Your Voice, Your Impact
Bend City Council Listened
Last month, we asked you to help us weigh in on the Bend City Council’s goals for the next two years. To those of you who reached out and sent in emails and comments, thank you! Your voice was heard loud and clear.
Screenshot from City Council Goal Setting Day 2, January 21
The City Council spent a day and a half in goal-setting sessions where they proposed seven goals.
The goals are in their draft stages and will be refined and workshopped over the next few months to add workable strategies that align with staff capacity.
The goals clearly reflect your support for creating affordable, safe, and healthy housing and complete communities while protecting our open spaces, waterways, and wildlife habitat.
At LandWatch, we submitted our own input on the goal-setting process. Read what we submitted here.
Here are some highlights from the discussion.
“We want all people who work here to be able to live here.” There was a common theme that people of all income levels should have a place in the City of Bend.
The City should incentivize the construction of middle-income (often called the “missing middle”) and lower-income housing.
The Core Area Plan, with targets for promoting middle-income housing, should be implemented.
The Council stated that homes and shelter are fundamental human rights. They support a housing-first approach for the unhoused community.
There was a collective emphasis on transportation projects that foster complete communities by:
Creating connectivity through the Bend Central District.
Leveraging the GO Bond to complete a transportation network to serve areas that have the potential for increased housing development.
There should be key routes for safely walking and biking across town, including adding a goal of 2+ routes to be low-stress networks.
What's a Low-Stress Network? A series of throughways and connections for walkers, bikers, and more. These networks are protected from traffic, ensuring a safer and more comfortable mode of transportation.
Tell the City Council “Thank You” for their commitment to implementing the community’s plans for healthy and equitable growth! Send a note.
By The River, a piece inspired by music and community by Carly Garzon Vargas
Co-Designing #ProyectoMural
We’ve been partnering with Mecca Bend to collaborate on a mural project for the Franklin Avenue Corridor, in the Franklin underpass across from Kaycee Anseth’s mural, “Two for Joy.” The project was designed to promote a safe, welcoming, and vibrant public space for connecting the Downtown area with Midtown and Third Street neighborhoods. More than 5,000 people walk, bike, and use other mobility devices to travel through the underpass on a weekly basis.
The design phase of ProyectoMural is underway! Since our last update, we’ve held two lively focus groups to help guide the mural’s design. Read about the focus groups here.
“This project signifies that the community of Bend is making an effort to recognize and appreciate Latinx like me here.” - Nicole C., 12th Grade.”