I've mentioned before that I dislike the East/West dichotomy that seems to have developed in Bend over the last 20 years or so. I've doubted whether it's all that true; or based more on false pretenses (such as the often claimed advantage of being able to "walk or bike" to all the wonderful westside amenities, when it appears to me that westsiders jump in their cars to do errands just like everyone else...)
Pretense seems to be the right word. There is s snobbish quality to the "West is Best" claims that puts me off. (I live in the Williamson Park neighborhood of Bend -- nice big lots, nice homes, nicely maintained.)
So I was all ready to argue with the map of "two cities" that the Bulletin published this morning.
But those red colors saturating the east side would seem to be hard to argue with.
But...is it really a meaningful measure? Land values compared to property tax values?
It seems to me the real measure of pain is whether the house buyer can afford the house he or she lives in. In other words, the foreclosure rate would seem a more accurate gauge. And the last time I saw a foreclosure map, it was spread pretty evenly.
As someone said in the article, values are "neighborhood" specific. For instance, I noticed that the most expensive part of all Bend -- the northwest hills, was saturated with almost as much pink and red as the east side.
Is it painful to the average homeowner that "vacant" lots on the east side have dropped significantly?
Like I said, I'm just not sure how it matters to the average homeowner whether the assessed value of his home has dropped.
It matters whether he can pay for it.
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I think there were a lot more houses built on spec on the east side during the boom, and when the bust came there were no buyers for them. That's what makes the east side (especially the northeast portion) look redder than the west side.
When we moved here 25 years ago the east side was generally considered more desirable than the west side, except for Awbrey Butte and the neighborhood around Mirror Pond. But sometime around 20 years ago a decision was made (consciously or unconsciously) to steer the quality development to the west side and steer the crap to the east side. That probably had a lot to do with where Brooks Resources and other powerful local developers had land they wanted to build on.
Court: No right to resist illegal cop entry into home
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This is the MOST chilling fuckhead of a story coming out of saddam&gomorrah today, now a fucking cop can come in your home illegally and you can't stop the MOFU.
Now we back step common law to pre magna-carta, I hope you law & order fuckheads are happy. BendHappy(tm).
Pure & simple why would anyone bother doing anything other than pass through the east-side, back in the day there was the hamburger joint on hwy-20, ... Then there was the 1st costco in Bend, ok reason #2 to venture, and then there are trips to Burns or French-Glen, ...
There are simply no other reason for a human to venture on the the eastside of I97,
There is only one argument for the east-side, and that is that you can sell the worthless desert land to newbie cali's who don't know any better. But you'll note that all the developers that built the shit-shacks live on the westside,
That said, now that all the developers lost their $1M+ homes on the westside they're now living in below $100k east side rentals.
Ok poverty with a view? Who is poorer and who has a better view of Pilot Butt?
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