SUNDAY • June 13, 2021 • Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $3
BACK ON BOARD
A year after the pandemic decimated the travel industry,
the Redmond Airport is showing signs of life • Business, C1
nt of Transporta
tion
1,268
1,071
1,227
1,094
1,174
1,146
65,948
6,048
5,791
58,222
58,582
46,584
1985
Alan Kenaga/Fo
r The Bulletin
*Includes all
SPECIAL SUNDAY REPORT | The Bulletin requested a few years of data from
the Oregon DMV to see where new residents came from. Here’s what we found.
Canadian prov
inces and territ
ories.
BY SUZANNE ROIG • The Bulletin
I
n the middle of the pandemic, Jen and Mitch Gor-
don realized that Chicago wasn’t home anymore.
That was in March. A few months later, the Gor-
dons sold their house. Packed up their belongings and
became new Bend residents.
As newcomers, the Gordons are among thousands
whose moves were tracked by exchanging their former
state’s driver’s licenses for Oregon licenses. According
to the most recent data from the Oregon Department
of Transportation’s Driver and Motor Vehicle Services
division , 23,914 licenses were surrendered in Oregon
during the first three months of 2020 from places as far
away as American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, Quebec,
Mexico, Germany and South Korea. In 2019, the top five
states where new residents came from were California,
Washington, Arizona, Texas and Colorado.
“We were ready
to give up the
concrete and
embrace more
nature.”
— Jen Gordon, who moved
with her family from Chicago
“We had come (to
Oregon) on vacation for the past decade,”
Gordon said. “We decided during the pandemic to
move. We were wondering why we were not living there.
“We were ready to give up the concrete and embrace
more nature.”
The Bulletin requested data from the DMV of sur-
rendered licenses over the past five years to see where
new residents came from. The statewide data mirrors
new address data from the United States Postal Ser-
vice, which sells information on change of addresses
by county.
See DMV / A4
Who’s moving in
People who move to Oregon from other states are required to obtain a state driver's license. Driver’s license-
surrender data provided by the Oregon Department of Transportation provides an insight into where the majority
of people relocating to Oregon are coming from in the United States and Canada. California topped the list in 2019
at more than 32%, followed by Washington at 15% and Arizona at 4%.
2
Annual driver’s license surrender
totals in Oregon, 1985-2019 *
Year
Total
84,658
2019
14
90,311
6
88,562
11
15
93,428
85,114
2015
8
10
1
75,478
9
5
68,446
62,900
59,643
3
2010
60,234
58,628
63,082
4
68,017
12
73,123
7
74,234
2005
13
62,245
64,275
Top 15 states by driver’s license surrender to Oregon
Rank/State
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
5-year total
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
24,628
13,701
4,037
3,287
2,809
2,852
2,100
2,481
1,644
1,664
1,536
1,457
1,107
1,216
1,212
27,566
14,565
4,259
3,784
3,118
3,099
2,597
2,413
1,858
1,659
1,691
1,567
1,240
1,253
1,268
26,150
14,399
3,763
3,655
2,936
2,761
2,621
2,322
1,753
1,628
1,599
1,372
1,349
1,178
1,071
28,065
14,463
3,728
3,728
3,032
2,897
2,856
2,040
1,703
1,661
1,582
1,354
1,449
1,227
1,094
27,429
12,804
3,514
3,408
2,840
2,621
2,526
1,973
1,493
1,624
1,586
1,125
1,371
1,174
1,146
133,838
69,932
19,301
17,862
14,735
14,230
12,700
11,229
8,451
8,236
7,994
6,875
6,516
6,048
5,791
California
Washington
Arizona
Texas
Colorado
Idaho
Florida
Nevada
Illinois
Utah
New York
Alaska
Hawaii
Montana
Michigan
Source: Oregon Department of Transportation
Alan Kenaga/For The Bulletin
66,103
73,768
72,228
2000
72,669
76,838
79,977
82,832
79,058
1995
79,848
75,781
74,819
72,617
74,239
1990
72,717
65,948
58,222
58,582
1985
MINNESOTA AVENUE
Closure
would
make
room
for plaza
Presentation on
the pedestrian area
will go before council
on Wednesday
BY BRENNA VISSER
The Bulletin
A proposal to close a block
of Minnesota Avenue is being
considered by the Bend City
Council, and so far has gar-
nered mixed reactions from
businesses along the down-
town street.
The proposal, which will
be presented Wednesday to
the Bend City Council by the
Downtown Bend Business As-
sociation, explores the idea of
turning Minnesota Avenue
between Wall Street and Bond
Avenue into some type of pe-
destrian plaza closed to cars.
This idea has been kicked
around by businesses and resi-
dents for years, said Ben Hem-
son, the city’s business advocate.
It was seriously considered last
spring near the beginning of
the pandemic as a way to help
restaurants get more outdoor
seating to increase their ca-
pacity, but was ultimately shot
down because not enough busi-
nesses were on board.
But the idea has come yet
again to the forefront. Many
members of the council are in-
terested in it, as they have been
hearing from the community
about a desire to make Bend
more walkable and to have
more outdoor community
spaces, Hemson said.
“That seems to be a consistent
theme,” Hemson said Friday.
Several things must be con-
sidered before a proposal like
this can move forward, Hem-
son said, and it could be several
years and take lots of public
input before anything like this
could be realized.
One of the most crucial
things to be considered is the
reaction from the businesses
along this street.
In a listening session held for
businesses on Friday, Hemson
said the reaction from busi-
nesses is mixed.
See Plaza / A4
46,584
*Includes all Canadian provinces and territories.
TODAY’S WEATHER
A brief shower
High 85, Low 55
Page B6
INDEX
Business/Life C1-8
Classifieds
B5
Dear Abby
C3
Editorial
A7
Horoscope
C3
Local/State A2-3, 5
Lottery
B2
Market Recap
B4
Mon. Comics C5-6
Obituaries
A8-9
Puzzles
C4
Sports
B1-3
The Bulletin
An Independent Newspaper
Vol. 117, No. 329,
28 pages, 4 sections
We use recycled newsprint
SUN/THU
1,212
egon Departme
U|xaIICGHy02330rzu