The city and county use a variety of techniques and forums to gather ideas from the citizens of the community, to explain planning concepts in the Comprehensive Plan, and to evaluate public comments. The major citizen involvement activities used during the development of this updated Plan are described in the Preface to the Comprehensive Plan.

A permanent and on-going forum for citizen involvement is the Bend Planning Commission. The Bend Planning Commission was established in 1980 by the city and the county. Its role is to carry out a comprehensive planning program, using citizen comments and public hearings when appropriate. The Planning Commission is the official Citizens’ Involvement Committee for the urban area, and advises the elected bodies on land use planning programs and policy. In addition to the Planning Commission, there are other citizens’ committees that have particular areas of interest that relate to land use and transportation planning:

The interest in community and neighborhood involvement is so strong in Bend that several major private developers have used public forums, workshops, and citizens committees to help them design projects that are consistent with the Bend Area Comprehensive Plan.