It's always fun and enlightening to get the perspective of newcomers to Bend.
We sit and stew over Juniper Ridge and Mount Bachelor and downtown restaurants, and think that everyone else is doing the same.
But a newcomer doesn't really know the dynamics and history of Bend, has no real perspective, on what's going on.
Which can be a blessing, I suppose.
I had a young lady in yesterday, who was kind of picking my brain about Bend. (I should have warned her how dangerous THAT is. Little did she know....)
Anyway, she was surprised when I told her I was a native of Bend. "You're the first one I've run into!"
She's probably reading this, so I hope she doesn't mind if I try to recreate our conversation. I could tell she was a very smart person and I give her kudo's for trying to learn about Bend...it seems like so few newcomers even make the attempt. She can correct me if I'm wrong. (I'm being a little silly, so forgive me.)
She had just moved to Bend with 3 others to start what I gathered was a 'high tech' operation; you know, something to do with computers.
"Wow. You're just the sort of people that Bend is looking for. Why did you move to Bend?"
I know what she'll say: Bend's a beautiful place, we are outdoor people. we ski, and we love it here. Whoops.
"Oh, we were planning to open in Portland, but we passed through Bend, and decided it was cheaper here..."
"Cheaper?"
"Yeah, way cheaper than San Fran, or Seattle."
"Hum. You realize that Bend is almost the most expensive place in Oregon?"
"Yeah, we also figured since there was so little night life, that we could get our work done quicker. No distractions."
By now, I'm getting amused. But she has come to Bend by way of New York, S.F. and Seattle. We must seem really, really small to her. All the hustle and bustle of our 'high end' restaurants must seem quaint.
"Do you have any tech get-togethers here?" she asks.
"I wouldn't know, all I do is point and click." But I give her my blog name, and figure she might make connections through the Twitter. Her other big concern about Bend was it's "lack of infrastructure...."
For all you people who think that Bend is exceptional, and wonderful, and everyone wants to live here because of the outdoors and the great amenities downtown, and sure it's expensive but worth it -- I give you the proceeding conversation for perspective.
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I am wondering if we still hold the "most expensive place in Oregon" as of the last few months. Housing has to be a big part of that, and as we all know it's getting cheap quickly. If medians hold at $195k this month that puts housing at "affordable" levels according to the National City report, and medians are most likely going to drop below $150k by late fall. We are dropping faster than anywhere else in the state, and that has to count for something.
You still didn't tell me what's interesting about this weeks SORE, the only thing I might suspect was the anon letter to editor about the fact that the Bend cops are completely out of control? Well the police captain just got caught running an RE ponzi scheme with his wife. Last year a Bend cop got busted for a DUI up in walla-walla for failing to stop, and DUI. Last year a cop got busted for 120mph, and failure to stop on Santiam pass with a child on his motorcycle.
How come we never here about these out of control cops here in BEND?? How come they never get busted?? Oh, the FBI just busted one of our own.
Please quit fucking with me Dunc, what is the story in the SORE that you think that I would find interesting??
Comment on the little 'gal' and PGB, she ain't going to BUY a home here, cuz she'll never stay long term, glad the kid confirms me, that the nightlife sucks, I could/would go out dancing every night if there was a place in this fucking town. Even when the Moon Mtn Ramblers play people in Bend don't get off their ass until the second set. In PDX people are on the floor ready to go before the music starts and all ages 21-90.
Bend NIGHTLIFE SUCKS. All the good music folks have left town, because they can't even make a living here, all we got left now is people who do music as side-job/hobby.
You found it, thus we got Bilbo's opus again....
Who do you think wrote it? What was his point??
This to me is an old story, something that goes back to perhaps 2002, when the city told the cops their #1 priority was making things pretty for tourists. Today @BB2 I talked about how Bend is disneyland, that everything in this town was a placed prop, like the flower pots downtown.
Bend cops are an un-bridled horse, what does one expect when a town is ran by whores and the almighty real estate dollar is all that matter's?? Surprised anyone that the police-captain himself got caught with his dick in the RE cookie jar??
So who wrote the letter? What is his agenda, it wasn't me dunc, cuz I know a lot about cops, just like marge I have been around cops a lot of my life.
1.) Like Blade Runner: There are cops and little people, always been that way, in just about all citys, there are no mayberrys.
2.) If you can't be a cop, marry a cop.
3.) There was no city-cops prior to 1890's they were created by corporations at the turn of the last century to break unions. Modern police are a means to protect the ruling class from the people at the people's expense. Anyone expect that the cops become cynical. So long as city-cops don't fuck with the ruling class, they're free to do as they wish.
4.) Rule #1 in cop world is to cover your ass, and make it to pension. Rule #2 is to cover other cops ass so they make it to pension. Rule #3 is to fuck everyone else.
Yes, Bend's cops are out of control, but every fucking element of the city is out-of-control; Is this news?? Why did you find this interesting?? Why did you play the game "Hey Bilbo guess what story in the SORE you might find interesting??" Did you write it?? Do you know who did??
Does anybody here agree with the story? Is it topical enough for dunc to make a subject, or only for me to guess, and add my two cents??
Now Ned Flanders before you make me angry, tell me what you think? Make a subject out of this if you find it interesting, I don't very much bash cops, and I have done it once a couple of summers ago over the god-damn $500 dog-off leash tickets, every cop in town down at the river writing the fucking tickets, all the while Knife-River tandem dump-trucks ran 50mph in the 20mph, but like the guy in the SORE said, the cops in Bend go after easy pickin's.
Sorry, Buster. I was being too coy. I was just referring to HBM's post on Sauron. I thought that would really set you off.
Not sure about your cop references.
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