Posts with tag 'Downtown Bend'

Bend's Air Quality Hazardous

The Sunday issue of The Bulletin, Bend's local newspaper, contained an article on the 2017 Oregon fire season. According to the article, we are on track to at least equal the amount of acres burned in 2015 when over 600,000 acres of Oregon land caught fire. Through last Tuesday, August 29, 58 fires have burned close to 460,000 acres throughout the state.

In Central Oregon, the impact of the fires has resulted in almost daily hazy sky and sometimes dangerous air quality. This morning, checking the USA Air Pollution Quality Index, Bend's index was almost 400 which is considered extremely hazardous.

Sunday evening we traveled up Cascade Lakes Highway to Sparks Lake. Driving on the road, the smoke became progressively thicker the more we entered the mountains. Driving past Mt. Bachelor, the mountain was invisible behind a thick layer of smoke and even the far end of the parking lot was hard to see. When we reached Sparks Lake, the smoke was extremely thick. We parked in the boat launch parking lot with no other vehicles around (Labor Day weekend the lake would typically be filled with campers and people enjoying the outdoors) and walked the 1/3 of a mile on the Ray Atkeson Loop Trail to the vista point which overlooks the lake toward South Sister and Broken Top. This is what we saw:

The normal view from this point is:

Bend Oregon Real Estate Impacted by Fires

When Bend Brokers show property to perspective buyers, much of what "sells" a home is the view. Our MLS input forms emphasize Cascade mountain, city, river, waterfront, other mountain, and terrain views. When the smoke in the air keeps these views invisible, it is difficult to convince people who do not know the area to trust us - the views are spectacular. When we cannot walk outside without coughing due to smoke, when the elderly and sick are told to stay indoors due to unhealthy air, when windows cannot be opened due to the smoke of burning forests, it is hard to sell real estate. We will follow up in a few weeks with the actual published data on how Bend real estate sales have been impacted by the summer's fires.

Cascade Cycling Classic Hits Downtown Bend Saturday

The 38th annual Cascade Cycling Classic is underway right now in beautiful Central Oregon. The CCC is the longest consecutively run elite stage race in the country and has attracted most of North America's top cyclists over the years; Lance Armstrong's won the CCC in 1997. This year is the first time the CCC has the UCI level ranking for the men with the women's race receiving it last year. 

The race consists of 5 stages. The Mackenzie Pass 173 km stage one was completed Wednesday, the Skyliners Time Trial of 22.8 km was completed Thursday and today is the 172.8 km Cascade Lakes Road Race traveling through some of the most beautiful scenery in North America.

Tomorrow evening is the Downtown Bend Criterium which involves 75 minutes for the men and 50 minutes for the women of racing through the streets of downtown Bend...

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When you drive around Bend, have you noticed there are a lot of red front doors? Although for these homeowners the reasons might be aesthetic, around the world red doors actually have a lot of meaning. The Chinese, for example, believe red is a lucky color and would paint their doors red before the Chinese New Year. Red doors can be an important element of Feng Sui by allowing "chi" to be drawn into the home. Catholics often paint their church doors red to remind people of Christ's sacrifice. During slavery, red doors were used to by the Underground Railroad to show this particular home could provide safe haven. There is even rumor that people would paint their doors red as a sort of "no solicitation" sign to that annoying Fuller Brush salesman… but again, that's just rumor. But the story we like most is that homeowners in Scotland paint their doors red to show that they have paid off their mortgage. Will you be painting your door red soon?