The Eye wandered into Starbucks yesterday morning for my usual cup of coffee and copy of the New York Times. Ahead of me in line was a well-dressed, middle-aged man – mid-30s to early 40s, I’d guess. For some reason he looked like a lawyer.
“Are you going to be here for the Fourth?” the barrista asked pleasantly.
“Nah, I’m heading back to Portland,” he said. “There’s more to do there. Over here the only thing they do is set fire to the butte” – meaning Pilot Butte, which every couple of years or so is unintentionally ignited by the annual fireworks show.
“Well, THAT’s worth seeing, isn’t it?” I chimed in.
“When you grew up here like I did and you’ve seen it about 50 times, it’s no big deal,” he replied.
The conversation reminded me of an unpleasant but important fact: If you’re not hard-core into the whole outdoor rec scene and you’re too old and/or too married for the bar scene, there just isn’t a hell of a lot to do here, winter or summer.
Okay, we have more than our share of “festivals,” but they’re all pretty much the same – a few music acts, some booths selling crafts and “art,” and some other booths selling wine and beer (at absurdly inflated prices) and food. See one Bend “festival,” seen ’em all.
Culturally there’s not a lot either. When I first moved here almost 25 years ago, Bulletin Editor Bob Chandler (may he rest in peace) told me Bend offered “a lot of good plays badly acted and good music badly played.” That hasn’t changed much – except there’s even less good music being played now that the Cascade Festival of Music has gone belly-up.
Concerts at The Schwab? Great – if you’re into contemporary pop, rock or country music and you can pony up $70 to $100 for a pair of tickets.
Where am I going with all this? I guess the point is that while there are lots of good reasons for people to COME here for a weekend or a week, there aren’t many good reasons to make people want to STAY here for a lifetime.
Unless, as I said, you’re year-round, full-time into the outdoor thing – and people who prefer and have the leisure for that lifestyle aren’t that numerous, besides which there are plenty of other places where they can enjoy it.
So Bend had better come up with some way to market itself other than “outdoor recreation paradise.” In fact, pushing that image too vigorously, while it helps the tourism business, might conceivably hurt our long-term growth and economic health by encouraging the outside world to think of Bend as a place to play instead of a place to live, work, raise a family and locate a business.
Okay, enough grumbling. One of the few things Bend’s got that no other place has got is our annual Fourth of July Pet Parade, and I won’t miss it. And I might even check out the fireworks show — although it’s probably been too wet this year to have a first-rate butte blaze.
Have a safe and happy Fourth.
This article appears in Jul 2-8, 2009.
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It seems you are correct about the lacke of ‘local’ music. An avid Blues fan, I have yet to scout out any hot spots. Hope things improve!
I’m not big on the whole local entitlement issues that many, many,…did I say many, because I meant to say alot, Bend residents have. Not because I just moved here (born and bred, graduated BHS nineteen eighty something), but because I remember a deserted downtown after 6pm and saying as a teenager, “There’s nothing to do here.” So I guess MY point is, that nothing has really changed. There still is nothing to do, just more places to do nothing at and more people to do nothing with.
Keep in mind there are many,many, people living here that live on very fixed incomes, barely scraping by and most things here cost too much when you are just making ends meet. Example, High Desert Museum, a wonderful place, but way out of line price wise.
I’m sorry but the whole REASON WE LIVE HERE IS THE OUTDOORS AND THE AMAZING BEAUTY. most places have the same problem, its the always greener idea. if you lived in Portland you would be saying “man, i wish there was a trail system like shevin close to my house” plus if you lived in Portland you would be saying there isn’t much going on here either. so when you get bored go for a run on an amazing trail, bike on a mountain road, float the river, drink one of our local beers, or go to sisters for the day. so next time you get the feeling that “there isn’t anything to do here” go outside, just out your front door, and be happy your not living in a some crowded name-less American city or suburb that could be anywhere in the country
I’m sorry but the whole REASON WE LIVE HERE IS THE OUTDOORS AND THE AMAZING BEAUTY. most places have the same problem, its the always greener idea. if you lived in Portland you would be saying “man, i wish there was a trail system like shevin close to my house” plus if you lived in Portland you would be saying there isn’t much going on here either. so when you get bored go for a run on an amazing trail, bike on a mountain road, float the river, drink one of our local beers, or go to sisters for the day. so next time you get the feeling that “there isn’t anything to do here” go outside, just out your front door, and be happy your not living in a some crowded name-less American city or suburb that could be anywhere in the country
The way I see it, if you find yourself in Bend or anyplace else (whether by choice or because you’re being raised there as a child), if you find something lacking you either (1) work to try to fix it (including grumbling), (2) learn to live without it or (3) vote with your feet.
I grew up in Bend, graduated from MVHS in the early ’90s and never moved back permanently after college. When growing up in Bend I skied, camped, fished, hunted, wakeboarded, hiked, mountain biked and did all the stuff you can do in the outdoors. I didn’t move away because I disliked these things – I moved away because for ME, personally, having easy access to those activities wasn’t as important as having financial security, opportunities for career advancement and urban amenities. Other people, including many of my friends who still live in Bend, have different life priorities, and that’s who a life in Bend is for.
My life doesn’t revolve around outdoor activities, but I go skiing after work on Fridays in the winter at the feeble local slopes and go on a few ski trips a year. Where I live, getting into the outdoors takes doing, but it’s more a time thing than an availability thing. The thing about the outdoors is that there’s some form of it in most places in the world – but it’s the distractions of urban life that keep you away from it.
Growing up in a place where there’s “nothing to do” but enjoy the outdoors, well, it forces you to get out there, and that ain’t a bad thing and I can see why people want that for their kids, if not themselves.
Now I have a baby and when he gets to be old enough, I hope he can spend long stays with his grandparents (big outdoors lovers, still in great shape) in Bend, with and without my wife and me. I have the financial resources, thanks to my decision to leave Bend, to make sure that he’ll be able to take advantage of all the fun activities Central Oregon has to offer and to easily afford to join my friends’ “native Bendite” kids of the same age in any activity he’s invited to participate in, be it snowboarding, river rafting, tennis camp, whatever he’s interested in. That stuff’s all pretty cheap on a big-city professional salary, but my parents struggled to afford it when I was growing up in Bend.
I don’t think that this life-cycle is sad or a condemnation of Bend, its economy or the Bend marketing apparatus. Bend is what it is, and it can’t offer everything to everyone, and there’s nothing at all wrong with that.
In my experience, people who complain about nothing to do are usually boring people. If you’re not into the outdoors take some lessons and buy some gear. No live music to listen to? Learn to play an instrument and start a band. Still bored? Start a business, plant a garden, learn to paint. There are plenty of things to do in every town so stop complaining.
Ahhh…nothin’ to do. That’s exactly why I moved here.
I am sooo glad there are other people who feel as I do. I thought I was the only one who thought Bend was boring. Having moved from someplace that was within walking distance to the beach and parks, close to malls and reasonable (about an hour) driving distance to amusement parks, mountains, museums, etc. I am having a hard time finding fun. I am not hard-core outdoorsey, and with 3 small kids, much of that outdoor stuff is off limits anyway. But rent is cheaper, and there is usually less traffic, no smog. With the economy as it is right now, we can’t afford to move anywhere else. And my husband likes it here, so we stay.
“In my experience, people who complain about nothing to do are usually boring people.”
And in my experience, people who call other people boring are usually self-righteous a$$holes.
But seriously: I didn’t say I was bored. Most of the time I’m not. I read, I write, I go for walks, I go for a bike ride, I play my guitar, I take photographs. Sometimes I like to just sit around and think, believe it or not.
It would be nice, though, if there were more intellectual and cultural activities available. It also would broaden the appeal of Bend as a place to live. There are many, many people who, for various reasons, can’t or don’t want to get into the whole strenuous “outdoor lifestyle” scene.
“What kind of “intllectual and cultural activities” are you looking for?”
From my personal standpoint, it would be nice to have a public library with a bigger selection of books. It would be nice to have live music performances of something besides country, rock and pop. It would be nice to have quality live theater. It would be nice to have local movie houses that showed more independent and foreign movies.
And at the risk of sounding like an insufferable snob, it would be nice to be able to have an intellectual conversation once in a while, i.e. to go to a party or a bar and talk about something besides how the skiing was or how the fishing was or how the mountain bike trails were — or what the real estate market’s doing.