Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Oh yeah, on topic. As far as 1million in city limits of Omaha proper?
700,000 people in 20 or 30 years easy. The city proper and the county it sits within are experiencing healthy growth. The city can annex anything within Douglas County, which it currently takes up only 1/3 of. There are currently 70,000 residents in Douglas County that it can annex should it choose to and as I noted above, that number is still growing. Though infill projects are a large part of Omaha's population growth, most notably Downtown and Midtown in Omaha proper and Council Bluffs in the greater Metro (though sitting right next to the city core).
But 1million? It's possible, but not likely anytime soon. I'm young and I'll probably be dead before that happens.
Last edited by kite eating tree; 04-23-2008 at 05:45 PM..
Hmm,
The 2006 estimate for the Omaha metro was around 825,000 so I highly doubt that the population will more than double in then next 20 years. The Kansas City metro population is around 2-2.2 million right now so I highly doubt that the Omaha metro will be that crowded in 20 years. Also, growth levels are very hard to predict due to changing economic cycles, in-migration patterns, and out-migration patterns. Also, if you examine growth since 2000 Douglas County only grew 6.1% even with a very young population. Sarpy had the biggest gains in that metro. Oh, economists ARE usually too optimistic on just about anything regarding growth so take those figures lightly.
Yes the estimates said that, Emphasis on the estimate. Omaha is always underestimated, like San Francisco was last year. So we will see the true population by 2010.
Projections are based on historical trend, but like I've said in other posts, trying to project anything past 5 years with historical trend is pretty much a crapshoot. There are just too many variables and factors that can change within a decent amount of time.
Maybe a 10 year projection may be somewhat decent to forecast, but 15 years? 20 years? 40 years?
What if a city has a 20 year trend of large substantial growth, and in the next 20, housing prices start to skyrocket because of how many people have already moved in. City growth would be stunted dramatically then.
Or, in the next 20 years, the city might no longer resemble the place that people wanted when they moved, so people start looking elsewhere.
It's nice to know estimates over long stretches of time if the trends continue, but that's all they are.
Yes. There is a new interchange on I-80 that is being developed into a business park. Across the river in Saunders county is Ashland.
Anyway, I've posted this before so if people have seen it bear with me.
The 2million figure is based on this:
The metro areas of Omaha (830,000), Lincoln (292,000) and Fremont (35,000) adjusted for their growth over 20 years and then added together.
So calling it Omaha is misleading. Omaha/Lincoln is more appropriate.
Based on current population and geographic growth trends it's expected that these three cities will be combining into one continuous urban area within the next 10 to 20 years and that the overall population will be between 1.7 and 2 million people.
So the growth rate of these individual cities, while it is healthy (in the range of 10% or so each), is only part of it. The fortuitous (though some would argue that) proximity of these places to one another and the eventual coalescing of the three accounts for half of the over all growth (or rather the expansion of the metro from the POV of Omaha).
The interstate 80 corridor is already being painstakingly planned out in an effort to avoid terrible sprawl. *crosses fingers* Omaha is already at Ashland's door and that is the halfway point (more or less) between downtown Omaha and downtown Lincoln.
A couple of factors that may slow this or stop it are that Omaha is working on infill and Lincoln is starting to sprawl south instead of east. But neither city is aiming to combine so much as expecting it, they are more intent upon what is happening in their respective metros. They are focusing efforts on making sure it's done well, not fast. The cities are looking to put things between them that will be beneficial to both (like entertainment options, industry and commerce). So we shall see if it happens so soon as they think.
I'm not saying it will or won't happen, but there is an explanation for that figure and I thought I should share it. When the whole thing is put into perspective it becomes, IMO, easily in the realm of possibility.
Ah, I forgot about the part regarding the grouping of Omaha/Lincoln
I agree with the two metros gradually overlapping down the road. I have never been to Fremont, NE. I assume that it will likely stay as a small town.
Who knows though, the Suburbs will eventually reach there unless something drastic happens with gas prices or something
Oil is at nearly $120 a barrel and gas is nearly $3.60 where I live. This is definitely impacting driving habits for sure.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
