The Local
The Local
The Local is your guide to living in Central Oregon. It’s where I share what’s happening around town, what the market is doing, and the places that make Bend and the surrounding communities worth calling home.
From neighborhood and real estate updates to favorite restaurants, local businesses, weekend ideas, and camping spots, The Local gives you a more complete picture of life in Central Oregon. Because choosing a home is about more than the house - it’s about finding the places, people, and routines that make it feel like yours.
Central Oregon Is Changing. Here’s What’s Coming Next.
If you’ve lived in Central Oregon for a while, you’ve probably noticed it.
More cars on the roads. More houses going up. New businesses opening. Neighborhoods that didn’t exist a few years ago are now part of the daily drive.
Central Oregon is growing. But the more interesting question is where that growth is headed and what these communities will look like when it gets there.
I spent some time looking at what local governments and the State of Oregon are actually planning. A few places stand out.
I Tried Pie Maison Before the Doors Open. Get in Line Behind Me.
Every so often in this town, you get to taste something before the line forms. This is me telling you the line is coming. It’s called Pie Maison, and it’s headed for downtown Bend.
The Best Places to Camp in Central Oregon
People move to Central Oregon for a lot of reasons, but here’s the one nobody puts on the mortgage application: you can be at a world-class campsite in less time than most Americans spend commuting. I get asked about neighborhoods all week. On the weekends, I get asked where to camp. So here’s my honest list.
Buyers Have the Leverage. Most of Them Don’t Know It.
In July, nearly half of all closed sales in Bend — 48.9% — included a seller concession, and the median concession was almost $10,000. That’s real money toward your closing costs, your repairs, or buying down your interest rate, and it’s up more than 40% from a year ago. Roughly 60% of recent Bend closings finished under the asking price. And across Central Oregon, close to four in ten active listings have already cut their price at least once.
Where I Actually Eat in Bend
If you work in real estate long enough, you figure out the second question everyone asks. The first is about the market. The second is “where should we eat?” I get it from buyers relocating here, from family visiting, from people who just closed and want to celebrate. So instead of texting the same list over and over, I’m writing it down. These are the five places in Bend I actually send people to.
This Isn’t a Shockwave. It’s the New Normal.
For the past year, as rates have crept up, I kept telling myself this was just a shockwave, a temporary disturbance before things settled back down. I’m starting to think I had it backwards. This might just be where we live now.