The Central Oregon study area comprises three counties and includes eight incorporated cities and a tribal community. While many parts of Central Oregon remain rural, the cities of Bend and Redmond are fast-growing urban centers whose population growth exerts pressure on housing markets throughout the region. A key challenge of the Regional Housing Needs Assessment project was to strategize for the accommodation of an estimated 60% population increase by 2050 when housing affordability has already reached a crisis point.

Mosaic met the challenge by working closely with members of a regional housing consortium who would have the leverage and resources to actually implement the resulting strategy. This group consisted of local government staff, elected officials, nonprofit and for-profit housing developers, homelessness advocates, major employers, and environmental activists, throughout the entire planning effort. Broad cross-sector input and participation was a defining characteristic of the work, with a total of 772 people completing the RHNA survey and an additional 75 stakeholders attending a day-long RHNA symposium where participants workshopped locally-viable solutions to the region’s housing challenges for inclusion in the Assessment.