Omaha Downtown Plan

8 Comments

1. craig moody said on March 20th, 2009

   I’m anxiously awaiting today’s unveiling of their work thus far and hope that the dialogue via this site can continue. While it might feel as though the opportunity to provide feedback ceases after today, it’s not true. Don’t hesitate to keep sharing your thoughts, insight and ideas. We’ll work hard to get a rough summary of today’s presentation out for everyone to chew on.

   Thanks for being engaged in the process!

   cm

2. Barbara luna said on March 20th, 2009

   Thank you for providing a venue for voices that were not able to attend the charrettes.

   Transportation/Multi-use communities: I would like to see my 84-year old mother have transportation options other than driving. She hasn’t been required to take a driving test in maybe 20 years. This is not good. I would like to see more pedestrian/multi-use communities developed - complete with community gardens - all over the city. This would provide a healthy environment not just for elderly but any citizen who wants an interactive environment that is safe and healthy to live in.

   I would have liked my daughter, when she was 16 and didn’t have a car, to not have been forced into one because there were no other options.

   MAT needs a complete and total makeover, keep building the bike trails and let’s get a light rail built between Omaha and Lincoln.

   Green Manufacturing: I suggest we devlop 16th street north of the Doubletree with clean energy manufacturing business. We need to help Nebraska contribute it’s wind power to the national grid and use our sun and water sources as best we can. By doing so we also support the green collar economy in a neighborhood that desparately needs jobs. With work, comes less time on the street, and less associated poverty and crime.

   For a greener and more inclusive community, please vote for Jim Suttle.

   Thank you, Barbara Luna

3. David E. Corbin said on March 20th, 2009

   Thank you for allowing us to view the sessions online and thank you for all that you have done to date. There are some exciting and innovative ideas. To those I say, keep up the good work.

   Here are a few of my comments. Some reiterate what has been said and some may be new to you.

   First, it is my belief that for all new projects and developments there must be at least as much planning and funding for alternative transportation as there is for vehicle drivers. Downtown will never live up to its potential as long as vehicles are placed first. There is a project going on now called Omaha Bike Blast (www.unomaha.edu/bikeblast). One aspect is to have artist bike racks around downtown to make it more biker friendly–these racks will be utilitarian and aesthetically pleasing.

   We now have bike racks on Metro buses, but it is not marketed well, so very few people know about it.

   We are also creating walking and biking maps to encourage the viewing of downtown public art, architecture and history. Distinctive and attractive signage would be a big asset in encouraging exercise, tourism, education, and environmental awareness.

   In Beijing they have mini parks all over the city. Unlike our parks, they don’t just have equipment for children, they also have exercise equipment for adults. Instead of adults taking their children to play, while the adults watch, the adults can be exercise on their own equipment while watching their kids play. It is good for both and it is a good role model for the kids to see that adults can exercise too, and not just watch kids. Below are some websites with ideas. I have photos that I took when I was there that I would be happy to share. We could, at least, experiment with this concept in some pilot projects.

   http://spacing.ca/wire/2008/07/08/beijing-public-exercise-equipment/
   http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/01/chinese-seniors-pedal-power-tvs.php

   http://spacing.ca/wire/2008/07/08/beijing-public-exercise-equipment/

   Some of the parks could have specialty gardens such as scent gardens, hummingbird gardens, butterfly gardens, etc.

   I believe that Omaha needs to embrace rather than dread their winters, like they do in Minneapolis and in many Scandinavian cities. This means more opportunities for ice skating, cross country skiing and other outdoor winter events. We do have the skating rink at ConAgra but we could have other rinks in some of the smaller parks. If trails were groomed (perhaps along the river) and skis could be rented, then more people might remain active in the outdoors throughout the winter.

4. Scott Redd said on March 20th, 2009

   Congratulations to the teams that set up this web site. It’s remarkable you were able to get it up and running so quickly, soliciting comments from people who couldn’t make the meetings.

   It’s awesome you were able to stream the video live and also post the recorded videos.

   Thanks Young Professionals and Secret Penguin!

5. jake said on March 22nd, 2009

   Great work guys! Awesome plan and we appreciate all the hard work.

6. Aaron said on March 23rd, 2009

   I am SO happy that Secret Penguin stepped up to get this web site going.

   HOWEVER, as I was not able to make the meeting last Friday, is there any way to get the PowerPoint used at the meeting up and available on the site? I want to see all the preliminary concepts and renderings!

   Thanks again,
   Aaron

7. Heather said on March 26th, 2009

   After listening to the many interesting proposals in the March 20 presentation of the Omaha downtown master plan (many thanks to Secret Penguin for making it available) I would like to bring attention to 4 issues:

   1. The metro area badly needs an expanded, efficient and reliable transit system. The lack of it frustrates efforts in many areas – employment, social services, retail, environmental, emergency planning, etc. It is essential that any master plan for downtown Omaha ensure that mass transit in the downtown area and mass transit across the rest of the metro area are complementary and connect efficiently. Funding and building a light rail system for downtown without properly integrating and developing the MAT bus system would not serve the interests of most Omahans, could waste a lot of money, and may make it more difficult to develop the bus system. Creating a modern integrated transit system for Omaha would help many people (youth, elderly, disabled, driving impaired/restricted, low-income, homeless, environmentally-conscious, etc.) and there would be numerous benefits:
   o Affordable individual cost of transportation (e.g. $50 monthly pass)
   o Decreased use of limited resources
   o Lower environmental impact of vehicles
   o Improved ability to get to work
   o Increased mobility for job-seekers
   o Increased access for people needing services
   o Increased access to retail centers
   o Easy access to city’s attractions
   o System in place if emergency evacuation needed
   I have a concept for developing the bus system that I would like to discuss with interested parties.

   2. Another essential aspect of the master plan for downtown is emergency evacuation of the people who would be living, working, playing in the downtown area, plus visitors, many of whom, by design, would not have their own transportation. Efficient, well-integrated mass transit would again be important.

   3. Speaking of emergency evacuation, serious consideration needs to be given to the possibility of the Missouri River flooding at higher levels that seen in the past, including due to climate changes. This possibility should guide which things are developed in close proximity to the river and its flood plain, as well as arrangements for evacuation and for protection of property.

   4. A successful development of downtown Omaha should improve the area for the benefit of those living, working and playing there. What efforts will be made to ensure that low-income residents will be able to afford to live and work in an improved downtown? Finding fair ways to do this could go a long way to improving neighborhoods and safety. Again, a good mass transit system would be an important component, allowing more equal access to employment and consequent improvement in standard of living.

   I look forward to learning more about developments in Omaha and hope that on-line access to meetings will continue to be made available for people who can not make it to the meetings. It would be great to have this kind of access for other gatherings too - business idea for Secret Penguin??

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