A better future Bend? ‘Bend Livability Project’ launches

It’s the question on all our minds: How do we protect the livability of our community in the face of such dramatic growth and change?

The answer is clear—it’s up to us to define our future together by learning about the challenges facing our town, understanding how we can shape the outcomes and engaging to implement innovative and effective solutions for our community.

These are the goals of the Bend Livability Project, an initiative of Bend 2030 sponsored by the Bend Tech Ecosystem, the National Association of Realtors, Central Oregon Association of Realtors, the City of Bend, and many more community partners which aims to educate, empower and engage our community to make Bend one of the most livable cities in America through innovation.

Partly a celebration of our city and partly a massive townhall meeting, the Bend Livability Project will drive diverse populations in Bend—including millenials, adult professionals, youth and seniors—to learn about and participate in shaping Bend’s future through three days of films, parties, public art projects, lectures, panels,
workshops, walking tours and events.

Bendites of all ages and backgrounds are invited to make a personal commitment to ensuring the future livability of Bend and have the chance to plug their energy directly into projects that will transform their hopes for the future into reality.

A broad network of partners and sponsors have come together over the past eight months to design the Project, which is proudly championed by the Bend Tech Ecosystem, a group of more than 20 local tech companies that are aiming to use their support of the Bend Livability Project to encourage Bend to bcome the most livable city in America through innovative strategies and tools.

“This is a pivotal moment in Bend’s future and the tech industry, with its forward-thinking and innovation focus, knows that right now is the time to be bold in shaping our City,” said Preston Callicott, organizer of the Bend Tech Ecosystem group and owner of local software development company Five Talent.

“We love the Bend of today, but we think differently about its future. We think every city should have the goal of being the most livable city in America. We believe we should implement and improve on the best model solutions from around the world. What’s the best out there? Let’s be better than that.”

Every event throughout the Project—from a BendFilm event at the Tower Theatre to the Future Fair at Art Walk to the 15 workshop sessions of the Bend Livability Conference—will be infused with the spirit of innovation and forward thinking as the path to solving our community’s greatest challenges such as neighborhood livability, housing and transportation.

“On behalf of the Bend Livability Project steering committee, which includes diverse partners such as COAR, OSUCascades, the American Institute of Architects, the American Planning Association, the Bend Chamber of Commerce and City Club of Central Oregon—we are proud to offer residents with real opportunities to engage in new housing working groups, multimodal transportation coalitions, and tactical policy development groups that have the potential to greatly shape the outcomes of major issues in Bend,” said Erin Foote Marlowe, executive director of Bend 2030,
which is organizing the Project.

To reserve tickets and passes, see sponsors and partners, or learn more about Project events, visit bendlivability.org.

Funding for Bend 2030 is provided by the generous support of the Leadership Alliance of Bend 2030, including BendBroadband, Bend Park and Recreation District, Brooks Resources, Central Oregon Community College, the City of Bend, NorthWest Crossing OSU-Cascades, St. Charles Health System, the Tykeson Family Foundation, the U.S. Forest Service, and William Smith Properties.