Moving back to Omaha from Vancouver

urbanista · Post by **urbanista** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:46 pm

Hi! I've been a voyeur on eOmaha for quite some time and really enjoy the discussions.

Grew up in Omaha, went away to landscape architecture grad school in Vancouver, BC. Also studied in Tokyo and Cuba. But for some reason can't stay away from Omaha - get a feeling some good things are happening there.

Am moving back to start a Center for Land Use Dialogue that looks most at how economics are driving the form of urbanization - especially the burbs - and the resulting 'culture' of that form. I'm really intrigued by the nostalgic 'new town center' comprehensive developments being built with fake columns, cornices, faux pedestrian ways [albiet with giganto parking lots behind]. I understand that they fit into the market mold - one developer, one architect, comprehensive - rather than the way wonderful cities unfold one building at a time.

I'd love to know what any of you think of this and how you interpret what's going on in Omaha right now.

Thanks!

Swift · Post by **Swift** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:52 pm

Sweet. Sounds good and true to me. Welcome back!

Post by **Coyote** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:53 pm

Welcome to eOmaha Urbanista! And glad that you are coming back to Omaha. Your project sounds very intriguing. "a Center for Land Use Dialogue ." I suppose that before a dialogue could take shape we would all have to be on the same page with modern ideas. Do you have a 'Reading List' that would spark insights into this dialogue?

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:59 pm

Omaha must be doing something right to get you to move from Vancouver. (It's a urban, nature, LRT, tower loving haven. If you haven't seen it, check it out.)

When and where do you expect to be back?

Post by **Coyote** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 4:04 pm

Thanks for reminding me DTO - I was thinking the same thing. Vancouver and Portland are wonderful cities to live in, so there must have been some strong pull to bring you back to Omaha!

urbanista · Post by **urbanista** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 4:24 pm

Thanks for the replies. I would love to put together a little reading list for anyone that is interested.

And you are right, Vancouver is almost perfect. I've been here during the big boom - giant urban planning experiment - over 50 towers built in front of my eyes, continuous public waterfront, cosmopolitan, diverse, and international. I've learned unbelievably much from Vancouver. Luckily I've got a deal set up to be in Vancouver in the summer months working at a firm, so I'm not giving it up completely.

But I've learned something about utopia: sometimes something can be too perfect that there's no work to do - so to speak. It becomes a sedative. And too expensive for opportunity. No grit = no struggle = limited outlets for creativity. There is a lot more creativity and opportunity to build something meaningful in Omaha.

Plus my family is in Omaha and I miss them.

Post by **Coyote** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 4:29 pm

I would be interested in seeing what you would consider standard reference material, pivotal works that changed peoples minds or created norms... Maybe we could start a collection on this thread.

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 4:29 pm

urbanista wrote:
Plus my family is in Omaha and I miss them.

That's what it tends to boil down to. Toronto's cool and I'd jump ship in a beat. But my family is here too. Maybe they could learn to love Toronto. ;)

Great thoughts on Vancouver being stagnant but gleaming. I've heard the same thing on a few other sites.

urbanista · Post by **urbanista** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 4:33 pm

I love Toronto. And Montreal.

But yes, let's start a reading collection - as many different theories of thought as possible.

How do we do that - I'm new to this thread thing............

Post by **Coyote** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 4:36 pm

A thread is just a collection of posts. For instance this thread is in the General Discussion Folder and you entitled it "Moving back to Omaha from Vancouver."
Just keep posting them with these posts.

urbanista · Post by **urbanista** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 7:24 pm

Coyote -
Just visited your website - great compendium on historic places of Omaha.

Do you mention anywhere that Central Park [in all it's positives and negatives] was designed by one of the best American Landscape Architects, Lawrence Halprin?

Not that many cities the size of Omaha can boast owning one of those.

Last time I was in Omaha I found a fantastic monograph of Halprin in the 70's at The Antiquarium. I took it as a sign to move home!

I think the city recently hired Van Valkenburgh out of NYC to reconceptualize the park, but I'm guessing that's old news.

Post by **Coyote** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 8:15 pm

urbanista wrote:Coyote - Just visited your website - great compendium on historic places of Omaha.

Do you mention anywhere that Central Park [in all it's positives and negatives] was designed by one of the best American Landscape Architects, Lawrence Halprin?

Thanks Urbanista! I need to work a little more on updating some of those write-ups. Funny that you ask about Halprin - I was just there this afternoon checking out the Island and all of the natural grasses they just planted and I saw something of Halprin. I certainly will have to get something up about him. Thanks for the suggestion.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 11:31 pm

urbanista wrote:There is a lot more creativity and opportunity to build something meaningful in Omaha.

*nail* -- -- -------->>>>@ *head* ----------direct hit.

Post by **Omaha Cowboy** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 2:59 am

Nice..Welcome home urbanista..

..Ciao..LiO....Peace

shengs75 · Post by **shengs75** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 7:56 am

Wow that's quite a move from Vancouver to Omaha. I can't think of any reason why anyone would want to do that.

But welcome back. Omaha has changed so much just the 7 years I've been here.

urbanista · Post by **urbanista** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 3:36 pm

So, I pared down an initial 'reading list' from 125 titles to just a few. That was hard work! Think I got a nice balance of urbanists, landscape architects, architects, cultural critics, space philosophy, and old school.
Any comments on the following?

Christopher Alexander: A Pattern Language
Rem Koolhaus: S,M,L,XL
Charles Waldheim: A Landscape Urbanism Reader
Reyner Banham: The Architecture of the Well-Tempered Environment
James Corner: Recovering Landscape
Kevin Lynch: Good City Form
Mario Gandelsonas: X-Urbanism, Architecture and the American City
Lionel March: RM Schindler, Composition and Construction

And any situationsit theory: Guy Debord, Henri Lefebvre, etc.

urbanista · Post by **urbanista** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 3:38 pm

Hey Streets of Omaha,

I looked through your collection of photos on your website.
I have to ask: Is that a fiberglass Eames bucket chair in your apartment?

Omaha Forums

Moving back to Omaha from Vancouver

Moving back to Omaha from Vancouver

Congrats!