Would Omaha accept a New Urbanism Development?

greenbuilder · Post by **greenbuilder** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 9:13 am

Omaha's developers have not changed the way they do new neighborhoods in this town since WWII. Before WWII the developments were actually a neighborhood like Dundee, Benson, Gold Coast.
The movement in planning today is bringing back the neighborhood stores and lofts above stores "live/work". Its time to bring back Main Street

http://www.goldenrun.com/whatnu.htm

Raraavis · Post by **Raraavis** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 12:25 pm

I think Omaha would embrace this kind of development. I think it is a tragedy that Village Point did not have 3 or 4 stories of apartments on top of the retail buildings. The huge parking lots surrounding Village Point could still be filled in with a couple parking garages and multilevel mixed use buildings. It is sad that instead we are going to be getting big box stores that eventually make Village Point look as bad as Oakview Mall area does.

The remainder of the Aksarben property is the perfect place for a new main street type development to be built. You already have a built in base population with UNO dorms and FDR workers. If you created a mixed use retail, residential, and entertainment district you could have a very exciting area in the heart of the city. I am sure this is too much to hope for.

Greg S · Post by **Greg S** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 10:12 am

It would probably go over OK but wouldn't you rather live in the real thing (downtown) than a recreation out west? The housing momentum is strong downtown, I would rather live there. I just saw a center like this in KC (Zona Rosa), and it was fine, but would rather live in a downtown loft or town house.

Greg

eomaha · Post by **eomaha** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 10:19 am

New Urbanism is of course applicable towards infill as well. Look at what COULD have been with Con Agra. Look at what we could still have... in north downtown (would be nice to see the surface parking of Qwest slowly replaced with multilevel... and multiuse residential/retail).

Large factions of people will continue to choose the suburbs over the inner city. I suppose if you're going to improve livability there as well... ala improved social interaction, pedestrian friendliness, etc... more power to them.

One of the things which concerns me the most about downtown... is the escalating cost of living. These condominiums are rapidly driving through the roof in cost. I'm glad to see the Barker Building is purportedly going to be targeting first time buyers. Of course the plus is... it's obviously an indicator of demand... and one has to assume interest from developers participating down here will only increase.

almighty_tuna · Post by **almighty_tuna** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 12:12 pm

jhuston wrote: One of the things which concerns me the most about downtown... is the escalating cost of living. These condominiums are rapidly driving through the roof in cost.

You're not kidding!! If that trend continues they will run into buyer shortage in a hurry. Like DTO said in a different thread, hoping that the north downtown plan offers more affordable apts/lofts than 200K+.

SBNathan · Post by **SBNathan** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 2:12 pm

I was surprised to see that Lincoln in currently developing a great looking New Urbanism community. All of the homes are unique, garages are located behind the house (accessible via alley), and there are plans for a village center. I drove thru recently and it looks slick.

http://www.fallbrookusa.com

I should talk to the developer and see if he has plans to duplicate this in Omaha. If Lincoln can make this work, surely Omaha can as well. I think a perfect location would be the old Arksarben plot. Mid town, close to trails, and near a great public transportation district.

eomaha · Post by **eomaha** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 2:57 pm

I have driven by this development on a few occasions on the way to Branched Oak... I had no idea they had some 'new urbanist' designs (I assume they keep these in their own area... separate from the 'traditional' suburban designs).

Looking at the development more closely through their website... the lots/layout seems less new urbanist than the designs (ie their definition of new urbanist seems mostly limited to the retro architecture... many of them seem to still sit on rather large lots). Nonetheless... it's interesting to see a developer even attempting to market the idea in Lincoln.

The development reminds me a little of a planned community north of Phoenix called 'Anthem' (developed by the retirement community developer Del Web... if anyone is familiar with them). It's in the middle of nowhere... and while they have their own amenities in groceries, services, etc... there's something rather depressing about plopping a development down... miles from anywhere.

Example of a questionable 'new urbanist' example in Fall Brooke... this one obviously sits on rather spacious lot. I wonder if they have the traditional and retro designs sitting alongside one another. Personally... I think this would look horrible.

All this said... I think real new urbanist developments are very appropriate for infill... as you say... in Aksarben... north Omaha... etc, etc. It is depressing to me that we're building suburban split levels in the Logan-Fontenelle area.

SBNathan · Post by **SBNathan** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 11:27 am

Perhaps it is unfair to label this development as truely New Urbanism. As you pointed out, many of the homes in the development are placed on rather large lots. There are however, a handful of what the developer is calling 'new urbanism' lots where the homes are placed on smaller lots, the houses sit closer to the front boundary, and garages are placed in back. That being said, I think this is a great introduction of the concept. I'm not aware of any other development locally that has tried this approach in Nebraska.

You'll notice a healthy mix of townhomes, big houses on large hots, smaller houses on smaller lots, and new urbanism homes. What's nice about the variety is that people can stay in this development and either "upgrade" or "downgrade" housing styles depending on their needs. So a young couple w/o children could start in a townhouse, and then upgrade to a larger home once they have children. This concept is completely foreign in Omaha.

Neighborhoods and subdivisions typically have only one type of housing stock available. Unfortunately, people have to leave their neighborhood if they want to upgrade or downgrade. Assuming we enjoyed our neighbors and the community in which we lived, how many of us would want to stay close to our friends and ammentities and not have to move into a different area? I suspect that a good many of us would find that desirable.

Fall Brook also contains a very attractive boulevard adjacent to the New Urbanism lots. Fall Brook just seems so much more inviting that new standard subdivisions. I love the variety of house designs, the like the mixed density, and I would enjoy the pedestrian friendly nature of its design. Can anyone walk to a corner store from their houses anymore? What a shame.

I know that it's a small text, but I think we might finally be heading in the right direction. I would love to live in a development like Fall Brook someday.

eomaha · Post by **eomaha** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 12:15 pm

No question about it... as suburban developments go... it's a step in the right direction. And of course I'd like to see something like this in the Omaha metro.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Tue Nov 19, 2013 4:22 pm

Where is Coyote? In my wanderings today I ran into this development. Anyone want to guess where this is?

Post by **Brad** » Tue Nov 19, 2013 4:32 pm

"Main Street" Irvington. Awesome Concept, but I think it has been a failure. Those bays have been empty forever.

Did you stop at Mangia for lunch?

Post by **Brad** » Tue Nov 19, 2013 4:33 pm

That strip has some awesome potential to be a Benson or Dundee too... Needs a lot of work, but has lots of possibilities.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Tue Nov 19, 2013 4:47 pm

Brad wrote:"Main Street" Irvington. Awesome Concept, but I think it has been a failure. Those bays have been empty forever.

I wondered about that, Irvington Heights (which is above and behind this) seems to be settled in, but no takers for these bays. I think it could be a happening place if things work in their favor.

Did you stop at Mangia for lunch?

Had lunch at the DT Diner, was supposed to have dinner at Mangia, but my date just cancelled on me.

skinzfan23 · Post by **skinzfan23** » Tue Nov 19, 2013 5:49 pm

Very cool design...I agree, this may work if in other areas. I didn't even know that was up there. I would love to see something similar to this in North Downtown.

TitosBuritoBarn · Post by **TitosBuritoBarn** » Tue Nov 19, 2013 11:08 pm

I don't think there's enough traffic on Irvington Road yet for the type of retail they were hoping for.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Tue Nov 19, 2013 11:11 pm

TitosBuritoBarn wrote:I don't think there's enough traffic on Irvington Road yet for the type of retail they were hoping for.

Have you seen the developments to the north of this? Have you seen traffic trying to get on Blair High Road off of Ida?

TitosBuritoBarn · Post by **TitosBuritoBarn** » Wed Nov 20, 2013 12:00 am

Coyote wrote:
TitosBuritoBarn wrote:I don't think there's enough traffic on Irvington Road yet for the type of retail they were hoping for.
Have you seen the developments to the north of this? Have you seen traffic trying to get on Blair High Road off of Ida?

Frankly, I'm going off this: http://goo.gl/maps/sklsb. It just doesn't seem like enough.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Wed Nov 20, 2013 12:04 am

TitosBuritoBarn wrote:
Coyote wrote:
TitosBuritoBarn wrote:I don't think there's enough traffic on Irvington Road yet for the type of retail they were hoping for.
Have you seen the developments to the north of this? Have you seen traffic trying to get on Blair High Road off of Ida?
Frankly, I'm going off this: http://goo.gl/maps/sklsb. It just doesn't seem like enough.

Hence I asked if you have ever been there to see traffic patterns? I was there at 4 pm today and saw plenty driving on Ida, now if they could just get traffic down this road...
Then you have Sorenson Parkway merging into N 90th a few blocks away, Blair High Traffic, a new modern building...
I get gas at the station on Ida, there are times I cannot get onto Ida because of traffic, that will not let someone turn left out of there to beat the light.

Post by **Brad** » Wed Nov 20, 2013 8:40 am

I eat at Mangia quite often and there seems to be a decent amount of traffic on that road.

Uffda · Post by **Uffda** » Wed Nov 20, 2013 11:36 am

Coyote wrote:
TitosBuritoBarn wrote:
Coyote wrote:
TitosBuritoBarn wrote:I don't think there's enough traffic on Irvington Road yet for the type of retail they were hoping for.
Have you seen the developments to the north of this? Have you seen traffic trying to get on Blair High Road off of Ida?
Frankly, I'm going off this: http://goo.gl/maps/sklsb. It just doesn't seem like enough.
Hence I asked if you have ever been there to see traffic patterns? I was there at 4 pm today and saw plenty driving on Ida, now if they could just get traffic down this road...
Then you have Sorenson Parkway merging into N 90th a few blocks away, Blair High Traffic, a new modern building...
I get gas at the station on Ida, there are times I cannot get onto Ida because of traffic, that will not let someone turn left out of there to beat the light.

My experience has been with that corner is it depends on the time of day -- I avoid it early in morning and around 4-5.

I was hoping small business would fill in these spots but seems to be just sitting there.

Also does Mangia have Eat In? I only gotten take out and that has been quite awhile ago

Post by **Brad** » Wed Nov 20, 2013 11:41 am

Uffda wrote:Also does Mangia have Eat In? I only gotten take out and that has been quite awhile ago

They do now, but not when they first opened. Its very small so if you are going to lunch, get there early.

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