On May 3 and 4, 2002, Project for Public Spaces, a nonprofit organization that creates and sustains the public places that build communities, led workshops to train facilitators in placemaking and to evaluate 13 sites in three Omaha neighborhoods. The workshops served as a kick-off event for Lively Omaha, which sponsored the workshops, and took place at The Neighborhood Center for Greater Omaha, a resource center that opened in the fall of 2001 in the Dundee neighborhood. Omaha's Mayor Fahey was also involved, having made attendance at this "Improving Omaha's Neighborhoods" workshop a prerequisite for applying for one of the city's recently announced $5,000 neighborhood-improvement grants.

Workshop Goals:

• expose participants to the principles and techniques of placemaking so that they can serve as resources in their neighborhoods
  

• train members of neighborhood groups in determining how to create their own vision for their specific neighborhood, using local knowledge and ideas
  
  
• help neighborhood associations in determining the substance of their grant proposals to the city
  
  
• introduce Lively Omaha as a partner and resource to neighborhood associations to its many constituencies throughout the city
  
  
• introduce the Neighborhood Center for Greater Omaha
  
  
• create a series of lively public spaces throughout Omaha that will support public gathering and foster a greater appreciation of the city's cultural and ethnic diversity

With these goals in mind, the first workshop convened on May 3 so that 18 community neighborhood leaders could learn about PPS and its placemaking techniques, and be trained to facilitate the larger workshop on May 4. Attendees at this workshop included neighborhood association members, students from the UNO College of Public Affairs, Lively Omaha board members, and Leadership Omaha graduates and community volunteers, as well as city employees from the Parks and Recreation, Planning, and Omaha Police Departments.

An overflow crowd of 121 attended the May 4 workshop in order to look closely at three neighborhoods: Gifford Park, Leavenworth/Park East, and Dundee/Memorial Park. Once on-site the group assigned to each neighborhood broke up into smaller teams to assess particular areas of the neighborhoods. In evaluating and suggesting improvements for these areas, the teams considered four criteria: uses & activities; comfort & image; access & linkages; and sociability. They also brainstormed potential partners that could help in implementing improvements. The teams' findings and recommendations are summarized below.

Results:

Gifford Park/Orchard Park
The Gifford Park neighborhood runs from 30th to 37th (east/west) and Cuming to Dodge (north/south), with Orchard Park to the west.
[Read More]

Leavenworth/Park East
These two neighborhoods, each with its own association, run together from 36th Street to 20th Street (east/west) and from Dodge to Pacific/Leavenworth (north/south) and are separated by Interstate I-480.
[Read More]

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.
[Read More]

General Partners: Below are potential partners that were named for most or all of the neighborhood sites. These are important organizations for providing activities and potential users for a place, improving maintenance, access and safety.

• City of Omaha
  
• METRO
  
• MAT
  
• MUD
  
• OPPD
  
• Parks department
  
• Traffic Department

Lively Omaha is offering assistance to individual neighborhood associations who would like to conduct a PPS style evaluation game with their own association membership. For information or scheduling, please contact Connie Spellman at 342-3458 or email her at connie@livelyomaha.org.”

Neighborhood Improvement Grants
In 2002, the City of Omaha will award $85,000 in Neighborhood Improvement Grants to fund projects that improve the quality of life, increase public safety and help prevent crime in Omaha neighborhoods. The successfull grant proposals received up to $5,000 for projects that creatively improve public spaces and have a lasting, positive impact on Omaha neighborhoods.
(Click here to see who recieved the grants)