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I see why you only have 223 subs, keep up the shi**y content and don't forget to suck it!

I lived in Bend 40 years. First 25 were awesome. Last 15 not so much. Moved 4 years ago and have very little desire to ever go back !

Some additional perspective form somebody who has lived in Bend a little longer. Background : Fortune 500 executive, global experience. Ranch owner in Tumalo First of all, Bend was established by Scandinavian and German stock who managed to thrive in a harsh environment. These were hardworking people of a conservative mindset. Not a lot of the current inhabitants would actually be able nor willing to cope with such environment, so blame air conditioning and public utilities for the current influx of 'different people'. Since the nineties Bend has gradually turned into the playground of inhabitants from the valley, with the latest boost happening during the COVID period. The sad thing about the latter event is that a whole bunch of Californians of average wealth were able to exchange their moderate homes for something better in Oregon, thus also further ruining the Bend real estate market along the way. This is where I disagree with your messaging : - This is not an entrepreneurial environment nor does it have an incubator spirit. Oregon is business hostile and will even tax revenue instead of just profits. If Oregon had its own ranking on the Transparency Index, it would most probably come in below the Ukraine. There are several high profile violations both by the current Governor and ex-secretary of state which went largely unpunished or just received a slap on the wrist. One cannot make investments in a state with taxation and morals like this. In addition, the talent pool is extremely shallow. OR is 49th in the nation as far as education is concerned and a lot of the transplants are not really adding a lot of intellectual horsepower either. - Even working 'from home' triggers a nexus with Oregon revenue tax, so please be careful when you move here from a low tax state. In addition, you don't want to die here since inheritance taxes are triggered as of 1mio$ (the state 'forgot' to adjust for inflation). - Only Teslas and Subarus ? You seem to be describing California Crossings, I mean NW Crossings, a popular neighborhood for the Californians mentioned above. One should heed caution planning a winter trip over the passes in such vehicles. - "We need more diversity". Why exactly ? This is a disturbing slogan from struggle sessions where HR hires an outside DEI consultant. As mentioned above, this was settled by Northern Europeans. There is no shame in that. - OR politics are 'moderately' liberal. Are you kidding me ? They are screaming liberal, often borderline communist. In addition, the political system has been tampered with so much that it might be impossible for any other party to take back control over this state. - Homeless invasion. With the influx of the liberal crowd also come the homeless infestation and drug problem. These people do not only camp around town, there are also crime ridden encampments in the China Hat and Dirt World areas. The fact that such places are turned into biohazards and trigger close to 50% of the Bend fires is ignored by our environmentally friendly transplants. In summary, Bend is being ruined, exactly by the kind of people who love virtue signaling. Fortunately the new Costco is located between Bend and Tumalo so I don't have to visit town anymore or , God forbid, drive through North West Crossings.

The worst con is the frequent contact with MAGA people. Central Oregon has far too many libertarians and MAGA. Still, I love living here. If we could drive out the 40% mean spirited MAGA types, it would be heaven.

Bend does not need more diversity

Poverty with a view

Retired here 8 years ago. For the most part people are friendly. What I wasn't expecting was the prevalence of overt racism. Trucks flying Confederate flags etc.

they dont love dogs , no one that loves dogs get puppymill and dogs that are breed to be sold and bend is all about that

Diversity is in the mind, not the color of your skin.

Hey Derek My partner and I are thinking of moving to Bend, and have also been considering Maui. Curious what had you leave Hawaii? Lovely that you mentioned the similarities in the community spirit 😊

Stay away from diversity. It would destroy Oregon.

Stuck up snobs who live miserable lives in the cold

0:59 The lack of diversity is probably why Bend is great. The quality of the city will decline rapidly in the near future as it gradually diversifies.

We have enough people in Redmond. stay in Bend with the tourists.

WOAH WOAH WOAH Touchet, Walla Walla, and Quincy are NOT in the tri cities

Born and raised in Oregon, I went to COCC and my dad grew up in Bend and owns a business there now. So we are very much locals. I don’t live there currently but it is a culture shock when I ever I come to visit. It’s growing so fast and I saw a lot of friends get pushed out due to rising prices. There is a huge class disparity and housing availability is atrocious. I have a very love hate relationship with Bend. I love the art community and the music scene. There is a lot of “yuppies” as we call them that can really kill that Aloha vibe you talked about.

In the 80s I lived in Burns (yuk) and would spend a lot of time in Bend. It was a great little college town then: easy to get around; not real expensive; home to a lot of artists and other creative types. Now it's probably five times as big with lots of traffic and expensive. It's not Portland (yet) but it's working on it.

Quit apologizing and say your piece.

got nipped at by a dog last time i was in Bend. Riverbend Park. bit a hole in my sweat pants. 70 y.o. couple with a pittie cross. Unprovoked. not amused!

And your gay

California came to Bend

Diversity is our greatest strength is the biggest lie ever told. Bend not being diverse is a plus. If you want diversity, move to any Southern city of your choice. Tell the gangbangers I said hello.

Apologizing to no one you said, no sugar coating, that over abundance of arrogant pricks!

@DerekMeyerOR. Terrific video! I was here for the first time last week…spent it on the trails and in town! Loved it! Clean streets, excellent food, devote recyclers :) and welcoming people. How is the weather Oct-April?

Can we just agree that Californians are to blame and ruin everything? They are doing the same in Texas, Florida, Utah, Tennesee, and Idaho to name a few. Californians are like a plague! Sorry not sorry they are the absolute worst kind of people. I moved to the valley in Oregon from the East Coast in 2013 and in 10 years housing prices have skyrocketed along with traffic and the same terrible driving habits you see in Bend as well. When I first moved to Oregon I didn't understand the disdain for Californians in Oregon, but my god did I learn quickly why.

Nice video. Helpful.

Former native Californian here… trust, diversity doesn’t make your city better.

Ive been wondering what bend is like since i had to leave in 1976 not by my choice as a teenager ive thought about coming back and visit all my relatives graves however i believe all or most of my relatives are gone. I spent the 60's and half of the seventies living in bend. Oh well maybe in the future

No shit. All the liberals and californians should have kept going west and landed in the valley So the true Cent❤ral and eastern oregonians can enjoy the rest of their lives in peace and quiet. Only a very small portion of Oregon votes Democrat. Unfortunately the rest of us have have to live with that.

Well, this was a let down. WHAT harsh truths??! Click bait if you ask me.

*trustifarians

Bend is just a mini California at this point. Hipsters have ruined what was once a great City.

We hate dogs, makes us uncomfortable. green bags left in many places! dont want to track pet shit in our house! And getting tired of wicked prices for food especially tired of burgers and crappy battered fries!

Pros: It’s beautiful and sunny Cons: everything else

Bend has turned into shit hole, long time locals don't want outsiders destroying their beloved town. You're welcome to come visit but go home!! We hate outsiders bringing your loud exhausts, crime, side shows, graffiti, crime, homeless starting forest fires. Get out and stay out!

I don’t want to move away just cause I’m broke. And I’m a nice person with a family too. Buuuut one of my family fell off the wagon entirely and is still bouncing down the road damaging whatever it touches. sooo I feel unfit to be apart of society. My family baggage is too trashy for polite society. Drugs and abuse are here too plenty. Be careful out there.

I live in Bend and I love it. Bend doesn't have near the problems of larger cities but still has the problems of most any other city. Yes, it grew. That changes things. It's called time. Worst part about Bend for me is most Bendites do not know how to merge onto 97, they do not know how to turn their fog lights off and they do not understand that flying into a round-a-bout at 30mph screws it up for pretty much everyone else.

I'm born and raised here, tried doing everything right, going to college, working the whole time since I was 14, putting in the extra hours and sleepless nights, saw when rent surpassed mortgages, but thought I didn't have the money for a down payment at the time while going to college. Now I know I should have tried back then rather than telling myself the time wasn't right. Now it seems I will never own a house where I grew up. Every raise or new better paying job I got put me outside of the help for low income, but the market has spat in my face and blow up. I was close to my 20% down that I was saving for, but now with interest rates and an average price of 750k for a house it seems that you must have the income of two lawyers or doctors to purchase here anymore... I would say growing up here it used to be a ton of rancher cowboys and I don't mean that in a mean way. It's just been interesting to see the shift of things. There used to be a couple of homeless folks that you knew and saw on a normal basis, but now that population has exploded and I don't know if it's the price of living here or the population growth. I still would love to own a home here, but there's not many local jobs that support the housing market here. My father often called it "poverty with a view" to live here 😅 People used to wave more and didn't unnecessarily cut in front of you while you were driving and there's nobody behind you, but now it seems that's become the norm.

I grew up in Bend, since I was 8. Now I'm 22 and feel stuck because the rent is so high that I can't afford to save up to move elsewhere.

forgot to mention it's full of trust fund babies and rich people living off of their inheritance. people that ruined the town buy out pricing the hard working locals that lived here before.

I think we can talk ourselves into or out of anything and the same goes for Bend! Bend is truly a magical place for all ages. Yes the outdoors are amazing, yes the coffee, food trucks, and breweries are top notch, yes theres techies and granola vanlifers. It may have been a small sleepy mtn. town back in the day but with technology putting this place on the map and tourism its here to stay and will only continue to grow in size. If you're wondering what it will look like in 10 years, look at other well known mtn towns that are beautiful to visit for adventures.

NW Corner gives us the absolute creeps.

Teslas, Subarus and you left out 4-Runners. They're everywhere

Great video. I’ve lived here for 26 years. I find myself saying “that used to be” a lot more than I should. It has gotten unrealistic to live here though. To have your salary at 3x the rent, you really need to make around $40 per hour. The blame shouldn’t be put only on the employers that cannot pay that much, but also the rental companies. Just because you can charge top dollar for a s-hole apartment, doesn’t mean you should. Happy tenants stay long term. It used to be “go home California” now I would take them over the East coasters any day. I have to go farther and farther to get to my “secret” camping spots….they’re all now permanent homes for people that cannot afford the rent, but still work 40 hours a week. Most of the homeless here, just cannot find an affordable place to live.

FYI you're part of the problem.

Bend is not Bend anymore, it's baby Portland. Extreme homelessness issues with no end in sight, they camp anywhere and everywhere they want. They trash neighborhoods and streets. And I'm not talking about the people who are homeless that are actively trying to better their lives. We're talking about drug addicts with major mental health problems who don't want help. And as a result of that, tons of shootings, random assaults and out of control fires have become the new norm. Bend has become too expensive and overcrowded for the majority of the locals to live in their hometown. It's has also become a political nightmare as those who are in charge are clearly blinded so issues are far from getting solved. Not to mention the high percentage of human trafficking that happens :( Bend has been ruined, look deeper for the truth.

Having lived here for over 30 years, the area has really become a flashpoint between the political extremes of the right and left. The number of people in each party may be close to even, but they are VERY politically distant from each other. You start reading the local newspaper and government, talk to people about how they agree/disagree with people at work, and it becomes VERY clear just how much of an identity crisis this town has. It's like living in the Facebook comments. :(

400 tech startups means 30 dudes for every women and 50 dudes for every thin, attractive women

I thought your evaluation was honest and non-biased. If people are that easily offended that is their problem, not yours. I grew up in Portland and spent 12 years in Astoria. I now live in St. George, UT which has experienced the same growth as Bend, and a lot of people moving here from California (some people here have t-shirts that say, “Don’t California My Utah”). More expensive than when we first moved here in 2018. We bought our house for $475,000 and could now sell it for $950,000. Crazy!!! I always thought that if I moved back to Oregon I would chose Bend because of the weather and the fact that it is about the same size as St. George. I’m not a big city girl. Thank for the information. I found it very helpful.

Mountain is Skied out. Such a joke. Used to work at Pine Martin. Now, its a total joke