During last year’s campaign season, nearly every candidate we interviewed for local offices declared that “affordable housing” is the most pressing issue for Bend, and for the region. With the population in Central Oregon surging, housing prices have been steadily climbing and pricing out more and more levels of income from purchasing homes here. The […]
affordable housing
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Side Notes 1/28-2/4
Those blue recycling cans you see at Bend parks? More illusion than reality. Their primary purpose is to stroke your nature-loving ego. Because people either don’t know how or can’t be bothered to properly separate trash from recyclables—and because Bend Park and Rec can’t afford to dedicate staff to sorting through your rubbish—both cans go […]
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Class is in Session
Freshman Rep. Knute Buehler says he’s ready to work
In preparation for his first term in Salem as the representative for Oregon’s House District 54, Knute Buehler found an apartment to stay in for the six-month legislative session, attended orientation meetings, and has made new friends. “I feel like I’m going to college again,” the freshman representative says over coffee and an ocean roll. […]
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Top 5 City Council Decisions
1. Establishing a Vacation Home Rental Task Force Certainly one of the most contentious issues of the year, vacation rentals occupied a significant portion of City Council’s time in the latter half of 2014. Council took a step in the right direction when it voted to create a 23-member Vacation Home Rental Task Force, including […]
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Bend City Council Approves Six Affordable Housing Projects
Bend City Council unanimously approved six housing projects funded by income from the affordable housing fee. The fee ordinance, approved in June 2006, prioritizes projects that support the goals identified in the five year Consolidated Plan, which includes addressing the needs of low and moderate income Bendites. The projects include: Bethlehem Inn Rehabilitation of Plumbing […]
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Stepping Stones
Community land trust pitches permanently affordable homes
As the City of Bend Affordable Housing Advisory Committee prepares to bring its recommendations to City Council at the Sept. 17 meeting, a new nonprofit is entering the scene with the goal of bringing home ownership to median and lower-income Bendites by using a community land trust model. The kôr Community Land Trust hopes not […]
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Little Boxes on the Butte-side
City seeks short-term solutions to housing crisis
Rental vacancy rates are down nationwide, and Bend’s market is among the tightest at less than 1 percent, with only about 17 rentals available in Bend at any given time. With vacancies decreasing and populations increasing, the city is scrambling to find short-term solutions, even as it works toward greater efficiency measures (read: infill) in […]