Bend has made another of those “Top 10” lists, but this time it isn’t about skiing or mountain biking. Forbes magazine has proclaimed it one of “America’s Best Small Cities for Business and Careers.”
Say what? With unemployment hovering somewhere north of 14% and a foreclosure rate among the highest in the country, Forbes is telling us Bend is a terrific place to launch a business or a career?
Yep.
Examining metro areas with fewer than 250,000 people, the venerable business publication ranked them “on 12 metrics including costs (business and living), job growth (past and projected), income growth, educational attainment and projected economic growth. [It] also factored in quality of life issues like crime, cultural and recreational opportunities as well as net migration patterns. Lastly [it] examined the percentage of subprime mortgages handed out over a three-year stretch and the number of highly ranked four-year colleges in the area.”
And on the basis of all that, supposedly, Bend came in at Number 7.
In its story on the Forbes ratings, KTVZ quotes Jenn Moriguchi and Nicky Lamport, who moved here nine years ago from the Bay Area to open a small downtown business and are still enthusiastic about Bend.
“I really do feel that people are still moving here from all over,” Moriguchi said. “We meet people from all over the country all over the world all the time, and we’re really lucky to be where we are.”
“Bend’s been really great,” said Lamport. “There’s a lot of modern, hip people that moved from the city” – I guess that means San Francisco? – “so we were completely well-received.”
But a couple of the comments on the Forbes site are less complimentary.
“berjie” writes: “I lived in Bend for almost 5 agonizing years and those were the good years 2004-2009, the winters are horrible and long and people move in and out on an average of 2 to 3 years. Anybody tells you that the sun shines 300 days they are full of sh.t. Its a backwards hick town, dont buy into the real estate agents BS. STAY AWAY, look for moderate climate and that is were [sic] people want to be and stay.”
More literate, but no less negative, was “xl?nlm,” who commented: “Moved to Bend, big mistake! Businesses are leaving (two big manufacturing last year), unemployment is in high teens [actually it’s only the mid-teens] restaurants may be locally owned but just marginal, huge foreclosure rate, commercial landlords think it will bounce back any minute so not cutting rates. Seriously, why is Bend on this list?”
Good question – at least to me. I’d like to think the writers and editors at Forbes are geniuses, their analysis is flawless and Bend really is an undiscovered paradise for business – but I’ve seen too many magazine puff pieces about Bend over the decades to put much faith in this one.
This article appears in Sep 30 – Oct 6, 2010.
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Bruce, this time Forbes is right. We remain nirvana for bright active humans, the excellence based & well educated who have chosen to keep Bend’s westside growing through this recession (I chair Summit’s site council: we continued to grow all the way!) Our housing and commercial property never been more attractive. We have the high energy creative educated employees successful businesses need…and if they can’t work they play hard: where else do you have world class nordic 8-9 months a year (and world class cycling/golf 10 months a year? No one has as many miles of single track and our alpine venue is just fine, thank you! Forbes is right. Bend is the greatest!
“We remain nirvana for bright active humans, the excellence based & well educated who have chosen to keep Bend’s westside growing through this recession”
What a load of elitist crap. (And ungrammatical as well.)
Maybe all you Westsiders are doing just swell (though I doubt it) but for most Bend residents it’s still “poverty with a view” — except that most of ’em can’t afford a home with a view.
“No one has as many miles of single track”
Wow. Many miles of single-track. That’s SUCH a crucial factor in the success of any business. Okay, I’m sold … NOT.
Personally, I don’t really give a hoot whether Forbes knows what the hell they’re talking about, I’m just glad Bend made the list! We need all the businesses we can get bringing jobs to Bend and people wanting/needing to move here to stimulate our economy and make life easier for all of us. Everyone in town should welcome any and all good press that we get, not be questioning its validity! Even if they’re skeptical, people still need to do their own due diligence anyway.
HBM, I’m not sure what purpose you’re trying to serve in being such a cynical naysayer regarding just about anything to do with Bend? Bend certainly has its share of problems, just like anywhere else. The bottom line is that the sooner the economy recovers, the sooner you could probably sell your home, if necessary, and get out of here, which given your dislike for the place would seem to be your goal. The Forbes article could potentially help that cause.
“I’m not sure what purpose you’re trying to serve in being such a cynical naysayer”
I’m not trying to be cynical, I’m trying to be realistic.
Yes, Bend has some nice scenery and outdoor recreation (so do many other places, incidentally) but that alone is not a solid foundation for an economy. You can’t eat the scenery, and mountain biking won’t pay the mortgage (unless you’re a professional mountain biker, maybe).
Read the front page of The Bulletin’s business section today — notices of default hit a new high. It was believing our own puffery that got us into this mess, and more puffery isn’t going to get us out of it.
Forbes apparently stands by their claims for Bend (realistic or not), and lots of people over the last half a century have felt confident in their decisions regarding Bend as an acceptable/desirable place to live. So, in the final analysis, everyone is (as I said) responsible for their own due diligence regarding Bend being the place for them; deciding whether the “livability” justifies the extra expense, whether there is suitable employment here, whether they can afford their mortgages, whether they like the weather, etc.
Just because the press and others have consistently touted the virtues of Bend (real or imagined) over the years, the old adage “Buyer Beware” remains true, and if you buy something you don’t need or want or can’t afford – oh well!
Good call responding to Tad HBM. It was excellence based!
Hope you can do a “how foreclosuregate affects Bend” story, or point us to one.
(The Daily Caller story is amazing both for content and placement.)
Nicky Lamport was quoted as saying….
“Bend’s been really great,” … “There’s a lot of modern, hip people that moved from the city” – I guess that means San Francisco? – “so we were completely well-received.”
I ask you Nicky…WHY, then, are you moving OUT OF BEND and back to the “City?????” Good luck with trying to sell your failing business as well… just like anything in Bend – it’s failing and will take forever to sell. This article was dead on!