Act Local Challenge!

Cities & Towns
Written By CO LandWatch

Can you act locally to build a more Complete Community?

Complete Communities are great places to live, learn, work, and play at all stages of life. 

Complete Communities are mixed-use places with housing options for all, nature nearby, and access to safe, convenient, affordable transportation options. They direct growth in ways that preserve livability, tackle climate change, and ensure all people have the opportunity to thrive, while we protect the environment around us. They are vibrant neighborhoods that are great places to live, learn, work, and play at all stages of life. 

There are many ways to contribute to your community as an individual, with a group, or through local government. There are larger commitments, as well as simple actions, formal and informal, and all of it adds up to a more Complete Communities in this place we call home.

So, how might you act locally? Here are concrete ideas:

    • Support local businesses, and prioritize purchasing locally-grown food or locally made items while you’re there

    • Frequent local BIPOC, LGBTQIAS2+, and women-owned businesses

    • To reduce your food waste / landfill contribution, designate an “Eat First” shelf in your fridge

    • Organize a spring clean-up

    • Volunteer in the Bend Beautification Program

    • Start a community garden

    • If you own property: plant native, water-wise plants

    • If you own property: plant a tree

    • Advocate for renter protections

    • Volunteer at a shelter

    • Voice support for more housing types in all neighborhoods

    • Advocate to preserve existing affordable housing and for the production of new affordable housing

    • If you own property: build an ADU and rent it out to local residents

    • If you own a short-term rental: consider switching to a longer term lease

    • Make a list of destinations you could walk to in 15 minutes and 30 minutes

    • Explore the active and public transportation options near you

    • Bike one of your community’s bike paths

    • Walk, bike, or roll to dinner or drinks with friends

    • Run an errand via transit

    • Encourage your workplace to install a bike rack if it doesn’t have one

    • Attend a City Open House and complete a survey

    • Organize a “bike bus” to school or work

    • Initiate a street or intersection painting project

    • Meet your neighbors

    • Check out the events happening at your local library

    • Attend a cultural event

    • Plan a dinner party for your block

    • Initiate or join a local social/interest group

    • Take a tour of Bend’s Water Filtration Facility or Water Reclamation Facility

    • Take a tour of Knott Landfill

    • Organize a neighborhood block party or yard sale

    • Learn to speak your community’s 2nd or 3rd most commonly spoken language

    • Offer your work’s public-facing materials in multiple languages

    • Donate to local non-profit organizations

    • Join your Neighborhood District

    • Initiate a mural project

    • Join one of the City’s committees, boards, or commissions

    • Volunteer at a local non-profit organization

Get involved to build community!

Here are some local orgs to volunteer with and donate to:

Arts & Culture

Basic Needs

Education, Family & Children

Public Health, Environment & Community Development

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