REAL-WORLD HURDLES
BY MICHAEL KOHN
The Bulletin
Developing walkable, bikeable communities in Bend has been a long-time goal of Bend’s city leadership. It’s a well-intentioned plan —_vehicle use drops when basic services are within a short distance from where people live.
Beyond commercial development, the city even has specific rules that push builders to create areas that encourage walking and socializing — extra- wide sidewalks, plazas and courtyards are encouraged, as are seating areas, trees and awnings over shop windows.
But how has Bend fared in this endeavor to encourage complete communities? Aaron Henson, a senior planner with the city of Bend Planning Division, says the development of walkable communities has been mixed. “Some neighborhoods have had more success than others,” said Henson.
Henson points to North-West Crossing on Bend’s west side as an example of a neighborhood that has amenities within walking distance of homes. Those amenities are established in a walkable zone with storefronts facing the street, rather than a strip mall centered on a parking lot.
Other parts of Bend have experienced a lag in walkable development, said Henson. New subdivisions across town serve the need for more housing but often leave residents reliant on vehicles due to their distance from commercial amenities.
Commercial corridors
City officials and builders point out that walkable communities are typically slow to develop — NorthWest Crossing was a couple of decades in the making (the master plan was approved in 2001). To overcome this, some Bend officials say another option is developing commercial corridors that already have some infrastructure in place.
Galveston Street on Bend’s west side is an example, said Henson.
“The city is looking into relaxing commercial zoning regulations even further to hopefully incentivize those types of uses in a more organic and natural evolution,” said Henson.
Henson suggests such a commercial main street could develop along Silverado Springs Road, betweenPonderosa and Murphy roads on Bend’s southernmost outskirts.
A planned food truck lot and pickleball center on Silverado Springs Road “could be the start for other commercial, walkable uses,” said Henson.
Bend City Council member Ariel Mendez highlights Hawthorne Avenue as another opportunity for pedestrian- friendly development, especially after the completion of the pedestrian bridge planned to be built over U.S. Highway 97, re-linking the road that is currently severed by the Bend Parkway.
“We have a different opportunity here because I’m sure there will be new possibilities that a bridge makes viable, both in terms of homes and commercial amenities,” Mendez said.
Commercial nodes
In addition to walkable neighborhoods where retail establishments are street-facing, Henson says there is a developing trend in so-called “commercial nodes.”
These are essentially pocket retail areas surrounded by residential developments. Examples include Brookswood Plaza in southwest Bend, Reed South on the east side at the corner of Reed Market Road and 27th Street, and the retail cluster north of Empire Road, where Boyd Acres Road intersects with Gloucester Lane.
While not quite the same as a walkable street, these “nodes” at least provide nearby residential areas with essential services and retail options.
Challenges for retail developers
Developers agree that the biggest challenge in building commercial areas in pockets across the city is a lack of dense housing.
“There has to be a certain number of rooftops in close proximity before people are willing to make the investment in commercial development,” said Henson.
Larry Kine, a local real estate developer, points out that Bend has been designed for vehicles and transitioning away from that requires relaxing height requirements for buildings and developing high-density housing in a compact area.
“If they want walkable communities they have to urbanize. If you want urbanization, get rid of any barriers for that full urbanization. Allow people to build 200 feet up,” said Kine.
“There are people in downtown Portland who don’t get in their car for a week or two weeks. We are nowhere close to that,” said Kine. “And if you want to transform it to that you have to go all in on urbanization.”
Grocery chains want ‘rooftops’Kirk Schueler, president and chief executive officer of Brooks Resources — the developer of NorthWest Crossing — said he was challenged to lure a grocery store chain to the neighborhood because of the lack of dense housing.
“We could not convince a grocer to move (into North-West Crossing). We talked to probably six or seven different grocery chains, both large and small, and no one would ever take us up on it primarily because they felt there weren’t enough rooftops around that site to support them,” he said.
Instead, Brooks Resources built The Grove, a food hall with multiple small restaurant outlets. Schueler adds that it’s often not even up to the developer — banks also influence what gets built.
“Banks don’t exactly like to lend on something that may not do well, so there’s that constraint,” he said. “You need to demonstrate to whoever’s financing you that this commercial venture will work.”
Because it took time for commercial activity to develop — the area needed local housing plus visitors from otherareas — Brooks Resources subsidized the rent for its commercial properties in the area. Market-rate rents have been achieved, but only after many years of mid- to low-singledigitreturns.
Unwalkable communities Bend City Council member Ariel Mendez says the city is learning what works and what does not. He points out NW 14th Street on Bend’s west side as an example of an area that has plenty of commercial development but isn’t all that walkable.
The car-centric setup of the roadway, and the distance of the buildings from the road, detracts from the pedestrian experience, said Mendez.
“There are so many parking requirements and driveways and the need to accommodate turning vehicles,” said Mendez, himself an avid bike rider. “Even though there is so much commercial activity there it will never be a really nice place to go for a stroll.
“It’s just too wide, so much pavement, not many trees, and a lot of driveways and parking lots. That is the kind of thing we are hoping to avoid,” he said.
Schueler from Brooks Resources, said integral to developing a walkable community was inclusion of a variety of uses that might form a symbiotic relationship.
For example, the developers included office space so that during the day, local restaurants could rely on some foot traffic for income. Just including restaurant and retail space without offices would make the area incomplete.
“We needed the offices to be around the core area so there would be both a lunch and a dinner. Obviously, when the residents got home to the area they’d use the restaurants in the evening. That is our strategy of why we ended up with the layout we had,” said Schueler.
Questioning planned communities
Some are questioning whether master-planned neighborhoods — those multiblock areas created by a single developer — are a good fit for a city that is trying to encourage commercial growth, especially in light of new rules that allow commercial zoning to be repurposed as affordable housing.
Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler says she supports looking at new ways to “foster and develop neighborhood commercial activities” and the city will reevaluate options as it enters a planning process for growth. That might mean a move away from master-planning, she said.
New codes and long-term planning could help pave the way for forward action, she said, adding that Bend should explore incentives and subsidies to spur services needed in certain areas.
“I’d like to see us move to a system that’s more smallscale, adaptable, flexible, and can bring amenities faster to our parts of the community that need them,” said Kebler. “Think bodegas, coffee shops, barber shops, child care, and other low-impact businesses that can exist right within neighborhoods.”
█ Reporter: 541-617-7818, michael. kohn@bendbulletin.comI’m
