Yes to most of the things said thus far in this thread. Some people love it here, some people hate it. Lots of Seattle and SF folks moving here or buying vacation homes.
A huge part of the equation would be what you plan to do for work. There are basically three categories of jobs in the area: Tourism (Beer, Bikes, Snow, Restaurants, mostly min. wage) Construction (an absurd percentage of the population are subcontractors of some sort tied to the residential boom), and misc. entrepreneurs. I'm finding that smart, talented, devoted people find a way to make it here, but it often means starting your own business. I wouldn't want to try to live here on an 'average' salary - the housing costs are too high, and you'd end up living in Redmond or way out east. Not so good.
Also, they do not salt the roads in central oregon. Not sure what the dude on page 2 was thinking, but that just doesn't happen. They mine volcanic cinder and use that on the roads, which is great in that it doesn't encourage rust, but not so great as you get a billion tiny paint chips over the winter.
About cars, Bend has (apparently) the highest per-capita Porsche ownership of any city in america. The local PCA is super active with drives, but not much in the way of vintage BMW culture. There's a great shop called GMT that's the hub for german sports cars. So, it would be a nice place to have a high dollar Porsche or similar, but nothing special if you aren't rolling in money. There's also newer road track called ORP that's a couple hours away - closer than PIR, cheaper track days, and pretty challenging. Very popular with sport bikes. There used to be an Auto-X club in town, but that's long since disbanded. So, no AutoX at all unless you go to Eugene. I wish there was a RallyX presence - lots of good forest roads for that here, but I guess the audience just isn't there.
Oh yeah - e30s are fine in the snow, just buy a set of studded snow tires on basketweaves and leave them on for 4 months or so. I had several days last year that the e30 couldn't handle, but that's because I was too low.
Nearly everyone owns a subaru of some sort, or else a lifted bro truck.
Definitely make a trip here - once in summer and once in winter - before thinking of moving. You'll either get it or won't.
Also, Highway 242 is one of the most incredible driving roads i've ever seen, less than an hour from town.
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Oregon sucks cali is much nicer. Stay there.
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I was in Bend two weeks ago running CLR, and go there fairly regularly.. I'll second what J Mid said. Though, over the last 10 years, it's slowly turning in to Tahoe (Californian idea of what a small town SHOULD be.) Complete with made up history and tons of overpriced "modern" housing that is nothing more than Architectural masturbation.
Luckily, Bachelor is still good, there's plenty of single track trails, and the High Desert Museum is fun for the kiddo..Leave a comment:
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I happen to love Bend, my sister and her family have lived there for several years, lots of friends there and I ski there every year. It is absolutely beautiful there, a picturesque mountain town on a river flowing with great beer and beautiful women. It is however an expensive place to live and you cannot drive your e30 year round. A lot of the stereotypes are true about hipsters and boarders and name brand plaid shirts but we all drive e30s, how much more trendy can you get?Leave a comment:
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I have and work 2 gold claims in Baker Oregon, I sometimes go through Bend for a more scenic way there, i know my experiences to be true. Maybe we see the stuff differently from youLeave a comment:
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how's the Bend car scene?
I personally happen to dislike bend, but for the most part everyone who lives here loves it. I'm not sure how long it has been since you guys talking have been to bend, but if it was any longer than 3 years ago then you will have no idea what Bend is like today. It has changed and grown so fast. Its not rural at all anymore. Many of the things as stated about bend in this thread just aren't true. Its simple if you are super into the outdoors and beer then bend is for you. You should come up and visit. The idea of the city you have in your head from this thread is probably not anything like what Bend actually is.
Edit-Yes they salt the roads, yes it fucks up your car. Also just so you know the snow is no joke here. This last 2016-2017 winter we had up to 4ft of the snow on the ground at once.
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I spend a couple weeks in Bend each winter for snowboarding. It's definitely a rural town vibe that is filling up with well off hipsters. The whole area shuts down pretty early at night, your shopping is limited, and aside from sports there is nothing to do. It's a great place to visit, but I think it would be a shitty place to live.
Fwiw Californians aren't well received north of California. You'll be the butt of a lot of jokes.Leave a comment:
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well there you have it, even the residents hate.
the 2 times i visited, it was "Wtf is this place" city roads was like a game dodging pothole, and in areas it was a ghost town. and super super hot....and dry and dustyLeave a comment:
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