More people leaving Sisters area

Economic hard times are sending some local residents packing.

Sisters Rental, which also operates the local U-Haul distributorship, has tracked a trend in their U-Haul customers this summer:

"Although our U-Haul business is pretty close to what it was last year, we're seeing more people this year leaving the area than arriving," said Gilbert Porraz.

Porraz noted that it seems to be certain types of people moving on.

"I'm seeing people who've lived here for 5-7 years now moving on, mainly headed south, and most say it was just too hard to try to make a living in Sisters," added Porraz.

But he's also seen a number of "newcomers" leave the area, particularly following a hard winter and lack of employment.

"I know of several people, who arrived here all excited about a year ago, who had to move on for the same reasons. Mainly, no jobs," said Porraz.

Nancy Lynch at United Van Lines in Bend has been writing a number of quotations recently for Sisters families.

"We're definitely seeing more people leaving Sisters than moving in, several have said they have to go where the work is," said Lynch.

Lynch notes that this trend is not confined to Sisters.

"I can tell you that, in Bend, there are a lot of people wanting to leave - but can't until their homes sell," she said.

A July 25 "homes for sale" report showed 239 Sisters-area homes on the market.

"The cost of living in Central Oregon versus the pay in this area makes it very tough for people," said Lynch.

Jason Taroli with Prestige Moving & Storage in Bend, the local Allied Van Lines agent, is seeing the same trends across Central Oregon.

"There are definitely more people leaving than coming right now. We see this more in Bend, of course, due to Bend's population but it's happening everywhere," said Taroli.