Hello! I am not going to make any claims about “better” because I truly love this entire state, but Central Oregon is a great destination! Bend offers incredible recreation, great microbrews, fine and casual dining, shopping, resorts, hiking, biking, boating, golf, a great natural and cultural history museum, swimming, etc etc! We are just over the Cascade Range on the Deschutes River, so mountain and river views are standard fare around here.