Note from me, the OP: my wife and I haven't been to Bend for almost two years whe we took an exploratory visit that was quite nice. Taking the excellent advice from posters on this board, I tried doing more research on Bend as a good focal point for freshwater lake and stream fishing. I was amazed at the multitude of negative online reviews of the City of Bend itself: impossible to find a job (I'm retired, so....), crowded, high crime, favorite phrase: "poverty with a view", horrible traffic, lousy weather, snotty newcomers, a lot more crime, blah, blah, blah. I can only figure there are a couple reasons for this: a) it's true. b)people are trying to keep newbies away by posting crap. c) grumpy people post a lot. d) Other.
We are going to take a road trip to Bend in a month, hitting a few places within about a 150 miles as we drift about. The unfortunate part is that talking with local real estate people is like talking to a prostitute (I suppose, don't really know). Regardless, a real estate weenie wants their 6% commission and will tell you anything you want to hear to get it. Obviously we need to do more research.
If you have highly tainted opinions and observations please feel free to launch them this way with joyous abandon !!! Thanks !