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The stadiums are on the outskirts though, and don't get a lot of non-stadium traffic. Yes--there is other traffic on the interstate system going by it, but the exits are mostly only stadium traffic.
Honestly...some viable public transportation would go a long way to make Omaha's stadiums more attractive.
Hey, listen up. There's a bus that goes right next to the stadium on Cuming. It's called the 4 and has been in use for quite some time. Park at Westroads Transit Center at the northwest corner of 102nd and Nicholas. It will take you down there in about 35 minutes and it will take you back as late as 10:15 p.m. Yeah, it'll get stuck in traffic, too, but at least you'd be dropped off right at the main stadium entrance. I can't think of any easier way to do it and it was EASY to find out. I completely don't undertand why most of Omaha's citizens are so closed minded... Or maybe just too stupid to even consider using another mode, which is, big surprise, right there for you to use. Bus Route 4 / 14 - Omaha Metro
I wish I could send this link to all of thick headed Omaha, but sadly, it probably wouldn't have much effect.
Chicago has a pretty good public transportation system.
Yeah, but face it - in Chicago you have to walk. You have to get off the El - which is quite crowded for Cubs games - and then walk a couple blocks (maybe one block) to the stadium. You would be wondering why they dont bulldoze Wrigley, build an Olive Garden in its place (with plenty of parking) and then build a stadium for the Cubs up near the border with Wisconsin so that there would be a sea of parking spots. My advice to you is to learn to enjoy the short walks to the stadium - enjoy the time out of the car and the opportunity to fit in some exercise.
Thing is, and I dont mean to have a go at you personally Calvinist, but I grew up in the Omaha that idealized the kind of solutions you are talking about.
Post 50s, Omaha bulldozed tons of great old downtown and put in parking lots. You had city leaders turning the town into a bedroom community and washing away every last bit of interesting character there was about the place.
And it suuuuucked. And Omaha suffered for it.
Tons of brain drain and kids waiting til graduation to get out.
And Omaha wasnt the only industrial city that suffered like that. But luckily Omaha was able to come back from the brink and reinvent itself and it is going (from my outside view) pretty spectacularly.
Omaha is reversing its losses, kids are staying in town, and kids are even HAPPILY MOVING THERE which would have been unheard of just a decade ago.
I moved away about 12 years ago. For the first five or six years out here, whenever I would tell someone I was from Omaha they would either not know where it was or if they did they assumed it was all one big farm.
In the last five or six years that has actually changed to enthusiasm over what they have heard about the place. Smart young people are migrating TO Omaha.
This is a good thing and I am amazed at the turnaround. And that turnaround is largely due to civic investments like the Qwest center, this ballpark, downtown rising back like a phoenix.
If the fools that hate going east of 72nd (or is it 84th these days?) dont want to be part of the resurgence then that is their problem.
Let them stay terrified and tiny-lifed on their side of the curtain. But theres no reason to cater to those bedroom community types, certainly not any more.
What Omaha has managed to pull out of its hat downtown is pretty amazing and often impossible to do even under ideal conditions.
We should celebrate that. Even if it means having to walk a couple more blocks to the car.
Hey, listen up. There's a bus that goes right next to the stadium on Cuming. It's called the 4 and has been in use for quite some time. Park at Westroads Transit Center at the northwest corner of 102nd and Nicholas. It will take you down there in about 35 minutes and it will take you back as late as 10:15 p.m. Yeah, it'll get stuck in traffic, too, but at least you'd be dropped off right at the main stadium entrance. I can't think of any easier way to do it and it was EASY to find out. I completely don't undertand why most of Omaha's citizens are so closed minded... Or maybe just too stupid to even consider using another mode, which is, big surprise, right there for you to use. Bus Route 4 / 14 - Omaha Metro
I wish I could send this link to all of thick headed Omaha, but sadly, it probably wouldn't have much effect.
And you also have MANY other lines that run within a 10-15 minute walk of the stadium. There are options for those who care to look. Your just NOT going to have parking for everyone in the heart of a big city for large events. Even rosenblatt had parking issues, and I don't recall there EVER being this kind of media coverage of the issue then.
Yeah, but face it - in Chicago you have to walk. You have to get off the El - which is quite crowded for Cubs games - and then walk a couple blocks (maybe one block) to the stadium. You would be wondering why they dont bulldoze Wrigley, build an Olive Garden in its place (with plenty of parking) and then build a stadium for the Cubs up near the border with Wisconsin so that there would be a sea of parking spots. My advice to you is to learn to enjoy the short walks to the stadium - enjoy the time out of the car and the opportunity to fit in some exercise.
Actually...I wouldn't mind bulldozing Wrigley...but only because I hate the cubs. I'm a Cards fan.
Seriously though...Wrigley is a big historical site....any baseball fan would be happy to see a game there, I'm sure. Even if it's the cubs playing.
It pisses me off that the Omaha media is making a HUGE deal out of the "lack" of parking downtown tonight. The Omaha media should be on board with this project and these events educating people and not scaring them away. Has the Omaha media Forgotten about Rosenblatt already? Has the Omaha media never been to a Husker Game? Has the Omaha media never been to an event in a big city?
If Omaha is going to be a big city its time to start acting like it!
The fact is that Downtown Omaha is completely capable of handling 40,000 people. People need to think outside the box. As long as everyone doesn't hop on 480 and get off at 14th street things are going to be fine.
Parking at Gallup for TDA is closer than parking at the Haymarket for the Huskers
Parking on the 10th Street Bridge for TDA is closer than parking on 16th & I80 for Rosenblatt
Parking on the streets near the Civic for TDA is closer than parking at 17th and Holdredge for the Huskers.
Parking around 20th and Cumming for TDA is closer than parking at 14 and Missouri Ave for Rosenblatt.
Remember if this was the CWS at Rosenblatt or a Husker game in Lincoln, Your are not going to roll up at 6:45 and park in a lot next to the stadium, so don't expect it downtown either!
Remember you have 9+ access points too!
1. 14th Street Exit on 480
2. 20th Street Exit on 480
3. Dodge Street
4. Leavenworth Street
5. Martha Street Exit on 480.
6. 13th Street Exit on 80
7. Take 80 over in to CB, up I29 and back over on Dodge
8. Take Abbott Drive from the north side
9. Take cumming street
Personally I think tonight is awesome, and I can't wait to get downtown!
I have agree with you, Omaha media is dead and any little thing they think is newsworhty gets the upfront 10 minute slot.
I bet there is going to live remotes all over the area talking about the parking problem not the events.
Oh and the reporters with talk like they are flabbergasted over the crowds.
Thing is, and I dont mean to have a go at you personally Calvinist, but I grew up in the Omaha that idealized the kind of solutions you are talking about.
Post 50s, Omaha bulldozed tons of great old downtown and put in parking lots. You had city leaders turning the town into a bedroom community and washing away every last bit of interesting character there was about the place.
And it suuuuucked. And Omaha suffered for it.
Tons of brain drain and kids waiting til graduation to get out.
And Omaha wasnt the only industrial city that suffered like that. But luckily Omaha was able to come back from the brink and reinvent itself and it is going (from my outside view) pretty spectacularly.
Omaha is reversing its losses, kids are staying in town, and kids are even HAPPILY MOVING THERE which would have been unheard of just a decade ago.
I moved away about 12 years ago. For the first five or six years out here, whenever I would tell someone I was from Omaha they would either not know where it was or if they did they assumed it was all one big farm.
In the last five or six years that has actually changed to enthusiasm over what they have heard about the place. Smart young people are migrating TO Omaha.
This is a good thing and I am amazed at the turnaround. And that turnaround is largely due to civic investments like the Qwest center, this ballpark, downtown rising back like a phoenix.
If the fools that hate going east of 72nd (or is it 84th these days?) dont want to be part of the resurgence then that is their problem.
Let them stay terrified and tiny-lifed on their side of the curtain. But theres no reason to cater to those bedroom community types, certainly not any more.
What Omaha has managed to pull out of its hat downtown is pretty amazing and often impossible to do even under ideal conditions.
We should celebrate that. Even if it means having to walk a couple more blocks to the car.
Great post man!
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