Eastside: Easygoing East Side | The Source Weekly - Bend, Oregon

Eastside: Easygoing East Side

Bend's east side has the best of both worlds: nice quiet living and access to amenities

East Bend is a great metaphor for Bend's past, present and future. Many of its home predate its annexation into Bend proper, and small developments filled in the formerly rural area in the '90s, yet there's still growth to come in the neighborhoods on the east side.

Let's start with the neighborhood's newest amenity, the Larkspur Community Center. It opened its doors on April 5, 2021, bringing a 5,000 square-foot heated pool, two fitness rooms and classrooms. The $23 million facility is the first on the continent to have a lift allowing people in wheelchairs to independently use the pool.

Eastside: Easygoing East Side
Bend Park and Recreation District
East side parks host skaters, hikers and bikers.

Brushing against the community Center is the Larkspur Trail, connecting the community center with Larkspur Park, the Central Oregon Historic Canal Trail and locals' favorite volcano at Pilot Butte State Park. The Coyner Trail is just a short walk from the Larkspur Trail, and connects Ponderosa Park in the south to Juniper Park in the north.

At Ponderosa Park you can find pickleball courts, a skatepark, softball fields and an off-leash dog park. Juniper Park surrounds Juniper Swim and Fitness Center, and in its latest round of upgrades added playgrounds and shade structures to a park that already had a small softball field, horseshoe pits and tennis courts.

The East side has some of the best dining and drinking experiences in town. The food trucks at Bevel Craft Brewing are to die for and Spider City Brewing has some of the best hazies in town. The Forum Shopping Center provides east siders with all their grocery needs, with a Whole Foods for the bougies, a Costco for bulk shoppers and a Safeway for everyday items.

Eastside: Easygoing East Side (2)
Submitted
Bevel Brewing is one of the recent additions to Bend's burgeoning east side brewery scene.

The people living here are primarily families and young professionals who are attracted to larger lots than a lot of other Bend neighborhoods, as well as access to golfing and shopping.

The Stevens Road Tract promises even more amenities on the east side. The draft plan for the 261-acre piece of land will be presented to Bend's Planning Commission and City Council for approval in spring of this year. The plan envisions an area with deed-restricted, affordable, workforce, and market-rate housing, parks and mixed-use zones with transportation options for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.

Neighborhood:
SE Bend, Larkspur, Old Farm neighborhoods

Who lives here:
Families and young professionals. (Dominant demographic is health care workers, social assistance workers, retail workers and construction workers).

Housing stock:
Primarily single-family homes, townhomes, multifamily and apartments. Mobile home parks prevalent as well.

Median sales price:
$604,485

Reasons why people move here:
Proximity to employment, golf, shopping, schools. Many established neighborhoods with larger lots.

Parks:
Stone Creek, Foxborough, Sun Meadow and High Desert, Larkspur Park, Ponderosa Park, Kiwanis, Vince Genna Stadium and Bend Senior Center. It should be noted that 37-acre Alpenglow Community Park is currently under construction.

Public schools:
Bear Creek, Juniper, Silver Rail and R.E. Jewell Elementaries, High Desert and Pilot Butte Middle Schools, Bend Senior High School, Mountain View High School, Caldera High School

Report summary provided by :
Brittany Barton, Rhonda Garrison
The Garrison Group

Jack Harvel

Jack is originally from Kansas City, Missouri and has been making his way west since graduating from the University of Missouri, working a year and a half in Northeast Colorado before moving to Bend in the Spring of 2021. When not reporting he’s either playing folk songs (poorly) or grand strategy video games,...
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