We work to ensure Central Oregon’s Cities & Towns have safe and vibrant neighborhoods accessible to all.

Complete Communities are the building blocks of livable cities and towns

Central Oregon is growing, giving us both a challenge and an opportunity: to grow well and with intention. LandWatch’s Cities & Towns Program is here to deliver Complete Communities to Bend and beyond.

What are Complete Communities?

They direct growth in ways that preserve livability, tackle climate change, and ensure all people have the opportunity to thrive here in Central Oregon while we protect the environment around us. They are vibrant neighborhoods that are amazing places to live, learn, work, and play at all stages of life.

The Core Elements of Complete Communities

Complete communities:

• Have housing options for all. A Complete Community has housing choices for people in all stages of life and at all income levels.

• Keep nature nearby and in our neighborhoods. By keeping green, outdoor spaces nearby and in our neighborhoods, Complete Communities support people and the planet.

• Provide convenient, safe ways to get around. Complete Communities ways to get around that don’t always require a car - they’re walkable, bikeable, and rollable.

• Are mixed-use. Complete Communities have thriving local businesses, job opportunities, and the services you need close by, like grocery stores, restaurants, medical services, and schools.

The Benefits of COmplete COmmunities

Complete Communities are:

• Safe & vibrant. More people means more friends and neighbors. More businesses mean more jobs and economic vitality. More mixed-use areas mean more schools, shops, and restaurants are close to home. More housing options mean people in all stages and walks of life are a part of our community. This creates thriving neighborhoods where people want to be and want to stay.

• Climate-friendly & healthy. When communities are thoughtfully and compactly designed, people spend less time in cars and nature remains nearby. That leads to better local water and air quality and fewer greenhouse gas emissions, which also helps keep people safe from environmental harms. Studies show Complete Communities also improve social outcomes, like increased connections with others. It all adds up to thriving people and a healthier planet.

• Smart & cost effective. Central Oregon is one of the fastest-growing areas in the nation. By directing growth in ways that improve the existing fabric of our cities, smart growth can help us use land more efficiently within our city limits. This limits costly sprawl and helps protect our surrounding farmlands and wild places. Complete Communities make the most of what we have by improving and using existing infrastructure like water systems, power lines, transit, roads, and bike lanes.

• Equitable & affordable. Everyone deserves the opportunity to thrive in Central Oregon, and shelter is an essential need. That means we need housing options that are affordable for all income levels and fit different types of individual and family needs.

• Accessible & active. Complete Communities are walkable, bikeable, and rollable, making it easier for people of all ages and abilities to get around. It also means people won’t always need to rely on a car or drive long distances to get to the places they need to go.

The Bend Central District & Core Area

The Bend Central District (BCD) is the vibrant heart of our growing city – and with a bit of focused attention, investment, and TLC, it has the potential to be one of our very best Complete Communities. The BCD sits within the City of Bend’s Core Area, between Highway 97 and 4th Street.

The Core Area Urban Renewal Area (URA) - also known as Tax Increment Financing (TIF) - is a powerful funding tool that will invest $195M into redeveloping the Core Area and BCD over the next 30 years. It is estimated that this public investment will help catalyze an additional $250M of private investment in much-needed housing and mixed use projects in the area.

There are some exciting and transformative projects on the horizon. These are all a part of the BCD and Core Area becoming a vibrant, welcoming neighborhood with housing options for all, nature nearby, convenient, safe ways to get around, and mixed use development. All in all, it will be a bikeable, walkable, neighborhood with housing, work, businesses, and services nearby.

Tackling climate change through land use planning

Today’s biggest contributors to climate change are tied to our built environment. Nearly 40% of Oregon’s greenhouse gas emissions come from vehicles. Where we live and work - and how we travel to and from those places - determines much of our impact on this planet.

In 1973, the people of Oregon approved a visionary land use planning system to protect our natural resources and encourage well-planned cities and towns. By thoughtfully guiding growth, Oregon has been able to develop more compact neighborhoods that are walkable, bikable and rollable. This reduces car time (aka vehicle miles traveled), a major carbon emitter.

But climate change is at our doorstep, and we are already feeling its impacts. We don’t have another decade to wait to tackle this issue.

Big moves for Climate Action

In 2022, Oregon adopted the Climate-Friendly and Equitable Communities Rules (CFEC). These rules tackle climate change head-on by changing the way our cities and transportation systems are built. They aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ensure equity is a core value in future growth.

Throughout the rulemaking process, LandWatch led a statewide Climate Action Coalition that was instrumental in the permanent adoption of the CFEC rules, which stand to be the most transformative change to our statewide land use planning system in 50 years. 

What’s next for Climate-friendly and Equitable Communities?

CFEC has already begun transforming our land use and transportation planning systems to encourage more climate-friendly and equitable development in Oregon’s eight largest metropolitan areas. 

Changes to city parking requirements were implemented in 2023. Before this reform took effect, mandated parking minimums posed significant barriers to climate-friendly and equitable development. This ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach was using land that could otherwise be used for affordable housing and mixed-use projects - and dramatically raising development costs. The CFEC parking changes won’t eliminate or prohibit the construction of parking – it will now become a market-driven decision instead of a mandate. And it will make it easier for developers to create more needed affordable housing in walkable, bikeable, and rollable neighborhoods.

Over the next year, cities will also be determining where to locate their Climate Friendly Areas (CFAs). CFAs will be areas within our communities where the people who live and work there can meet most of their daily needs without having to drive. These urban, mixed-use CFAs will create more abundant and affordable housing, as well as a variety of jobs, businesses, and services. CFAs will also help guide investments that improve transportation options for pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit.

For more information, visit the Climate Friendly & Equitable Communities program page.

Cities & Towns Updates