The bounty of small but mighty Bend has been whispered about by mountain bikers, brewers and skiers for decades. A regular contender in outdoors-media “best towns to live” lists, this former logging center sits 3,600 feet above sea level, on the eastern edge of the Cascade Range along the Deschutes River. The Ponderosa pine forests and high desert are a sandbox for all kinds of self-propelled pursuits, facilitated by a progressive local leadership that once opened a whitewater kayaking park right in town. Given all that, the city’s #8 Parks and Outdoors ranking somehow seems disappointing, especially when you add Mount Bachelor, not even 30 minutes away and catering to skiers and snowboarders in the winter and lift-riding downhill bikers in summers. Almost 100 outdoor-related businesses call Bend home, as do an increasing number of tech firms and more than 20 craft breweries. And Bend being Bend, it’s also home to the country’s last Blockbuster.