A lot of people are suspicious of change: “Bend’s fine the way it is, we should stop growing”.
The problem with that reasoning, though, is that you cannot keep people from wanting to move here.
In a situation where demand is rising, and supply is constant, prices will rise, which will have the effect that you start pricing people out at the lower and middle ends of the wealth spectrum.
Put another way, if someone has 10 million dollars to spend on a house, they’ll be able to move to Bend no matter what. Gradually, as more and more people with money continue to move to Bend, the prices will rise to the point where someone hoping to move here and work as a police officer will not be able to compete, and will be squeezed out.
This will take a while, as there are plenty of teachers and police officers and others who own houses here already and won’t be priced out anytime soon, but over time, it will become more and more difficult for anyone else to move here.
I don’t want to live, nor raise my children in a town full of wealthy people served by “commoners” who must commute in from someplace far away in order to be able to afford a place to live. I don’t think it’s healthy for anyone.
Bend YIMBY 