As 'Americans leave older urban centers for smaller, more manageable, less expensive areas with a high quality of life,' mid-sized cities, such as Omaha, NE, are taking on ambitious redevelopment efforts.
Near future plans for downtown Omaha include: a $300 million convention center and arena; a $100 million performing arts center; and the "doubling of housing units downtown." The sheer scale of Omaha's recent development "has drawn attention from Midwest neighbors such as Kansas City, Mo., and Des Moines, which are eyeing Omaha's resurgence with a mixture of envy and admiration....Like other conservative Midwest cities, Omaha had a 'we're a nice place to live, why fix what's not broken?' attitude toward change until about a decade ago. Then, city leaders looked around and realized downtown was losing businesses and had seen better times....While other cities between the coasts such as Denver had thrown themselves into reviving their downtowns and were competing aggressively for business, Omaha was playing it safe, afraid to take risks."
Thanks to Connie Chung
Read the full story: Omaha sheds stodgy image in making over downtown
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
Boston has spent millions making the Green Line more accessible — and there’s no end in sight
While the city has invested millions into expanding and adding platforms to the Green Line to make it more accessible, new train cars set to arrive next year will be too tall for disabled passengers to board without raising the current platforms.
Idaho may see an 18% drop in federal surface transit funding — the largest estimated cut in the US
Transit systems in rural communities are much more reliant on federal funding to provide their services.
How ‘post-disaster gentrification’ alters neighborhoods after natural calamities
After hurricanes, fires or other calamities, the original residents of a community are often replaced by younger, wealthier residents.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello