Omaha Is For Builders
I just got back from Chicago. My girlfriend had somehow never been before so her and I visited for Labor Day. Everytime I go to Chicago I get two intense and competing urges, the first of which is to drop everything and move there.
I can see why people wouldn’t want to come back to Omaha after visiting Chicago/other great cities. I can see why people feel disenchanted with Omaha upon return. For starters, it always seems like it’s sunny in Chicago on your last day there and Omaha is always gray when you return. Omaha’s skyline seems underwhelming on the way back in and you usually hit a pothole on the way back.
When you’re in a great city like Chicago it just feels different. When I’m in Chicago I get the sense that it’s apparent that someone really gives a damn about the city and making life enjoyable for residents and visitors.
It’s the little things that create that sense of giving a damn.
Omaha isn’t going to become a metropolis overnight like Chicago and it’s not going to get a huge lake or a flat topography but what it can do is give off the vibe that it gives more damns. It’s the little things that can start to activate that sense of place and pride. Chicago, a city of neighborhoods, does a great job at creating a very strong sense of place and civic pride. Simple things like the Bean or putting archways up with the names of different districts/neighborhoods so you know which neighborhood you’re entering. Or putting creative ads (that are essentially art work) on the exterior of buildings. Putting random statues of dogs on the street, too. It’s not just things the government needs to be doing but there’s cool things that individuals are doing as well like typing custom poems on demand on the street. All of these things aggregate to make you feel like you’re in the right place.
Now, I am not saying that Chicago is without its problems or that all areas of Chicago are equally cared for or that life in Omaha is not better in several ways but what I am saying is that as someone young with means to relocate Chicago is much more appealing.
I started to ask myself “Besides family, why do I stay in Omaha? Why not leave? Here’s why I don’t: OMAHA IS FOR BUILDERS
Moving to Chicago would be like taking the easy and less rewarding way out…at least at this point in my life.
For me, moving to Chicago would be analagous to me getting a corporate job — sure, the benefits are great and there are a lot of cool people around — but it doesn’t scratch my itch as a builder. Chicago is pretty much the way that it’s going to be. Omaha is not. I believe that Omaha is still malleable and can still become a lot of things.
Omaha is like that 4 person startup that offices out of an old office building on Grover Street that smells like mildew. Omaha is like that company that’s been around for 10 years and is just now putting together an employee handbook for the first time because it’s finally getting traction. Omaha has major upside but is gonna require an all hands on deck effort and even if that happens greatness isn’t guaranteed.
There’s still so much work to be done and that’s exciting af if you’re a builder because Omaha is for builders. In my opinion there is nothing even remotely close to the satisfaction of helping someone/something/yourself acheive their potential. What’s even more exciting is when the ceiling is unknown.
The second urge that I get everytime I visit Chicago is to get back home to Omaha as quick as possible and start trying do what I can to make it the city that I know it could be.
How Do We Build Omaha?
The desire to build Omaha and the ability to build Omaha are two different things. It’s tough to get things done in Omaha at times. There’s silos, brain drain of leaders, the good ol’ boy network, and a glut of disinterested citizens. In Omaha it feels like progress comes in waves that crest before becoming tsunami’s of progress.
Since individuals are making ripples that combine with one another to form waves. Low lying fruit might be to attempt to coordinate ripples better to form waves and to coordinate waves better so as to form tsunami’s of progress.
Omaha Needs More Builders
As I was getting ready to leave Chicago I was looking up at all of the tall buildings, beautiful architecture, thoughtful city planning and throngs of humanity and my mind drifted to Omaha and one term came to mind: Greatness at scale.
At just over 933k residents the Omaha Metropolitan Statistical Area isn’t even at 1 million in population and ranks as the 59th most populated MSA in the country. The metro areas in the graph above are the cities that we need to be realistically comparing Omaha against.
Sometime soon, maybe next year, Omaha’s MSA is going to hit 1 million residents and we need to set a goal of becoming the best MSA of 1 million people. Sometime soon, maybe in the next 2–3 years, Omaha’s city population is going to cross 500k. Is it possible for Omaha to be the best city of 500k or less?
How Will You Build Omaha?
