Country State County Incorporated Government • Mayor Area • City • Land • Water Elevation
United States Oregon Deschutes January 4, 1905
• City • Estimate (2012) • Density • Metro Jim Clinton Demonym Time zone 33.27 sq mi (86.17 km2) • Summer (DST) 33.01 sq mi (85.50 km2) ZIP code 0.26 sq mi (0.67 km2) Area code(s) 3,623 ft (1,104.3 m) Website
Population (2010) 76,639 79,109 2,321.7/sq mi (896.4/km2) 170,705 Bendite PST (UTC-8) PDT (UTC-7) 97701, 97702, 97707, 97708, 97709 458 and 541 www.ci.bend.or.us
Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, and despite its modest size, is the de facto metropolis of the region, owing to the low population density of that area. Bend recorded a population of 76,693 at the time of the 2010 US Census, up from 52,029 at the 2000 census. The estimated population of Bend as of 2012 is 79,109. Bend's metro population was estimated at 170,705 as of July 1, 2009. The Bend MSA is the 5th largest metropolitan area in Oregon. Bend is located on the eastern edge of the Cascade Range along the Deschutes River. Here the Ponderosa Pine forest transitions into the high desert, characterized by arid land, junipers, sagebrush, and bitter-brush. Originally a crossing point on the river, settlement began in the early 1900s. Bend was incorporated as a city in 1905. Economically, it started as a logging town but is now identified as a gateway for many outdoor sports, including mountain biking, fishing, hiking, camping, rock climbing, white-water rafting, skiing, and golf. 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, one of the few fordable points along the river. For at least 12,000 years, until the winter of 1824, the Bend area was known only to Native Americans who hunted and fished there. That year, members of a fur trapping party led by Peter Skene Ogden visited the area. John C. FrĂŠmont, John Strong Newberry, and other Army survey parties came next. Then pioneers heading farther west passed through the area and forded the Deschutes River at Farewell Bend. Constructed in May 1901, the Pilot Butte Development Company's little plant was the first commercial sawmill in Bend. The original location was at the rear of the Pilot Butte Inn of later years. Steidl and Reed also set up a small mill in Bend in 1903. This was on the Deschutes River just below the Pioneer Park area. The mill was operated by water power.\ A small community developed around the area, and in 1904, a city was incorporated 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. The settlement was originally called "Farewell Bend", which was later shortened to "Bend" by the U.S. Postal Service. In 1910, Mirror Pond was created by the construction of the Bend Water, Light & Power Company dam on the Deschutes River in Bend. The dam provided the city with its initial source of electricity. The dam has been owned by Pacific Power since 1926 and still produces electricity that supplies approximately 200 Bend households. In 1916, Deschutes County, Oregon 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 council-manager form of government.
Television
KTVZ 21 (NBC)- The region's first broadcast TV station (launched in 1977). • KFXO-LD 39 (FOX) - On April 17, 2006, the station launched a local news broadcast. The station later was purchased by KTVZ's parent firm, News-Press and Gazette Co. • KOHD 51 (ABC) - Chambers Communications (Eugene, Oregon) recently purchased a broadcast license for the market and began its local newscasts in the fall of 2007.[44] • KBNZ-LD (CBS) - Zolo Media, parent company of Bend Broadband, has purchased KBNZ. KOIN-TV Portland's news is offered with no local cut ins. • NTVZ-CW (CW). KTVZ (DT2). Broadcast by NPG of Oregon, The CW carries popular entertainment programming. First local on-air broadcast was September 2006. • KQRE-TM (Telemundo). Spanish language television broadcast by NPG of Oregon since 2007. • COTV 11 - Carries RSN (Resort Sports Network), local events (parades, city council meetings, candidate forums). In addition, COTV airs local sports, including the Central Oregon Hotshots, Bend Elks, and local high school teams. •
Radio AM
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KICE 940 AM - Bend Radio Group airs sports programming from ESPN Radio. • KBND 1110 AM - News Talk Information format. • KBNW 1340 AM - News Talk Information format.
FM KLBR 88.1 FM - National Public Radio and locally produced radio shows from Lane Community College. KLBR is a simulcast of KLCC (FM) in Eugene, Oregon. • KWRX 88.5 FM - non-commercial classical music radio station broadcasting to the Bend, Oregon area. KWRX is a simulcast of KWAX in Eugene, Oregon. • KPOV-FM 88.9 FM - Low-power community radio station owned by the Women's Civic Improvement League. • KVRA 89.3 FM - Contemporary Christian format. Air 1 • KVLB 90.5 FM - Contemporary Christian format K-LOVE. • KOAB-FM 91.3 FM - Oregon Public Broadcasting • KRXF 92.9 FM - Bend Radio Group commercial modern rock music radio station in Sunriver, Oregon, with a slogan of "Local. Independent" • KXIX 94.1 FM - Bend Radio Group commercial Top 40 music. • KLTW-FM 95.7 FM - Adult Contemporary format. • KNLR 97.5 FM - Contemporary Christian format. • KTWS 98.3 FM - Classic rock format. • KMTK 99.7 FM - broadcasts a country music format. • KMGX 100.7 FM - Bend Radio Group Hot Adult Contemporary format • KLRR 101.7 FM - commercial adult album alternative music radio station in Redmond, Oregon, broadcasting to the Bend, Oregon area. •
Economy Tourism is one of Bend's largest sectors. The Mount Bachelor ski resort brings in tourists from all over Oregon, Washington, and California. The nearby Cascade Lakes are also a large draw for tourists. Recreational activities include downhill and cross country skiing, hiking, biking, rafting, golfing, camping, fishing, picnicking, rock climbing, and general sightseeing. Bend is also home to the Deschutes Brewery, the 5th largest microbrewery in the nation and the largest of over a dozen microbreweries in the city. Each year 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. Beer aficionados can also visit many of the breweries along The Bend Ale Trail. Since 2004, Bend has also hosted the one of the top indie film festivals in the nation The BendFilm Festival. In 2005, Bend's economic profile comprised five industry categories: tourism (7,772 jobs); healthcare and social services (6,062 jobs); professional, scientific and technical services (1,893 jobs); wood products manufacturing (1,798 jobs); and recreation and transportation equipment (1,065 jobs). Much of Bend's rapid growth in recent years is also due to its attraction as a retirement destination. The rapid population growth has fostered organizations such as Central Oregon Landwatch and Oregon Solutions.
Major companies As of 2009, the top 20 private regional (Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook counties) employers were: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
St. Charles Medical Center (3,028 employees) Les Schwab Tire Centers (1,500 regionwide) Sunriver Resort (850) Mt. Bachelor (750) Wal-Mart (700 regionwide) TRG Customer Solutions (650) Safeway (578 regionwide) Bend Memorial Clinic (510) Bright Wood Corporation (465) JELD-WEN Development (Eagle Crest) (400) Knife River Corporation (300) Opportunity Foundation (330 Redmond) Black Butte Ranch (322) JELD-WEN Windows & Doors (320) Ray's Grocery Stores (306 regionwide) Hooker Creek Companies (300 regionwide) Costco (292) Bank of the Cascades (281 regionwide)
Other Bend-based companies • 1859 magazine American Licorice Company • Bend Radio Group • Breedlove Guitars • Clear Catheter Systems • Combined Communications • Deschutes Brewery • Edge Wireless • Epic Aircraft • Leverage Factory McMenamins Old St. Francis School • Nosler, Inc. • SCE Bend Studio • Western Communications •
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Construction and real estate According to the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis, in 2005 construction and real estate accounted for 17.3 percent of all jobs in the Bend metropolitan statistical area (MSA), which constitutes all of Deschutes County. This figure is about 70 percent more than the proportion of construction and real estate jobs in the Oregon and national economies. However, construction activity in Bend appears to be slowing - the number of building permit applications received by the Bend City Building Division fell from 826 in August 2006 to 533 in August 2007, a 35 percent decrease. A large influx of new residents drawn by Bend's lifestyle amenities, along with the low interest rates and easy lending that fostered a national housing boom in 2001−05, resulted in increased activity in Bend's construction and real estate sectors and have caused the rate of home price appreciation in Bend to grow substantially during that period. Median home prices in the Bend MSA increased by over 80% in the 2001−05 period. In June 2006, Money magazine named the Bend MSA the fifth most overpriced real estate market in the United States. By September 2006, the Bend metro area ranked second in the list of most overpriced housing markets, and in June 2007 it was named the most overpriced housing market in America. The 2008−09 housing downturn had a strong effect on Bend's housing and economic situation. According to the Seattle Times, single-family home prices dropped more than 40 percent from a peak of $396,000 in May 2007 to $221,000 in March 2009. Additional signs of the housing downturn include an April 2009 Deschutes county unemployment rate of 12.6 percent and in a tri-county area of Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties a 66 percent rise in homelessness from 2006 to 2,237. In May 2010 the Federal Housing and Finance Agency released a report in which Bend had the largest price drop in the country, 23 percent, from first quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2010.