It's always fun and enlightening to get the perspective of newcomers to Bend.
We sit and stew over Juniper Ridge and Mount Bachelor and downtown restaurants, and think that everyone else is doing the same.
But a newcomer doesn't really know the dynamics and history of Bend, has no real perspective, on what's going on.
Which can be a blessing, I suppose.
I had a young lady in yesterday, who was kind of picking my brain about Bend. (I should have warned her how dangerous THAT is. Little did she know....)
Anyway, she was surprised when I told her I was a native of Bend. "You're the first one I've run into!"
She's probably reading this, so I hope she doesn't mind if I try to recreate our conversation. I could tell she was a very smart person and I give her kudo's for trying to learn about Bend...it seems like so few newcomers even make the attempt. She can correct me if I'm wrong. (I'm being a little silly, so forgive me.)
She had just moved to Bend with 3 others to start what I gathered was a 'high tech' operation; you know, something to do with computers.
"Wow. You're just the sort of people that Bend is looking for. Why did you move to Bend?"
I know what she'll say: Bend's a beautiful place, we are outdoor people. we ski, and we love it here. Whoops.
"Oh, we were planning to open in Portland, but we passed through Bend, and decided it was cheaper here..."
"Cheaper?"
"Yeah, way cheaper than San Fran, or Seattle."
"Hum. You realize that Bend is almost the most expensive place in Oregon?"
"Yeah, we also figured since there was so little night life, that we could get our work done quicker. No distractions."
By now, I'm getting amused. But she has come to Bend by way of New York, S.F. and Seattle. We must seem really, really small to her. All the hustle and bustle of our 'high end' restaurants must seem quaint.
"Do you have any tech get-togethers here?" she asks.
"I wouldn't know, all I do is point and click." But I give her my blog name, and figure she might make connections through the Twitter. Her other big concern about Bend was it's "lack of infrastructure...."
For all you people who think that Bend is exceptional, and wonderful, and everyone wants to live here because of the outdoors and the great amenities downtown, and sure it's expensive but worth it -- I give you the proceeding conversation for perspective.
We sit and stew over Juniper Ridge and Mount Bachelor and downtown restaurants, and think that everyone else is doing the same.
But a newcomer doesn't really know the dynamics and history of Bend, has no real perspective, on what's going on.
Which can be a blessing, I suppose.
I had a young lady in yesterday, who was kind of picking my brain about Bend. (I should have warned her how dangerous THAT is. Little did she know....)
Anyway, she was surprised when I told her I was a native of Bend. "You're the first one I've run into!"
She's probably reading this, so I hope she doesn't mind if I try to recreate our conversation. I could tell she was a very smart person and I give her kudo's for trying to learn about Bend...it seems like so few newcomers even make the attempt. She can correct me if I'm wrong. (I'm being a little silly, so forgive me.)
She had just moved to Bend with 3 others to start what I gathered was a 'high tech' operation; you know, something to do with computers.
"Wow. You're just the sort of people that Bend is looking for. Why did you move to Bend?"
I know what she'll say: Bend's a beautiful place, we are outdoor people. we ski, and we love it here. Whoops.
"Oh, we were planning to open in Portland, but we passed through Bend, and decided it was cheaper here..."
"Cheaper?"
"Yeah, way cheaper than San Fran, or Seattle."
"Hum. You realize that Bend is almost the most expensive place in Oregon?"
"Yeah, we also figured since there was so little night life, that we could get our work done quicker. No distractions."
By now, I'm getting amused. But she has come to Bend by way of New York, S.F. and Seattle. We must seem really, really small to her. All the hustle and bustle of our 'high end' restaurants must seem quaint.
"Do you have any tech get-togethers here?" she asks.
"I wouldn't know, all I do is point and click." But I give her my blog name, and figure she might make connections through the Twitter. Her other big concern about Bend was it's "lack of infrastructure...."
For all you people who think that Bend is exceptional, and wonderful, and everyone wants to live here because of the outdoors and the great amenities downtown, and sure it's expensive but worth it -- I give you the proceeding conversation for perspective.