that Bend primarily White. The next predominant skin color is Brown, which is continually growing. I bet I've only seen 10 Blacks here in nearly 8 years.

If this is important to you............check it out more thoroughly. Bend is not very diverse concerning this matter.

I've not heard anyone in Bend, even talk about this.

Best of luck.

[goplay]

Redmond has services but not much class. Downtown is nice looking but businesses change out often. Traffic is a nightmare...although they are planning a HWY 97 reroute around town. Bend is classier but expensive. I think its a llittle too ritzy for simple me. If you like golfing, skiing, biking and spending lots of money, Bend is great. If you want affordable, go somewhere else. All in all, I think Bend is nice to visit on a vacation but living here (if you are just working class) stinks because you can't afford to be a homeowner AND do the fun things. Also, winter is long and when summer finally gets here it is full of smoke and dust.

[ajohn08]

Where east of Park City? And do you still feel the same way about Park City vs Bend currently?

[iPwn]

I like Bend!!!!

Awesome natural setting.