I had this conversation on a run last week and you articulated it really well. That is certainly the downfall of Bend, although those people are hard to avoid on the outskirts/outside of other major cities.
For those talking about Portland and Denver (not PNW, but okay), I moved from Boulder/Denver and currently live in Portland. I wouldn't live in Denver again (far from mountains, bad traffic) but loved Boulder and definitely enjoy Portland. With that being said, I definitely understand the criticisms of each place (Denver: traffic, Boulder: void of culture/just rich white people, Portland: homeless people, hipsters, blah, blah, blah).
For me, proximity to mountains/water (something CO does NOT have), a growing economy (something Boulder did not have), and cost of living were the major factors. Portland won out. 80 miles of trails in forest park within 2 miles of downtown, housing/cost of living is still affordable compared to other west coast cities, the mountains and beach are both ~1 hour away, winters aren't near as bad as people make them sound, summers are perfect, great community if you put forth the effort to find it).
With that being said, I would move to Bend in a heartbeat if it had the industry that Portland does. Smaller city but still enough to do, traffic isn't bad, housing is new/affordable (but rising), proximity to great mountains, great running scene, very close to big mountains. Yes, there are a lot of CA transplants there and some racists right outside (and likely in) town...but there are pros and cons to most things in life!