My grandfather has had property 20 minutes north of Bend my entire life. I remember the land around his first house was so raw Smith Rock looked like it was in his back yard. That view out my great grandparents trailer was legit one of the most beautiful views Ive ever seen. I proudly went to Terrebonne Elementary during one of the many attempts my family tried making a living there on my grandpa's rent free property. My dad tried his best many times because OR speaks to his wilderness loving soul. He always said the saying "poverty with a view" couldn't be more true of Central Oregon.
3 years ago my partner, myself and our 1st baby made the attempt. We lasted 2 years. If it wasn't for my grandfathers property we would've never been able to even consider the attempt. Even Prineville and Madras were out of our finances and he was fortunate to be hired by the company paying the most anyone in the area paid in the fabricating industry. We learned quickly there was zero room for growth with that company. He also missed a shit ton of work because of AQI and his otherwise phenomenal company rarely supplemented the missed income.
Spring or fall in OR has never existed in my life. I have pictures of me from Christmas Eve 1994 hiking Smith Rock in jeans and a tshirt and I vividly remember waking up on Christmas to a few inches of snow. Last year I found a gardening book at Deschutes Library written by a local. In the opening paragraph on the inside cover of the book the author described the climate as bipolar and I laughed so hard a passing person shushed me.
I vacationed there weeks at a time over summers and winters often throughout my adult life so I've watched the growth/change happen. Locals who grew up in the area have been getting pushed out of their hometown due to increased living expenses for a very long time. Bend's Farmers Market vendors changed rapidly while we were there. So many were closing down shop and moving because of they could no longer afford it and they were very vocal about it. I remember one woman born and raised in Bend had no clue where she was going but had no other choice.
We drove to Portland to buy a car in May 2020. The weather was BEAUTIFUL. The weather changed quickly on the drive home. Madras looked like a tornado had ripped through it but I didn't think much of it because of commonly insane wind. Water lines were all over the place but wind did that to my grandpas farm all the time. Some signs were bent too and one power line was down. Still thought it was a bad storm. There is one house on the highway that had two small silos super close to the road. As soon as I noticed one was gone and the other one was folded in half I knew it wasn't wind, it was a tornado. That house is 10 minutes from my grandpa's. We get home to no power. I look up the tornado to learn we literally trailed behind it on our drive home.
There was one fire in 2021 that led to evacuations close to us and we were under "be set to move" orders. My 2nd child was 5mo old. It was terrifying.
My grandfather's neighbor and outright land owner is a well known long standing local who built a lot of the homes in the area. The day we left was the first day of his massive yard sale. He and his wife were selling everything they could to try and keep their property because of increased living expenses, property taxes and mega increasing water charges for dwindling released irrigation supply.
For me personally, the fires and water issues were all I needed to accept we had to leave. I love OR so much. My partner loves OR. We both LOVED our daughter being so close to her cousins. My partner took way longer than me to accept we had no future outside of poverty with a view.
Unfortunately I believe OP needs to double the income for a comfortable quality of life in one of the most beautiful places in America.