Another list: Bend named No. 2 ‘alternative fall getaway’
Bend made one national best-of list Monday and yet another on Tuesday — No. 2 on the list of what DK Eyewitness Travel calls the country’s “10 Best Alternative Fall Getaways.”
In Bend’s case, the travel-guide publisher listed it as the less-busy alternative to Portland.
“While visitors flock to Portland to sample its plethora of food carts and microbreweries, locals head inland to Bend, Oregon’s outdoor playground,” the article said, above a photo of autumn fly fishing on the Deschutes.
“Set on the eastern edge of the Cascades, this small mountain town is a great place for hiking, biking, skiing, and water sports on the Deschutes River.,” it said.
“It’s also got more craft breweries per capita than anywhere else in the state,” the article noted. “In the fall, fresh hops and pumpkins add zest to local brews. Do the Bend Ale Trail in November, get your passport stamped, and collect a trophy along with beer souvenirs.”
Here’s how their news release put it:
“Selected by DK’s in-house travel experts, these destinations offer a delightful autumn backdrop minus the crowds, high prices and overall busyness some popular summer spots experience even well into fall.
“In compiling the Best Alternative Fall Getaways, DK’s experts selected destinations that offer good weather, outdoor activities, historic landmarks and art galleries, even wine tasting experiences. Many of these destinations go overlooked in favor of more well-known neighbors, like Chattanooga, which is less than a two-hour drive from Atlanta. Or Colorado Springs, which is just one hour south of Denver.
“Americans are fortunate to have so many destination options, but it can be easy to fall back on old favorites,” said Georgina Dee, publishing director, DK Travel. “Fortunately, we’ve pulled together a list of must-go destinations that are full of life and eager to be explored, from Pittsburgh on the east coast with its world-class art museums and burgeoning food-and-drink scene to Grand Junction in the west with its fantastic hiking trails and stunning views from Colorado National Monument.”
10 Best Alternative Fall Getaways
1. Santa Barbara, California
2. Bend, Oregon
3. San Juan Islands, Washington
4. Grand Junction, Colorado
5. Colorado Springs, Colorado
6. Clearwater Beach, Florida
7. Chattanooga, Tennessee
8. New York’s Finger Lakes
9. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
10. Richmond, Virginia
For the full list of destinations and why each was chosen as among the best alternative fall getaways, visit: https://www.traveldk.com/article/go-here-not-there-this-fall/ .
On Monday, Bend made WalletHub’s 2017 list of the Best Small Cities in America, with the city ranking in the top 9 percent of those studied.
WalletHub said it analyzed more than 1,200 U.S. cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 across 33 key indicators of livability, from housing costs to school system quality and restaurants per capita.
With No. 1 the best and 634 the average, Bend was 579th in the percentage of population in poverty, 317th in percentage of adults in fair or poor health, 152nd in average weekly work hours, 322nd in crime rate — and as recently reported, No. 8 in coffee shops per capita.
The interactive map also shows total scores, with Bend low in the affordability rank — 940th — but better than average in economic health (433), education and health (565) and safety (322), while ranking very high in quality of life, 34th among the cities studied.
Unlike many other such lists, the list’s methodology said this one only looks at the city proper, not the whole metro area (which for Bend-Redmond is all of Deschutes County).
Factors weighed to come up with the rankings range from median household income and housing costs to the share of obese adults, museums and department stores per capita, as well as both the violent and property crime rates, gathered from a variety of sources, from the Census Bureau to the FBI and Yelp.
