Coming Around to Bend

Yesterday afternoon I drove to Bend for an evening book signing. It was the first time I've been to Bend in a few years, and if you don't keep up with this town's astonishing growth, it'll probably feel substantially different every time.

When I was a kid we used to visit here annually, and I remember the population then being about the same as my hometown of McMinnville: around 15,000. Today, about twenty-five years later, Bend's population is over 75,000.

As I was driving into town, I saw two signs. One said, 'Entering Bend.' But the next one, about a mile down the road, said 'Bend: 3 miles.' That's how quickly this town has sprawled outward. On that front, the way in which the town has grown is unfortunate and similar to most American cities. But there is also substantial development downtown. This morning, walking around downtown in search of an espresso, I passed a circa-1920 fire hall that had been converted into shops. Next door was a super-cool coffee place serving espresso. I figured I'd have to settle for Starbucks out here, but this was a superb shot.

I also saw a brick three to four-story mixed use condo going up. It was kind of a funny feeling, because the architecture was very traditional and tame, like something I might give a luke-warm review to at best in terms of its design. But here, where the alternative feels more directly to be a cookie-cutter house on the outskirts of town, it seemed like a masterwork. Everything's relative, ya know?

Yesterday my book signing was in the Old Mill district, where some sort of former industrial place has been converted to a kind of outdoor mall. The place was again in the tradition of something I hate: the so-called 'lifestyle center' malls that create a kind of fake urban environment for their chain stores. At the same time, this Old Mill shopping was right along the Deschutes River, with a delightful little walking path across from the Bend Amphitheater, where superlative Portland band The Shins were winding down a concert amidst the thunder and lightning of a summer storm. My problem with lifestyle centers is that they take a step towards urbanity, but don't really integrate with the existing city's fabric. When it's more part of the environment and blends in like this, though, the verdict is a little different. Oh, and I love that smell of pine and sagebrush in the air - it's like mother nature's potpourri.

I certainly don't want to whitewash some of the less attractive things about Bend. It's growing so fast the city could probably do a lot more to be progressive about planning and architecture. Yet there's also a lot to like about this town. It seems clear that Bend could someday equal or even surpass Eugene and Salem as the second biggest (and most relevant) Oregon city.

Comments

[Jim Williams]

Good review of Bend and the Old Mill. I live in Central Oregon but am a former Portlander. The Old Mill is a swing and a miss at this point. What could have been a smaller version of Portland's Pearl was missed. The fake urbanism of the area makes it plastic and lifeless when I go shopping down there. Unless there is something going on at the ampitheater the place pretty much closes up at night. There is a fair amount of housing near the Old Mill, but much in the Old Mill itself. The lack of condos above the retail level was something that should have been incorporated into the Old Mills planning, much to it's detriment.

[Paul]

Yeah, right on the spot with the old mill. The industrial architecture is cool, but they should have taken the opportunity to make it a little community village with shopping, entertainment and living integrated. A corner convenience store, a hole in the wall pizza joint, a small pub, all mixed in with the shops and living spaces. Instead it's just another place to drive to during the day and abandon at night. I was fortunate to live right in the middle of Gamla Stan (Old Town), Stockholm. I loved the feeling of a dense and lively medieval village on the tiny island in the middle of town and wonder why we can't replicate those same ideas here. Large open pedestrian-friendly squares, small streets good for walking and biking, and sometimes cars. 1 minute walk to the subway. The Irish pub with a cave-like underground section. Separated bike paths without the worry of being pegged by an inattentive driver. So nice. Couldn't we just take one street through the middle of portland and block it off to auto traffic? Just one street. How much could a few bollards at each intersection cost to put in? Not much when you consider what the city would gain. My 2 cents.

[Nikos]

"..large open pedestrian friendly squares" There are a ton of these spaces in downtown Portland but Portlanders prefer surface parking lots..

"..1 minute walk to the subway" Nah, too expensive. We prefer gimmicky slow streetcars here, that "spur development". Any idea that does not make money is doomed here, the veneer of urbanism is barely enough to sustain this blog...

Lovely day for a walk today though, going out to dispell all this bitterness.

[val]

The whole "lifestyle center" concept is bogus unless and until they start integrating housing above the retail spaces. I was amazed at the hype over Bridgeport Village when it opened and I have been lost in the maze of streets and construction around The Old Mill. In both cases they're not much different than when Lloyd Center opened in the early 1960s as an open-aired shopping mall. Only the store names are different. Yippee!

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It's growing so fast the city could probably do a lot more to be progressive about planning and architecture.