[Steve_W]

Many conservative estimates exist for metro population growth for the next 20 years but as of lately city planners, market analysts and most recently, C.B. Mayor Tom Hanafan suggest the estimates to be closer to the 2 million mark.

Indicators include strong/steady economy, infrastructure and coming job growth. (Most of this info can be found in this Sunday World Heralds special section "Perspectives".

Anyone thoughts or estimates of your own?

[GraniteStater]

Omaha will likely be growing nearly as fast percentage wise compared with the Kansas City metro. The growth in KC is slowing way down in the urban core with Jackson County showing about a 2% growth in the last 6 years and the northern suburbs at a higher growth rate of 12% each.

[GraniteStater]

Also, I predict very strong growth continuing for Sarpy, western Douglas, and Saunders counties. The suburban and exurban areas of the Omaha MSA are growing very fast.

[Go Ne]

If these estimates are correct ( I hope they will be) Omaha's skyline will change a whole lot. We might even get a new building taller the One First National Center, maybe from mutual of omaha, a slim chance (probably not) from woodmen, and maybe from a different one.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Go Ne

If these estimates are correct ( I hope they will be) Omaha's skyline will change a whole lot. We might even get a new building taller the One First National Center, maybe from mutual of omaha, a slim chance (probably not) from woodmen, and maybe from a different one.

Omaha still has great density going for it unlike Kansas City where everything is horribly spread out. Also, Omaha has a very young population with a huge percentage of people under age 18 compared with other metro areas. I think those estimates may be fairly accurate.

[Katiana]

Doubling in twenty years is pretty rapid growth. It would require a lot of new (additional) jobs.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Katiana

Doubling in twenty years is pretty rapid growth. It would require a lot of new (additional) jobs.

That is the key. Omaha (Douglas County) has lost non-farm employment since 2000 according to census data estimates.

[DTO Luv]

Originally Posted by Go Ne

If these estimates are correct ( I hope they will be) Omaha's skyline will change a whole lot. We might even get a new building taller the One First National Center, maybe from mutual of omaha, a slim chance (probably not) from woodmen, and maybe from a different one.

I worked at Mutual Of Omaha for years and I can say that they will never, ever leave that Midtown location. I do hear rumors of my current employer, PacLife, building a substantial building Downtown in the near future.

[ehenningsen]

I think it's a shoe-in that Lincoln will be part of the MSA by 2028, and adding lincoln right now which would not be pushing things very far, the metro would stand at about 1.2 million, so 2.0 million with this in mind isn't as big of a stretch as some would think.. Plus there are a few more counties that should be added pretty soon to the Lincoln MSA portion...

I know it sounds complicated, but remember this is so close to happening that there have been efforts to get it over with and a close denial just a year ago.. I say by the 2010 census we may see it as a single metro..

With all of this in mind, and when things happen with the consolidation and adding of a couple additional counties, the Omaha/Lincoln MSA would be nearly 1.3 million people.. This will all occur in the next 12-20 years..

[GraniteStater]

Nebraska is just like Kansas because most of the population growth is occuring in the far eastern counties of both states. The only exception is the Wichita metro in Kansas.