Envision Bend discusses 5-year ‘Vision Action Plan’; residents want parking improvements downtown

(Update: Adding video, comments from Envision Bend, residents)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Envision Bend released last Friday its five-year Vision Action Plan, a series of strategic actions designed to guide the greater Bend area into a sustainable and prosperous future.

The 44-page Vision Action Plan can be read and downloaded from the Envision Bend website at envisionbend.org.

Matt Muchna, Envision Bend's executive director, told us Wednesday, "It's been about a 17-month process -- over 70 interviews in the community, 17 focus groups, and then we had over 2,000 survey respondents."

After all that work, Envision Bend now has a Vision Action Plan to present to the community and its leaders for what the next five years may look like.

The plan process was launched by the Bend Vision Project in February 2022, with the goal of engaging with residents in learning about community change, challenges and solutions.

"Many of the core values we heard were around the natural environment and outdoor recreational opportunities" Muchna said. "We had over 100 translated surveys through the help of the Latino Community Association for the Latino population."

Three of the biggest concerns those who were surveyed have involve population growth and development, declining affordability of housing and the impacts of climate change.

"How can we create better infrastructure for not only cars, but for bikes and walking and really work as we grow up and slightly out -- the UGB will continue to add acreage," Muchna explained.

In downtown Bend, people we spoke with Wednesday seemed most concerned with transportation and the lack of available parking.

"With the growing city, it's brought in a lot of homeless people that are kind of taking over," Rachael Davis, a 13-year Bend resident, told NewsChannel 21. "Getting around has gotten more difficult, driving the roads. It's just grown so fast that they haven't been able to keep up with that."

Alicia Sells, a nine-year Bend resident, voiced her concerns: "Parking downtown for us, not having to move our cars every four hours. Or pay half of whatever we're walking away with (tips) towards parking just to get down here. Ubers are expensive, transportation is hard to get in this town. To me, that's really important."

A downtown business owner wants to see more parking spots open up and fewer improvements for bikes. Rick Johns, the owner of Haven Home Style, said, "I would like to see the transportation system plan scrapped and go back to something more reasonable, because people are going to keep coming here. And we want them to -- we want the growth. But to try and social engineer it, I think is wrong."

Muchna said of the plan: "It's not a call for everyone to think the same and come together. That's so unrealistic, and not what we want. We want diversity of thought."

The Bend Vision Project will go into effect on January 1st.

Here's the rest of Friday's announcement:

“This community plan is truly more than just a document, a vision, or an action plan. It is a living testament and community-created road map that represents what Bendites and Central Oregonians value, see as strengths, opportunities, have identified as challenges we face today and anticipate in the years ahead.”  - Leigh Capozzi, Envision Bend Board of Directors and VP of Marketing and Communications, Protect Our Winters.

The Vision Action Plan is for the years 2024-28 and includes a vision statement and a list of core values from community input. The Plan is built around four focus areas: Guiding our Growth; Ensuring a Safe, Healthy Environment; Building an Economy for Everyone; and Cultivating an Inclusive Community. Each focus area features a “game changer” project designed to have a transformative impact on the entire community, a “quick win” project that is more achievable in the next year or two,  and five additional strategies.

Among the challenges and issues addressed by the 28 strategic actions: Workforce housing, homelessness, child care, health and wellness, commercial redevelopment, job training, food security, public transit, resiliency, resources conservation, and historic preservation..

The Plan’s release culminates a 17-month community outreach, visioning and planning process. More than 3,500 participants provided input in 2022 to Envision Bend on ways to move the community forward. Four action teams made up of residents with expertise in certain fields and community members-at-large analyzed that input in spring 2023 to develop strategies that tackle community challenges.

It was vital that individuals typically not able to participate in planning efforts - such as renters, working parents, individuals living with disability, and other underrepresented groups - were at the table. Envision Bend offered a ‘Needs Stipend’ to those who requested financial support for time away from work, child care, transportation or other participation barriers.

Envision Bend is working with public and private organizations identified in the plan to support implementation of the strategies and help bring them to fruition. Envision Bend’s role will pivot to being the stewards of the plan by working alongside the recommended partners to spread awareness, celebrate success, convene organizations, share progress reports, and regularly update the Vision Action Plan. 

Envision Bend is a nonpartisan, community nonprofit organization. Its mission is to bring diverse stakeholders together to educate, engage and empower all members of the Bend community to have a voice in our community’s future. In 2021, as the successor organization to Bend 2030, it reorganized and rebranded itself as Envision Bend. For more, please visit envisionbend.org or facebook.com/EnvisionBend.