YIMBY hosts event to address housing crisis in Bend; Deschutes County Commissioner Phil Chang was guest speaker

One of the biggest topics of 2024 for Central Oregonians is housing.

As cities like Bend expand, the need for housing expands, specifically, affordable housing.

I caught up with Deschutes County Commissioner Phil Chang, who is currently on the campaign trail for re-election.

He made a stop at Laughing Planet in Bend, where he was the guest speaker at Bend YIMBY’s event dedicated to housing.

YIMBY, which stands for ‘Yes In My backyard,’ says additional housing in Bend is critical.

Commissioner Chang says there are ways to address the housing crisis in Bend.

“We’re going to need a few things to be able to create the housing that our community needs, and particularly that missing middle and the affordable housing. In my mind, the more important thing to think about is how do we buy down the cost of housing, because land is expensive, building materials are expensive, labor is expensive and infrastructure is expensive,” said Commissioner Chang.

John Heylin of YIMBY says, “We really want to show people that, you know, the housing shortage is an emergency in this town. And in Central Oregon.  you know, we all have friends that have had to move out of town because they can't afford to live here. A lot of the people that we work with commute from Redmond or Prineville, or some as far as Madras, and we want to make it so that people can live in the community that they work in.”

Many in the community believe Bend needs enough housing to accommodate everyone working here.

To do this, advocates for housing say, we need housing of all shapes and sizes, expanding to all neighborhoods. YIMBY says, some people think their neighborhoods should be exempt from this, and are fighting to stop homes from being built.