A4 The BulleTin • Sunday, June 13, 2021
Plaza
Continued from A1
Some businesses, like the
Good Drop Wine Shoppe, sup-
port the idea because it will be
safer for pedestrians, create a
community space and bring
more foot traffic — and there-
fore customers — to down-
town stores.
“Downtown is such a vibrant
community,” said Sophie Wor-
ley, an employee with the wine
shop. “I think it will give shop-
pers the opportunity to shop
the community like they’ve
never been able to before.”
But some businesses oppose
the idea, according to Hem-
son. They cite a loss of street
parking as well as a sense of
reticence toward change, Hem-
son said.
Duncan McGeary, the owner
of Pegasus Books, is among
those opposed to closing the
street. McGeary said he doesn’t
understand the push for a pe-
destrian plaza when downtown
business is already doing well.
“It’s not necessary. Down-
town Bend has recovered,” said
McGeary, who has been run-
ning his business downtown
for the past 37 years. “We are
doing really nicely. It makes no
sense to change the dynamic of
what’s working.”
DMV
Continued from A1
In Deschutes County, over a
nine-month period ending in
March, the top five areas where
new residents came from were
California, Washington, Ari-
zona, Texas and Florida.
“The inflow of new residents
is interesting,” said Damon
Runberg, Oregon Employment
Department regional econo-
mist. “But it’s hard to draw a
conclusion without the out-mi-
gration data. That back and
forth.”
Traditionally, Deschutes
County has a high net migra-
tion — more people coming
in compared to those leaving
— than other counties. Run-
berg usually uses Internal Rev-
enue Service data to support
Another issue the bookstore
owner has is the possibility of
the plaza becoming home to
more festivals that traditionally
have closed downtown streets.
McGeary said he doesn’t un-
derstand how the Downtown
Bend Business Association can
put forward a proposal to per-
manently close a street when
the organization historically
has spoken out against these
festivals because they harm
downtown businesses.
“To me that’s a contradic-
tion,” McGeary said.
Other realities, like access to
public utility work, snow plow-
ing and street cleaning, and for
emergency vehicles, also must
be considered, according to
David Abbas, the director of
the city’s transportation and
mobility department.
Design for what a street clo-
sure would actually look like,
and the costs associated with
that design, also have to be
considered.
Once those decisions are
made, however, Abbas said a
street closure would not be a
huge undertaking.
“Logistically, if we were
given the word go, is it imple-
mentable and doable? Yes,”
Abbas said.
e
Reporter: 541-633-2160,
bvisser@bendbulletin.com
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
Pedestrians cross the intersection of Minnesota Avenue and Bond Street on Friday in downtown Bend.
“I came here completely green. I didn’t know anything about
the weather or the natural habitat. When we bought, we
wanted a rural property because we wanted the open space
and natural area. Forests and pine trees matter to me.”
— Suzette Chapman, who works at NeighborImpact as the chief
development officer; she moved to Bend in 2016
the premise that more people
come than leave, but the data
is lagging. The most current is
2018.
In reviewing the surren-
dered license data, Runberg
said, Oregon saw in-migra-
tion increase in 2020-21 by
roughly 3% compared to
2018-19, a period where the
state was at full employment.
Interestingly enough, Run-
berg said, that increase looks
to be from stronger migra-
tion from neighboring states,
Washington and California.
Meanwhile, there was a de-
cline of residents surrendering
licenses from Idaho, Texas,
Florida and Arizona.
“The traditional data we use
for measuring geographic mo-
bility doesn’t capture our world
post-COVID-19,” Runberg
said. “There’s a lag in this data
because it relies on administra-
tive records, such as tax filings,
licenses surrendered, or change
of address requests that do not
measure movement instanta-
neously.
“But, this early data is point-
ing to a small increase of
in-migration into Oregon over
the past 18 months.”
Oregon has been an in-mi-
gration kind of state for a
while, Runberg said.
A relative newcomer, Su-
zette Chapman, who works at
NeighborImpact as the chief
development officer, moved
here sight unseen in 2016. She
chose to move to Bend from
southwest Houston where the
temperatures are considerably
warmer, but the traffic and
congestion were far worse than
any backed-up roundabout in
Bend.
She and a friend, who had
lived in Redmond, pooled their
resources and bought 40 acres
in La Pine.
“It’s next to a huge Bureau
of Land Management track,
and we enjoy the land, the view
and the deer,” Chapman said.
“I love the area. I don’t miss the
hurricanes, the mosquitoes or
the venomous snakes.”
Chapman realizes she traded
those for snow and ice and un-
plowed streets. Just in the past
week, she said there were snow
flurries.
“I came here completely
green,” Chapman said. “I didn’t
know anything about the
weather or the natural habitat.
When we bought, we wanted
a rural property because we
wanted the open space and
natural area. Forests and pine
trees matter to me.”
When she’s not working,
she’s hiking and spending time
outside, she said.
While Texas doesn’t occupy
the top spot of where people
came from and surrendered
their licenses, it ranks No. 4
overall based on five years of
DMV data.
Gordon said she and her
family are about ready to settle
in for a fine summer in Bend.
They plan to enjoy the out-
doors and warm weather.
“When you’re on vacation,
you have rose-colored glasses
on,” Gordon said. “But ev-
erything in Bend has been
beyond what we’ve expected.
We feel so welcomed by the
community. We’re looking
forward to friends coming to
visit us.”
e
Reporter: 541-633-2117,
sroig@bendbulletin.com
GARAGE SALE
FUNDRAISER
Benefi ting the Women and Children’s Center
Saturday, June 19th
8 am - 12 pm
The Shepherd’s House 1854 NE Division St. Bend, 97701
Ways you can help:
1. Donate items for the sale
2. Shop the sale
Items for donation can be dropped off
M- Sat 9 am - 4 pm at The Shepherd’s House
* We are not able to accept furniture, beds,
appliances, toys or high chairs.
We hope to see you there and thank you for your support.
For more information please call 541 388-2096 ext 4
shministries.org