Dundee/Memorial Park

This neighborhood consists primarily of housing, with a focal point and neighborhood commercial district at 50th/Underwood and a second commercial district with heavier vehicular traffic along Dodge Street. There are issues with transportation in that Cuming will become a two-way street west to 50th and Underwood from downtown - thus, it is feared, bringing heavy commuter traffic into this residential neighborhood. Dundee has an active neighborhood association, whose most prominent activity is a program that provides hanging flower baskets for all neighborhood light posts in the summer. The neighborhood's chief green spaces, Memorial Park/Elmwood Park, have few amenities. Primary uses include a ballpark, open space for impromptu football, soccer games, sledding or kite-flying; and dog walking. It also has a small playground.

Site A: 50th and Underwood
Strengths: feels safe, friendly, homey - human scale - tree canopy - brick islands - not generic - historic feel like the Old Market

Site B: 51st and Underwood
Strengths: business diversity - feel of architecture - human scale - street furniture - definition of pedestrian vs. sitting spaces - banners

Overall rating: 3.6 out of 5

Potential short-term improvements for 50th - 51st St. and Underwood

Comfort & Image

• awnings
  
• more seating
  
• planting
  
• benches
  
• signage consistency
  
• more trash cans & locate them more strategically
  
• murals and artworks on the blank brick walls
  
• consolidate newspaper boxes

Access & Linkages

• bike racks
  
• walkway from Underwood to California to connect streets
  
• creative parking solutions (e.g. at KFAB lot)
  
• buffer parking lots from sidewalks with planters
  
• parking in front of Trovatos: eliminate "dead" asphalt at center and create more pedestrian space in front of shops by pulling cars back from storefronts a few feet

Potential long-term improvements for 50th - 51st St. and Underwood

Uses & Activities

• bring what's inside commercial areas outside to sidewalks areas to create pedestrian traffic - display tables
• art vendors
  
• farmers markets

Comfort & Image

• change gas station at 50th and Underwood: new colors? Awning?
  
• link historic components together more effectively through signage and programming
  
• create balcony public space over parking spots on west side of 50th St/Underwood

Access & Linkages

• traffic island circle to slow traffic at gateways to business district
  
• internal parking plan
  
• internal street connections
  
• lighting consistency
  
• improve public transportation to the commercial area
  
• improve configuration of bus stops
  
• banners

Local Partnerships for 50th - 51st St. and Underwood

• architectural firms in the area (three of them)
  
• Brownell Talbot
  
• business association
  
• churches
  
• City of Omaha Planning Department
  
• media: KFAB and the Reader
  
• neighborhood strategic plan to develop these ideas
  
• senior groups (two senior housing buildings in the area, including Underwood Tower)
  
• University of Nebraska - Omaha
  
• youth groups/ Boy and Girl Scouts, etc.

Site C: Elmwood Park at Underwood & J.E. George
Overall Rating: 2.6

Strengths: huge park - trees - pedestrian area - availability of dog poop pick-up bags

Potential short-term improvements for Elmwood Park at Underwood & J.E. George

Uses & Activities

• frisbee golf course

Comfort & Image

• benches, tables, umbrellas

Access & Linkages

• bike racks
  
• parking improvements
  
• signage-maps-info about Keystone and Elmwood Park trails

Potential long-term improvements for Elmwood Park at Underwood & J.E. George

Uses & Activities

• leash-free zone

Comfort & Image

• water area/water feature
  
• arboretum
  
• restrooms
  
• lighting
  
• fountains

Access & Linkages

• widen trails/create multi-user path
  
• bus stop
  
• slow traffic by building a median
  
• signage

Local Partnerships for Site C

• Brownell Talbot
  
• business association
  
• churches
  
• City of Omaha Planning Department
  
• youth groups/ Boy and Girl Scouts, etc.

Site D: Neighborhood Center

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5

Potential short-term improvements for Neighborhood Center

Comfort & Image

• remove pine trees that block the building
  
• remove fence around courtyard/seating area
  
• benches on grassy area
  
• parking lot is overgrown - clean it up and take care of it

Access & Linkages

• can't see what is in this facility - make it more visible with signs explaining what the building is and what services are provided by the agencies inside
  
• directions to entrance and parking lots
  
• open up to the outside to make it more inviting
  
• signs indicating additional parking to the east
  
• stripe parking lot stalls
  
• signs to bus stops

Potential long-term improvements for Neighborhood Center

Comfort & Image

• residents say area is not well lit at night - not enough lamp posts (residents use Neighborhood Center parking lot rather than their own because it's safer)
  
• landscape grassy area - terrace it so you can use it more for events

Access & Linkages

• Remove/trim brush from alley to make it appear wider
  
• Widen sidewalks around the building

Local Partnerships

• architectural firm in same complex
  
• Neighborhood Center for Greater Omaha
  
• residents
  
• University of Nebraska - Omaha
  
• UNMC

Site E: Dodge and 50th
Overall Rating 2.6 out of 5

Strengths: variety, energy - nearby walkable neighborhoods - good diverse mix of businesses - good transit access - density - nice storefront architecture - dog bowl in from of Merle Norman shop - storeowners are well networked - evident sense of pride of businesses- Dundee Theater, the only great art theatre left in Omaha

Weaknesses: not walkable - jumbled signage/lack of signage - speed of traffic - building conditions - non-residents don't know what businesses are so they can't support them - no activities after a movie at the Dundee Theater - cars park on sidewalk

Potential short-term improvements for Dodge and 50th

Uses & Activities

• workshop with kids in juvenile detention to make benches
  
• outdoor displays: book store, drugstore bring soda fountain outside and have outdoor seating

Comfort & Image

• new trash cans
  
• create barriers from traffic at bus stop
  
• murals on building walls
  
• shelter for south side bus stop
  
• add seating (no seating in area except for bus stops)
  
• kids from OPS could paint park benches
  
• improve and enlarge bus stop
  
• general clean up of the area/street cleaning
  
• landscaping: barrels of flowers, street trees, planters, flower boxes
  
• murals along blank walls

Access & Linkages

• limit traffic speed
  
• restrict parking: no backing out onto Dodge
  
• reconfigure Cox cable parking lot
  
• create/restripe/improve crosswalks
  
• add more "no right turn on red signs"
  
• add signage and information at bus stop
  
• eliminate angled parking along Coles -replace with outdoor seating area

Potential long-term improvements for Dodge and 50th

Uses & Activities

• street fair with local businesses
  
• on weekends close one lane of traffic on each side and have merchants do an open air market in the street

Comfort & Image

• add texture or color to sidewalks
  
• rehabilitate buildings
  
• street trees
  
• create a "gas light district"
  
• introduce "theme architecture" around the intersection
  
• 50th and Dodge: announce it as a transition area with gateway element - pillars and piers
  
• create a unifying image for buildings at the intersection, especially for range of buildings at the corners to tie intersection together

Access & Linkages

• reduce Dodge to two lanes
  
• reduce speed on Dodge
  
• trolley cars
  
• move south side bus stop ½ block west away from gas station - move bus stop to a place that's more inviting with space for a shelter
  
• repair curbs and sidewalks
  
• more and better street lighting
  
• diagonal parking on SE corner
  
• widen sidewalks to keep cars out of stores!! - widen sidewalks at NW corner: remove four parking spaces to create more usable space on sidewalks
  
• move curb out to make Cox Cable parking lot safer
  
• roundabout with a fountain in the intersection
  
• on-street parking after rush hour: 7 pm
  
• something to separate traffic from pedestrians and to cut down on noise - sound barrier walls?

Local Partnerships

• artists and arts groups
  
• BEMIS
  
• businesses
  
• churches
  
• City of Omaha
  
• County extension
  
• Dundee theater is the anchor: help them
  
• florist
  
• Gospel Service Learning
  
• hardware store
  
• Metro Community College
  
• MAT
  
• MUD
  
• Nebraska Small Business Development Center
  
• neighborhood association
  
• Neighborhood Center for Greater Omaha
  
• OPPD
  
• Parks department
  
• Qwest
  
• Radio station: live remotes and pipe music
  
• schools
  
• State DOT
  
• Traffic Department
  
• University of Nebraska - Omaha
  
• Youth groups/Boy and Girl Scouts