See that number 54 smack-dab in the middle of Oregon? Yep, that's little old Bend -- coldest town in the Lower 49 states at this moment (10 a.m. on July 23, 2012).
But no worries; it probably will warm up to 60 by late afternoon.
Meanwhile, Albuquerque's looking good at 80.
13 comments:
Duane: I spent the first 30 years of my life on the East Coast, so I know all about the heat and humidity of the summers there.
When the weather's pleasant in Bend it's delightful. Problem is, it's only pleasant for about three months a year.
We do have a VERY nice home, in a lovely, well-maintained older neighborhood with lots of trees and greenery. I'll be happy to show it to you if you're in the market.
Beware of buying a home that was built during the Great Bubble. The builders were slapping 'em together as fast as they could to cash in before the bubble popped. They don't call such houses "slammers" for nothing.
Re the apparent time discrepancy: I think they update the map every hour. So those were in fact 9:15 a.m. PDT temperatures. Not that it was much warmer in Bend by 10.
Slammers, hmm... somehow I had something different in mind? Further, I'd say not to purchase any home bought, built or REFINANCED during The Great Boom.
With their equity stripped, the seller's unrealistic expectations are more tenacious than fly paper. "It must be 'worth' this much because that's how much I borrowed AGAINST it!?" ( No thanks )
Great screen shot btw. Seen way too many of them. And just look how SF/LA and SD are continuing to languish. It cuts both ways you know. High cost of living, crowding, sucky traffic and NO chicks in bikinis in Cali can't feel any 'better' than their lack does here.
It speaks volumes Bruce was candid about our weather ( even when offered a clear ticket OUT ) Well played Sir. Haven't heard Lars in years, no longer a commuter but seeing a Mega-corp like Intel expand here is exactly what we don't need. The targets of the new knee jerk measures ( Sub S corps, Mom & Pop's, sole proprietors etc. ) don't have legions of bean counters nor lobbyists looking out for them.
What we're really looking at here is smaller firms being pushed to and beyond the breaking point, leaving mega-corp to swoop in and consolidate the crumbs. But seldom does it translate into actual organic growth. Certainly not for locals. Much in the same way former video store owners were able "to get jobs" with Hollywood and Blockbuster as they stormed stormed in.
Marshall: I don't think there are very many mom-and-pop computer chip manufacturers that are being driven out of business by Intel.
Back when Measures 66 and 67 were passed, I offered $25 to anybody who could produce ONE solid, verifiable example of a business, large or small, that had left Oregon because of those measures. I still haven't had to pay out. But the offer still stands, and you're welcome to take a shot at it.
Another word of advice to Duane: Don't base your decision to move to Bend on one week spent here during our brief good-weather period. Research the climate and the economy. Spend a week or two here in February, when we freeze our asses off -- and in May, when we're still freezing our asses off. Think seriously about how seven (or more) months a year of gray, dreary, chilly weather will affect you and your spouse (if any) physically and mentally. Think about the activities you enjoy and whether you'll be able to enjoy them here. (If you're not a real outdoor enthusiast, there ain't much to do -- and in the winter there ain't even that, unless you're into snow sports.)
Here is one, from a local company no less, that attributes 66&67 as major reasons to leave: "The economics of operating a business in Oregon was a significant factor in the decision to sell, O'Keefe told The Nugget.
"To be honest, Oregon has a very difficult business climate," she said.
O'Keefe said the decision was "absolutely tied to (tax measures) 66 & 67," which increased income taxes and taxes for some Oregon businesses."
Link at:
http://www.nuggetnews.com/main.asp?SectionID=7&SubSectionID=88&ArticleID=17170
The question also needs to be asked as to how many companies looked at Oregon and said no way. I think that is the reason Buck Knives decided against OR and went to Post falls, ID.
I'm familiar with the "Working Hands" story. That wasn't a case of a company moving out of Oregon because of M66 and 67, it was a case of an Oregon company being bought by an out-of-state company and the out-of-state company deciding to consolidate operations at its headquarters -- a not uncommon decision.
"I think that is the reason Buck Knives decided against OR and went to Post falls, ID."
That's pure speculation. What I'm looking for is an Oregon business owner saying, "I moved my business out of Oregon because of Measures 66 and 67." And I ain't seen one yet.
Businesses Affected by 66 & 67 has their own Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Businesses-Affected-By-Oregon-Measure-66-and-67/272749112548
Shutting down business OPERATIONS isn't as simple as pulling out of the drive-thru. Everyone has their fiscal year to complete, leases already signed and boards that must be convened etc. The fallout will take years...
In terms of defining *high profile* exoduses, that train's already left the station. Fred Meyer left in the 90's, Boeing flew to Chicago and Freightliner, a mere shell of its former self. Phil Knight's threatened to leave and Les Schwab wishes they 'could'.
Then there's the Shock & Awe of this being ram rodded thru retroactively. They what..? So it wasn't even a matter of tax planning, preparing or altering your business model to contend w/ a changing environment. You're -already- screwed.
Insofar as start-ups? My wife's high tech firm had regular mass defections of engineers that did bootstrap start-ups w/ regularity. Yes, with 401k money, home equity loans and some very VERY maxed out credit cards. ( It's called having b@lls )
And for WHAT? Cr@ppy roads, dysfunctional public schools and feeding bloated pensions where the tick has become bigger than the dog? C'mon Bruce.
"Last December was bright and sunny until christmas eve"
We had an unusually warm and clear November and December last year.
"Maybe it is just perspective but Bend has a hell of alot more sun than my WV place and more than my VA place too."
Could be, but it has a lot less sun than many other places, especially in the West. Go to city-data.com, look up Bend, scroll down to the graphs showing climate data and look at the one showing "sunshine." You'll see that except for a brief period in July and August, Bend gets considerably LESS sunshine than the national average.
Marshall: Businesses AFFECTED by M 66 & 67 isn't the same thing as businesses DRIVE AWAY FROM OREGON by M 66 and 67. Of course many businesses were "affected" by it.
And what's this about being "ramrodded through"? The measures were put on the ballot, the voters voted on them, they passed. They were no more "ramrodded through" than any other ballot measure is.
But as I've said before, this isn't a political blog, so I'm hereby cutting off discussion on M 66 & 67.
"Fred Meyer left in the 90's, Boeing flew to Chicago and Freightliner, a mere shell of its former self. Phil Knight's threatened to leave and Les Schwab wishes they 'could'."
Fred Meyer was bought out by Kroger. Boeing was a Washington company, not an Oregon company. I don't know about Freightliner. Phil Knight (a reactionary asshole) is always threatening to leave, so I place little stock in his threats. I don't know your basis for saying Les Schwab wants to leave, or what's stopping them from leaving if they wanted to. They just spent a bundle to build a new corporate HQ in Bend (replacing the one in Prineville); doesn't look to me like they're dying to get outta here.
Just looked at that Facebook page. The hammer-and-sickle logo is kind of a tipoff to its ideological bent. They've been pleading with people since 2010 to post stories about business being forced out of Oregon by those measures, but I didn't see one clear-cut case of it. Some coffee shop in Keizer closed? Some welding shop in Corvallis laid off an employee? Businesses close and lay off employees all the time. I want to see proof it was CAUSED by M 66 & 67
"How about 250 days with sunny or partly cloudy?"
I'd say even that would be an exaggeration. Maybe 250 days with sunny, partly cloudy or mostly cloudy.
The Deschutes River, which runs through Bend, is regulated by dams. It never floods or dries up, although the flow gets pretty low some summers because of water being withdrawn for irrigation.
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