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Letters 1/11-11/18 

Greensky Bluegrass entertained listeners last week at the Domino Room.

Hayley Jo Murphy

Greensky Bluegrass entertained listeners last week at the Domino Room.


After more than 40 years in Bend, I have pulled the plug and moved to the rain forest of western Oregon, Portland to be exact. And lo and behold, guess what I find? All the problems of Bend have followed me here: overcrowding, overpricing, too much traffic, overstressing, lack of affordable housing, abundance of homelessness, etc., etc. Ain't capitalism great? Here you see it on a much greater scale, as you are obviously dealing with a much bigger one-horse town. But you know what, I have yet to see a single traffic circle! Whoever said the grass was greener on the other side obviously knew what he was talking about. It's a lot greener and a lot wetter.



The Bulletin's headline read "A Boutique Hotel for Bend's Troy Field?," a pretty name for what the Brownstone Company's president said it would be, as he explains the plan to The Source Weekly in August 2015. "A boutique hotel-condo, in which high-end condos are individually owned and rented out to visitors when the owners are away, much like a vacation rental." Not a pretty picture.

Many residents and I are against any building being built there. The Bulletin mentions the online petition, but there is also a petition going in town, which has over 400 signatures. Some of the signatures have come from a few stores and restaurants in town, but mainly they have been gathered at Nature's store in the Wagner Mall, which is sadly going out of business. They have always stood by their, and many residents,' beliefs, that we need to preserve historic Troy Field for the community for all to enjoy as a green playing field.

I find it strange that no one ever mentions that Troy Field has been our community/playing field for over 100 years. A photo of the field was taken on Railroad Day where a high school football game was played in celebration of the railroad being built and arriving in Bend in 1911. A century is usually considered important!    

Just envision this field being saved with artistic fencing and wide gates for easy access for events, yet still safe for sports and small children to play in—and a large encasement full of pictures of the history of Bend for residents and visitors to enjoy and admire our beautiful city. But the first step to save Troy Field is to preserve it as a Public Facilities Designation. Sign petitions, online or in town, write letters, pass the word on, and go to the meeting December 3rd, 9:30 am, at City Hall.

The last meeting had only 20 residents even though there were over 700 signatures gathered. We need to fill the meeting room with concerned residents. Reporters from the news and newspaper will most likely be there, they were at the last meeting. Preserve Troy Field, our historic, green playing/community field.



You're ignoring something called "equity." Since the landlord is able to cover the entirety of the PITI w/ the rent, at the end of the mortgage period, the whole house has probably appreciated three to five percent, compounded annually. I used three percent meaning in 30 years the house is worth $643,000, conservatively.'ve got renters covering your full monthly cost, and at the end of it, you've got a tidy nest egg, or a tidy nest egg and monthly profit to the tune of whatever your rent is in 30 years?

I have a difficult time feeling sorry for you—your risk is functionally zero, your long term ROI is very significant, and your actual work, other than cashing checks is pretty minimal. Like you said, you've got a property manager. What you are is lucky/successful/hardworking enough to have the down payment for a second home in Bend. And you are getting something like a 9% ROI on your $53,000 down payment over 30 years, with little or no risk (assuming a conservative 3% per annum appreciation).

Also I assume your mortgage is fixed; but inflation is not. I think it's safe to say that as basic cost of living increases, so will your rent charged, meaning you'll actually be making greater monthly profit each year, while, again, accumulating significant equity.


All I have to say is this property owner wants renters to understand what owners face by having a rental. The thing the owner isn't realizing is that they own more than one home, where the renter probably can't afford to even own one. If someone is purchasing homes right now for rentals, they're not the smartest given current pricing. I'd imagine many rental homes were picked up after the recession, where home prices were way down in price and that means the owners now have quite the equity in their homes.

Also, rent prices for many have been raised as much as 25% in one month, these are current rentals and unless the mortgage is variable rate, there is no excuse for the huge raise in rent other than greed. Rentals should be investments, not monthly income. And to say the folks renting your homes probably "make more than the home owner" do you think someone that has 53k laying around for a down payment makes less than someone who pays 3k to move in? Mmm doubt it.

–Brent Howk


How many people driving around sporting "Buy Local" bumper stickers are actually supporting local businesses, and in particular, local grocery stores? Not enough, because after 32 years of being the coolest grocery store east of Third, Nature's is closing due to increased pressure from corporately-owned natural food stores. To those of you pulling your "I heart Bend" stickered Land Rover into Natural Grocers or Whole Foods, this death is on your head.

My anger over the closing of Nature's might be excessive, but this is an example of yet another change that isn't going to benefit our community. My husband and I were both raised here, and we used to be obnoxiously proud of that fact. But I'm definitely not proud of this uber-hyped, overly expensive, Disney-town that cares way too much about looking rad on Instagram and getting featured in Outside magazine. It's time to stop endlessly promoting Bend to future second-home owners and "lifestyle" seekers and start focusing on creating a livable community for the people who are truly trying to make a life here.

Goodbye, Nature's, I miss you already.

–Adalie Beckley

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