WHERE WE WORK: CITIES & TOWNS
Delivering Complete Communities to Central Oregon
We are ensuring Central Oregon’s Cities & Towns have safe and vibrant neighborhoods accessible to all.
To create livable cities and towns, you start with Complete Communities
Central Oregon’s growth provides both challenge and opportunity. How do we grow well and with intention? LandWatch’s Cities & Towns Program is here to deliver Complete Communities to Bend and throughout the region.
What are Complete Communities?
Complete Communities follow a set of strategies that 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 where people can live, learn, work, and relax at all stages of life.
Four Core Elements of Complete Communities
Housing for All
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Nature Nearby
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Convient, Safe Commutes
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Mixed-Use
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Housing for All | Nature Nearby | Convient, Safe Commutes | Mixed-Use |
Housing options for all. A Complete Community has housing choices for people in all stages of life and at all income levels.
Nature nearby and in neighborhoods. Complete Communities support people and the planet by keeping green, outdoor spaces nearby and in our neighborhoods.
Convenient, safe ways to get around. Complete Communities have ways to get around that don’t always require a car. They’re accessible, walkable, and bikeable.
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.
Key Benefits of Complete Communities
Safe & Vibrant
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Climate-friendly & Healthy
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Smart & Cost-effective
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Equitable & Affordable
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Accessible & Active
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Safe & Vibrant | Climate-friendly & Healthy | Smart & Cost-effective | Equitable & Affordable | Accessible & Active |
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.
Learn More About Cities & Towns
A Complete Community in the Making
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.
Climate-Friendly and Equitable Communities for Oregon
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.
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.
