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Blog · Change – seen and unseenWhen you ask most people about how their city is changing, they'll tell you about the new buildings going up or a new area where homes are being built. But the change brought about when no new homes are built can be just as radical as a building boom. What drives a city to change…
Blog · Computer Chips, Ecosystems, and Urban DesignSome things need to be designed with minute precision or they simply will not work. Computer chips, for instance, require incredible amounts of labor to ensure they function correctly. Once they are designed and built, they are done. No more changes. New revisions or a next generation might build on older work, but the new…
Blog · 2025 in review2025 was a tough year in a lot of ways, but YIMBYs in Bend and Oregon had some big housing wins that are worth celebrating. The bad news first: Bend YIMBY is not a group that runs on money - we are all about people power, and this year saw two of our original members…
Blog · “Detached Townhomes” come to BendLand in Bend is expensive, so to make housing more affordable, home builders need to use it efficiently. You can't build inexpensively on a large plot. One way other cities have accomplished this is via something called a 'detached townhome', row house, or simply stated, an independent, freestanding house on a small lot that uses…
Blog · YIMBYs go to SalemWell that was an eventful day! HB 2138 is Governor Kotek's big housing bill this year, fixing some deficiencies in HB 2001 from a few years back. It's a "strong support" from us and many other groups. First off, a big thanks to Corie from COLW (Central Oregon LandWatch) for organizing the trip. She was…
Blog · Bend YIMBY 2025 BudgetA lot of people are curious about who we are. Our chapter leads are here: https://bendyimby.com/about/ and we're very clear that we're a pro-housing and urbanism group. In the interests of further transparency, we thought we'd share our budget for 2025: Chapter Budget Current Funds Available: $415 Baseline Funds: $300 Membership Bonus: $115 Additional Fundraising: $0…
Blog · Hacking land use laws for economic segregationMost of our land use laws in Oregon have good intentions behind them. But in the hands of people with money, acting in bad faith, they can be used to further economic segregation of our cities. Here's an example of that in action. We've been following a proposed development on Awbrey Butte: https://bendyimby.com/2021/09/14/how-housing-in-bend-gets-more-expensive-and-is-slow-to-build/ and the…
Blog · Nate’s StoryA lot of discussion about housing is at the abstract level, about floor area ratios and setback minimums and other esoteric measurements. At the end of the day though, it’s all about people, and who gets to live in Bend. Here’s the story of Nate Wyeth, who many of us know through his beautiful nature…- Blog · Street Grids and TrafficSomething that comes up a lot in discussions about housing in Bend is traffic and congestion, especially talking about the east side of town. If you look at how cities used to be built, with a fine grained grid, it turns out that that's probably the best strategy. Grids have been used in cities for…
How we work
Reform the rules
Back zoning reform and streamlined permitting so more homes are legal to build, especially near transit and jobs.
Educate & engage
Turn out residents to the meetings that matter and make it easy to take a pro-housing position on local projects.
Build partnerships
Work with neighbors, labor, faith groups, and builders toward a shared abundant-housing agenda.
Central Oregon YIMBY is a chapter of YIMBY Action.
One of the local groups organizing for more homes across the country, backed by the national team.