Take Me Home 1/20-1/27 | The Source Weekly - Bend, Oregon

Take Me Home 1/20-1/27

Affordable Housing for Bend

From tiny homes to micro homes to co-housing, the objective seems to be people trying to create affordable community housing solutions. The lack of affordable housing appears to be an issue in many communities and very much so in Bend. It seems that when a person chooses to work in our community as an educational professional to educate our children or in the food service, construction, health care, public safety, or hospitality industry field, that they should have the earning power to live in the community in which they work. Too often that has not been the case. Currently, with the median income being about $52,000 in Bend and the median home price being about $330,000, a household earning the median income would not qualify to buy a median price home.

Fortunately, Bend and other communities experiencing the same problems are addressing these issues and looking for solutions. Our housing crisis pretty much put a stop to new housing construction while home values plummeted as much as 50 percent. This, coupled with population growth being in excess of new housing construction, has fueled the housing shortage and made prices rise much faster than household earnings.

The effort to create more affordable housing and even the term "affordable housing" can produce negative emotions among people who believe it will drive down adjoining property values or increase burdens on infrastructure. None of this needs to be true if affordable housing is properly integrated within the existing community and built to the same standards as market rate housing,

Affordable housing allows people who work in a community to live near where they work, reducing traffic congestion. In Bend, Northwest Crossing is a classic example of a mixed use development that includes affordable housing that is well-integrated with the surrounding community, with stable and rising property values. Environmental issues aside, most people would not opt to live in freight containers or tiny homes on wheels if attractive affordable housing was available within the community. It may mean some higher density housing, but like it or not, Bend is growing and it doesn't look like it will stop any time soon.

63775 Hunters Circle, Bend, OR 97701

3 beds, 2 baths, 1235 square feet,

.20 acre lot | Built in 2013

$215,000

Listed by Duke Warner Realty

MID>>

19704 SW Poplar St, Bend, OR 97702

3 beds, 2 baths, 1425 square feet,

.30 acre lot | Built in 1988

$329,900

Listed by Investwest Commercial Real Estate

<<HIGH

2920 NW Celilo, Bend, OR  97703

3 beds, 2.5 baths, 3069 square feet,

.30 acre lot | Built in 2005

$749,000

Listed by Coldwell Banker Morris Real Estate

Nick Nayne, Principal Broker

Principal Broker at The Broker Network Realty in Bend, OR. Over 12 years experience in Real Estate working with buyers, sellers and investment properties.
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