Bend is Feeling the Pull

Bend, OR, (a city of about 77,000) was featured in a New York Times article because of its unique experience in our economic downturn. It seems that Bend was the residential destination of many Californians wanting to leave the traffic and smog behind. Bend, specifically, and Oregon in general offered a wonderful west coast environment. These newcomers bought high-end houses, generated businesses, and got new jobs. Then the economic downturn hit. Now some in Bend are blaming the newcomers for their woes. In essence this marriage was not for better or worse--just better. When that changed the newcomers became the scapegoats for what went wrong. Now let's look at this.

Bend bears resemblance to all other communities that believe that one industry or one group is the guarantee to a successful, sustainable future. All we have to do is ask the folks in Flint or dozens of other communities about that strategy and we will get the same answer. We thought that xyz company would be enough for the long haul. We now know that changes in global markets, demand, and costs change the equation. Now back to Bend. Why is it not a technology center? It has two excellent community colleges and I am sure a wealth of talent from the Silicon Valley? The Bend 2030 community visioning initiative has great ideas on how to move things forward. This is all to say, "don't blame your setbacks on California." Think about the talent that you have attracted from other places and consider how all can work together to make Bend even better. Whether Bend locals actually reflect the opinion expressed in the article is unknown but if I were them I would send a clear message now to the newcomers, "welcome aboard and take a seat--we are in for a challenging ride together."

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