Bend-Prineville-Redmond

[GB0610]

Hey all you Oregonians (?), my current Agency has an opening in the area of the above towns. As I mentioned in my post regarding Salem and Eugene, my wife and I are looking for an oppotunity to move to a place with a better cost of living and a lifestyle we will enjoy.

Can you guys please tell me about these cities/towns. What is the difference between them? Which has the better recreational opportunities (distance to snowboarding, mtn. biking, dog friendly, etc.)?

Obviously with Bend being the larger city, is it the most "developed", or the least "redneck" of them all? We are city kids of sorts, so we are looking for some sort of "life".

anyway, I am all ears and need to have my app in within three weeks. So please help ASAP.

Thanks!

[ryan3]

All I can tell you is that area is growing rapidly. Supposedly one of the counties around there (not sure which one) is one of the fastest growing counties in the country. The area is beautiful. The area probably has one of the higher costs-of-living in the state, and I think it is continuing to rise. Anyway, I've only been there a couple of times, so I can't tell you much.

Good luck! :)

[Helmethead]

Bend is EXPENSIVE. Prineville is the armpit of Oregon and Redmond is just North of Bend and gets a lot of the overflow from Bend. Don't get me wrong I'd love to live in Bend (almost moved there with my wife but didn't get far with the Dept.) Bend has more dogs then people (no lie) and the recreation is Awesome! But just to give you an idea of $ an 800-900sf rental runs about 900+ a month. And forget about buying a house same sf would on the low end runs at least 250,000 in the outskirts.

Anyway, I've lived in Portland for 7 years now and highly recommend life here. It is getting more expensive but worth it. City life is good (clubs, music, nice places to eat etc..), close to Mt. Hood, ocean, columbia, every outdoor activity you can think of is really close. I just got on with Clackamas Co. (the fastest growing co.) which encompasses Mt. Hood wilderness.

shoot back any more Q's

[GB0610]

Thanks for the info guys. But after some research on the position, I don't think I would be qualified enough to apply at this point. I'm pretty new to the agency as well. Maybe eventually once I have another couple years under my belt.

But Portland or Salem or Bend really sound great. I would love all three of them I think. Its simply all about the right job opening there. Who knows when or if that will happen.

Thanks again.

PS-Expensive is all relative. I live in perhaps the most expensive place in country. It really doesn't get much worse. So anything in Oregon would be a break for me.

[ryan3]

Thanks for the info guys. But after some research on the position, I don't think I would be qualified enough to apply at this point. I'm pretty new to the agency as well. Maybe eventually once I have another couple years under my belt.

But Portland or Salem or Bend really sound great. I would love all three of them I think. Its simply all about the right job opening there. Who knows when or if that will happen.

Thanks again.

PS-Expensive is all relative. I live in perhaps the most expensive place in country. It really doesn't get much worse. So anything in Oregon would be a break for me.

I hear you about expensive being relative. My wife and I lived in Anaheim, CA for about a year. We paid nearly $1000/month for a studio. Now we are living in Keizer, OR and paying 3/4 that for a HOUSE. California (most areas) is crazy expensive, I don't care who you are.

[BP_Oregon]

I've been trading emails with a "friend of a friend" who's with the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office. I'll be talking with him on the phone in the next couple days, and probably having lunch with him sometime within the next month.

He had very, very good things to say about the Bend/Redmond agencies.

His rankings of the agencies were 1) Bend PD, 1a) Deschutes Co. Sheriff, and 2) Redmond. Bend PD has higher pay. Both Bend PD and Deschutes Co. Sheriff are extremely progressive agencies with many opportunities.

Apparently Redmond is in the process of getting a new Chief, and there are some internal structural problems.

I can provide more details once I talk with him.

[GB0610]

I've been trading emails with a "friend of a friend" who's with the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office. I'll be talking with him on the phone in the next couple days, and probably having lunch with him sometime within the next month.

He had very, very good things to say about the Bend/Redmond agencies.

His rankings of the agencies were 1) Bend PD, 1a) Deschutes Co. Sheriff, and 2) Redmond. Bend PD has higher pay. Both Bend PD and Deschutes Co. Sheriff are extremely progressive agencies with many opportunities.

Apparently Redmond is in the process of getting a new Chief, and there are some internal structural problems.

I can provide more details once I talk with him.

Please ask him how the Federal Land Management Agencis (USFS, BLM, USFWS) work with the local Agencies. Do they cooperate much, and how is the rural dope garden work out there?

Thanks

[Cole]

Run; run far from the area. You may not be able to afford to live there and if you can then you will be hated by the locals and blamed for chermtrails, the price of housing, milk, and the price of gas. God I hope you don't own a SUV because you'll get crap for that too.

I would suggest anything South of Douglas County.

[JonS]

Thanks for the info guys. But after some research on the position, I don't think I would be qualified enough to apply at this point. I'm pretty new to the agency as well. Maybe eventually once I have another couple years under my belt.

But Portland or Salem or Bend really sound great. I would love all three of them I think. Its simply all about the right job opening there. Who knows when or if that will happen.

Thanks again.

PS-Expensive is all relative. I live in perhaps the most expensive place in country. It really doesn't get much worse. So anything in Oregon would be a break for me.

Salem is currently hiring. Here is the link. http://www.cityofsalem.net/departments/spersonl/JobOpportunities/

- Jon