Bend yet again makes ‘100 Best Places to Live’ list

Well into the 21st century, Bend continues to make “best places to live” lists of various kinds – the latest on Monday, from Money magazine, putting Bend at No. 44 among the 100 “Best Places to Live 2017,” a list it’s made in the past.

The Bend profile, written by Sergei Klebnikov, points to the city’s history, skyline and transformation “into an international mecca for outdoor enthusiasts.”

It calls “tourism a huge industry for Bend, where the average commute is just 15 minutes (and almost 5 percent of workers commute on foot or by bike.”

The article notes big employers such as St. Charles and Les Schwab and says “jobs in the area are forecast to rise almost 10 percent between 2016 and 2021, according to Moody’s Analytics.”

And, as almost always, “livability” is mentioned, such as the fact that “the town is incredibly dog-friendly” — and also, of course, “another key element of the Bend lifestyle: beer. Bend has more breweries per capita than any other city in Oregon.”

On its methodology page, Money magazine — which has been doing this ranking for 30 years — said it looked this time only at places with 10,000 to 100,000 residents and eliminated any place with more than double the national crime risk, less than 875 percent of its state’s median household income, “or a lack of ethnic diversity.”

It then took the list of 2,400 places and collected about 170,000 data points to narrow it, from cost of living to crime, public education and amenities, as well as housing market costs and growth.

Reporters also researched each place, interviewing residents and checking out neighborhoods.

No. 1 on the list? Fishers, Indiana, followed by Allen, Texas and Monterey Park, Calif.