Snarky is whining again about rising house prices.

I tell ya: You guys ain't seen nothin' yet.

$250k for a house? What a freaking bargain!

Take a moment, and think about what you get: A pretty damn nice home, actually. Most likely almost new too. In a decent location. With quick access to a vibrant and fun town, offering more good restaurants per capita than any other large city on the West Coast. Surrounded by one of the most awe-inspiring, beautiful, and accessible wildernesses in the West.

If you can stand a 25-minute commute (down a pretty straight, soon-to-be-4-lane road), you can even score an acre of land or so, with a house on it, in La Pine. Maybe even with waterfront and a mountain view. For the same price - or less.

I should know. I live in one of them.

Did you seriously think all that goodness, beauty and small-town fun - and the $150k for a 4-bedroom in town - was going to last forever?

I moved out of the Bay Area 3 1/2 years ago because I didn't feel like spending $500k on a moldy shack that would fall apart after a swift kick - on a postage-stamp-sized lot, no less, and with a snail-like commute of 30 minutes to get anywhere, even to the closest store or movie theater. Not to mention the endless rain in winter, and the constant real-life threat of floods and mudslides. Now that's something to complain about...

So you think you got it bad? Think again. And stop whining already about those evil Californians. They are not solely responsible. But you wanna point fingers? Fine. Consider this:

Down in the Bay Area, it was the fault of "all those other people moving in from all the other states in the nation, plus the well-educated Indians and Asians, plus the damn dot-commers" that drove up the housing prices.

Here and now in Central Oregon, it's the fault of those Californians who are sick of the rat-race - plus the rich people from Portland who saw a good investment opportunity in Bend and bought a second home they didn't really need, plus all the other immigrants from all the other states who had the same exact thought. Oh, and don't forget that this is the age of the Retiring Baby-Boomers - who are cashing in right now too, and are buying that retirement home in a nice place they can afford to spend their last years in, without going completely bankrupt.

Besides - I've listened hard and I've yet to hear a single complaint about the freaking killing all those old-timer Central Oregonians made by selling their vacant, raw 2-acre plots on the Westside or their old, decrepit, roach-infested downtown buildings to - yepp, here it comes - some Californian.

I happen to be one of them, and have seen it all before. To me, these rising housing prices in Central Oregon are like some sick joke, a never-ending deja-vue that just keeps repeating itself, over and over again.

Don't think it's going to get better either. It won't. As long as there are splendid mountains, and scenic rivers, and vast forests, there will be people wanting to come here to enjoy them. And stay.

So since you can't stop it, you might as well embrace it. Enjoy the ride while it lasts - and if you don't like it anymore, move to Burns. I bet homes are still pretty cheap there.

In the meantime - and for the love of god - shut up about it already.

I think the big issue is that most of the people who live in Bend work in the service/tourist industry that doesn't pay very well. Housing is much cheaper here than California, which is why many people are moving here (plus the location is great). When that happens the price of houses goes up and up and up, until only the people moving here from another location that has higher prices.

See the problem? If you are renting and want to get into your own home, it's very difficult. I'm glad I bought my house 8 years ago, and sort of wish I could have bought 10 more.

I totally get your point, Monkeyboy.

I was one of those renters.

In California though. I couldn't buy a house because of the sky-high prices, while at the same time being locked into a relatively low-paying job (the Sonoma County region has a tradition of low wages and high living costs). If I had done the 1 1/2 hour drive, one way, to San Francisco every day for the same job, I would have gotten paid twice as much. But I opted for good quality of life (and sanity) and a 10-minute commute instead.

At the same time, wealthy business people and entrepreneurs kept pouring into Sonoma County from all corners of the world - to harness its prosperity, scenic beauty (it is wine country, after all), and yes - low-paying wages.

I had no choice but to leave the region and state if I ever wanted to own a house. Serendipitiously, I landed in Central Oregon, where - at the time - land was still cheap.

Imagine now my frustration to see *this* region go through exactly what Sonoma County went through 6-7 years ago ... At least this time however, I do own a house. But it's not like it really matters that it has appreciated in value. I can't afford to go out and buy anything bigger anyway without having to leave the region again ...

Yep, it's depressing to think that if I wanted a better house, it would have to be somewhere else.

It's not that I'm living in a trailer park, but I don't have that plasma screen TV either.