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SB 100 requires municipalities to intentionally plan land-use within their jurisdictions, guided by 10 goals. The 10 goals were later given more detail by the Land Conservation and Development Commission and expanded to nineteen. Goal 14 was added requiring cities to contain development to their respective urban growth boundaries (UGB) to conserve rural areas.

Neither SB 100 nor the UGB was intended as an instrument of urban no-growth or even slow-growth policy. Rather, they were instruments mandating thoughtful, long-term, and professionally led growth management. Self-interested individuals and development companies could not be expected to conserve rural lands, prize ecological diversity and act in the broad public interest. Instead, the people, through their city councilors, city managers, municipal planning offices and citizen commissions, were given the responsibility to protect and manage Oregon’s diverse landscapes.

Goal 10 counters the claims of the no- and slow-growthers, too. The goal mandates that cities “plan for and accommodate needed housing types….� There’s nothing in SB 100 suggesting Bend, sometime in the past, could have legally stopped residential permitting, thereby halting growth via in-migration. On the contrary, if population trends demonstrate a demand for housing, then by law cities must strive to meet that demand (extraordinary circumstances aside).

So where does that leave those who see a tension between growth and livability? On the one hand, unfortunately, the reality behind the bumper sticker is correct: as long as the area’s outdoor activities, climate, arts culture, K-16 education system, park system, clean and plentiful water, relative small size and strong job market inspires folk to move here, Bend will continue to grow, putting pressure on surrounding lands.

On the other hand, fortunately, Bendites value their city and continue to actively plan and work to maintain its wellbeing. This is demonstrated by organizations like Envision Bend, which engages residents in envisioning and shaping Bend’s future.

It’s demonstrated by the Bend Park & Recreation District, which plans, builds, and maintains parks, trails and other open spaces ensuring residents have access to rejuvenating built and natural common spaces.

And it’s demonstrated by infill, mixed-use, walkable, amenity-rich developments like Timber Yards and other projects planned for the core area that build dense, build up and build capital, thereby delaying Bend’s UGB expansion.

How, though, might residents contribute to Bend’s livability? Consider first cultivating personal “topophilia,� Greek for “place affection,� for Bend’s people, setting and cultures. We didn’t move here because Bend is Anytown, USA. Far from it. But maybe our usual mode of interaction needs to be updated and upgraded from passive consumption to reflectively active engagement — a topophilic expression.

How to begin cultivation? Walk it, learn it, feel it, shop it, give to it, and intentionally make Bend. To thrive long term, Bend needs sustained active affection from its residents. Reflect on how you can cultivate topophilia and then deploy it — collaboratively and publicly.