Omaha Waterfront Improvement Plan

Omaha, NE (2001-present)

Client: U.S. General Services Administration; Lively Omaha

When the General Services Administration (GSA) began planning on a new build-to-suit office building for the National Park Service (NPS) on the Missouri riverfront in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, they saw it as an opportunity for GSA and the National Park Service to work with local partners--including, the Omaha Community Foundation, the City of Omaha Parks Department, Lively Omaha, and others--to shape waterfront development. More than $1 billion of public and private investment is in progress in and around the waterfront. In the longer term, the opportunity is for these partners and others to work together to create a world-class waterfront for Omaha--one that is cohesive, lively, and highly desired as a workplace and destination.

Lively Omaha, the General Services Administration, and the National Park Service worked with PPS to develop a riverfront improvement plan in 2001. Lively Omaha then recruited and trained 22 volunteer facilitators to use PPS's Place Performance Evaluation Game to conduct 23 workshops involving over 1,000 citizen participants, who put forth literally thousands of ways to improve their public spaces. Working closely with neighborhood and civic organizations, the facilitators have evaluated areas all over Omaha, from dense mixed-use urban districts to small suburban parks to a college campus. Lively Omaha posts all the evaluations on their website, which was developed with the assistance of PPS and keeps local stakeholders and the general public abreast of news and events.

The cumulative effect of has been enormous. A subsequent project, Omaha By Design, is a comprehensive urban design study that strengthened the design standards and Placemaking opportunities in the City's Master Plan. Omaha By Design’s work with influential partners and community members continues to transform the city through Placemaking.

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