Although Bend has expanded exponentially since my last visit in 1995, its growth seems well-planned and even pleasant. Street signs name a quadrant or district, traffic circles and one-way streets show evidence of urban planning, and there were NO empty storefronts in the historic Old Bend part of town. Much of the priciest real estate, alongside the river, is public park. Bend reminded me somewhat of Reno, NV in the 1990’s: booming expansion and redefinition of city limits. One symbol of such redefinition is the conversion of a lumber mill to a shopping mall. REI is housed under the smokestacks. There are jobs here, in construction, in service, and in government and education. Almost all of the people I talked to moved here from somewhere else: Maui, Portland, Las Vegas, L.A. Marco attracted a lot of attention, even though he was one dog among many. Many folks asked to pet him. The photo I didn’t take was of Marco exchanging kisses with an admirer sporting a red beard in Marco’s exact signature shade. One lady gushed, “He’s so sweet and affectionate. He must be a therapy dog!”
The people have been extremely friendly to us and to each other. On the law and order frontier, I observed NO leash scofflaws on the walkways. The underpasses are decorated with brightly colored murals and they don’t smell like urine. Public art, benches, and restrooms!
And because I’m still a plant person, currently a transplant person, I include some flowering crabapple:
JohnandJanet'sJourney 
Bend seems idyllic!!
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