How to Build a City Without Losing Its Character

Filed in Author: Jesse, Regulations 
February 5, 2025

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Will A New Tree Preservation Code Make Bend Better or More Expensive?

Imagine you’re standing in a forest. Sunlight filters through the branches, the scent of pine lingers in the air, and the ground beneath you is cool and alive. Now imagine that same spot 10 years from now. Will it still be a forest? Or will it be a neighborhood, paved and built up, with the trees gone forever?

This is the question facing my hometown—Bend, Oregon. Like many cities around the world, Bend is growing fast. People are moving in, homes are going up, and the landscape is changing. But Bend isn’t just another town. It’s a place defined by its trees—towering Ponderosas that have stood for centuries.

So, how do we grow without losing what makes Bend, Bend?

The New Rulebook for Growth

To help answer that question, the city introduced a new tree code in 2024 as part of the zoning code. The idea is simple: If you’re developing land that’s an acre or more, you can’t just clear-cut it any more. You have to work with the trees that are already there.

Here’s how it works:

If you’re building on a site, you have to either—

  1. Preserve at least 20% of the biggest trees
  2. Preserve at least 25% of total tree trunk diameters.
  3. Or, if you can’t do that, plant new trees or pay a fee to the City’s tree planting fund.

It’s a compromise—a way to say, “Yes, we need homes, but we also need nature”

The Reality for Builders

But let’s be real. For residential developers, this isn’t just about trees—it’s about numbers. They look at a piece of land and calculate how many homes it can hold. Now, with these rules, that number might shrink.

Picture this: A developer plans a 12-home community on a wooded lot. Under the old rules, they could maximize every square foot. Now? They must leave space for trees. That might mean 10 homes instead of 12. It might mean rerouting roads, shifting foundations, or bringing in arborists.

It’s not impossible, but it is harder. And when things get harder, they also get more expensive. And when things get more expensive, guess what? Housing prices go up.

What’s at Stake

So now we have a new dilemma. We know trees make our cities healthier, cooler, and more beautiful. But we also know that if we make it too hard to build, fewer homes get built, and prices skyrocket.

This isn’t just Bend’s problem. Cities everywhere are struggling with the same balancing act—how to grow in a way that doesn’t push people out.

If we get it wrong, we don’t just lose trees. We lose teachers, nurses, families—people who want to live here but can’t afford to.

The Path Forward

But here’s the good news: Some developers are already figuring it out. They’re clustering homes in ways that preserve green space. They’re growing tall instead of just spreading out. They’re integrating trees into designs instead of cutting them down.

And this is where all of us—developers, city planners, residents—have a role to play. We have to stop seeing this as a fight between “trees” and “homes.” We need both. We can have both. But only if we design for it.

Because in the end, cities are more than streets and buildings. They are living things. And if we plan them right, they can grow without losing what makes them special.

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