So I was driving home from work today and as I crossed Third Street onto Brosterhous I noticed a new sign proclaiming the area I was entering the “Old Farm District.” What was interesting about this is that the sign is in the same style as those of The Old Mill District, so I thought perhaps the city of Bend was giving the area a facelift in the same way the Old Mill District had been done. Which would be kind of cool; it’s a neat area where the old farmland acreages and farmhouses are side-by-side with the more modern housing and commercial developments. Historically, this district used to be the outer frontier of Bend, which is hard to believe these days when it’s a ten-minute drive from downtown.

I do a quick search and find the Bend Neighborhood Associations Web site, which contains details about the Old Farm District and the other official neighborhood associations. No Old Mill-style plans for the area, simply prettying up the place by planting these gilded signs everywhere. The Bend Neighborhood Map is interesting, presenting a territorial view of Bend that I hadn’t seen before. Although I’d be inclined to point out that the real old farm district of Bend should really be extended to include the big white area between the “official” area and the Orchard and Mountain View neighborhoods. As it stands, I wonder what that neighborhood will end up being called?

Amusingly, it didn’t take me long to notice that the site was developed by my old employer, Alpine Internet Solutions. One thing they need to do is make that map a clickable image map, where the user can click on the neighborhood and be taken to the appropriate page.