H. Bruce's disgruntlement with Bend is kind of a mystery to me.
I chose to come back to Bend after college. There weren't any jobs here for me, but there didn't seem to be any jobs for me anywhere else either. I got some gardening clients through my Mom's reputation, and earned just enough to be able to write.
I was still trying to be a full time writer, and for that I could live anywhere I wanted. It was cheaper to live here then, cheaper to be a Bohemian. Almost immediately, I started filling in at Pegasus Books when the owner needed to get away, and of course, working in a comic book store was kind of fun also.
I was poor but happy. Met Linda at Farewell Bend Writer's Group, and that too was good. The store moved downtown and I bought it a year or so later and we struggled for a decade just to get a few sales everyday...But it was O.K. because we were all in it together. We were all Bohemians then.
Anyway, to me Bend has always had an atmosphere, an ambiance, a smell and a touch, I can't explain it, that feels good. A vibrancy, and a life. To me, the cities on the other side of the mountains feel kind of dark and weed-infested and somewhat polluted. The towns east of Bend seem somewhat forlorn and abandoned.
Bend was JUST RIGHT. (I'll get nailed to the wall by H. Bruce for that one...)
I admit, the town has changed. I'm not enamored by the big chain stores, and the "cultural" snobbery I sometimes see. I don't care about the fancy restaurants and clothiers and art galleries and jewelry stores.
But I just let my eyes glaze over them, and the outlines of "old" Bend are still here. There are still your salt-of-the-earth residents. The gated community people had conveniently walled themselves out of my sight, thank you very much. Golf courses could be on Mars for all I care.
Weather? Hell, weather happens. What god giveth on one hand he taketh away with the other.
I know that as much as Linda likes Bend, she could just as easily move to Portland to be nearer her kids. Bend is all right by her, but no more so than a thousand other places.
But I love seeing the mountains every clear day, (yeah, yeah, Bruce...) driving out to the high desert and being alone, sitting by the river or creeks. I don't hunt or fish, like my Dad did. Too much trouble. To me hunting and fishing was just an excuse to get out into nature and I don't need no excuse.
I wish I did more of it, but I'm trying. I'm comfortable with the gardening allowed to me (again, I think that, despite here Central Oregon gardening prowess, my Mom would have rather been in the valley for the opportunities it would have given her.)
Looking back, I think that being in a depressive state through most of my 20's just gave me a very modest goal of a decent life. Just a normal life. Somewhere where I DIDN'T stand out in a crowd as weird. (Didn't quite pull that one off...) Bend was and is comforting to me.
I think some people get disappointed by Bend. It promises too much, and delivers too little. Growing up here, I instinctively knew that. It's a modest tourist town. I can live with that.
I'm not saying Bend is the greatest place in the world, but it don't SUX.
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22 comments:
It will sux big time if OSU four-year university takes root. Say goodbye to peaceful neighborhoods, those non-gated anyway.
Dunc, you've found your comfort zone, and there's nothing wrong with staying in it. You grew up in Bend, it's familiar and fits you like an old shoe, and that's fine ... for you.
For many years I was quite contented in Bend too, but that has changed. For one thing, as you acknowledge, Bend itself has changed; it no longer has the small-town charm that drew us here back in '85. For another thing, I've changed -- I'm 27 years older. The endless winters are less tolerable to me now. I have certain mental and physical issues that are exacerbated by lack of sunshine and cold weather. Why should I stay and suffer if I don't have to?
"Anyway, to me Bend has always had an atmosphere, an ambiance, a smell and a touch, I can't explain it, that feels good. A vibrancy, and a life. To me, the cities on the other side of the mountains feel kind of dark and weed-infested and somewhat polluted. The towns east of Bend seem somewhat forlorn and abandoned."
Once again, let me point out that Oregon is not the whole world.
Absolutely, Bruce.
Makes sense. In fact, your Bend Sux is a kind of antidote to all the boosterism, so keep on keeping on.
"I think some people get disappointed by Bend. It promises too much, and delivers too little."
Amen to that. Thinking back, I started gradually getting disillusioned with Bend after everybody started hyping it as "paradise." Back in the '80s and early '90s there was much less of that bullshit being peddled. Or at least that's how I remember it.
"your Bend Sux is a kind of antidote to all the boosterism"
Thank you. That's what it's intended to be. Just as the "paradise" claims are absurdly exaggerated, my claims about the suckiness of Bend are exaggerated.
"School's almost out," my daughter complained this morning, "and it's 40 out." The weather during spring and summer here is too often too cold, and the often abused word "paradise" is a kick in the sack to those of us who know the definition of paradise does not include "frozen cowboy gulag," as one who moved away once described Bend.
And HBM is right, Oregonians are way too limited in knowledge of the wider world. I'm reminded of the time an acquaintance was talking about how his family had gone "everywhere" on vacation: La Grande, Grant's Pass, Hood River, Newport, blah blah blah."
Another true story: A native once asked me if the part of the Texas coast I'd just returned from is on the Pacific.
I forget how many generations this person's family went back, but then who's counting?
Oh, right. Everyone who's native. But here's the thing: Non-natives don't give a shit, and never will, so save it. You have no special claim on Oregon for something done by the people who got pregnant, then gave birth to people who got pregnant and made people who got pregnant and made your parents. You just seem all the more provincial for your misplaced pride and pathetic clinging to history.
I wonder if people who brag about being a fifth-generation Oregonian understand their ancestors' pioneering asses had more in common with newcomers' adventuresome asses than their own stay home, rest on laurels asses?
"What god giveth on one hand he taketh away with the other."
I'm fine with that. I just wish He'd giveth a little more heat and taketh away a little more cold.
"the often abused word 'paradise' is a kick in the sack to those of us who know the definition of paradise does not include 'frozen cowboy gulag'"
LMAO!!! Bravo!
"I'm reminded of the time an acquaintance was talking about how his family had gone "everywhere" on vacation: La Grande, Grant's Pass, Hood River, Newport, blah blah blah."
LMAOing again! So true, so true ...
"I wonder if people who brag about being a fifth-generation Oregonian understand their ancestors' pioneering asses had more in common with newcomers' adventuresome asses than their own stay home, rest on laurels asses?"
And again, bravo!
Oh, and I want to retract my earlier description of Bend as a "frozen pile of shit." That's neither fair nor accurate. It's a frozen pile of rocks.
Duncan, your blog almost seems apologetic to Bruce and it doesn't need to be. Bend is above average in many ways, that's why people want to live here. There just ain't any jobs!
Apologizing to Bruce is like apologizing to that grumpy old neighbor next door who yells at the kids for playing and having fun. He probably didn't mind when he was younger, but now that he's gotten older, those darn neighbor kids have turned pesky and have ruined the whole scene.
Yeah Bruce has some valid points, but like he says, they are exaggerated and full of hyperbole.
Bend does have lots of recreational value which is personally very important to me. Skiing/Snowboarding, Fishing, Hiking, Climbing, Caving, Dirtbiking, Mountainbiking, Rafting... need I go on? And you know I could.
"that's why people want to live here."
Oh, please, gimme a frickin' break. That's the same crap we were hearing during the bubble, and even after it started to deflate. "Yeah, the real estate markets in other places are getting soft, but it won't happen to us because PEOPLE WANT TO LIVE HERE!"
If Bend was even 27% as wonderful as the boosters make it out to be the bubble wouldn't ever have popped.
"There just ain't any jobs!"
And why do you think that is? With the whole world beating our doors down (according to you) the economy should be booming. Gosh, it's a mystery!
"Skiing/Snowboarding, Fishing, Hiking, Climbing, Caving, Dirtbiking, Mountainbiking, Rafting"
Almost all of which can be done in many other places, often in better weather. And without having to be on food stamps.
Both of you are right.
I enjoy Bend. I came from Burns so to me, Bend is paradise. I enjoy the breweries, the activity, the ability to travel to all points of the state in a few hours. I enjoy walks in The Badlands and by the river. I enjoy the diversity of the people and the atmosphere.
I hate the crappy economy and the elitist attitude by those not affected by the crappy economy. I hate the lack of affordable housing for many and the dismal job outlook for the unemployed. I hate the fact you can come to love it here and be forced to leave by the bad economy.
Bend is a double edged sword to me. You can feel good living here but at the same time it can cut you to pieces. And for every good thing you can find an equally bad one. 50/50. Half empty or half full.
Right now, for me I choose the half full.
well said Kevin. Every place has its drawback. Or drawbacks. I can let Bend's less than stable economy piss me off and moan and groan, but I choose to have fun and enjoy the wonderful diversity of Bend.
"I came from Burns so to me, Bend is paradise."
Well, there you have it. And to somebody who just escaped from a Stalinist labor camp, Burns would be paradise.
I'd be willing to bet a sizable chunk of cash that most of the people who truly believe Bend is paradise (as distinguished from the professional boosters) lack a frame of reference. Either they've never lived anywhere else or the only other place they've lived was a shithole.
"Diversity" being defined as "array of sports opportunities," I take it?
""Diversity" being defined as "array of sports opportunities," I take it?"
HA! Exactly.
It'd be hard to find a more white-bread town than Bend (both in the racial/ethnic sense and in the sense of "bland and boring," like Wonder Bread).
Some people just aren't happy unless they're bitching. I don't know if it's amusing or sad to listen to a grown ass man constantly bitch and moan like a little child. I find it to be a little of both ...............
B_D
"I don't know if it's amusing or sad to listen to a grown ass man constantly bitch and moan like a little child."
I don't bitch and moan like a little child. I speak the truth, and some people can't handle it.
And if your balls ever grow big enough to let you sign your name to your posts, you'll have the right to tell me how a man should behave.
No, sorry, I like my anonymity.
Call it what you will, I'll call it childish.
B_D
"No, sorry, I like my anonymity."
Of course you do.
"Call it what you will, I'll call it childish."
And I call it having no testicles.
I have to admit that I don't know what factors are keeping HBM here since he's said for many years that he doesn't like it, but I'm sure they're objective reasons beyond his control.
Bend has plenty of good things going for it, even for people who have traveled the world. A fine place to visit, a fine place to live if you have the means to get out once in a while.
But I was just talking to a friend the other day who was saying that the data centers in Prineville mean some big tech boom for Central Oregon [side note: tech companies making a "pro and con" list for Prineville might note in the "cons" column that bubonic plague is endemic to the area], that this is going to be a technology hub, that Bend will have 100,000 people by 2015, that a 4-year university will come and create a new real estate boom (and apparently the "silent majority" of rich Baby Boomers has been biding its time waiting for the perfect time to move here).
The boosterism, the overselling of Bend (e.g., the weather, the job market), the "growth-based" economy, the gullibility that leads to falling for pipe dream after pipe dream which will lead to everyone in Bend having been in on the "ground floor" of some amazing opportunity, this all drives me nuts.
If you can love Bend for what it is, then great. I think Bend is worthy of love. But I'm sick and tired of hearing that Bend is the town of the future and is headed for great things. Because frankly, it's not. And that's OK.
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