Oregon property owners received their tax bills last week, which gives the Antiplanner the opportunity to rant about economic development. I divide my time between Bandon, which is in Coos County, and Camp Sherman, which is in Jefferson County but actually is tributary to Deschutes County. As I’ve noted before, Coos and Deschutes counties have very similar histories up until 1980, and then followed very different paths.
Before 1980, both counties were heavily dependent on resource extraction, chiefly timber but also minerals, agriculture, and in Coos County commercial fish. As of 1980, Coos County’s population of 64,000 was slightly ahead of Deschutes’ 62,000, and both had similar per capita incomes.
After 1980, the timber industry crashed, mining disappeared, agriculture declined in importance, and commercial fishing also declined. Deschutes County responded by becoming a recreation mecca, drawing in retirees and new businesses that wanted to locate in one of the West’s hot spots. Coos County, however, disdained recreation jobs and instead has attempted to bolster its resource industries with one get-rich-quick scheme after another. Continue reading
