our first 10 years

The story of Omaha by Design begins in 2001 with five words – vibrant, connected, distinctive, sparkling and fun. These descriptors, identified by Omahans as indicators of future “wants” for their city in a study commissioned by the Omaha Community Foundation, mark the founding of Lively Omaha, the precursor to our present-day organization.

“No one knows for sure what Omaha will be like in the year 2099,” the study states. “If its rate of growth continues, Omaha will be a region, not just a city, and its population will be far more racially and ethnically diverse than today. The community’s future ranking on economic, political and livability scales will be determined by how well it has nurtured its people, solved its problems, managed its resources, and cared for its natural and built environments.”

lively omaha
In 2001, local philanthropists John Gottschalk, Ken Stinson and Bruce Lauritzen fund the creation of Lively Omaha. The organization works with the City of Omaha to begin encouraging citizens to think about revitalization on large and small scales. Lively Omaha enlists the services of the Project for Public Spaces and begins offering free Place Game workshops, which allow neighborhood and civic groups to brainstorm potential improvements to the public spaces in their corner of the city.

At the same time, the Lively Omaha donors investigate options for launching a large-scale effort that would have a lasting impact on the city’s quest to become vibrant, connected, distinctive, sparkling and fun. A visionary idea surges to the top of the list: creating a comprehensive urban design plan for all of Omaha.

the catalyst
In 2002, Lively Omaha forms a partnership with the City of Omaha to begin planning for the creation of the comprehensive urban design plan. The partnership – which brings together the local public, private and philanthropic sectors – becomes the model for public policy development in the metro.

A growing groundswell of community support for the new plan gets a boost when city council members balk after being presented with the proposed design plans for a pair of Wal-Mart stores. The company architect tells the council that Wal-Mart designs its stores to meet the local community standard and city code.

Del Weber, president and CEO of the Omaha Community Foundation, and Bob Peters, Omaha’s planning director, are tapped to serve as co-chairs of the development process, which is dubbed “Omaha by Design.”

the urban design element
In 2003, Lively Omaha becomes the project manager for the “Omaha by Design” development process. The organization hires nationally renowned urban design consultants Jonathan Barnett (Wallace Roberts & Todd, LLC) and Brian Blaesser (Robinson & Cole LLP) to lead the process and forms a volunteer Working Review Committee to provide the oversight.

Research is conducted, community meetings are held to capture local input and consensus building begins. Some 12 months later, Lively Omaha and the city unveil the 21 goals that outline this new vision, which – after a unanimous city council vote – becomes the Urban Design Element of the City of Omaha’s Master Plan.

Following the approval of the new comprehensive urban design plan, Lively Omaha changes its name to Omaha by Design.

the fishbone
The Urban Design Element focuses on three areas: Green Omaha, which seeks to preserve and enhance the city’s natural setting and public park system; Civic Omaha, which seeks to define and improve the city’s civic places and public image; and Neighborhood Omaha, which seeks to preserve and enhance the diversity of the city’s neighborhoods.

An artist’s impression of Omaha as seen at night from the air becomes the symbol of this new vision. It delineates the civic parts of Omaha with bright lights and depicts the natural streams and valleys that frame the city’s neighborhoods. The lights, when connected, resemble the bones of a fish. The highest level of the new urban design standards applies along ‘The Fishbone,’ which represents the most-traveled areas of the city.

amending the code structure
Because a city’s physical appearance is dictated by its zoning and subdivision codes, Omaha by Design and the City of Omaha partner once again to amend and expand Omaha’s existing code structure to reflect the Urban Design Element recommendations related to zoning issues.

A volunteer Technical Advisory Group is formed to work alongside city staff and the same urban design consultants (Barnett and Blaesser) to draft a groundbreaking package of code revisions and additions. The package covers everything from streetscapes to building design. Del Weber, a member of the Omaha by Design Advisory Committee, and Steve Jensen, Omaha’s planning director, serve as co-chairs of the regulations development process. Two years in the making, it’s presented to the Omaha City Council in the summer of 2007, which approves the changes.

a new policy initiative
In 2008, Omaha by Design and the City of Omaha partner once again to plan for the development of the last missing component of the city’s master plan – the Environmental Element.

Relying on local expertise to lead the effort, the partnership convenes a working group, a core committee and five advisory committees to develop the content. Mike McMeekin, a member of the Omaha by Design Advisory Committee, and Steve Jensen, Jensen Consulting, serve as co-chairs of the effort alongside Rick Cunningham, Omaha’s planning director.

The new environmental document addresses five areas: the natural environment, urban form and transportation, building construction, resource conservation and community health. In addition to traditional community engagement techniques, emerging technology is used to solicit public input. Two hundred-plus volunteers log more than 4,000 hours during the development process.

a more sustainable Omaha
The vision outlined in the Environmental Element calls for an Omaha in which the air and water are clean, the buildings are energy efficient, the landscaping is both functional and attractive, the children walk or ride their bikes to school, the landfill is less full, the shops are within walking distance, the creeks are recreational outlets, the homes are safe, the access to healthy food and economic opportunity is balanced, and the streets are welcoming to cars, walkers, cyclists and users of mass transit.

The Omaha City Council adopts the document as a component of the city’s master plan in 2010.

omaha by design today
We are a civic planning organization dedicated to the development, implementation and monitoring of urban design and environmental public policy in the metro. We facilitate partnerships between the public, private and philanthropic sectors to execute projects that improve the quality of Omaha’s built and natural environments. All projects stem from recommendations outlined in the urban design and environmental components of Omaha’s master plan.

our process
Our niche is convening and managing diverse groups of people, all of whom have a stake in the issue at hand. Issues are identified by consensus and address unmet community need in the urban design and environmental arenas. We conduct research, recruit community members to serve on working teams and manage the meeting, community engagement and public relations functions associated with a project. Upon completion of a project, we monitor the local environment for progress and advocate as necessary.

our philosophy
We believe that citizens should take an active role in making their community a better place. This philosophy is showcased in the execution of all projects. Two examples are the Place Game workshops and the Benson-Ames Alliance.

The Place Game helps neighborhood and civic groups brainstorm potential improvements to the public spaces in their corner of the city. We offer this service free of charge from March through October. More than 65 workshops have been conducted during the past decade. The Benson-Ames Alliance, Omaha’s city-sponsored alliance, is a grassroots group of community leaders charged with helping plan and implement the revitalization of a six-square mile area of northwest Omaha, including downtown Benson. We serve as the project manager for the Benson-Ames Alliance.

our people
We are governed by a six-member board of directors. We also receive community input from an advisory committee representing a diverse array of professions, including developers, engineers, architects, planners and landscape architects; city government staff in parks, planning and public works; and a representative of the mayor’s office. Our paid staff includes a director, a program manager and an executive assistant.

our support
We rely upon the support of corporate and family philanthropists for operating expenses as well as technical experts and other volunteers who contribute their resources to the organization. The annual gross in-kind contribution of Omaha by Design’s volunteers is estimated at a conservative $300,000. The Omaha Community Foundation provides administrative support and a 501(c)3 status, and the University of Nebraska at Omaha provides office space. Fund raising is conducted for individual projects.

our thanks
A 10-year anniversary is a milestone for any business, organization or couple. In the nonprofit community, it’s a testament to those who believe in your mission and equip you with the tools you need to carry it out. In our case, we’d like to thank our board of directors, donors, project partners, committee members, volunteers and supporters, those who’ve been there from the very beginning and those just joining us. Thanks also to all who’ve joined the public debate about how Omaha should look, feel and function.

It’s your city – we’re just working to make it the best Omaha it can be. Now go explore it.