Reimagining Midtown Crossings
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RE-imagining Midtown Crossings
Safe and sustainable transportation corridors for the Bend Central District
What makes a city or town a great place to live?
Pictured: Artist Melinda Martinez freehands a depiction of The Old Mill. Photo: Mary O’Connor.
We asked this question at our community conversation during the LandWatch Open House this spring. Your answers painted a picture of a vibrant community that takes care of its residents, where you don’t have to go far for a fresh glass of orange juice, where trees, wildlife, green space, and the night sky are a part of everyday life, and where owning a car is an option but not a requirement.
We share this vision for Central Oregon’s growing cities and towns, but we know it won’t happen by chance. That’s why our Cities & Towns program advocates for well-planned growth.
We’ve been taught to reduce, reuse, and recycle, but to grow sustainably, we also need to reimagine to grow sustainably. Getting a new plastic bag every time you go to the grocery store wastes plastic, so we try to reduce waste by reusing sturdy bags we already have.
The same principle applies to the land beneath us: instead of destroying wildlife habitat to build a new house every time someone new moves in, what can be done with the space we already have?
With the BCD Initiative, Central Oregon LandWatch challenged the community to reimagine the heart of Bend.
A question of safety
Four years ago, nobody knew what the future of the Bend Central District (the BCD) would be. It didn’t seem likely to change any time soon. Its crumbling sidewalks had been neglected for decades. Most people drove through and never stopped to notice how much underutilized space there was so close to the bustling west side of Bend.
#ProyectoMural was completed in June 2021. You can see the artwork in the Franklin Underpass.
Midtown residents knew it was a short distance from their neighborhood to downtown and the river, but they didn’t have safe routes to walk, bike, or roll there. It was difficult to imagine how this mishmash of industrial lots, fast food joints, and eclectic businesses could become a vibrant neighborhood with more housing options to accommodate Bend’s growing population.
LandWatch engaged the community with creative outreach and events that sparked the collective imagination and made the BCD vision more tangible.
There is widespread consensus that improving connections for people to bike and walk is needed to catalyze equitable redevelopment in the Bend Central District.
The major barriers to safe and efficient east-west connectivity are the parkway, the railroad, and Third Street. To work around those barriers, we need to remodel the underpasses at Franklin Ave and Greenwood Ave and create a new crossing at Hawthorne Ave.
Thanks to our advocacy on the Transportation System Plan and the Core Area Plan, those projects are now on the City of Bend’s shortlist for the next 5-10 years.
Rehabilitation projects are necessary, but a well-designed bridge that easily connects east to west for bicyclists and pedestrians would inspire the type of redevelopment Bend needs to become a more connected city that offers good quality of life for all residents.
We are working with civil engineers and urban designers (Ashley & Vance and 10 Over Studio) to create a concept for the Hawthorne pedestrian bridge that fits with the community’s vision for the area.
Time is of the essence, and an immense amount of funding (federal, state, and local) is available! Now is the time to solidify plans for the Midtown Crossings that align with the community’s vision for our future urban landscape.
SUPPORT A LOCAL VISION FOR THE CITY OF BEND
Our Cities & Towns Program works to ensure Central Oregon has compact, complete, and vibrant neighborhoods accessible to all.
Central Oregon’s population is growing at an unprecedented pace, increasing the need for smart planning and development strategies that ensure the ongoing livability of our communities.
Support our work to organize local community voices and use land use planning to advocate for compact and equitable growth in the City of Bend.