A Designer (@PattyCreates) and a Developer (JohnD) walk into a cocktail bar.. ha, no (we’ve heard that one already), in this case a Designer moves abroad to Mexico and a Developer gets married, moves away from San Francisco to Oakland and then moves to Bend, Or.
After some time unpacking etc, the Developer is like, Hi Designer, how’s things down there, and Designer is like, things are all cool (awesome!!), how’s Bend, Or?
So I figured I’d pen a proper response to said inquiry…
Bend, Oregon, a place I learned about circa 1999 from a few people on the Northern Arizona University mountain biking club, has grown into a modern day mecha for people of the tech and outdoor life persuasions.
Bend Pros
Amazing access to a wide array of outdoor areas including national forests, Mt Bachelor, rivers, lakes, mountain biking.
A small but focused culture of local food.
A place where leaving your bike unlocked or the front door unlocked doesn’t immediately seem as sketchy as some place (like California…).
A stellar, inter-galactic, cosmological concentration of top quality breweries including the OG Deschutes Brewery.
The home of the last Blockbuster (some serious 90s street cred!)
Bend Cons
Locals are not super happy about the influx of Californians that plus pandemics restrictions has basically made it impossible to begin meeting people in the organic manner.
The town feels very culturally ‘white’ like North Scottsdale very not like Oakland/Berkeley/SF.
3 hrs from an international airport (this is really a pro in disguise)!
Dogs everywhere, literally, you could go into the nicest restaurant and still see doghair on the table cause there is no ways to clean it all (locals will kill me for saying this!).
Having trouble finding a 5th Con… (not surprising, Bend is really an amazing spot)
So yeah, in summary, we have more space to live in, drinking amazing craft beers, exercising and working a lot, overall, Bend, has been a good choice.
Cheers,
John
P.S. DON’T F’N MOVE HERE !!!!