Omaha Forums

I really think Omaha is on the verge of becoming a cosmopolitan city with all that a large city has to offer, and it already has more amenities than most cities its size, but there's always room for growth. So, with that in mind, I'd like to start a wish list.


I wish Omaha had…….

1) A good amusement park
2) A natural history, or science museum---and a contemporary art museum.
3) A drive to make UNO or Creighton into major research universities.
4) More of the ethnic groups that surround me on the East coast (Korean/Vietnamese/Moroccan/Cuban/Thai/Philipino/Ethiopian/Egyptian----and the restaurants that usually follow them).
5) At least one pro sports team
6) A signature building/structure/monument designed by a major architect.

ricko wrote: 1) A good amusement park.

Completely Agree

ricko wrote: 2) A natural history, or science museum---and a contemporary art museum.

Does Lincoln have a Natural History Museum? I know its not a true science museum, but the SAC Museum is nice.

ricko wrote: 3) A drive to make UNO or Creighton into major research universities.

Isn't UNMC a major research university?

ricko wrote: 6) A signature building/structure/monument designed by a major architect.

I don't know that we have had a "signature building", but we have/had some buildings by notable architects in town.

I wish Omaha had a Tourists Railroad and Railroad Museum. They had that one in Fremont, but it was run down and went defunct. If they could raise some capital, they could make some modifications to it and really make it a winner!

ricko wrote: 2) A natural history, or science museum---and a contemporary art museum.

Didn't one of the original plans for North Downtown have a nice Museum as it's centerpiece?

Coyote wrote:

ricko wrote: 2) A natural history, or science museum---and a contemporary art museum.

Didn't one of the original plans for North Downtown have a nice Museum as it's  centerpiece?

Yea it was that or a ballpark. But that's when the ballpark was going to be built 3 blocks west...

That said, that would be an awesome get for North Downtown.

ricko wrote:I really think Omaha is on the verge of becoming a cosmopolitan city with all that a large city has to offer, and it already has more amenities than most cities its size, but there's always room for growth.  So, with that in mind, I'd like to start a wish list.


I wish Omaha had…….

                                1) A good amusement park

I agree as well, no reason why there couldn't be.

Also wish there was a nice lake to go boating on.                      

skinzfan23 wrote: Also wish there was a nice lake to go boating on.

There is still plenty of time to flood Ashland

Yes, those things would be nice. Peony Park was pretty cool in its day.

I travel to lots of cities in the course of my company travels and some have what has been mentioned. On the other hand, Omaha has something that other cities don't and I don't mean Warren B. It has his billionaires and millionaires. Where would the zoo, the med center, omaha performing arts, the durham museum, etc.? Pretty much anywhere I go I hear about the Omaha zoo. The med center is unbelievable in its growth. Also, Omaha got the CLINK built in record time, beating KC and DSM. It also has a convention hotel attached. Neither of them have one yet. Omaha has also built, what, a dozen arenas and a few ball parks?

Joslyn is very nice. The Durham is very cool. There are people with the means who have been very charitable over the years. Many other cities don't have anywhere near the monied people Omaha does. Detroit is bankrupt and there is still talk of selling off what has been said to be a world class art museum. Count yourselves lucky.

My bottom line is that you should always dream large but never for a minute forget that Omaha has a lot of gems already.

An amusement park would be great, but I think it would almost have to be built between Omaha and Lincoln to more easily draw from both. Heck, the area with Mahogney, the SAC Air and Space Museum and the Safari Drive would be pretty special if they could add an Adventureland-type park there.

Minarded:

http://www.portnebraska.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Brad wrote:I wish Omaha had a Tourists Railroad and Railroad Museum.  They had that one in Fremont, but it was run down and went defunct.  If they could raise some capital, they could make some modifications to it and really make it a winner!

Can anyone tell me what you think about the UP Museum in CB. I'm asking because someone I know is planning a trip to St. Louis, KC, and Omaha (because he really wants to see Boy's Town). He's also a transportation museum geek (he's a former commercial airline pilot and D.O.T. employee), and I've already told him he has to see the Durham and the SAC museums---is the one in CB worth seeing? I always forget to check it out when I'm in town.

Morrill Hall in Lincoln is a great natural history museum. I still cannot believe there is not a water/amusement park of decent scale in the area. If KC has Schlitterbaun and Oceans of Fun, you would think some developer would want to get something going between Omaha/Lincoln and the 1.3 million people surrounding area.

It would be cool to have a kids science explore museum - I have sketched plans for a "family vacation" area near the zoo with a kids science museum, great wolf lodge, rainforest cafe, and other places near the zoo

I agree with all of these. I would add, and I know it's a "chain", but I would sell you all into bonded servitude for a Shake Shack to open in Dundee.

Omaha_Gabe wrote:It would be cool to have a kids science explore museum - I have sketched plans for a "family vacation" area near the zoo with a kids science museum, great wolf lodge, rainforest cafe, and other places near the zoo

That's the thing about the area around the zoo. Mort dropped the ball on it but one would think that there would be more spin off from the zoo in the area.

I'd vote for an amusement park first, followed closely by a truly large lake. Third would be a natural history museum.

Greg

lol, I can't believe this website is still up...

http://portnebraska.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Linkin5 wrote:lol, I can't believe this website is still up...

http://portnebraska.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So am I. I visited the site a few months ago, I think I posted a link on one of these threads... I guess some things are harder to Minard.

Coyote wrote:

Linkin5 wrote:lol, I can't believe this website is still up...

http://portnebraska.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So am I. I visited the site a few months ago, I think I posted a link on one of these threads... I guess some things are harder to Minard.

Port Nebraska? Is this the sinking of Ashland thing? (I tried to navigate that site, but it's a terrible layout on a mobile...)

MadMartin8 wrote:Port Nebraska? Is this the sinking of Ashland thing? (I tried to navigate that site, but it's a terrible layout on a mobile...)

The one and only Ashland area amusement park. After all these years it still has an internet presence.
I'll have to go and figure out when their site expires and turns into a porn site.

Here we go:

Who Is wrote:Domain Name: PORTNEBRASKA.COM
Update Date: 2013-09-13 18:08:59
Creation Date: 2005-02-16 21:34:26
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2015-02-16 21:34:26

Updated last September?

Coyote wrote:

MadMartin8 wrote:Port Nebraska? Is this the sinking of Ashland thing? (I tried to navigate that site, but it's a terrible layout on a mobile...)

The one and only Ashland area amusement park. After all these years it still has an internet presence.
I'll have to go and figure out when their site expires and turns into a porn site.

Wow, it doesn't seem like all that long ago I was poking fun at my friend from Ashland and buying him a snorkle.. Can't believe it has been this long.


In other news;

I'm not quite sure I want to imagine a "Port Nebraska" porn site

MadMartin8 wrote:

Coyote wrote:

MadMartin8 wrote:Port Nebraska? Is this the sinking of Ashland thing? (I tried to navigate that site, but it's a terrible layout on a mobile...)

The one and only Ashland area amusement park. After all these years it still has an internet presence.
I'll have to go and figure out when their site expires and turns into a porn site.

Wow, it doesn't seem like all that long ago I was poking fun at my friend from Ashland and buying him a snorkle.. Can't believe it has been this long.


In other news;

I'm not quite sure I want to imagine a "Port Nebraska" porn site

This isn't Lake Ashland. Lake Ashland came up again... 2 years ago or so. This is just an amusement park and a smaller lake, I think.

Just got back from Austin so my head is spinning with things I wish we had.

iamjacobm wrote:Just got back from Austin so my head is spinning with things I wish we had.

OK, got a few. Some are actually super easy and some are a little more far fetched. Take all of this with a grain of salt, it is based off of one weekend while I was touring 3 different Austin breweries...

1. Austin had an awesome insanely popular lakefront jogging trail in their downtown area, which we certainly have the capability for. One thing I think we are lacking is a loop option for the trail. It seems so simple, but when you actually do it running/jogging/walking in a loop is a heck of a lot more enjoyable than going somewhere stopping and turning around. Austin had one fancy pedestrian bridge and the other one I walked on was just connected to a major highway's supports under the road. I wonder if there is a way to attach a walkway under the 480 bridge for a reasonable price tag?

Also Austin's pedestrian bridges were closed except to thru traffic after 11 PM. I assume they had similar unsavory behavior that we have had to prompt that.

2. A transit corridor that stresses uses other than cars. Congress Ave in Austin is very cool with BRT, impressive bus stops and a myriad of bike lanes some separate some a shoulder lane and some sharing with the bus lane. The activity on that street was very impressive. There is no reason Farnam from 42nd-10th can't match that stretch of Congress. We already have major players on that stretch, if we activate it we would have an awesome corridor on our hands. Between UNMC, Blackstone, Beer Corner, MTC, a possible 24th rejuvenation, the courthouse, 16th, GLM, Old Market and Heartland of America Park there are a TON of players on that stretch. I want to see Farnam blossom.

3. Plain bike culture. I will admit I drove/took lyft all over Austin. Still seeing the huge number of people biking just made the entire city feel alive. I think Omaha feels more alive when I see bikers and pedestrians walking. I would love to see that grow.

4. Using vacant lots in efficient manners. In the mega popular districts in Austin the empty lots weren't full of parked cars like in Omaha. They were full of food trucks, or shipping containers with juice or coffee stands, or simple pop up tents with artists selling items. Just b/c a building isn't on the land doesn't mean it can't be useful.

5. The condo/apartment towers. Now this is a pipe dream, but there are so many condo towers in DT Austin it is crazy. Especially centered around the pedestrian bridge. If We could get one or two towers taller than Riverfront Place on the river that would make the area super impressive.

Those are just the big guys that jump out on me when thinking about it. It really isn't to say that Austin is the perfect model for this though. There are a number of things I think Omaha outshines Austin at.

1. Our freeway system, as limited as it is, is vastly better than Austin considering our size to theirs. They have a hugely ugly main interstate that really doesn't hold close to the capacity of I-80 let alone Dodge out west or 480/680/75. It is a hard city to get around in.

2. Their suburbs are pretty ugly. A lot of the bad kind of sprawl where it is the lowest common denominator. For as much as we bemoan our sprawl here at least a ton of it is made up of pretty attractive offices, hospitals, retail and homes. Suburban Austin is ugly, like really ugly.

3. It makes sense, but our historic stock is better than Austin from what I could tell. We have awesome neighborhoods that we should be really proud of. The south doesn't have that kind of asset that we have. Plenty of character in the Big O, as long as we stop tearing it down!