Updates from the chapter
Change – seen and unseen
When 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.
Computer Chips, Ecosystems, and Urban Design
Some 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.
2025 in review
2025 was a tough year in a lot of ways, but YIMBYs in Bend and Oregon had some big housing wins that are worth celebrating.
“Detached Townhomes” come to Bend
Land 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.
YIMBYs go to Salem
Well 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.
Bend YIMBY 2025 Budget
A 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.
Hacking land use laws for economic segregation
Most 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.
Nate’s Story
A 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.
Street Grids and Traffic
Something that comes up a lot in discussions about housing in Bend is traffic and congestion, especially talking about the east side of town.
Events
Who we're endorsing
About Central Oregon YIMBY
Welcome to YIMBY!
Central Oregon – if you hadn’t noticed – is in the middle of a housing crisis!
Vacancy rates are really low: even if you have the money to rent a place, it can be difficult to find something that’s open.
And for a lot of people, it can be tough to find a place they can afford, either to rent, or as a first home to purchase. Even if you have a home already, there are good reasons to be concerned about this: could your kids afford to live here if they wanted? How about people like nurses, firefighters, police, and teachers, to say nothing of all those who work in jobs that pay even less.
According to a local survey of people experiencing homelessness, economic factors are one of the top reasons people become homeless: the rent is too high for many.
Central Oregon YIMBY is one of many YIMBY – “Yes In My Back Yard” – groups springing up around the country, in places that have housing problems. We are pro-housing, to keep prices under control.
What we need is more housing supply to match the demand. But that doesn’t just mean lots of tract housing on the east side, with cul-de-sacs and arterial roads that no one wants to walk along. It means more options throughout town. Apartments, townhouses, duplexes, triplexes, and yes, of course, single-family homes too.
We used to build a wider variety of options than we do now. For instance, the O’Kane building (1918) originally had ground floor retail, some office space, and living quarters upstairs.
- People: we work to elect people who understand the housing abundance agenda.
- Policies: we work to get policies in place that make it easier to build housing of all shapes and sizes.
- Projects: we advocate for projects that meet certain criteria and add more dwelling units (aka “homes”) to the supply of housing in Central Oregon.
- Education: we talk with people about how important housing is. Everyone needs a place to live, and when they struggle to find one, it has impacts on not just them, but the economy, the environment, and our entire community in various ways.
We realize that our region alone can’t solve the housing crisis, so we are now part of a nationwide organization called YIMBY Action.
If you’d like to hear more from us, join our Facebook group or our mailing list. You can also become a member using the "Join" button at the top of the page!
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.