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NEWS Pedestrian Avenue
A proposal from Downtown Bend Business Association could change Minnesota Avenue into a walkable plaza
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By Jack Harvel
The 300-foot-long stretch of Minnesota Avenue between Bond and Wall Street is host to about a dozen businesses at the center of Bend’s historic downtown. A proposal could transform it from a through street to a walkable community gathering space.
The Downtown Bend Business Association was commissioned by the City to create plans for the Minnesota Avenue Pedestrian Plaza, closing that portion of the street to traffic and adding amenities that would attract people downtown. City Manager Erik King came to the DBBA after the newest City Council was elected—some of whom
advocate for increased walkability and bikeability in Bend.
“There has been kind of this increasing chatter from the community coming in my direction, wanting more public spaces, spaces to gather walkable spaces in downtown,” said Mindy Aisling, executive director of the DBBA. “So really, this came up in a response to community requests, and our community leaders’ request.”
The idea behind the project is that a community space would both attract and keep people downtown. When these plazas, promenades and pedestrian malls are successful, they often become one of the more attractive features of towns like Pearl Street in Boulder, Colorado, or Church Street in Burlington, Vermont. A CityLab study from 2021 showed increased interest for restaurants after they were converted into pedestrian friendly corridors through analyzing traffic on the app Yelp.
“One of the things that we’ve learned about public spaces is that the businesses along those spaces do spectacular because when people are walking by, when they’re shopping, when they’re hanging out longer, is when they have time to find something that they love,” Aisling said.
There’s a dual purpose to the plaza that it will be targeted to locals but will also be beneficial for businesses attracting tourists.
“One of the things that we hear from our merchants a lot is that they want to see more locals downtown. So we’d really be focusing on how can we make this kind of a center for some local organizations, local fundraising, and of course, it would also become a tourist destination,” Aisling said. “We already know from Visit Bend statistics that almost 70% of visitors come to historic downtown when they visit here, I have no doubt that we’re willing to invest in a project like this, it would be close to 100.”
The plaza’s designs were created by Szabo Landscape Architecture, and if followed would line both sides of the street with trees, create a stage at one end, a “focal feature” like a fountain at the other and fill much of the street with seating.
“One of the things that we learned during the pandemic, is how important the different types of businesses are to each other. When the restaurants were closed, retail suffered,” Aisling said.
Aisling said she’s gotten both support and opposition when speaking with businesses on Minnesota, and she’s hoping that after speaking with stakeholder groups, going public with the design and addressing potential issues with the plaza, more people will be swayed. A meeting with stakeholders on June 11 led to three suggestions: That the City fund a comprehensive downtown plan, that the City commit to building bike parking and public restrooms by between Drake Park and downtown and a suggestion that the City incentivize the public to use the space.
“We’re not looking at this with rose-colored glasses. What we’re trying to do is look at a person’s concern and say, ‘how do we solve that?’” DBBA Board Member Ed Deenihan said.
Businesses’ concerns include potential loss of accessibility for customers, collecting deliveries and potential vagrancy on the plaza.
“It seems like a cool idea on the surface and all of the surrounding bars and restaurants are pushing for it,” the owners of Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe, located on Minnesota, wrote in a Facebook post. “Who’s against it? The majority of retailers on Minnesota, Dudley’s included. 75% of Downtown retailers report a decrease in sales anytime there are street closures.”
The DBBA said with its role keeping downtown clean it already has the experience needed to maintain a plaza.
“We believe that if we’re able to keep it beautiful, clean and filled with positive programming, that will keep away any unwanted behavior that sometimes people are concerned with in downtown districts,” Aisling said.
The programming would be focused on bringing a sense of vibrancy through the plaza through vendor programs, buskers programs and community events that showcase Central Oregon’s diversity.
“We’ve heard a big request from our community that they want a space to celebrate all the diverse cultures in our community, and there’s not really that gathering space right now,” Aisling said. “This could become a space where we hold the Day of the Dead festival and where we hold our Pride festival, and where we have the space to really celebrate all the different members of our community.”
The plaza is in the very early stage of development and will need to be OK’d by the City before DBBA can move forward finetuning the proposal and seeking funding sources.
“There’s a variety of other people, the City being number one, that we really need to engage with and get on board. That will take some time,” Deenihan said.
DBBA will make its case to the Bend City Council on Wednesday. If they’re supported they will move onto the next steps to create the plaza. If denied they will drop the project. Even if successful, the implementation of a pedestrian plaza on Minnesota is likely years away at this point.
“The answer is kind of that’s unknown at this point, because it would take that next level of research to really identify a timeline and a budget,” Aisling said.
Downtown Bend Business Association
Overhead conceptual drawings point out features in the pedestrian plaza.
Downtown Bend Business Association
A map from DBBA shows an overhead view of how the pedestrian plaza will connect with Drake Park and the parking garage on Oregon Avenue.
Downtown Bend Business Association
La iniciativa Proyecto Mural trae más arte pública a la región del centro de Bend
Un proyecto mural comunitario enfocado en celebrar y brindar más visibilidad a la comunidad Latinx de la zona centro de Oregon ha sido terminado en el túnel ferroviario de la avenida Franklin, en el centro de Bend. El proyecto, titulado Proyecto Mural, reunió a artistas de la región, a un grupo de representantes de Bend Central District y a docenas de voluntarios para terminar el mural que ahora adorna el lado sur del túnel peatonal localizado debajo de las vías del tren a lo largo de la avenida Franklin. El proyecto complementa al mural en el túnel peatonal del lado norte, “Two for Joy,” realizado por la fallecida Kaycee Anseth en 2019.
Como un proyecto creado por la comunidad, las imágenes del proyecto mural representan temas presentados por personas de la región quienes viven o trabajan para BDC y que provienen de cuatro países latinoamericanos, incluyendo a México, Cuba, El Salvador y Perú. El grupo seleccionó dos artistas de la región, Carly Garzon y Melinda Martinez, para dibujar y pintar las imágenes. “Era importante traer personas que tenían una variedad de perspectivas y una variedad de cargos,” dijo Janet Sarai Llerandi, fundadora de Mecca Bend, una organización sin fines de lucro de la región que ofrece recursos para la comunidad Latinx de la zona centro de Oregon. Para el proyecto, Mecca Bend se alió con Central Oregon LandWatch (COLW por sus siglas en inglés) – la organización de planificación de políticas y uso de tierras que encabezó la iniciativa Bend Central District para fomentar un vecindario inclusivo, vibrante y mixto al este del centro de Bend.
Como dijo Llerandi, un partícipe resumió el proyecto perfectamente al decir, “Es nuestra estampa en Bend.”
El agregar más arte en la zona es tan solo un elemento a el esfuerzo de no solo traer belleza, pero más seguridad a un área que puede ser insegura para los peatones y los ciclistas que viajan de ida y vuelta a la zona centro y este de Bend.
“Parte de este proyecto es crear un puente entre el lado este y oeste de la ciudad, brindar atención a esta zona que es realmente problemática y orientarnos hacia la comunidad para volver a visualizarla y de verdad colaborar con las personas que se encuentran ahí, incluyendo a las personas sin hogar quienes a veces ese es su único refugio,” dijo Mowy Newbold, director del planeamiento urbano para COLW.
Una propuesta de la Asociación de Comercios del Centro de Bend podría convertir la avenida Minnesota en una plaza peatonal
El tramo de 300 pies de la avenida Minnesota a lo largo de las calles de Bond y Wall aloja alrededor de una docena de comercios en el centro histórico de la ciudad de Bend. Una propuesta que podrá transformarlo en un espacio comunitario transitable.
La ciudad de Bend le encargó a la Asociación de Comercios del Centro de Bend (DBBA por sus siglas en inglés) crear los planes para la plaza peatonal en la avenida Minnesota, cerrando parte de la calle al tráfico vehicular y agregando servicios que pudieran atraer a las personas a la zona centro de la ciudad. El presidente municipal Erik King, fue a DBBA después de que se eligiera el nuevo consejo municipal de la ciudad de Bend –algunos de los cuales abogan por un mayor acceso al tráfico peatonal y de bicicletas en Bend.
La idea detrás de este proyecto es que un espacio comunitario atraiga y mantenga a las personas en la zona centro de la ciudad. Cuando estas plazas, paseos y centros comerciales peatonales tienen éxito, muy a menudo se convierten en uno de los mejores atractivos de la ciudad como lo son la calle Pearl en Colorado o la calle Church en Burlinton, Vermont. Un estudio de la ciudad del 2021 mediante el análisis de la app Yelp mostró un mayor interés por los restaurantes después de haberse convertido en corredores peatonales acogedores.
La plaza está en etapa muy temprana de desarrollo y necesitará ser aprobada por la ciudad antes que DBBA pueda seguir adelante con las adaptaciones de la propuesta y la búsqueda de recursos financieros.
Just Kids
A new Deschutes District Attorney program will attempt to reduce recidivism for younger offenders
By Jack Harvel
Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel is rolling out a pilot program to address a trend that’s been observed since criminology emerged as a field during the 1800s— that young people are much more likely to commit crimes than older people.
Criminal acts become more common starting around age 10 and less common after 25, according to Penn State’s Jeffrey Ulmer and Darrell Steffensmeier. The separation of juvenile and adult courts allows more flexibility for kids in the criminal justice system.
“When we set the age of adult responsibility in criminal court 100 or so years ago we put it at 18,” Hummel told the Source. “If you commit a crime as a 17-year-old, you’re viewed as a kid who doesn’t have a fully developed brain. We use this as a learning opportunity; we
don’t want to saddle you with a criminal conviction, because kids are going to do stupid things.”
The DA’s new pilot program would expand that window for leniency up to 24, when experts believe brains have fully formed. A conviction for people aged 18-25 can drastically affect someone’s ability to get a job and housing, much more than a juvenile conviction.
“I feel a responsibility to act on the knowledge I now have. So if someone is a suspect in the crime between the ages of 18 and 25, I will look to treat them as if their case was handled in juvenile court, meaning we’re going to focus on rehabilitation, we’re going to focus on getting them the tools they need to succeed,” Hummel said.
The program will start with 12 firsttime offenders in Deschutes County this summer. The scope is relatively small so the results can be studied before being implemented on a wider scale.
“Now we want to see if it works, so we’re just baby stepping into it,” Hummel said. “If we feel it’s going well, and we’ll probably tweak it a little, we’ll learn a lot more in six months than we
know now. And then we’ll ask the question, do we expand it?”
The program was devised two years ago during a retreat organized by the nonprofit group Prosecutor Impact. The retreat’s organizers hosted a “Shark Tank”-style competition in which teams competed to create a proposal that would make Deschutes County safer, and the adult pilot program won. The program’s organizers intend to keep the community safer by reducing the recidivism rate for 18-25 year olds – currently about 60% of that age group will reoffend within three years —and inch closer to that of juvenile convictions.
“Our juvenile department does a great job, so it’s significantly less than 60%,” Hummel said.
Hummel sees the solution as greater services extended to people convicted. The programs in the pilot program will be uniquely tailored to the individual offender, rather than taking a broad approach.
“Some kids might be doing good in school, might have a job that they go to after school and might be living with a substance use disorder; well, we’ll definitely be focusing on that,” Hummel said. “Some kids might be struggling with school, maybe we’ll get them tutoring and require them to not miss class anymore.”
The individualized path for programs will be joined with a conciliatory program between victims and perpetrators.
“Victims have to be made whole in this process,” Hummel said. “If you steal from someone, making the victim whole is going to be a fundamental part of this program.”
The DA’s office will be aided in the program by Deschutes County Behavioral Health Services, Thrive Central Oregon, Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council, Community Solutions of Central Oregon and community volunteers. This program is one of Hummel’s unique initiatives he promotes as a self-styled “progressive prosecutor,” which he describes as promoting community safety by addressing crime’s roots in poverty, addiction and mental health rather than the aggressive pursuit of charges against offenders. In 2017, he also started the “Goldilocks” program that softened punishments and encouraged rehabilitation in drug crimes. Hummel said the young adult pilot program is a novel idea, and that he hadn’t heard of anything like it.
“I’m not aware of a program like this in the country, so it’s exciting and overwhelming to be the first, but we know what we’re doing now isn’t working,” Hummel said.
The DA’s Office will assess the program after the summer and make a decision on whether it should be expanded.
“I’m not aware of a program like this in the country, so it’s exciting and overwhelming to be the first, but we know what we’re doing now isn’t working.” —Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel
Courtesy Tar Sands Blockade
Slapping on handcuffs might not be the best solution to young adult crime.
Darris Hurst
