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Bend
urban growth boundary expansion delayed again
Bend's long-running effort
to bring new buildable residential land into the city's
urban growth boundary (UGB) took another hit at
Wednesday's Bend City Council meeting. Councilors agreed
with a staff recommendation to delay Planning Commission
public hearings on the expansion of the UGB until the
first quarter of 2007 in order to include the proposed
Juniper Ridge development in the UGB expansion. City
staff believes that a land-use concept plan for Juniper
Ridge should be finished before the city completes a UGB
expansion plan for state approval. The city is proposing
adding up to 4,000 acres to the UGB, and under state law
must show why not only Juniper Ridge, but other areas
proposed for UGB designation, are needed to support
growth in Bend over the next 20 years. The complex UGB
expansion proposal also needs other documentation, such
as water and sewer facility master plans and housing
needs. City staff has been working on UGB expansion for
at least two years, and had hoped to begin public
hearings on the issue this fall.
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Deschutes
County an expensive place to live, study finds
No surprise to
long-time readers of the Weekly E-News: Deschutes County
has become an expensive place to live. A recently
released study issued by the Northwest Federation of
Community Organizations found that only 17 percent of
all jobs in Oregon pay a wage that allows a family of
three - a single parent with two children - to pay for
basics like health care, child care, food and housing.
In Deschutes County, a family of three must earn $23.14
an hour to meet basic needs, the report stated.
Moreover, a single worker requires at least $11.30 an
hour to make a living in Deschutes County. According to
the federation, a living wage is a wage that "allows
families to meet basic needs without public assistance
and provides them some ability to deal with emergencies
and plan ahead." The study further stated that only 19
percent of Oregon jobs provide a living wage for a
family of four, with two working adults.
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What
is Bend missing? There are a lot of suggestions
Last week's survey
question was, "Many publications have touted Bend's
livability in various areas, but what's the one feature
that Bend is missing?" We received some interesting
answers. Here are some responses:
"Only one? We need more affordable housing and family
wage salaries. (three similar answers)"
"An Olive Garden restaurant." "A Trader Joe's." "A
Nordstrom's"
"Bend is missing a much-needed anti-litter program and a
dedicated clean-it-up plan. The amount of litter in this
town and the surrounding area is beyond appalling.
Central Oregon is a stunningly beautiful place in which
to live, and we should all be mindful of protecting its
beauty. ... It's time to make Central Oregon sparkling
clean like it used to be. I recently took a road trip
through Washington state and was jealous of how clean
and free of road garbage it was. We should be ashamed of
how we look right now."
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Workshop
to focus on sustainability
Worksmart, a chapter of
the Oregon Natural Step Network, will hold a workshop
titled "Sustainable Business Case Studies" from 7:30 to
10 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 28 at the Central Oregon
Environmental Center, 16 NW Kansas Ave. The cost is $30
per person, which includes a continental breakfast and
handouts. The workshop will detail how Bend and Portland
businesses have successfully translated the concept of
sustainability into action, discussing the outcomes they
have achieved, the benefits for their businesses and the
challenges they faced and overcame along the way.
Speakers will be Danielle Nye, owner of Dani, Inc., and
Dough Brecht, marketing director, and Michael Luehrs,
director of hotel operations, for Doubletree Hotels. To
register, call Melissa Toney at 388-3638 or
mtoney@resourceoregon.org.
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Unemployment
continues to drop in Central Oregon
The latest unemployment
statistics for Deschutes County show the unemployment
rate in August at 3.9 percent, the first time the county
has had a rate below 4 percent since May 1969. Hiring
was slightly above normal in August, with a gain of 190
jobs. The unemployment rate typically goes up in the
fall months as summer-oriented businesses lay off
employees, but with Central Oregon's red-hot job market,
history may or may not be applicable this year.
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This
week's survey question
Do you or your
employees plan to use the new fixed-route bus system
that will begin operations in Bend next week? Please
e-mail your responses to:
jeff@bendchamber.org.
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