(Photo courtesy of Bend Livability Project)
The Bend Livability Project set to begin Thursday, June 2 at the Tower Theatre with the film The Human Scale continuing June 3 with the Future Fair in downtown and Maker’s District, June 4 Livability Conference and concluding with a day of action on June 5.
Throughout is a large-scale conference and ongoing civic engagement initiative designed to educate, empower and engage the Bend community to harness and shape the dramatic growth we will experience in the coming years. With 30,000 more residents expected to live here by 2030, so much of our next chapter is unscripted—it’s up to us to define it together.
Partly a celebration of our character and partly a massive townhall meeting, the Project weekend will drive diverse populations in Bend to learn about and participate in shaping Bend’s future through three days of lectures, panels, workshops, lms, parties, public art projects, walking tours and events. Bendites of all ages and backgrounds will be invited to make a personal commitment to ensuring the future livability of Bend and then have the chance to plug their energy directly into projects that will transform their hopes for the future into reality.
THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 7PM
Join BendFilm and The Bend Livability Project for the highly acclaimed film, The Human Scale.
Film Synopsis:
How do the spaces that surround us enhance or disturb our interactions with others? How can we make our streets more accessible by foot or bike? Through his world acclaimed work, revolutionary Danish architect and urban planner Jan Gehl has been leading a revolution in urban planning that has been transforming cities worldwide. From the expanded pedestrian spaces in New York’s Union Square, to Copenhagen’s famed bike lanes, to the rebuilding of earthquake devastated Christchurch, New Zealand, Gehl’s team bring real solutions that promise a more humanistic dimension to cities where people are not displaced by congested streets, skyscrapers, and the car¬centric urbanism of the 1960s and ’70s.
Following the film, Erin Foote Morgan, Bend 2030 Executive Director, will facilitate a conversation with Bend Tech Ecosystem organizer Preston Callicott, Bend City Councilor Victor Chudowsky, Brooks Resources’ Romy Mortensen and Scalehouse’s Rene Mitchell about how innovations in planning, housing and transportation will transform Bend in the coming decade. $5. The Tower Theatre, 835 NW Wall St., Bend.
FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 5-9 PM
The Bend Livability Project is teaming up with more than a dozen partners at Art Walk to offer a glimpse of Bend’s Future and how Bend residents can help shape it.
First, visit the Bend 2030 Future Fair at St. Clair Place to see what Bend could look like in the future through futuristic, superimposed images of our city. Then experience your own personal investment in the future of Bend by visiting a dozen interactive art-based stations throughout downtown and the Makers District, the downtown Bend of the future.
Future Fair Station hosts include Bend 2030, Basecamp Design Studio, BendFilm, Scalehouse, Tiny Hey, River Song Montessori, The City of Bend/Bend Bikes/Commute Options/CET, Astir Agency, Nicole Fontana Painting, and eight businesses in the Makers District including Natural Edge Furniture, Humm Kombucha, Bethlyn’s Global Fusion, Bend Velo, Gear Peddler, InMotion Training Studio, Lost Season Supply Co., and Rack & Roll plus a special appearance of Tongue and Groove’s Tiny Tavern and BoxCar Stringband.
Part of the fun is just getting to the Makers District. Get there by taking a special #freshkermit protected bike lane created just for this event, by riding the Bend Trolley or by walking to create murals, grab a pint and hear great local musicians at this festival of the future. FREE! Downtown Bend and the Makers District.
SATURDAY, JUNE 4 Livability Conference
It’s the question on all our minds—how will we maintain the livability of Bend in the face of all this growth and change?
The answer is simple—we CAN shape the future together by educating, empowering and engaging each other to implement innovative solutions to our greatest challenges.
Sponsored by the Bend Tech Ecosystem, Hayden Homes, and more than 50 other local sponsors, we’re using this conference to make Bend the most livable city in American through innovation.
Join us for this incredible day of learning about the issues and how YOU can plug into the solutions. With 19 sessions in three tracks, more than 40 speakers, 6 open houses, a special City Club of Central Oregon Forum on whether Bend’s City Council structure is keeping pace with the needs of our community, and a final capstone event that invites YOU to consider your role in the future of our city, there is truly something for everyone at the Bend Livability Conference.
Registration http://bendlivability.org/project-events/livability-conference/!
DAY OF ACTION SUNDAY, JUNE 5, ALL DAY
CENTRAL WESTSIDE HISTORY AND PLANNING TOUR
1 to 3 pm
Gathering point location to be emailed upon registration
25 person maximum
Tour Description: This tour will look back to the history of the Central Westside and look forward to its future as envisioned in the new Central Westside Plan. Participants will visit historic Riverfront parks and former mill and quarry sites, the former Shevlin-Hixon mill site, landmark homes and businesses, the Kingston and Kenwood Schools between Newport Avenue and Commerce. We will learn how the Plan conserves existing residential areas but encourages mixed-use redevelopment south of Commerce between the River and the new OSU-Cascades campus.
Tour Leaders:
1. Karen Swirsky, AICP Senior Planner City of Bend and Project Manager, Central Westside Plan
2. Richard Ross, AICP, Member Central Westside Plan CAC Coordinator, Central Westside History Team, “Timber Town Legacies and Challenges” author
3. Tor Hanson, Historian, Deschutes County Historical Society, Member Central Westside History Team
Bend 2030 is working with a team of more than a dozen community partners to organize this event. Here are the partners currently on our planning team:
• Age-Friendly Bend
• American Institute of Architects
• American Planners Association
• Astir Agency
• Base Camp Studio
• Bend 2030
• Bend Area Habitat for Humanity
• Bend Chamber of Commerce
• BendFilm
• Bend Park and Recreation District
• Central Oregon Association of Realtors
• City Club of Central Oregon
• City of Bend
• Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council
• High Desert Mural Festival
• Makers District
• OSU-Cascades
• Scalehouse
• Central Oregon Community College
