BEND, OR -- The Bend Chamber looked into how the city will evolve and grow over the next 30 years, Tuesday night, at an event called "Bend Rising: Should I Stay or Should I Go?" A panel discussed where the area's emerging workforce sees opportunity in urban living, with a packed crowd at the Tower Theatre.
John Savo of
NBBJ, an architecture and design firm dedicated to creating natural spaces in urban settings, spoke about what millennials are looking for in cities where they live and work. H
e says the best way to get the city you want is to communicate with your fellow city dwellers. "Creating some sort of an urban design framework to talk about the kind of things you want to see happening in your community, and you go out to all the different community groups that you can, reach as many people as you can, build a consensus around what your vision is, let other people add to it, and then you'll feel ownership for it. It won't be driven by city fathers."
Members of the Young Professionals Network also took part in the panel discussion, answering questions about the city's future, including on issues like affordable housing and emerging tech. Maggie Kirby of Craft 3 answered questions about affordable housing, saying those who work in Bend need to be able to live in the city, "We have to create financial incentives to reduce the costs associating with the development of housing within the city."
Mazama Media's Bud Torcom discussed jobs in the upcoming robot age. "
We're in the middle of an automation revolution right now. The jobs of millennials now will not be replaced, but we can educate on how to create the new jobs, making us more efficient, making us more creative."
