You weren't kidding about it being exspensive that house they want 3M for. WOW!!! Beautiful but very spendy. Thanks for sharing and you have a safe trip and day
When I first started climbing in Smith Rocks more than 30 years ago there was nothing but nothing from Smith Rocks all the way to Bend, and now it's all built up. Bend was a small town for the average person back then. An undiscovered jewel that got discovered. This is why we can't have nice things.
My grandmother was a waitress at the Pine Tavern in the 40's. The food *IS* amazing! I grew up in Central Oregon & still live 20 miles North of Bend. I've experienced the population boom starting in the 90's & prices skyrocketing both of which are staggering. Thankfully I bought a house in 2000. I'd never afford to buy a house in Central Oregon now. Great video! Happy travels!
I remember when Bend was around 10,000 people. I knew an old guy who's parents were pioneers, his first job was hunting jackrabbits. When the railroad came through he hired on as mounted security from the packs of feral dogs in the area. Said he got chased into a barn with his horse and nearly froze there for a couple days until the dogs left. Interesting note, by the rr yard south of town there are piles of old oyster shells. They must have been shipped directly north from the California coast.
My grandparents moved there from California to retire in the early nineties, also had an uncle who lived there just outside of Bend. It was so fun to go visit them and spend the weekend cross country skiing, cave exploring, or driving around out in the desert before they gated all of the roads.
I live in Eugene, OR. We occasionally go the Bend area to hunt the elusive Jackalope. BTW... there are large piles of oyster shells near factories on the Oregon coast. As just one example, there were large piles of them at Winchester Bay. I read somewhere that recently a commercially-viable use for them was found but I dunno for sure.
@@SunriseLAW yeah, when the railroads came through Oregon, coastal oysters on refrigerated reefers going north to the Columbia River were a hot commodity. Railroad ice houses were stationed at intervals to replenish the refrigerated cars.
Funny, i am from Dallas and married my wife in her home town of Bend in 1987 when it was small and very affordable and the mill was still working. Now it is like little Portland and a 50,000 dollar home is now worth 600,000.
I grew up here in the 1980's. Was just a small logging town. Now big money moved here from CA and CO. You cant get a house here for under 800k. Normal 2 bedroom rent about $2200. Still nice but not like it was. Traffic is horrible as the roads were not designed for the amount of people here now. You didn't even go to the real expensive areas on the west side. Most homes there are over 4 to 5 million a pop. The homes downtown are old but most are remodeled. In the 1980s you could buy a home here on land for under 200k. Them times are long gone now. All the lower income people were priced out of this town years ago. Homeless come here from CA in the summer to beg on the corners now.
Fun fact about Pine Tavern: there’s a tree growing through the middle of the restaurant. The bar is in the front so maybe you didn’t get to see it. Yes, Bend is pretty expensive, but there are more reasonably priced restaurants. Pine Tavern is one of the most expensive in town. Another great thing about Bend is there is always something going on, especially in the Summer. We have lots of parades, festivals, multiple farmer’s markets, and more breweries per capita than any other town in the country. Thanks for showing our town and safe travels to you.
Hi, I lived in Bend from 1996 to 2008, not as expensive then as now, been to blockbuster many times!! Thanks for the memory!I II worked at The Riverhouse Hotel for many years. Beautiful hotel overlooking the Deschutes River, I had many? If you go back there go up pilot butte, you can oversee the entire city!!
Love the Riverhouse , I went there for dinner for my Senior prom. I grew up in Central Oregon from 1980 to 1985. Then left to Portland to college and came back from 1987 to 1989. Lots of fishing, snow mobiles, camping, lakes, swimming, hiking! Great place to enjoy the outdoors!
There is a reason things cost so much here, I was born and raised here. It's litterally one of the most beautiful cities and the vibe here is amazing having amazing summers and winters and all 4 seasons to its fullest... river lakes mou rains the ocean only a few hours away, the valley only a few hours a way... it truely is a beautiful city but thats what's happened tourist's have taken Over came in and baught up homes and drove out the true central Oregonians people and generations who have lived here before anyone knew what Bend was... they drove the people that deserved to be there out with their high bids and high prices and Los Angelesizing the city... and many come and are not educated on how to live here... and truely have ruined it for so many and put people on the streets or had to move. go see for yourself and talk with anyone.... they forced out Hometown people with their corrupt BS. it's sad honestly specially when your feom a town like this and you have seen what happend over the years.
Yep. Grew up in Bend. Lived there 40 years. Just moved to Tennessee . They were making running an agriculture based business nearly impossible and I saw no future for my kids. I was literally told that Bend didn’t want my type and I should leave. I did and I’m happy.
We also have a pretty, rural (for fairly urbanized Massachusetts) town, Hardwick. However, we are Extremely fortunate that people here DO cherish the town character. 17 years ago, Casella tried to put in a regional landfill on the edge of town and, thankfully, it was voted out!! Enough citizens saw through the bs promises that "money would be coming into the town" from Cassella. A couple of years ago, a group of billionaire investors who wanted to establish a gambling center - under the guise of "horse raising and racing" - was shut down - over 800 against the gambling center to only ~ 300 for the gambling center. ( Yup, we are a small town) Casella is trying to come back - again - with trying to place a regional dump in our town - and the citizens are even more strongly against the dump than even before. We are a very fortunate town to have citizens who have the foresight to be against this stuff. (Yes, unfortunately, the real estate taxes are fairly high, but they are all over New England)
Been visiting Bend since 1998 and moved here in 2012. Even 10 years ago, it was still a hidden gem (slowly growing larger), but when AAA featured Bend on the cover of its quarterly magazine, the end of the magic was in sight. I miss the 'biggest small town / smallest big city' that this Central Oregon haven used to be.
You completely missed the story of Bend's hyper-growth-- the key reason. When land use planning was implemented in Oregon around 1970, for a brief moment, cities had the ability to declare what's their city limits---- their growth boundaries. City of Bend drew huge boundaries allowing what is basically sprawl, akin to arizona or texas. If the cities in the Willamette Valley had done that, it would look like the Los Angeles basin by now
They called it "Farewell Bend" because it was a jumping off point to cross the mountains and people would stay there for awhile to wait for the snow to melt. And they had great memories and were sad to leave.
I lived here of 4 wonderful years. We moved back to the I-5 valley because we could not afford living there anymore. Our landlord made everyone stop using their fireplace and was raising the rent by $75 every 10 months, we were priced out as most who lived there was. It is a wonderful town when the until intitled Californians show up. The town goes from 90,000 to 150,000 and the visitors are mostly obnoxious. Horne start honking and bad driving and behaviors from May until September. When they go back home one can feel the calming traffic, claiming noise and calming ambiance. I'm is a wonderful town from September until May. Winters can be mild or snowy. Great skiing. Good restaurants (expensive), cool shops, great micro-brews! It is great for young rich kids and rich retired people. Otherwise one has to live in Madras or Prineville. I loved Bend, but I got priced out like all the natives.
Joe here in Perth Western Australia a suburb called Morley had the second last Blockbuster so when it closed in March 2019 the one there in Bend became the last.
It’s a shame but bend used to be a little ski town with seasonal folks coming to work and play in winter…it was a haven. Now it has become a haven for retired Californians who have pushed up real estate astronomically and brought their bad driving. It grew too quickly with poor city management. I suggest you look at the magic of towns like sisters, at the foothills of the range.
@@JoeandNicsRoadTrip oh "Yay" u made my day knowing u guys went thru Sisters. The only bad thing living where I'm @ is the Cascadia's, I'm surrounded by them all even Three Sisters. U can see the very big breathtaking snowed cap on Mt. Jefferson driving down my street heading home.
I eat the whole wheat sourdough bread from there every day, but everything they make is fantastic. I absolutely love the smell when you walk in the door. If they sold Oliebollen I'd be in heaven. I love living in Central Oregon.
This was an outstanding video. I don't know if you saw it when you were eating but in the dining room there is a giant ponderosa pine tree growing inside of the building and it exits out of the roof.
I lived in Bend, 77-78 when it was "the fastest growing small town in the US." Was my favorite place i ever lived, i would trout fish the Deschutes on my lunch hour.
My wife and I were there at exactly the same time. I just got back home to Reno after a week in Bend. Had not been there since 1978 and what a change. I am not sure if I could live there and am positive I couldn't afford it, but it was beautiful and the people that I met were very nice. Lots of great restaurants, scenery and oh, those round-abouts. I went to Blockbuster and got a hat. Bend seems to be a place where people live healthy lifestyles. Even though there seems to be lots of traffic, especially when heading towards Redmond, the drivers were polite and obeyed the speed limits, unlike here in Reno where the speed limits are only a suggestion. One of the nicer places that I have visited this past year of driving to 16 states.
Bend is the most desirable address in Oregon east of the Cascades. The three sisters mountains are a beautiful backdrop to a beautiful town. I looked at houses there years ago. The closest I could get to Bend was about 30 miles out. And the prices are higher now!
Some notes on my road trip a few days ago. Started in Idaho, crossed into Oregon on US 20. Drove through John Day country, ended up on I-84, spent three days in Portland area. Took side trip up to Astoria. Came back south on I-5, went east, south of Salem on Hwy 228. Fell in love with little town of Brownsville (where "Stand by Me" was filmed). How is it that town hasn't been californicated yet? Went through Sweet Home, the mountains, Sisters (nice town, though it seemed it was created for tourists, unlike Brownsville), then into Bend. Boy, they love their roundabouts. Walked downtown, had lunch at the Pine Tavern. Delicious pastrami sandwhich, out on their rear deck overlooking the river. Expensive, but not out of line with other places on my trip. Checked out the whitewater wave/park on the Deschutes downtown. Crazy traffic, nice place to visit but glad to leave. Lonely drive through the prairie to Burns (how hot does that place get?). Loved the drive from Burns through the rolling hills and scenic cliffs along the Malheur river back to Ontario. Only car on the road for much of it. Then back on I-84 east and home to Sun Valley, Idaho.
Bend is a beautiful place with a serious homeless problem. It may not be obvious downtown but people are living in tents and campers out in the desert. Working folk have to live somewhere and there's nothing they can afford in town. And of course there are the druggies and mentally ill too. China Hat Road is a nightmare.
Housing, overall cost of living, I remember reading it's In the top 5% of the US a few years back. And crime is of the charts. I live here, if someone tells you different just look up the stats. Car, house, place of work gets broken into expect absolutely nothing from the police. Even if you have video footage. Completely overwhelmed infrastructure here.
Fun fact bend Oregon, sees more sun than most ski resort towns ,it snows at night a lot of the time and the sun is shining while riding the mountain . It also might be the only land locked town that has a small surfboard industry with a smsll collective of shapers who love to snowboard ,Jerry lopez ( pipe master) was the first to arrive in bend ,the guy loves boarding.
Grew up in central oregon. As a kid in the 1970’s things were cheap. My grand father paid 100.00 an acre for his land. My mom and dad and us kids lived in Bend on Boyd acres road on five acres. My dad was a supervisor for Moana Maintenance. They were the company that did all construction and maintenance on all the Northwest resorts back in the day. Bends nickname back then was “Poverty with a view” I miss the old central Oregon. As kids we played baseball in the old (Brooks Scanlon) mill yard. Now it’s a theatre and condos and homes. Very sad but time marches on.🇺🇸
Note about the winters, you always need to have at least 3 weeks of food and water supply and alternative heating when living there. Most years there are a couple spells that drop so much snow or low temps you have to stay in your house and end up with cabin fever or unable to get to work without a lifted jeep and traction tires. Tire change over season happens twice a year and it is a major pain. The first year I lived there 4 feet of snow in town for over 60 days. Some winters are so bad you can't drive to Sisters, only 15 minutes away. The summer wildfires have gotten worse over the years and you can get boxed in with no evacuation. The smoke comes in your home and can be so dense they have requirements to stay inside. I sometimes think this town may end up like Paradise CA because of how they built it with cheap plastic houses lined up like matchsticks. People are also unfriendly and generally won't talk to you. Recently, you have to wait an extremely long time for service because the property management agencies drove out the service workers with excessively high rents. (more than doubling them) I literally could have stolen 12 pies at Sherri's the last time I was there just waiting for a person to show up for seating. It also happened at the nail place in the mall and at Pastini's in the Old Mill because there was only one waitress for both the inside and outside spaces.
People like yourself moving to a town they know absolutely nothing about (it snows in Bend), driving up all prices on everything and then continuously complaining about others not serving your every need immediately makes the actual residents rude...... imagine that.
15 minutes to Sisters? Maybe you shouldn't be doing 90 in a 55mph zone that has signs all over that tell you to watch out for deer and elk. But thats your call I guess
I vacation a lot in Oregon. It's my favorite state. Last summer I did an Oregon Coast trip. Started in Florence, Oregon and went all the way to Astoroa, Oregon and ended my trip in Long Beach, Washington.
Lived there 1975 to 1989. Loved it, beautiful Cascade Mountains. Great snow and water skiing. Mt. Bachelor and Round Butte Dam is close by. Outdoor recreation is the best! Just got too cold in the winter and became a hardship back in the day.
There was no tax on your bill because we have no sales tax here in Oregon, although some small communities charge a sales tax, especially on the coast. We have a quite high income tax instead. CA refugee here, good real estate deals can still be had in rural areas, which I sought anyway. Not as good as when I bought in '10, but relative to bigger cities, what I'd call good deals. BTW, it's not only Californians who moved to Oregon, jacking up prices, although native Oregonians blame them. I know just as many who have moved from the East Coast or Midwest-NY, MA, OH, FL, UT, MT and other states.
Bend is very nice! I love the downtown and homes. Enjoyed the Blockbuster tour. A trip down memory lane. The river in opening shots is gorgeous! Would definitely visit. Looking forward to Salem.
I'd go there just for the block buster! Just watching this video made me feel like a kid brought back so many good memories to a time when the world was simpler and people were kind to eachother
Don't miss the floating rapids through the middle of the Mill District. It's full every summer of floating tubes down through town and getting out in downtown. So fun
We spent many a spring/summer & fall in the Bend/Sunriver/La Pine areas (2011-2016) - loved it but it was then & worse now the Californication of the west Coast. The taxes (property, vehicle), insurances,... are outrageous & we chose not to retire there
Grew up in bend and now live outside seattle, whenever i go back to visit my family i'm always surprised at how expensive things are getting! Rent and houses for sale getting pretty close to seattle metro prices which just seems insane to me.
You absolutely need to worry about weirdos in Walmart here! Maybe not mugging, but creepy dudes following women to their cars, etc. Even in broad daylight. Trafficking is a real concern.
Oregon, by the way, produces some of the best Pinot Noir grape red wine in the world outside Burgundy France. The pinot is a very finnicky grape, which requires exactly the right conditions regarding, sun, rain, terroir and craftmanship from the winemakers. Oregon seems to have the right conditions and the red wines from this region are really making headway in the world.
Nice place in the 60's and 70's. Just like San Luis Obispo, which was a great place back in the day. I have no idea what Bend is like today. I assume the traffic is terrible, as they have no freeway -- well at least some years ago. Cannot imagine how many people live in Bend these days.
It was still awesome in the 90’s-early 2000’s. It’s just gross now. Traffic is bad, because it wasn’t before, but compared to Portland or Las Vegas, it’s not the worst. But there is so much crime, you have to be vigilant. People will steal gas out of cars, and pretty much anything not nailed down! Needles all over the place, too. And poop. Lots of poop.🤢
I was an Ag inspector at the California border. All the people from The Bay Area were who went to Bend. Hence the cost and the wage! They went on vacation there and wanted to retire. Traveled through once, stopped at the Walmart and the prices were worst than California! Thanks
My brother made his money in the tech/financial sector in San Francisco in the late 70's, purchased land in Bend and had a VERY nice house built there. Of course, he brought his California liberal philosophy with him. He is now upset that crime and homelessness is becoming rampant in Bend. I think of it as "East little Portland." While I fled to Oregon decades later, a socioeconomic refugee from California, I took flight to a near middle-of-nowhere tiny town with conservative values that is affordable and align with my political views; little crime, "down home" values serves me well. Would I like to live in Bend? Yes, but the cost of living is insane and ever so far above my pay grade. No shootings at our grocery store.
Done a few road trips from the bay area to the Gorge in Washington . Bend was cheap about a decade ago , house on land for about 150k . Things have changed . I remember passing a ghost town just north of there .
Fantastic and beautiful place. The houses were amazing and I couldn't believe it when I saw an Irish flag flying from the top window of one of the houses! I was born in the states but have lived most of my life in Ireland. So unusual to see that flag. Thank you again for a great video.
A great video, as always ! A lovely town, and I love exploring the residential areas, gorgeous old homes ! A beautiful old theatre, too ! Thank you so much, Joe and Nic.🥰
There was no tax on the check because Oregon does not have a state sales tax...though some local communities (like Ashland) do charge one. Also, Shaniko is shan rhymes with stan, and iko like ich and oh. It's a cool place to visit in Central Oregon. Looking forward to the Salem video.
There's always Appalachia, but once the men in suits come in and measure the drapes you know a bunch of rich people are coming to the quaint rural area to live their 'best lives'. Collectively they'll turn it into the opposite of what drew them there in the first place. I'm 58, and I watched this happen to the Bend area. Sad, but inevitable.
@@overbanked Interesting, but I don't think a volcano 2900 feet underground that hasn't erupted in 66 million years counts as an active volcano. I admit he didn't use the world active in his sentence, but I expect there would be many other places with volcanoes if you count long extinct ones like the Jackson Volcano.
I enjoyed the video. As a Californian, I’ve spent time in various places in Oregon, but never Bend. The reason I enjoyed the video so much is that my sister just bought a house in Bend last year to be closer to her adult sons, and I haven’t had a chance to visit yet, and I didn’t know anything about the town. Your video gave a well balanced perspective on the city. Good job!👍🏼👍🏼
There are some pretty cool share docks down there at the rust wind mingle in Bend Oregon. We used to tail strike and rub tickle some of that scrap managing tackles and then stroke chain with the flee token. Some have even reported having seemingly trust recorded them while hang staking them in a dull tree way.
I’m glad you made it up to Bend. I was hoping you were going to visit Deschutes Brewery, but you hit all the other highlights of Bend. I hope you enjoyed your visit.
Another very nice video. You've covered quite a bit of ground since leaving Dallas. The weather is beautiful and the town was very nice. The trees are beautiful and the temperature is more moderate but it comes with a price. On my retirement it would be a no go. Thanks for taking us along.
Love the old houses! I own an old house. Way out in the country. In Texas. I have a wooden bridge in my driveway. It was built in 1910. Grew up in a Victorian Gingerbrèad. Older homes with craftsmanship & character. That appetizer looked like a delicious meal to me, 😋 yummy.❤
605 congress is just a few bucks away from 3 mil. Such a deal. I wasn't hungry until towards the end of this video dagnabbit. Thanks for another great trip.
We spent our honeymoon there, 41 years ago and have been there nearly every summer since. We just got home a few hours ago from Bend! We spend as much time there as possible and living in the Portland area, it makes it very easy. We have watched it go from a tiny, 30,000 population to the near city it is today. There are so many things to do there, it's hard to imagine, especially if you like to get outside. It can be expensive to visit, but we have learned our way around that. Living there is spendy, but there are payoffs, too, like the amazing year around stuff to do and the nearly daily sunshine. Love it!! Thanks for the great video!
I'm a resident of Bend, this city is very clean (no graffiti) and friendly. But everything is so expensive compare to CA. Car wash : $24 vs $37. Pho $9 vs $18. Alteration for pants $ 12 vs $ 24.
I grew up in Oregon and most of it in Bend. Guess where i can't afford to live 😂😂😂 my family now lives in the Midwest because it's so dang expensive everywhere in Oregon, but especially bend
Bend may be expensive but if you drive around in the country side you see nothing but ran down buildings, ages old factories ready to fall apart and home made shelters where people live off the grid. II saw young people walking barefoot on sidewalks that other people had spit on. At the beaches you see pink and purple homes.
