History
 La Pine has the distinction of being Oregon’s newest incorporated city, created by a vote of local area residents in Deschutes County in late 2006. Industrial, commercial and residential development have flourished in what is some of the tri-county area's most attractively priced land.
STATS AT A GLANCE
Property Tax Rate 2004/2005:
$13.7043
Elevation
4300’
Telecommunications Infrastructure
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Service or Infrastructure
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Type
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Provider
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Capacity
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Speed
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Telecom System Backbone
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Fiber
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QWEST
(Incumbant)
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OC48 (=1,344 T-1 lines)
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2.488 Billion bits/sec.
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POP
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Digital
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QWEST
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Installed Dark Fiber
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Fiber Cable
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BP
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Virtually Unlimited
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Fastest Speeds Available
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T-1 Lines
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Unicom, Shared Communications, other CLECS & ISPs
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64k-1.54mb
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Dial Up Internet
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Many ISP’s
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28.8K
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Population
Because La Pine was an unincorporated area until recently, official population figures for the area have not yet been developed. However, because the area offers popular home sites, typically with larger acreages on flat, wooded mountain valleys, a majority of new residential building permits in Deschutes County have been issued in the La Pine area. Estimates for the La Pine area (south of Sunriver and north of the Klamath County line) are between 15,000 and 16,000 residents – making it potentially the second largest population “center” in the Central Oregon region.
Development
The commercial area of La Pine has several sizeable developments underway or recently completed including a new multi-million dollar senior/assisted living facility, elementary school, and several new commercial/retail businesses.
Community leaders in the La Pine area have also been working diligently on development of “municipal” services including a community water and sewer system. As a result, the area’s new industrial park and surrounding areas have water provided by a new well, distribution system and 250,000 gallon storage reservoir managed by La Pine Water District. Sewer services are also available – provided by the La Pine Sewer District.
These efforts have been well timed with the development of the area’s business “drawing card” with the La Pine Industrial Park. This newer, fully serviced park offers flat and “rock-less” buildable lots from ¼ acre to 40 + acres at the incredibly low price of $12,500 per acre or 1,250 per acre per year for lease. The park also has the advantage of easy access to both the Burlington Northern – Santa Fe Railroad mainline as well as US Hwy 97, which connects with I-5 to the south in California; I-84 in northern Oregon; and I-90 in central Washington.
Livability
The La Pine area offers some of the least costly housing in the region, and on average, lots considerably larger than other cities in Central Oregon. This, combined with the fact that most are wooded, provides an atmosphere of privacy and seclusion preferred by many residents of Deschutes County – hence, it is one of the fastest growing areas in the state. Located only a half-hour by car from Bend and 15 minutes from Sunriver, it is also close enough to take advantage of the sizeable commercial/retail market in Bend.
Schools in the Bend/La Pine District also rank among the best in the state as indicated by aptitude scores. The national average for SAT scores in 1999 were 1016, for Oregon 1050*, while the combined Bend/La Pine School District beat both state and national averages with a score of 1074.
* this ranked in the top three in the country for states where more than 30% of graduating seniors took the SAT
Fun Facts
- La Pine is home to the world’s largest Ponderosa Pine, around which a State Park has been established. The diameter of its trunk is 8.6 ft. and it is estimated to be 500 years old.
- La Pine is the state’s newest incorporated city
- At 4300 feet, La Pine has the highest elevation of any community within the Central Oregon region – almost 3000 feet higher than Warm Springs.
Want to Know More? Try these La Pine Links…
La Pine Industrial Group
Bend/La Pine School District
Deschutes County
La Pine Chamber of Commerce |
