Voice congratulates Dundee residents for successfully opposing the destruction of existing buildings at 49th and Dodge for the construction of a CVS Pharmacy. We’d also like to thank the city council for voting the CVS proposal down and remind our planning board of the vacant Target on Saddle Creek.. Perhaps that is a better location for redevelopment!

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Neighbors & Interested Parties

You are invited to an informational meeting & discussion regarding the proposed site plan for the 15th & Cuming Street property

Thursday, August 26th 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm

Hampton Inn & Suites 1212 Cuming Street Omaha, NE 68102

Meeting Hosts Jerry Slusky, Smith Gardner Slusky Jason Thiellen, E&A Consulting Lesley Brandt & Renee Black, planitomaha NewStreet LLC

Omaha is a city that is almost entirely dependent on personal vehicles. Not only do we rely on our four wheels to take us everywhere around town, we are almost always alone in them. The next time you’re standing at a major intersection, especially during rush hour, take a few moments to see how many drivers are alone. The answer, you’ll find, is pretty much everyone.

Despite the number of Omahans who currently get around town in personal vehicles, demand for better public transportation is increasing. On a national level, the Obama Administration has placed a high priority on complete streets and public transportation. Locally, $7.8 million in national stimulus funds was used to purchase 24 new buses for Omaha’s fleet, all of which were rolled out this past Monday.  In conjunction with that rollout, the Metro Area Transit also announced an exciting new branding campaign, complete with a more user-friendly website and plans to incorporate wi-fi into many of its buses.

While a new brand and an updated website might be seen like an empty a gesture towards making concrete improvements to Omaha’s public transportation system, it’s a significant symbolic step and a great starting point. When the Young Professionals Council conducted the YP Bus Challenge in the spring/summer of 2009, they found that many people who had intentions of using the system were thwarted from doing so because the “on-boarding” process was so archaic and cumbersome.  By streamlining the process and making it more user-friendly, new users will hopefully take the actual step of hopping on a bus for the first time.

Is Omaha’s Metro bus system perfect?  Absolutely not. There are undoubtedly ways to improve the system both in the short and long-term.  Unfortunately public transportation funding at a state level in Nebraska is among the worst. After all, we are the only state with a “Department of Roads” — rather than a “Department of Transportation.” And given the state’s current fiscal crunch, we shouldn’t anticipate an influx of funding to Metro anytime soon. But that doesn’t mean improvements can’t occur.

Improving Omaha’s transportation system starts with increased ridership. Increased demand will require increased attention from local authorities. That means those of us who commonly complain about bus service, but never use it, should buy a bus ticket, get on, and give it a try. Yes, it takes some planning. And yes, it might increase the length of your trip. But the benefits outweigh the costs in most cases.

Let’s stop having the chicken/egg conversation and waiting for the system to “be fixed” before trying it out.  Visit www.ometro.com, plan a trip and take it.  It won’t hurt, we promise.  In fact, you might actually enjoy it.

Passthepotatoes is the online town hall venue soliciting, vetting and prioritizing ideas to green Omaha.  Idea generation has already occurred in two of five categories.  Natural Environment kicked off the process and voting has since closed with a a 5 cent plastic bag tax garnering the most votes.  Good idea?  Bad idea?

Voting is currently underway in the Urban Form & Transportation category with several cool ideas on the table.  Buses and bikes and trains, oh my!  And while you’re there voting, share an idea related to Building Construction, the most recent category seeking your ideas.

It’s time to stop complaining and start participating.

The organizers of the Farnam Festival hope to make it an annual event, each year growing bigger and better. The organizers’ mission this year is to raise money to help convert Farnam to two-way traffic between 36th and 42nd streets. According to organizer Brad Iwen of Iwen Exposures, “The need for two-way traffic has long expired. Decades ago, city planners designed ‘urban freeways’ to move traffic out of Downtown to the suburbs. Neighborhood business districts became less accessible and slowly faded out along this corridor.” The Farnam Festival aims to bring life back to this important urban community center. For more information about the event’s details, go to farnamfestival.com.

- Martin Luther King, Jr., A Testament of Hope

Have you ever considered what life would be like without access to transportation?  How would you get to work, to the grocery store, to the homes of your family and friends? For many of us the topic of transportation is centered around options (what modes of transportation do I prefer?); for others with fewer resources, the topic is one of access (what modes of transportation are available to me?).  If we pause to position ourselves in the shoes of those in this second grouping, we begin to see that transportation is more than an issue of convenience or preference, but an issue of justice.

At its basic level, transportation is about access – access to work, to things we need, and to the relational support systems that sustain us.  In this way, transportation is the gatekeeper to access. With viable transportation we have access to the things and activities required to live healthy and sustainable lives; without viable transportation we don’t share this same access and, therefore, quality of life.  Even more, transportation is about opportunity and social mobility.  Without access to our basic needs (work, groceries, family, etc.), we lack the opportunity to create a better future for ourselves, our families, and our communities.

The social justice implications of transportation are one of the many reasons it’s important for Omaha to thoughtfully consider a transportation plan that will meet the needs of all its citizens, particularly the most vulnerable.  Let your VOICE be heard on this critical issue. You can start by signing the VOICE petition for inclusive transportation planning in Omaha — or forwarding it to a friend if you’ve already signed it. VOICE will give you more ways to get engaged in this issue in the days to come.

There are five topics to comment on: Natural Environment, Urban Form & Transportation, Building Construction, Resource Conservation, and Community Health.  If you have a great idea that should be pursued, log on and share it.  And stop saying, “Nobody has ever asked for my opinion.”  You’ve officially been asked… Get on it!

The results of the petition will be shared with civic leaders and representatives of the MAPA transportation planning board. Together we can ensure that Omaha is a vibrant community now — and for generations to come.

Blueprint America: Road to the Future, an original documentary part of a PBS multi-platform series on the country’s aging and changing infrastructure, goes to three very different American cities — Denver, New York and Portland, and their surrounding suburbs — to look at each as an example of the challenges and possibilities the country faces as citizens, local and federal officials, and planners struggle to manage a growing America with innovative transportation and sustainable land use policies.