Bend It Like Oregon

Fast-Growing Western Cities Are Snatching Up California’s People and Ambitions

Californians live in an era of exodus. So, if you want to see the future of California’s people, you have to leave the state.

I got an unexpected glimpse of that future during a late summer visit to Bend, a small city among the Cascades of east-central Oregon.

I spent much of my time in Bend at its newest public school on the city’s southeastern edge. Caldera High School, and its two pristine baseball fields, hosted the regional tournament for the best 14-years-and-under all-star baseball teams in the West.

My hometown team, from …