Leo Adam Biga's My Inside Stories

My latest MorningSky feature story picks the brain of veteran Omaha urban planner Marty Shukert, who takes a long view of Omaha Development.

Urban planner Marty Shukert takes long view of Omaha development

©by Leo Adam Biga

MorningSky Omaha

Marty Shukert has seen his hometown grow from his expert urban planning designer’s perspective.

The 70-something former Omaha City Planning director, now a principal at RDG Planning & Design, grew up in Benson. That community, like much of Omaha, has metamorphosed in his lifetime.

Shukert, an Omaha By Design consultant, is impressed by the local construction boom whose infill and renovation is revitalizing the urban core.

When he began his professional career in the early 1970s, Omaha was much smaller. The westernmost city reaches stopped at the Westroads. Boys Town was in the country. Downtown was dying, The Old Market was a fledgling experiment. By the ’80s. neighborhood business districts were struggling.

In and out of city employ, he’s seen Omaha make horrendous mistakes (North Freeway) and cultivate unqualified successes (Old Market). He witnessed $2 billion in riverfront and downtown redevelopment. He saw an abandoned tract of prime land repurposed as Aksarben Village and the entire Midtown reactivated. After years of decline, he saw South Omaha remake its old industrial and business districts. After years of neglect, he’s seeing North Omaha revitalized.

His old stomping grounds, Benson, is one of several historic named neighborhoods enjoying a renaissance after going stagnant or suffering reversals.

After decades of suburban sprawl, Omaha’s recast its gaze inward. Shukert is taken aback by the multi-billion dollar resurgence transforming Old Omaha.

“I don’t think there’s any question about” the dynamic development space Omaha’s in, he said.

Just the housing slice alone of this big pie is impressive.

“The number of in-city or central city housing settings being built is dramatic,” Shukert said. “We’re building that density.”

After years wondering why developers weren’t doing mixed-use commercial-residential projects in the urban core, they’ve become plentiful, including the Greenhouse where RDG offices, and the Tip-Top.

“The other thing that’s interesting to see is the flowering of neighborhood business districts. When you look at something like Vinton Street or South Omaha or Benson or Dundee or Old Town Elkhorn or Florence or the 13th Street Corridor or a number of other places, they’ve really become interesting little innovation centers.

“There’s now the Maker neighborhood developing.”

READ the rest of the story at–

https://morningsky.com/…/urban-planner-marty-shukert-takes-long-view-of- omaha-development