Omaha by Design -Neighborhood OmahaProgress Report

Progress Report

Benson Alliance
Upon acceptance of the Urban Design Element by the Planning Board and the City Council, in December 2004, Omaha by Design began working with the City and to outline a 2005 Program of Work. The priority goal in Neighborhood Omaha was the formation of the 15 Neighborhood Alliances identified in the Urban Design Element. Mayor Mike Fahey selected the Benson Neighborhood Alliance as the first district to develop a neighborhood plan. Omaha by Design formed a partnership with Mayor Fahey and the City Planning Department to add an additional component to the plan, the Alliance Model Process, to create a replicable planning process for the City Planning Department to use in the other 14 neighborhood alliance districts.

Omaha by Design, the City of Omaha, University of Nebraska at Omaha and Neighborhood Center for Greater Omaha are working with Benson area neighborhood associations, businesses and community organizations to develop an Alliance planning model for the City of Omaha. This process will establish a model for Alliance planning throughout the city and create a comprehensive development plan to address the design, housing, transportation, business, health, education and social/cultural needs specific to the Benson Alliance Area.

The project is funded by grants from the City of Omaha, Alegent Health Community Benefit Trust, and the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority. Local banks and businesses have also contributed to the effort.

In August, Gould Evans Associates, LC of Kansas City, MO was selected to serve as consultant for the model Alliance project. Gould Evans is a nationally known planning firm with extensive experience in neighborhood planning. Omaha planning consultants will also be involved to provide local expertise.

The Benson Alliance Advisory Committee will work with Gould Evans to guide the planning process. The Committee is made up of civic and community leaders, local business owners, representatives of neighborhood associations, social service agencies and other community organizations located with the Alliance boundaries. The Committee has met three times since September. The general public will be invited to attend meetings starting in February 2006.

As part of the planning process, University of Nebraska faculty and students have been actively gathering statistical information concerning the Benson Area. Professors and Graduate students in the College of Public Affairs and Community Service have focused their efforts in three areas: a household phone survey, a business conditions survey and an inventory of housing conditions using the Neighborhood SCAN approach.