[Steve_W]

Omaha has recently completed the holland performing arts center. The holland is a state of the art facility comparable to only one other in the world. Also quest center omaha is a new arena/convention center which seets about 18,000 fans for concerts. The quest center has been ranked in the top 5 concert venues world wide 2 years in a row. theres plenty of night life downtown but only as of recently. Maybe your friend was in the wrong part of downtown. Omahas downtown is kinda weird, theres a business area and just to the east of that are the restaurants-clubs-convert venues. Im 24 and I have a hell of a time going out downtown. Unless the weather is bad the streets are usualy full of people in the old market day and night. Im sure theres not as much to do as minneapolis but for omaha its great. Now a ghoste town after dark is des moines downtown. I used to work there and we had to go to west des moines for any sort of night life. I think they are working on that however.

[mattpoulsen]

I agree. If the weather is nice (basically meaning no snow or rain) then downtown Omaha is hopping. "Ghost town" is certainly not a phrase I would use to describe it.

[msquietaskept]

Originally Posted by MattDen

Being from Denver, Omaha is a very unvisionary, poorly run city where the politics is all about patronage. Basically, the people who run the city only care about the business elite and their neighborhoods and forget about the rest of the city.

I feel sorry for working-class people in Omaha paying 4 times the property tax rate Denverites do to subsidize the city which only works on behalf of the business community and their neighborhoods.

Id encourage visitors next time going from the airport to downtown, I encourage you to see North 16th, North 24th and North 30th in North Omaha and see what Omaha really is about.

From the abandoned apartment buildings on North 16th, to the almost empty retail corridor and vacant lots amongst 24th to the rows of run-down projects that have so much crime that they have street barricades because of all the problems amongst North 30th you'll see what the city of Omaha is like in a majority of areas.

I have to agree with Mattden on some things. I lived in Omaha for 5 yrs (moved here with my mother) before relocating out of state. I came back 10 years later not solely my idea. The only changes I see is that Omaha is now 20 mins outside of Lincoln with lavish homes and that North Omaha looks worse than it did when I left. I have never seen so many run down houses in one area in all my life.
I have applied for over 30 jobs in 2 months and only one response, but not willing to communersate for my experience. The job market is very bad. I left Omaha with pretty much no experience and I come back with 8 plus years and a degree.
I do not have all of the statistical data, but there still is no diversity in this area. It is 75% white non hispanic and the other 25% is other nationalities. The sources of entertainment is mostly catered to a certain racial group. Just to get to target, sams club, cheesecake factory, or any other nice establishment is a 20 min drive. And when you make it there you are being looked at funny and not only in stores even in the workplace.

Yes, Omaha has the potential, but after 10 years where is the city officials at? And MattDen was correct to say that the city officials only care about the business elite and their neighborhoods and forget about the rest of the city. Where are they at? So far within the past month I heard talk about the gun law and empoweromaha site, but thats it.
And the previous post about hiring their buddies has to be true. Considering my run in with employers. I have only been back 4 months and I wish I did not have to move back here. Unless some drastic changes are made I can not see Omaha being home for me. I am here for now, but I see by spring 08 moving on.

[Steve_W]

Originally Posted by msquietaskept

I have to agree with Mattden on some things. I lived in Omaha for 5 yrs (moved here with my mother) before relocating out of state. I came back 10 years later not solely my idea. The only changes I see is that Omaha is now 20 mins outside of Lincoln with lavish homes and that North Omaha looks worse than it did when I left. I have never seen so many run down houses in one area in all my life.
I have applied for over 30 jobs in 2 months and only one response, but not willing to communersate for my experience. The job market is very bad. I left Omaha with pretty much no experience and I come back with 8 plus years and a degree.
I do not have all of the statistical data, but there still is no diversity in this area. It is 75% white non hispanic and the other 25% is other nationalities. The sources of entertainment is mostly catered to a certain racial group. Just to get to target, sams club, cheesecake factory, or any other nice establishment is a 20 min drive. And when you make it there you are being looked at funny and not only in stores even in the workplace.

Yes, Omaha has the potential, but after 10 years where is the city officials at? And MattDen was correct to say that the city officials only care about the business elite and their neighborhoods and forget about the rest of the city. Where are they at? So far within the past month I heard talk about the gun law and empoweromaha site, but thats it.
And the previous post about hiring their buddies has to be true. Considering my run in with employers. I have only been back 4 months and I wish I did not have to move back here. Unless some drastic changes are made I can not see Omaha being home for me. I am here for now, but I see by spring 08 moving on.

Ok why don't you just come out and say it. You think Omaha's gov't is racist. I find it very amusing for you "having no statistical data" to give exact percentages of something you have absolutely no clue about. Just for your own benefit, I would like to tell you that the website you are currently sharing misinformed information on; has the correct information for you. Take some time and read it...would give you much more credibility. Everyone is always pointing the racial finger at one another but nobody wants to take any sort of personal responsibility for their own issues. I could tell you that none of my "white" friends or family has ever gone to north Omaha to commit any sort of crime to make the area worse. There is currently a huge effort to jumpstart the North Omaha economy in hopes for some sort of change however businesses are reluctant to locate their because it is simply a poor business decision (safety of their employees from random gunfire and the security of the building itself) By the way, Omaha has tried to give other sources of entertainment (50 cent and others) however it ended with gun violence. maybe if they would have left their guns at home another rap/hip hop concert would be in the works. Change starts on all levels and until the younger generation of the North Omaha population as a whole wants to make an effort to change, ITS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Best of Luck.
P.S. WHAT DO YOU WANT THEM TO DO, BUILD A CHEESCAKE FACTORY RIGHT IN YOUR BACKYARD? IF YOU WANT SOME CHEESCAKE THEN DRIVE 20 MIN TO GET SOME DAMN CHEESCAKE.....WE ALL HAVE TO.

[Lusche]

Originally Posted by msquietaskept

Yes, Omaha has the potential, but after 10 years where is the city officials at? And MattDen was correct to say that the city officials only care about the business elite and their neighborhoods and forget about the rest of the city. Where are they at?

This was the problem with MattDen, What's good for the goose, wasn't good for the gander. He wanted Omaha to "drop" the rest of the state, and only care about the elite city and it's neighbors. Yet that policy wasn't good 'within' the city. I agree that Omaha city officials need to do more for north Omaha. MattDen wants his policies enforced, as long as they don't apply to him.

[Katiana]

Matt is no longer on the forum. Let's forget about him.

[Steve_W]

I do agree with that. The city is mostly interested with local economic gains coming in large portions (dealing with large corporations) and they do tend to shy away from long term commitments such as North Omaha because the outlook for that area just isn’t very optimistic. I'm sure the city recognizes there is a huge generation gap building up in North Omaha and the African American community as a whole. Younger generations (this includes all races as well) tend to be influenced so much by entertainment/various media outlets that living the life of a thug on the streets is in some way cool. The city needs to recognize that in all communities in and around Omaha they have to start getting to the kids at a younger age to start reversing this problem. Unfortunately any sort of change will be a long time coming but it can happen.

[msquietaskept]

Originally Posted by Steve_W

Ok why don't you just come out and say it. You think Omaha's gov't is racist. I find it very amusing for you "having no statistical data" to give exact percentages of something you have absolutely no clue about. Just for your own benefit, I would like to tell you that the website you are currently sharing misinformed information on; has the correct information for you. Take some time and read it...would give you much more credibility. Everyone is always pointing the racial finger at one another but nobody wants to take any sort of personal responsibility for their own issues. I could tell you that none of my "white" friends or family has ever gone to north Omaha to commit any sort of crime to make the area worse. There is currently a huge effort to jumpstart the North Omaha economy in hopes for some sort of change however businesses are reluctant to locate their because it is simply a poor business decision (safety of their employees from random gunfire and the security of the building itself) By the way, Omaha has tried to give other sources of entertainment (50 cent and others) however it ended with gun violence. maybe if they would have left their guns at home another rap/hip hop concert would be in the works. Change starts on all levels and until the younger generation of the North Omaha population as a whole wants to make an effort to change, ITS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Best of Luck.
P.S. WHAT DO YOU WANT THEM TO DO, BUILD A CHEESCAKE FACTORY RIGHT IN YOUR BACKYARD? IF YOU WANT SOME CHEESCAKE THEN DRIVE 20 MIN TO GET SOME DAMN CHEESCAKE.....WE ALL HAVE TO.

I do not have to sugarcoat it yes, I believe some of the people in Omaha gov't is racist. Does that make you or every white person in Omaha racist? No. Unfortunately, I have had some not so nice encounters with people in Omaha. From going into Douglas County courthouse and the admin assistants complete facial expression change and raising her eyebrows, because I said I was there to apply for a position. A position that I am more than qualified for. And in my current position several remarks have been verbally made and those are being addressed to management. Does any of this make me dislike all white people? Not by far because I know and understand that some people no matter what race are ignorant. It sometimes just amazes me how in 2007 racism still exists and unfortuantely for Omaha it is very high.

As far as North Omaha I agree that the community has to take a stand and be held accountable young and old to see changes. And maybe the current officials will be contribute some help in alot of areas not only the gun violence areas. Only time will tell and I would really hope to see changes. In addition, if people in the HR offices start giving young african-americans a fair chance to get a job that could turn into a career that would help decrease the unemployment rate. If given the opportunties the possibilities are endless. I had to leave Omaha to get these opportunties. I am aware that there are numerous African-Americans in offices in Omaha, but I guarntee you that had to work twice as hard if not harder than I did to get where they are at in Omaha today.
When I stated I do not have all of the statistical data I was referring to crime rate, climate, income median, etc. I did in fact read the racial percenatages on this site before I posted them. Maybe you can take some time to read it as well.
If you would like to be a good Omaha Native and advise me on some sites I can read about all of this jump starting I would be more than happy to be enlightened. I happen to come across this site in looking for data on other areas outside of Omaha and ran into this forum.
50 cent? Is not the only African-American entertainer that could be brought to Omaha. I can name numerous entertainers Jill Scott, Patti Labelle, Erkyah Badu, O-Jays, Common, Lionel Riche, Kanye West, Usher, Roots, Brian Mcknight, Eric Benet, Maxwell, Mary J. Blige, etc, etc (the list goes on and on). Eric Jerome Dickey, Tavis Smiley, Cornel West, Terry McMillan, Chris Gardner, Hill Harper, Gerry Garvin, etc for book readings at B & N bookstore. Theatrical Plays would be a nice add on too. None of those entertainers are assosciated with any violence. Majority of them are making millions, love enjoying life, and entertaining any race of people. The African-American community consists of young and old so the entertainment scene should accomodate all.

The cheesecake factory, target, etc are all a 20 min drive from North Omaha. I work out west and clothing, food, and entertainment etc is about 3 blocks away from the residential community I say a 5 mins drive if that, not to say your drive is not 20 mins. I am referring to North O's drive.
I am not here to make Omaha out to be worse or better than the next city, but I will call it how I see it. I can have a informative discussion negative or positive without using profanity.

[Steve_W]

First of all, young African Americans have a great chance for employment if they choose to seek it. Let’s just say I have some friends who have been trying out for the Omaha and other surrounding areas fire departments and they are repeatedly turned down BECAUSE THEY ARE WHITE. They have volunteer fire, military, paramedic experience and are physically fit. How could you possibly be better qualified? However, a minority is awarded the job without the experience simply because the gov't is required to hire them at a percentage which does not reflect the local population whatsoever.

As for that crap of African Americans working twice as hard for local gov't jobs, you couldn’t be more wrong. The African American community has the City of Omaha "by the balls" because the constant threat of lawsuits and allegations of racism. So, if anything, the city overcompensates and walks on egg shells to avoid any such incidents. As for local politicians being voted into office, there would probably be more however the districts majority race usualy ends up representing them at the risk of the minority candidate having a personal one way agenda.

Also, did you know the tax payers of Omaha are paying Douglas county correction officers (a certain group of them) to file bogus racism complaints into lawsuits while on the clock WATCHING PRISONERS???? That waste of an organization is called the AACOA. Anyone want try and defend that?...you can....as you are paying for it.

If you really want to know what I think, I will say that with all the allegations of such racism...which most of the time should be considered reverse racism - is nothing but a drain on all of our pockets. All the B.S. lawsuits and loss of productivity on company time affects us all.

Yes racism is alive and well but on all fronts. I would love to publicly complain of racism I have experienced and the pure intimidation I have received just going to the gas station at night but I would find myself in court being sued for everything I own. It's almost like the majority isn't able to confront these issues at the risk of being labled a racist.

I do believe you have experienced racism and that’s also not right. It's also not right that the credibility of a real racism claims are ruined by all the false accusations by individuals looking for a free ride. Until Everyone(blacks, whites & others) are willing to address racism in a more proactive manner instead of alienating themselves from other races, nothing is ever going to change and may only get worse.

If you want nice restaurants and shopping near North Omaha the first step is to stop the violence. Business's flourish in safe neighborhoods where people are willing to spend instead of steal. Believe me, from a simple business standpoint, if there was money to be made, business's would be there in a heartbeat.

One more thing, TICKET SALES not RACISM is the deciding factor for events at the quest center. Someone misinformed you and I'm sorry. Also, most of the entertainers you mentioned above would have to be in a smaller venue anyway

[Steve_W]

Recently at the Quest, "The Lion King" - was a great display and representation of African heritage. I would also like to see other heritages represented at the Quest in the future, it was very entertaining.