January 13, 2010
Voice Public Meeting Rescheduled
VOICE has rescheduled its public meeting to explore the relationship between smart urban design and equal opportunity/social mobility for Tuesday, Jan. 26. The event will be held at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts at 6:00pm.
At the last public VOICE meeting, attendees ranked these two issues as the most important to them. The evening will include a panel of speakers, a discussion about Omaha’s future, and an opportunity for the audience to ask questions and share their thoughts. The featured panelists are Rick Cunningham, City of Omaha planning director; Connie Spellman, director of Omaha by Design; Willie Barney, president of Empower Omaha; and Jamie Grayson-Berglund, director of community development for the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce. The doors open at 6:00pm, and the meeting begins at 6:30pm.
VOICE is a non-partisan group dedicated to creating a more inclusive, just, transparent, sustainable and culturally vibrant Omaha by actively supporting leaders, policies and projects that advance this vision. For more information, visit http://voiceomaha.org.
Breakfast with the Mayors
The Neighborhood Center will host “Two Cities…One Community” Thursday, Jan. 21. The breakfast, honoring Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle and Council Bluffs Mayor Tom Hanafan, will be held at the Scott Conference Center, 6450 Pine St., from 7:30 to 9:00am.
Proceeds from the breakfast will benefit the Fund for Neighborhood Development. Corporate tables and individual tickets and tables are available. Seating is limited, and reservations are due by Friday, Jan. 14. For more information, contact Jennifer Bober at 402.561.7581 or jbober@mail.unomaha.edu.
Follow ObD on Facebook
Omaha by Design is now on Facebook. If you’re a user, search for “Omaha by Design” and become a fan today!
Walk ‘n Roll Omaha
Activate Omaha’s Safe Routes to School program has launched Walk ‘N Roll Omaha, a blog site designed to encourage more students to walk and ride their bikes to and from school. According to the site, located at www.walknrollomahablogspot.com:
“Just a generation ago, the vast majority of kids that lived within a mile of their school walked or bicycled to get there. Today, that number is around 15%, and the childhood obesity rate and air quality issues tell the story. Join us as we encourage a new generation to embrace alternative forms of transportation that will improve the health and well being of everyone!”
Julie Harris, Safe Routes to School coordinator, is seeking contributors for the site. For more information or to schedule a Safe Routes to School presentation for your organization, contact Harris at 402.934.5971 or jharris@activateomaha.org.