Downtown Omaha's core need: more jobs

Omaha area Housing and Market statistics

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Downtown Omaha's core need: more jobs

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http://www.omaha.com/article/20130818/NEWS/130819048
Henry J. Cordes / World-Herald staff writer wrote:According to a recent Brookings Institution study, Omaha's central core — defined as downtown and the area three miles beyond — shed nearly 12,000 jobs between 2000 and 2010.

What's more, the study found that compared with other midsize metro areas, Omaha's central core ranks as a weak job center. Among the 58 midsize metros in the study, Omaha ranked 46th in percentage of its jobs that were located in the inner core.

Many demographers and urban planners say the movement of jobs from a city's center to its suburbs — called job sprawl — can create challenges, often leading to strained infrastructure, increased energy consumption, and less access to jobs for low-income and minority residents. Even as central Omaha evolves into a stronger center of recreation and culture, the city still needs to maintain a thriving and varied base of jobs in its core to be healthy, the urban planners say.

...

The 68102 ZIP code, the heart of downtown Omaha, came closer to holding its own but still lost nearly 600 jobs, about 2 percent. Nearly all Omaha ZIP codes east of 108th Street were losing jobs, with the highest losses in inner-core areas.

Conversely, nearly all of the metro job growth between 2000 and 2010 occurred in Sarpy County and in Douglas County west of I-680. The fast-growing 68154 ZIP code — the one that includes TD Ameritrade's new campus — now has more jobs than any other metro ZIP code, though the downtown ZIP code still has the most jobs per square mile by a significant amount.
Midsize metropolitan cities ranked in the percentage of their jobs located within three miles of the central business district:
1. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn. – 58.3 percent
2. Honolulu – 53.9
3. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pa.-N.J. – 50.3
4. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, Calif. – 47.4
5. Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pa. – 46.5
6. Modesto, Calif. – 45.5
7. New Haven-Milford, Conn. – 45.3
8. Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Fla. – 42.2
9. North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, Fla. – 40.4
10. Bakersfield-Delano, Calif. – 40.2
11. Boise City-Nampa, Idaho – 39.4
12. Syracuse, N.Y. – 37.8
13. Des Moines-West Des Moines – 37.5
14. Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, N.Y. – 37.2
15. Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y. – 36.3
16. Wichita, Kan. – 36.3
17. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. – 35.6
18. Jackson, Miss. – 35.5
19. Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla. – 35.3
20. Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, Ark. – 34.5
21. Provo-Orem, Utah – 33.8
22. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas – 33.6
23. Greenville-Mauldin-Easley, S.C. – 33.3
24. Colorado Springs, Colo. – 33.0
25. Springfield, Mass. – 32.8
26. Chattanooga, Tenn./Ga. – 32.6
27. Greensboro-High Point, N.C. – 32.2
28. Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa. – 31.8
29. New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La. – 31.6
30. Birmingham-Hoover, Ala. – 31.3
31. Lancaster, Pa. – 31.2
32. Worcester, Mass. – 31.0
33. Rochester, N.Y. – 30.7
34. Ogden-Clearfield, Utah – 30.6
35. Stockton, Calif. – 30.5
36. Madison, Wis. – 30.1
37. Columbia, S.C. – 30.1
38. Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio/Pa. – 27.3
39. Albuquerque, N.M. – 26.7
40. Oklahoma City, Okla. – 26.4
41. Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich. – 26.0
42. Akron, Ohio – 24.9
43. Augusta-Richmond County, Ga./S.C. – 24.8
44. Dayton, Ohio – 24.5
45. Toledo, Ohio – 23.8
46. Omaha-Council Bluffs – 23.3
47. Fresno, Calif. – 23.1
48. Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, S.C. – 21.7
49. Jacksonville, Fla. – 21.0
50. Richmond, Va. – 19.6
51. Tulsa, Okla. – 19.3
52. Tucson, Ariz. – 19.2
53. Knoxville, Tenn. – 18.6
54. El Paso, Texas – 18.5
55. Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y. – 18.1
56. Raleigh-Cary, N.C. – 15.4
57. Baton Rouge, La. – 15.1
58. Memphis, Tenn./Miss./Ark. – 12.4
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guitarguy
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Post by guitarguy »

This article is another pie in the sky we should do this because other cities do it better blah blah blah article. Facts.. Land is dirt cheap in Omaha.. Having most of the jobs downtown puts more stress on infrastructure due to long daily commutes.. Having jobs spread all over the city leads to multiple vibrant areas of the city that offer a high quality lifestyle in the immediate areas of these job centers.. People want quality of life and don't feel bad not having to drive all the way downtown for work since it just adds stress to their lives.. thus.. this article doesn't offer any useful information other than Omaha has developing areas that are not downtown.
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Post by bigredmed »

guitarguy wrote:This article is another pie in the sky we should do this because other cities do it better blah blah blah article. Facts.. Land is dirt cheap in Omaha.. Having most of the jobs downtown puts more stress on infrastructure due to long daily commutes.. Having jobs spread all over the city leads to multiple vibrant areas of the city that offer a high quality lifestyle in the immediate areas of these job centers.. People want quality of life and don't feel bad not having to drive all the way downtown for work since it just adds stress to their lives.. thus.. this article doesn't offer any useful information other than Omaha has developing areas that are not downtown.
Yes!
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Post by RNcyanide »

Well said.
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Post by iamjacobm »

I agree with that concept when it comes to % of jobs within 3 miles of the city center.  Losing 12,000 jobs in the area in a decade is worrisome tough and is a real concern.  We have seen a load of development downtown and in midtown, but the vast majority is residential and the office development we are seeing is pretty much companies already in the area upgrading, not new entities moving in.  We are not seeing the development that will sustain successful residential like full time jobs that can be filled by the less educated among our population.  We may not be feeling it right now, but eventually the loss of jobs will start hurting our core which will indeed strain our tax base.  We have a TON of infrastructure already in place yet it is still more attractive to build on undeveloped land that stretches out infrastructure investments.  Obviously the market will do what it wants, but I really hope the trend bucks at least a little and we see development at least stick in the city limits.  Specifically in the Crossroads area, Midtown and Downtown, they are what anchor the region and they are what provide a lot of the quality of life for the rest of the metro.

That is what the Cancer Center, Capitol Development and Crossroads redevelopment cannot be overstated.  Those represent thousands of new jobs for our core and will hopefully be the catalyst for even more job creation in the area.
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Post by GetUrban »

Bottom line is it's more fun to work downtown. I did it for 13 years and miss it a lot. It was great to walk to lunch or just go for walks to explore new things coming into downtown. Strong urban cores are impressive no matter where it is.  People who hate long commutes brought it on themselves by choosing to live far away from the CBD. I know people have many good reasons to live in the burbs...perceived lower crime, better schools, own yard to play in & mow, etc. There are trade-offs obviously. Eventually, I think you'll see more businesses choose to locate in downtown Omaha, reversing the trend. Now that there are more people living in or near downtown, they'll want to work closer to where they live....logic says.
He said "They are some big, ugly red brick buildings"
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Post by S33 »

GetUrban wrote:Bottom line is it's more fun to work downtown. I did it for 13 years and miss it a lot. It was great to walk to lunch or just go for walks to explore new things coming into downtown. Strong urban cores are impressive no matter where it is.  People who hate long commutes brought it on themselves by choosing to live far away from the CBD. I know people have many good reasons to live in the burbs...perceived lower crime, better schools, own yard to play in & mow, etc. There are trade-offs obviously. Eventually, I think you'll see more businesses choose to locate in downtown Omaha, reversing the trend. Now that there are more people living in or near downtown, they'll want to work closer to where they live....logic says.
I was under the impression that a truly efficient urban area should have multiple central business districts, so that not everyone is expected to commute to one district to work, eat, play, shop, etc.

The commuters did not necessarily "bring it upon themselves", as there are many more jobs lying on the outskirts of Omaha than in downtown itself. People just don't seem to grasp the idea that, regardless of where the jobs are located, likely a similar percentage of people still need to commute. (most of the people I know who live downtown, do not work downtown)
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Post by MTO »

I think that they were getting at is when you have enough consolidation you decrease entropy, mass transit, walking etc become viable. But in large sprawling cities having multiple cores may just be convenient but screw that.
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Post by guitarguy »

I challenge someone to find a large city in the midwest that is much different than Omaha in sprawl terms.. on the east coast when you factor in land taxes/cost its cheaper to go vertical but out here taxes are affordable and when you factor in TIF financing and cheap land its game over as far as downtown development being the more affordable option. Maybe TIF has its negative side being a catalyst to suburban sprawl?
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Post by Garrett »

guitarguy wrote:I challenge someone to find a large city in the midwest that is much different than Omaha in sprawl terms.. on the east coast when you factor in land taxes/cost its cheaper to go vertical but out here taxes are affordable and when you factor in TIF financing and cheap land its game over as far as downtown development being the more affordable option. Maybe TIF has its negative side being a catalyst to suburban sprawl?
Actually, companies can't get TIF unless where they are building is designated as blighted. So, usually, TIF is only in developed, older areas
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Post by guitarguy »

Oh ok thats a good thing they don't give it out too easy.. I remember the contraversy over TD in Old Mill clearly that area wasn't blighted was it? Or is having something considered blighted one of the old Government tricks to give a big business what they want and at the same time lining their pockets?
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Post by Garrett »

Part of the controversy was calling Old Mill blighted and then giving TD the money. Kinda like how there was another controversy when Crossroads was first designated as blighted, the city included some very well to do neighborhoods in the blighted area.
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Post by GetUrban »

We should do away with the "blighted" designation bullpucky, and just ask the question of whether the city will be better off as a whole in the long run, including financially, with or without the development.
He said "They are some big, ugly red brick buildings"
...and then they were gone.
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Post by RNcyanide »

GetUrban wrote:We should do away with the "blighted" designation bullpucky, and just ask the question of whether the city will be better off as a whole in the long run, including financially, with or without the development.
I think the 'blighted' thing can be misused, but I think it would be harder to get developments passed if you had to make people in Millard or South Omaha care about what happens in Old Mill.
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Post by nativeomahan »

Having just returned from a week in the Pacific Northwest, it is apparent, at least there, that most of the new jobs are being located in the CBDs.  In fact, there was an article in the NYT yesterday concerning the huge infusion of capital and jobs going into downtown Seattle.  Seems employees don't want to work anywhere else.  The want access to housing, restaurants, shopping, etc within walking distance of where they work.  Amazon is building a series of high rises in downtown Seattle, asking $0 in city tax breaks.  They are creating 12,000 mostly high paying executive type jobs. (I counted 14 large construction cranes/ projects in downtown Seattle, at least that is what I could see from atop the Space Needle.)

I realize that Omaha isn't Seattle, or Portland, but if you look across the country, and beyond, urban cores are where people increasingly want to live and work.  Omaha has finally caught on to this, in terms of residential construction.  But we still need to add high paying jobs to the mix.
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Post by S33 »

I'm trying to envision a business model which creates (mostly) "high-pay, executive-level" positions.

Doug DeVos, is that you?  :)
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Post by iamjacobm »

nativeomahan wrote:Having just returned from a week in the Pacific Northwest, it is apparent, at least there, that most of the new jobs are being located in the CBDs.  In fact, there was an article in the NYT yesterday concerning the huge infusion of capital and jobs going into downtown Seattle.  Seems employees don't want to work anywhere else.  The want access to housing, restaurants, shopping, etc within walking distance of where they work.  Amazon is building a series of high rises in downtown Seattle, asking $0 in city tax breaks.  They are creating 12,000 mostly high paying executive type jobs. (I counted 14 large construction cranes/ projects in downtown Seattle, at least that is what I could see from atop the Space Needle.)

I realize that Omaha isn't Seattle, or Portland, but if you look across the country, and beyond, urban cores are where people increasingly want to live and work.  Omaha has finally caught on to this, in terms of residential construction.  But we still need to add high paying jobs to the mix.
The thing is who is our Amazon?  TD Ameritrade is a nationally recognized internet company, a miss not having them in the core.  We are seeing decent office growth downtown, but we have also seen some discouraging departures.  I really wish we could draw the tech companies like Hayneedle and Linkedin move their operations downtown.  Their presence and the cache companies like that bring would be major boosts.
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Post by guitarguy »

Thats exactly what Omaha lacks is a major private sector employer.. hard to envision any company starting up and staying here though.. or moving here for that matter.
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Post by iamjacobm »

guitarguy wrote:Thats exactly what Omaha lacks is a major private sector employer.. hard to envision any company starting up and staying here though.. or moving here for that matter.
I think most of our companies are actually homegrown.  Our issue is that suburban office space is still more desirable than downtown, as the younger population keeps occupying apartments Downtown and homes in Midtown hopefully Downtown and Midtown will start drawing the accounting and law firms that litter the suburban areas.
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Post by guitarguy »

Omaha specializes in large company administration operations.. We only have a few that actually have the main operations in the city.. Omaha Steaks.. First National.. and I'm sure a few more.. where cities who have companies like Amazon benefit is they get the entire operation in one.. Omaha lacks those..
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Post by iamjacobm »

guitarguy wrote:Omaha specializes in large company administration operations.. We only have a few that actually have the main operations in the city.. Omaha Steaks.. First National.. and I'm sure a few more.. where cities who have companies like Amazon benefit is they get the entire operation in one.. Omaha lacks those..
UP, Mutual, Conagra, TDA.  I assume those have their main operations here.
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Post by guitarguy »

Mutual and TD yeah but Conagra and UP are more administrative I would think.. either way Omaha does well but lacks a super power company fueling the local economy.
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Post by Brad »

guitarguy wrote:Omaha does well but lacks a super power company fueling the local economy.
Not sure that's a bad thing... You know "Never carry all your eggs in one basket".
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Post by nativeomahan »

S33 wrote:I'm trying to envision a business model which creates (mostly) "high-pay, executive-level" positions.

Doug DeVos, is that you?  :)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/26/us/as ... wanted=all
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Post by Garrett »

Some of the things from that article... like Amazon is giving money to the city to make bike lanes and streetcars for their headquarters... and gave 10 million for a museum renovation.... sheeeesh.
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Post by RNcyanide »

Brad wrote:
guitarguy wrote:Omaha does well but lacks a super power company fueling the local economy.
Not sure that's a bad thing... You know "Never carry all your eggs in one basket".
I second that.
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Post by Garrett »

But it worked so well for Detroit!
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Post by RNcyanide »

Axel wrote:But it worked so well for Detroit!
If only we could be more like them.
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Post by guitarguy »

You guys are funny.. I wasn't saying only one massive company creating jobs but your typical vibrancy and one that kicks total @ss and uses its influence to change the city in a good way.. As it stands now Omaha has maxed out the capabilities from the companies that are already here.. and we got a suburban high rise so I don't really see much changing in the future unless they build a new skyscraper downtown due to the overwhelming need for more office space.
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Post by BRoss »

iamjacobm wrote:
guitarguy wrote:Omaha specializes in large company administration operations.. We only have a few that actually have the main operations in the city.. Omaha Steaks.. First National.. and I'm sure a few more.. where cities who have companies like Amazon benefit is they get the entire operation in one.. Omaha lacks those..
UP, Mutual, Conagra, TDA.  I assume those have their main operations here.
I can tell you that although TDA has many other locations, it does have pretty much everything here in Omaha. Although the top execs work out of Jersey City. I wish they would have build downtown though. If they would have, it probably would have been more like 18 stories. The reason they didn't make it taller is because they decided to keep the other three buildings in Old Mill (One, Two and Three Exchange). Their reasoning for picking Old Mill was that it was closer to where most of their employees live.

The problem Omaha has is that downtown is not in the center of the city. Being in the eastern edge of the city is problematic. Most of the city has to travel east to get there causing congestion problems. If downtown was more centrally located, maybe you'd see a lot more development. If Council Bluffs were to grow more, then maybe downtown would be more desirable. It's always amazed me that most of the metro is on the Nebraska side of the river.
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Post by Brad »

I think people under estimate how many people come from Iowa to Omaha for work.  I am not just talking Council Bluffs, glenwood, Crescent, Underwood, Neola, etc.  

Just like the while reason that south end of CB is booming, even though there is minimal residental close .  There are a lot of people in all those small cities.
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Post by Garrett »

Trans-river 2-state metro areas are usually lopsided. It's not anything unique to Omaha.
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Post by BRoss »

Axel wrote:Trans-river 2-state metro areas are usually lopsided. It's not anything unique to Omaha.
Hmm...that's interesting, but also makes a lot of sense. Nothing against CB, but there's a reason Omaha grew to what it is today instead of CB. What that is, I'm not really sure. Maybe someone else can shine some light on that. Does it have to do with state policies? Or is it certain people who influence it due to their support of their city? I mean, if you look at it, Warren Buffet has been a HUGE influence on this city even though he doesn't typically contribute directly (which I wish he would, although I can't really complain). Many of the philanthropic people of this city have benefitted from Buffet. And these are the people who have boosted this city greatly. I don't know, what does everyone else think?
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Post by iamjacobm »

HR Paperstacks wrote:
Axel wrote:Trans-river 2-state metro areas are usually lopsided. It's not anything unique to Omaha.
Hmm...that's interesting, but also makes a lot of sense. Nothing against CB, but there's a reason Omaha grew to what it is today instead of CB. What that is, I'm not really sure. Maybe someone else can shine some light on that. Does it have to do with state policies? Or is it certain people who influence it due to their support of their city? I mean, if you look at it, Warren Buffet has been a HUGE influence on this city even though he doesn't typically contribute directly (which I wish he would, although I can't really complain). Many of the philanthropic people of this city have benefitted from Buffet. And these are the people who have boosted this city greatly. I don't know, what does everyone else think?
Now a days one would think Iowa and CB would be more attractive with their lower taxes and more liberal laws.  The historical context will take a much more nuanced and coherent post than I am willing to give right now.  The ease(or lack there of) of crossing the river would a big contributer though.
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