Bend’s housing crisis, Pt. 1: Who’s to blame?

Here’s something not news to many: There’s a housing crisis in Central Oregon, with Bend as its no-vacancy epicenter.

Not just an affordable housing crisis — finding a place to live, period.

Families who don’t normally struggle to find housing are now struggling, amid vacancy rates in the very low single digits.

The answers to whom or what is to blame for the crisis are complex, and some are not unique to Bend or Central Oregon, as the uneven tide of a still-recovering economy has its impacts across the state and country.

With vacancy rates at less than 1 percent in the Bend area, finding affordable housing, or housing period, can be nearly impossible.

We spoke recently with Maren Palotay, a mother and caregiver to her aging father. She, like many, says she thinks greed could be part of the problem.

But is greed really at fault for this housing crisis?

“I don’t think greed is keeping apartments from being available to rent,” said state Rep. Knute Buehler, R-Bend.

Oregon approved the city of Bend’s urban growth boundary in 1981 and it hasn’t moved in 34 years. The city is working to get that expansion done now, after a previous proposal was sent back by the state several years ago for adding too many acres to the city — a recipe for what state officials consider sprawl.

Buehler noted that the UGB was designed to protect high-valuer farmland, and although a noble goal, it doesn’t apply very well to places like Bend.

“It’s a crisis not just in bend, but it’s a crisis around the state with cities that are growing fast,” he said.

Andy High of the Central Oregon Builders Association described the UGB as an “imaginary line we draw around the city and say, ‘This is how we are going to urbanize.'”

High says the stuck urban growth boundary is the biggest problem. “We don’t have a lot of choice for renters here in central Oregon,” he said.

State law requires a 20 year land supply. Bend has right now, according to High, has about a one- to two-year supply.

After renting for several years, Maren’s landlord sold the home she and her family shared. Now Maren, her three kids and father have yet to find a home. So they’re living in a single room at a local motel.

Maren’s father is a veteran, and she says he’s always looked out for her family. And now it’s her turn — but she’s struggling.

“It’s really hard, because I feel like I’m failing all of them,” she said. “And the impression people seem to give me is that I’m not trying hard enough.”

Maren is certainly not alone in her struggle.

Without land for people to use for building homes and apartments, costs go up on remaining land inventory — and Buehler tells us that cost is passed directly onto consumers.

Bend City Councilor Casey Roats tells us because of the constrained land supply and the significant demand for that land, the prices for the remaining available development ground have simply gotten too high on a per-acre basis to accommodate affordable and workforce housing.

“While I am one of the biggest proponents of a meaningful expansion of the UGB, I readily concede it alone won’t fix the problem by itself,” Roats said.

“There are many other factors that go into the cost of a new housing unit. like system development charges, extending utilities, building roads, and labor,” he said.

“The bottom line is that you can’t build affordable housing on land that isn’t affordable as well,” Roats added.

Roger Lee, executive director of Economic Development of Central Oregon, said, “Although Bend is one of the fastest-growing cities in Oregon, it’s never had a UGB expansion.”

“That’s really unacceptable, in my opinion, where a state system is not allowing the community to meet the market demand,” Lee said.

For some groups, the UGB is a necessity for conservation efforts — without it, efforts at more compact development would give way to sprawl that many don’t want.

Several attempts at major change to Oregon’s strict land-use process have been met with strong opposition.

All this leaves Maren and people like her with no place to call home.

Maren says she can afford to pay $1,700 to $1,800 a month, they have deposits, and everyone is employed. But she says thatt’s not good enough.

Even in “Dogtown, USA,” Maren has been told by some to euthanize her dogs, to make her a more desirable tenant.

For families like Maren’s, who have been living here for decades, they may have no other choice but to consider moving away.

“We love Bend,” she said. “Everyone has roots here. I know there is a home for us, just one — I just have to find it. Ad it might not be in Bend.”