Bend

Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Bend Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, with a population of 99,178 at the time of the 2020 U.S. Census. The city has a total area of 33.27 square miles (86.17 square kilometres), of which 33.01 sq km (50 km²) is land. Bend's elevation is 3,623 feet (1,104 metres) above sea level. Bend sits on the boundary of the Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills, a Level III ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the states of Oregon, Washington, and California. The name "Bend" was derived from "Farewell Bend", the designation used by early pioneers to refer to the location where the town was eventually platted. In 1910, Mirror Pond was created by the Bend Water, Light & Power Company dam. The dam has been owned by Pacific Power since 1926 and still produces electricity that supplies approximately 200 Bend households. As of 2022 the city is also the home of the last Blockbuster video rental store. On August 28, 2022, a mass shooting occurred at a Safeway grocery store in Bend. Two senior citizens, one of whom was an employee at the store, were killed, and two others were wounded before the gunman committed suicide. But inside the city limits is Pilot State Scenic Viewpoint, an old cinder cone volcano.

History

The name "Bend" was derived from "Farewell Bend", the designation used by early pioneers to refer to the location along the Deschutes River where the town was eventually platted. The Pilot Butte Development Company's little plant was the first commercial sawmill in Bend. Mirror Pond was created by the construction of the Bend Water, Light & Power Company dam in 1910. The dam has been owned by Pacific Power since 1926 and still produces electricity that supplies approximately 200 Bend households. On August 28, 2022, a mass shooting occurred at a Safeway grocery store. Two senior citizens, one of whom was an employee at the store, were killed, and two others were wounded before the gunman committed suicide. The city was incorporated in 1904 by a general vote of the community's 300 residents. On January 4, 1905, the city held its first official meeting as an incorporated municipality, appointing A. H. Goodwillie as the first mayor. In 1916, Deschute County was formed from the western half of Crook County and Bend was designated as the county seat. In 1929, Bend amended the charter and adopted the councilmanager form of government. The name of the city was shortened to Bend by the U.S. Post Office Department. It was originally called Farewell Bend, which was later shortened to 'Bend' by the United States Post Office department. The town's name was first used in 1824 by members of a fur-trapping party led by Peter Skene Ogden.

Geography

Bend sits on the boundary of the Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills, a Level III ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The Deschutes River runs through Bend, where it is dammed to form Mirror Pond. Bend is one of three cities in the continental U.S. (with Portland, Oregon, and Jackson, Mississippi) to have an extinct volcano within its city limits. The city has a total area of 33.27 square miles (86.17 square kilometres), of which 33.01 sq mi (85.50 km²) is land and 0.26 sq km² (0.67 km 2) is water. The elevation of Bend is 3,623 feet (1,104 metres) above sea level. The winter season in Bend provides a mean temperature of 31.1 °F (0.5 °C) in December. In half of the years between 1971 and 2000, the USDA weather station in Bend recorded the last below-freezing temperatures after July 3 and the first below- freezing temperatures before August 31. The average window for freezing temperatures is September 13 through June 19. The Horse Lava Tube System enters and borders the eastern edge of the city. Just south of Bend, the Newberry National Volcanic Monument is reached by U.S. Route 20. The Bend area has an annual average snowfall of 23.8 inches (60.5 cm) Bend is known for its annual Indian summer.

Demographics

Bend is the larger principal city of the Bend-Prineville CSA, a Combined Statistical Area that includes the Bend metropolitan area (Deschutes County) and the Prineville micropolitan area (Crook County) As of the census of 2010, there were 76,639 people, 31,790 households, and 19,779 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 91.3% White, 0.5% African American, 0.,8% Native American, 1.2% Asian, 0,1% Pacific Islander, 3.4% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.2%. The median income for a family of four is $58,800, and in 2006 the median income was $40,857. The city has a population of 52,029, with a population density of 2,321.7 per sq mi (896.4/km²) The city is home to the University of Oregon, which has an enrollment of more than 30,000 students. The university has a campus that is the largest in the state, with more than 20,000 people living there. It is also home to Oregon State University, where the enrollment is more than 10,000. The school has a reputation for being one of the best places to study in the U.S., with many of its students having advanced degrees.

Economy

Bend is home to the Deschutes Brewery, the eighth-largest craft brewery in the nation and the largest of over a dozen microbreweries in the city. Recreational activities include downhill and cross country skiing, hiking, biking, rafting, golfing, camping, fishing, picnicking, rock climbing, and general sightseeing. The local tourism industry employs 10,000 people and brings in more than $1 billion into the regional economy. Construction and real estate accounted for 17.3 percent of all jobs in the Bend metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in 2005. The Bend MSA was named the fifth most overpriced real estate market in the United States in June 2007. Bend has become a commuter town for a number of tech workers in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle metropolitan area due to its appeal to the outdoors as well as its relatively cheap cost of living compared to the skyrocketing rent and housing prices of the Bay Area. The city hosts many events celebrating its brewing culture, including the Bend Oktoberfest, the Little Woody Barrel Aged Brew and Whiskey Fest, Bend Brewfest, and Central Oregon Beer Week. Since 2017, Bend's Worthy Brewing has hosted an observatory with a 16-inch reflecting RitcheyChrétien telescope. As of 2018, there were 23 breweries in Bend and 4 hard cider companies. In 2019, the officially licensed Blockbuster Video in the City became the last remaining one in the world.

Arts and culture

The city is becoming known for its burgeoning art scene. Bend is home to numerous visual and fine art galleries, as well as the independent BendFilm Festival, which launched in 2004. There are numerous public art displays, including the Roundabout Art Route tour of outdoor sculptures throughout the city. The city is also home to the Deschutes Historical Museum and the High Desert Museum. The Bend Amateur Athletic Club Gymnasium is one of the city's most popular venues for sports and other activities. It is located in the historic Drake Park Neighborhood Historic District. It also has a number of historic buildings in the Old Mill District and the Old St. Francis School Historic District, which are on the National Register of Historic Places. It has a large number of restaurants and bars in the downtown area, including a popular sports bar, the Bend Athletic Club, and a popular restaurant, the Biltmore Hotel and Bar, which is located on the banks of the Columbia River. The town also has several historic homes, including George Palmer and Dorothy Binney Putnam House and Trinity Episcopal Church, which were built in the 19th century. It was named after a local pioneer, George Palmer, who was a member of the Oregon House of Representatives from 1887 to 1891. The first post office opened in the city in 1887. The current post office was established in 1891 and was named the Bend Post Office in 1894. It now has a post office in the town of Bend, which was founded in 1883.

Sports

Bend is home to the Bend Elks of the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League. The Central Oregon Steelheaders are one of the top teams in the NW conference of the Premier Arena Soccer League. Bend has over 300 mi (480 km) of mountain bike trails and is the home of the Cascade Cycling Classic, the nation's longest running stage race for road bicycle racing. The Bend Roughriders RFC, a men's division 3 Rugby Football Club, became a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association in April, 2009. Bend established its first USA Hockey sanctioned amateur ice hockey program, the Bend Rapids, in 2015. In 2006 Bend was named the best trail running city by Outside magazine, because of 51 mi (82km) of in-town trails. In 2019 and 2020, Bend hosted USA Climbing's pro and youth National Bouldering Championships. In January the pavilion hosts the Cascade Invitational Hockey tournament. The three-day tournament features amateur hockey teams from Washington and Oregon. The event begins at Mount Bachelor and ends in the Old Mill District. It is a relay race held each spring with six legs that include alpine skiing/snowboarding, cross-country skiing, biking, running, canoeing/kayaking and sprinting. The Cascade Lakes Relay is the largest sporting event in Central Oregon with over 3,000 participants each year. In February of each year Coach Miller hosts the Oregon State Golden Gloves Boxing Championship at Eagle Crest resort, a two-day event that highlights the best Olympic-bound boxers in the Northwest.

Parks and recreation

The Bend Park & Recreation District protects the parks, natural areas, recreational facilities, gardens, and trails of Bend, Oregon. The district also manages the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway and the Deschutes River. The Bend Park and Recreation District also manages Ponderosa Skatepark and the Pilot Butte State Park.

Education

The Bend area is served by BendLa Pine School District. It contains five high schools (Bend, Marshall, Mountain View, La Pine, Caldera High School, and Summit) It also contains six middle schools (Cascade, High Desert, Pilot Butte, Pacific Crest, La pine and Sky View), and 19 elementary schools which include three magnet schools. Private schools in the area include Cascades Academy of Central Oregon, Seven Peaks, Waldorf School of Bend, St. Francis of Assisi, Morning Star Christian, and Trinity Lutheran School. Within Bend-LaPine, additional special schools include an environmentally focused middle school and high school called Realms. Charter schools include Desert Sky Montessori and the K-8 Bend International School. Central Oregon Community College and the OSU-Cascades Campus of Oregon State University offer two- and four-year programs. The Bend area has a population of about 3,000. It is located in the central part of the state, near the town of La Pine and the city of Bend. The area is home to the University of Oregon, which offers a variety of programs. It also has a number of other colleges and universities, including Oregon State, Oregon City, and Oregon State College of the Arts and Sciences, and the College of Natural Sciences and Humanities at Oregon State. The town's population is about 2,000, with the majority of its residents living in the Bend area. It has a high school population of around 1,500.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Bend, Deschutes County, Oregon = 84. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 60. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 98. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Bend = 3.2 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 99,178 individuals with a median age of 35.8 age the population grows by 56.68% in Bend, Deschutes County, Oregon population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 2,862.61 residents per square mile of area (1,105.27/km²). There are average 2.4 people per household in the 33,583 households with an average household income of $53,253 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 12.80% of the available work force and has dropped -1.98% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 23.24%. The number of physicians in Bend per 100,000 population = 256.2.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Bend = 11.6 inches and the annual snowfall = 32.6 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 77. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 162. 82 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 21.6 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 68, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Bend, Deschutes County, Oregon which are owned by the occupant = 59.46%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 12 years with median home cost = $212,950 and home appreciation of -21.98%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $10.86 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $4,360 per student. There are 19.6 students for each teacher in the school, 625 students for each Librarian and 666 students for each Counselor. 8.48% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 20.32% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 9.29% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).