This time a travel article (wow, Bend a travel destination? Who would’ve thunk it) in the LA Times (BugMeNot required). Thanks Kina for the link.
Actually, I prefer Bend to be known as a “travel” destination not a “transplant from California, move in permanently, destroy the small-town feel” destination. As much as I gripe about tourists, at least tourists eventually leave.
This certainly might be another time to plug my “Welcome To Bend” t-shirts.
Comments
LOL. I had another idea for a T-shirt: “Keep Oregon Tidy … Leave your litter in California!”
I have a few questions for you:
1) How do you feel about people who can no longer afford the prices in Bend and move someplace less expensive?
2) How do you feel about illegal aliens who come to the United States?
3) How do you feel about Californians who move to Bend? How about compared to #2?
These questions are not unrelated. 🙂
Re: Dave, IMHO I am fine with #1-#3, so long as the emmigrants in question do what they can to prevent personally disrupting the surroundings that they emmigrate to.
Oh yes and I had an over-arching point of some kind too, danged if I can remember it now however. Carry on! 😉
I’m tired of the tourists, the californians and drug importers…
It was a much better place when all we were was a saw mill…
1. IF they like living in Bend… I feel bad for them.
BUT if they USED to like it here and now complain about how much it’s changed and how it’s not “their Bend” anymore… then I will help them pack and move to their “new Bend” (wherever that happens to be). I have only lived here for a short time and have still witnessed plenty of change. But … change happens. Hopefully it is all for the better! (In the long run, anyways!)
2. Don’t get me started. There isn’t enough room in the comments section for me to rant about this topic. I think it’s a problem. Nuff said.
3. Some of my good friends are reformed Californians. They moved here because they love the outdoors and they care about the community. I don’t think that can be said for *all* of the people that move here – regardless of whether they came from California or somewhere else.
Exactly what are you contributing to make Bend better by flaunting your elitist “there’s enough room here for me, but not anyone else” attitude?
How about doing more than pontificating about how bad things are? Contribute.
Sign me up for all of your t-shirts so I can have a ceremonial burning of the them and the lame negativity that lives with them.
Cheers 🙂
Go ahead and burn my shirts all you want — if I make a few bucks, you can use them as dish rags, I don’t care.
I don’t have a problem with people moving here, it’s the attitude that they’re bringing with them. The City of Bend and the County are to blame just as much for allowing the kind of dense development and uncontrolled planless growth. They’re just rolling in the money from the builder fees and don’t really want to change.
And I would hardly consider myself elitest — just a grumpy young codger ;-).
It seems to be a trickle-down effect. People move to California for the employment, or to live in the United States, and it drives up all the home prices. So Californians move to Central Oregon, which drives up all the home prices. So Central Oregonians move someplace cheaper…
It’s the same story all over. I do think that the people who move here to Central Oregon need to blend in, to learn and enjoy the local culture, to do things the Bend way, and not just expect it to be like it was whereever they came from. It’s not, and it shouldn’t be.
As a Bend resident, I feel the need to express my opinion on the area from the time that i moved to present day. One upon a time, Bend, Oregon was a quiet, quaint, charming place free of the urban vibe. It catered to locals, good friends, and a common cultural interest in the outdoors. In a years time, the tranquility has without regard, been profoundly interrupted by countless BMW’s and Mercedes’ with California license plates containing people carelessly sipping lattes while talking on their cell phones. The Los Angles way of life has adversely affected the quality of life here in Bend, as locals are forced to deal with a culture of people who simply impose their will upon others. “Bidding wars” on houses have sprouted throughout the area as ordinary, hard working people can no longer afford homes in the area. Traffic congestion has reached a level bordering on absurdity. Local members of the work force are forced to give up half of their lunch hour to waiting in line for a cafe filled with people leisurely sitting around with nowhere to be and all day to get there. Very sad.