Celebrating 50 Years of Oregon’s Land Use Laws, Part 2 Lecture

Nonprofit organization Building a Better Bend, along with title sponsor, First Interstate Bank, today announced it will be hosting its second of a 3-part lecture series celebrating 50 years of Oregon’s unique land use laws. Oregon regulates growth very differently and has for 50 years. In other states, farms and forests turn into endless subdivisions and sprawl that goes on for miles—but Oregon is different. 50 years ago, Oregon leaders looked around and saw sprawl threatening our beautiful state and enacted a series of bold new laws, known as Senate Bill 100 which was signed into law in 1973. Building a Better Bend hosted Part 1 of the series last month, which focused on the history that led to the signing of SB100.

Part 2 is What Will Bend Be Like for Our Kids Over the Next 25 Years? Presented by Taylor Brooks. Just like 50 years ago, Oregon is again taking bold new action on growth laws aimed at building sustainable, resilient, and equitable cities. Learn what these new laws will mean for Bend and how we can improve livability while doubling in population. This program is scheduled for Tuesday, May 23 at 7pm at the Deschutes Brewery Mountain Room, located at 901 SW Simpson Ave above the Tasting Room. Speakers include Saumya Kini an Associate Urban Designer at Walker Macy Landscape Architects in Portland, and Blaine Merker, partner and managing director at Gehl, an urban design consultancy based in Copenhagen. Merker is originally from Bend, Oregon.