BEND, OR -- The public will soon get a chance to weigh in on what they want for the future of Bend. Envision Bend Executive Director Laura Fritz says it’s not a new concept, "We’ve been in existence since 2007. Many people may know us formerly as Bend 2030." But, she says this time is different - Envision Bend is a nonpartisan nonprofit, where Bend 2030 was a city-run endeavor. 

Fritz tells KBND News, "This type of a project was done way back in 2005-2006, that was the first time a long-range vision was created by the community for its future. It’s a plan of your desired destiny. And, the reason it’s so important to do this kind of work is you don’t want to leave your future to chance."

The goal, she says, is to listen to all segments of the population and then create a vision, "I can’t say exactly what the vision will say because the community will determine that. But at the same time, we definitely know some of the themes we will see in it - the priority areas our community wants to work on." Those priorities, she assumes, will include affordability, drought and transportation.

Envision Bend will launch an online survey later this month and hold community events throughout this year, to give people a chance to provide input. It's also the focus of Tuesday's City Club of Central Oregon forum, where attendees are expected to participate. For more information on that event, click HERE. Visit Envision Bend's website to sign up for alerts about other events and the survey. 

Fritz expects they'll release their findings by March of 2023. Then, she hopes the work will be used by others around the region, "We hope the county will do the same thing, that the parks district will do the same thing. Really, the community has spoken and then all sorts of entities can use it to guide their own planning efforts and their own project work, and so on."