Omaha Forums

I hadn't heard about this organization or their efforts until today's story in the OWH. Looks like a great location for an effort like this: well connected to the interstate, close to Creighton / Downtown, an area of major need without being too completely isolated, like say 40th & Bedford.

There's a website specifically for the project that's under construction: http://www.seventyfivenorth.org/

But there's more information on the parent organization's site: http://purposebuiltcommunities.org/succ ... ies/omaha/

The parent organization site has information on the Atlanta effort mentioned in the article. ( http://purposebuiltcommunities.org/succ ... e-atlanta/ )

Another article on this development, the abide network and North Omaha revitalization.

http://omahamagazine.com/2014/02/loyalty-and-pride/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I love the Abide Network. The work they do is incredible. I really hope these projects and people can revitalize North Omaha. Not gentrify, revitalize.

http://www.kptm.com/story/24898253/new- ... orth-omaha

A company plans to break ground at the end of the year or the beginning of next year on a $76 million community development project that will bring a new apartment complex, individual housing and an enrichment center to the area.

North 75's executive director, Othello Meadows said the goal of the project is to boost the neighborhood's economy and morale.

The area, near 30th and Parker Street, has taken up about 36 acres of land since 2008 when the old Pleasant View Apartments were torn down. Before North 75 purchased the land, it was owned by Omaha Housing Authority.

Master Plan:

I didn't realize how ambitious this was.

http://www.eldo.us/residential-studio-2 ... hood-plan/

iamjacobm wrote:I didn't realize how ambitious this was.

Neither did I. Wow!

I hope this never gets built.

The last thing any low income family needs is to move into a pack of 200 low income units in a high crime neighborhood with terrible schools. Good luck for any kid who is going to grow up in this shiny and new sh*thole. Any low income housing should be single individual homes in other parts of the city and state. Areas that have better schools and better employment opportunities.

This area should be a gated community with as high of end condos as they can sell. If you want to help the neighborhood subsidies getting young professionals or empty nesters to move in. Get anyone you can into the neighborhood that is going to pay their taxes, spend a lot of money in the neighborhood and not commit crimes.

Joe_Sovereign wrote:I hope this never gets built.  

The last thing any low income family needs is to move into a pack of 200 low income units in a high crime neighborhood with terrible schools.  Good luck for any kid who is going to grow up in this shiny and new sh*thole.  Any low income housing should be single individual homes in other parts of the city and state.  Areas that have better schools and better employment opportunities.

This area should be a gated community with as high of end condos as they can sell.  If you want to help the neighborhood subsidies getting young professionals or empty nesters to move in.  Get anyone you can into the neighborhood that is going to pay their taxes, spend a lot of money in the neighborhood and not commit crimes.

Because as we all know, gentrification and segregation is totally the best way to solve things.

Joe_Sovereign wrote:I hope this never gets built.  

The last thing any low income family needs is to move into a pack of 200 low income units in a high crime neighborhood with terrible schools.  Good luck for any kid who is going to grow up in this shiny and new sh*thole.  Any low income housing should be single individual homes in other parts of the city and state.  Areas that have better schools and better employment opportunities.

This area should be a gated community with as high of end condos as they can sell.  If you want to help the neighborhood subsidies getting young professionals or empty nesters to move in.  Get anyone you can into the neighborhood that is going to pay their taxes, spend a lot of money in the neighborhood and not commit crimes.

I think that you are coming from a good place but are too pessimistic to see the potential here. The idea is to build a healthy community with mixed incomes (admittedly low to moderate, but good luck getting rich people in Omaha or Nebraska for that matter to live near any poor people). Pair with that public facilities that strengthen the community (community gardens, arts & entertainment facilities, etc.) and provide a cradle to college education pipeline (details unannounced, though this is a core part of Purpose Built Communities, the parent organization). Warren and Susan Buffet have donated and publicly pledged support to this organization, so there is hope that the money will be there to build the quality housing stock that could be the foundation of a neighborhood.

I understand the fear that 200 apartment units brings but if built well and considering they're mixed with single family homes and row houses plus community buildings, hopefully they can turn out better than the islands of poverty our previous system created.

Well said, Dundeeomaha. There are a lot of incredibly difficult challenges in not just bringing neighborhoods out of poverty, but communities. The neighborhoods part isn't so difficult; just gentrify the area and push the same people to a new area (this is happening a lot in cities as the historic core becomes more desirable, and the underclass moves to the declining first-ring postwar suburbs.

Actually decreasing poverty, crime, and the vicious social and cultural cycles that perpetuate it takes a lot more. Obviously the strategy of concentrating those people in subsidized housing blocks has failed miserably, so we need something better. We can't just throw up our hands and resign ourselves to isolate them somewhere in the ghetto; that was the 1950s approach.

On another note, I love the site plan for this. It reflects the best of new urbanism and traditional neighborhood design. The denser apartments transitioning to row houses, then single-family further out make the area feel connected, but also more private for each residence. I hope we see more of this philosophy on big residential developments.

Dundeemaha wrote:

Joe_Sovereign wrote:I hope this never gets built.  

The last thing any low income family needs is to move into a pack of 200 low income units in a high crime neighborhood with terrible schools.  Good luck for any kid who is going to grow up in this shiny and new sh*thole.  Any low income housing should be single individual homes in other parts of the city and state.  Areas that have better schools and better employment opportunities.

This area should be a gated community with as high of end condos as they can sell.  If you want to help the neighborhood subsidies getting young professionals or empty nesters to move in.  Get anyone you can into the neighborhood that is going to pay their taxes, spend a lot of money in the neighborhood and not commit crimes.

I think that you are coming from a good place but are too pessimistic to see the potential here. The idea is to build a healthy community with mixed incomes (admittedly low to moderate, but good luck getting rich people in Omaha or Nebraska for that matter to live near any poor people). Pair with that public facilities that strengthen the community (community gardens, arts & entertainment facilities, etc.) and provide a cradle to college education pipeline (details unannounced, though this is a core part of Purpose Built Communities, the parent organization). Warren and Susan Buffet have donated and publicly pledged support to this organization, so there is hope that the money will be there to build the quality housing stock that could be the foundation of a neighborhood.

I understand the fear that 200 apartment units brings but if built well and considering they're mixed with single family homes and row houses plus community buildings, hopefully they can turn out better than the islands of poverty our previous system created.

I understand the good intentions of rebuilding the community but that is a monumental task that can't be done with a community center and some new housing stock. There are huge cultural, political and economic hurdles that prevent this kind of project from achieving any more than marginal success. You can't fight the fact that there are no longer stable high paying blue collar jobs in America they have been automated, outsourced, and union busted out of existence. You can't fix the schools when the biggest problem is not the school but children without stable, supportive home lives. Even if you have solutions to improve the schools any dramatic reform to public schools are blocked by left-wing Teacher's Unions and Administrators, and would never be funded by right-wing legislators anyway. The drug laws keep the drug gangs flush with cash and guns and the Law Enforcement and Prison industrial complex needs a continuous flow of young men to convict and incarcerate or their tax funds will dry up. The collapse of two parent homes, teenage pregnancy, the breakdown of traditional support structures like churches and other institutions are not fixable by a community center.

There is a much greater chance of success to scatter the poor into areas with better schools and job opportunities and hope that they will adapt to their new surroundings or at least they will be less likely to be victims of criminals that thrive off pockets of poverty.

Joe_Sovereign wrote:I understand the good intentions of rebuilding the community but that is a monumental task that can't be done with a community center and some new housing stock.  There are huge cultural, political and economic hurdles that prevent this kind of project from achieving any more than marginal success.  You can't fight the fact that there are no longer stable high paying blue collar jobs in America they have been automated, outsourced, and union busted out of existence.  You can't fix the schools when the biggest problem is not the school but children without stable, supportive home lives.  Even if you have solutions to improve the schools any dramatic reform to public schools are blocked by left-wing Teacher's Unions and Administrators, and would never be funded by right-wing legislators anyway.  The drug laws keep the drug gangs flush with cash and guns and the Law Enforcement and Prison industrial complex needs a continuous flow of young men to convict and incarcerate or their tax funds will dry up.  The collapse of two parent homes, teenage pregnancy, the breakdown of traditional support structures like churches and other institutions are not fixable by a community center.

I have to say I agree with that pretty well.

Hearing they are shooting for an early 2015 groundbreaking. Also don't be shocked to see the Great Plains Black History Museum end up here.

http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/buffett ... 36ca2.html

The first phase of the Highlander 75 North development will include 16 buildings with a total of 109 rental units, the group told the Omaha Planning Board on Wednesday.

Some will be market-rate, and some will be low-income units. They are expected to rise by 2016 on both sides of 30th Street, between Parker and Patrick Streets.

The mixed-income rental housing will form the first element of a redevelopment of the crime-plagued former Pleasantview Homes public housing project.

TIF for phase one approved.

This is such liberal fake compassion bullsh*t.

If Warren Buffett actually gave a f*ck about the people of North Omaha he would have a couple of the companies he owns move manufacturing plants back from China to North Omaha. Then he would train people in North Omaha for the jobs including training and hiring people with criminal records that are currently locking then out of the work force.

New houses in area with high crime, no jobs and sh*tty schools is not going to do much to help the people who need it.

Site prep should begin this week.

Joe_Sovereign wrote:This is such liberal fake compassion bullsh*t.

If Warren Buffett actually gave a f*ck about the people of North Omaha he would have a couple of the companies he owns move manufacturing plants back from China to North Omaha. Then he would train people in North Omaha for the jobs including training and hiring people with criminal records that are currently locking then out of the work force.

New houses in area with high crime, no jobs and sh*tty schools is not going to do much to help the people who need it.

Love your passion for north Omaha!

Official groundbreaking ceremony was this morning.

Are they phasing this one?

“The revitalization project will serve as a catalyst to transform the Highlander Neighborhood for future generations. It’s exciting to see dirt moving, and soon construction workers and equipment will be engaged in building structures that will change the landscape,” said 75 North Board Chair Thomas Warren, Sr., who is also president and CEO of Urban League of Nebraska. “The project will require five years of construction work, and 75 North will be intentional in the hiring of minority contractors from the local area. This is a significant investment that will improve the social and economic conditions for those who reside in the area and serve as an anchor for future growth and development in this neighborhood.”

The project will develop roughly 300 units of mixed-income apartments, townhomes, senior housing and single-family homes to accommodate between 800 and 900 future residents. The development’s first phase of rental housing, just over 100 units, is slated for completion in the fall of 2016. Also planned is a large-scale community enrichment center available for residents and the broader Omaha community to access programming around the arts, entrepreneurship, technology, and health and wellness. The center will be called the Community Accelerator.

The Community Accelerator plans were just accepted, so I am guessing this is also part of the first Phase...

How's this thing coming? Still on track for Fall 2016?

Big Mama's moving here next year.

http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5 ... ove%21.pdf

The restaurant will be housed in a mixed-use facility called the Community Accelerator which will anchor the 40 acre Highlander development. The 65,000 square foot Accelerator building has been designed to be a hub of technology, entrepreneurship, recreation and education for the neighborhood. In addition to Big Mama’s restaurant, the Accelerator will house a coffee shop, an urban farming facility, and satellite locations for
Creighton University and Metro Community College,.

Here is a shot of the progress from their website.

iamjacobm wrote:Here is a shot of the progress from their website.

I drove by here on Friday after I left the Blue Lion and I couldn't believe how much dirt had been moved.

Here's a flyover video. https://app.box.com/s/wawd11vmuea01713yomekyqtvnl3pk85

The extension of 31st st has been paved.

Photo Update

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Looming great! I had almost forgotten this had gone forward. Very encouraging!

Very nice :-)

We went to Big Mama's Kitchen today and she sat down and talked to us. I didn't know they were moving but I'm glad they'll finally get a restaurant people can easily find. Her food is amazing by the way!!!

PotatoeEatsFish wrote:We went to Big Mama's Kitchen today and she sat down and talked to us. I didn't know they were moving but I'm glad they'll finally get a restaurant people can easily find. Her food is amazing by the way!!!

I have been meaning to try it. Where are they moving to again?

skinzfan23 wrote:

PotatoeEatsFish wrote:We went to Big Mama's Kitchen today and she sat down and talked to us. I didn't know they were moving but I'm glad they'll finally get a restaurant people can easily find. Her food is amazing by the way!!!

I have been meaning to try it. Where are they moving to again?

It's part of the Seventy 5 North project. Opening this July.

Looking good!

Found what appears to be a new rendering for the residential component of this project. It's on apartments.com, but information isn't too comprehensive. The map places the building near 30th and Parker.

Looks great!

Joe_Sovereign wrote:I hope this never gets built.

The last thing any low income family needs is to move into a pack of 200 low income units in a high crime neighborhood with terrible schools. Good luck for any kid who is going to grow up in this shiny and new sh*thole. Any low income housing should be single individual homes in other parts of the city and state. Areas that have better schools and better employment opportunities.

This area should be a gated community with as high of end condos as they can sell. If you want to help the neighborhood subsidies getting young professionals or empty nesters to move in. Get anyone you can into the neighborhood that is going to pay their taxes, spend a lot of money in the neighborhood and not commit crimes.

Yikes! When you look at the negative comments from back in 2014 on this thread, you would think that the only way to revitalize a poor neighborhood is to just fill it in with 'better people' and forget those that are displaced. The CEO of this project taught my business law class at MCC and I also know his wife who teaches there as well. They used to live in Atlanta and moved back here because this is his hometown. He is bringing ideas that worked in other cities to this concept that is new to Omaha. No, this is not a housing project, it is a community revitalization project.
We moved to Bemis Park 11 years ago from Tampa because this is my home state. A person's perspective of what constitutes a nice neighborhood is relative. We rented a house in Tampa that had a boat dock in the backyard on the Hillsborough River. This was considered a nice neighborhood yet only 4 blocks away, hookers stood on Nebraska Ave. at night. Comparitavily, Bemis Park was a cakewalk compared to where we came from!
We bought a house at the same time Mutual of Omaha was creating Midtown Crossing because we saw the potential. In 11 years our house is worth 3 times what we paid for it with just simple remodeling. In our area, the 'hood' starts north of Hamilton and as more people from bigger cities move into our neighborhood, the older homeowners are seeing the benefits of the new life being brought in. It's not so much gentrification as it is revitalization of the neighborhood. 75 North is just a few blocks from us and with the city holding slumlords responsible by condemning properties and new affordable houses being built, there is a sense of pride in the neighborhood that wasn't there 11 years ago.
Bemis Park was a flashpoint of racial tension in the 60's. The integration of Bemis Park played a large part in the westward expansion of the city. "A Time for Burning", is a documentary that centered around Bemis Park and the beginnings of Ernie Chambers career. It is available at the library and puts a perspective of how North Omaha needs revitalization in the first place.

Comparitavily, Bemis Park was a cakewalk compared to where we came from!

I lived in that area for a while back in the 1970s. I thought the neighborhood was not bad at all. Very eclectic mix of all types of people at the time, from twentysomethings to younger families to middle age types. The neighborhood is even nicer now.