Is Omaha OKC's new competitor?

[Spartan]

Old thread... back from the dead! lol

[bchris02]

I don't think OKC and Omaha really compete for anything. They are far enough apart, distance-wise, that I'd say they don't really interact much. It's not like there's some company out there saying "We're gonna relocate, and it'll be either OKC or Omaha. Let's figure this one out..."

I agree with this. Omaha and OKC aren't really competitors. OKC's primary competitors are and always will be Tulsa and DFW.

Omaha is a peer city of OKC however and is a great example of how built environment can make a city desirable and attractive without geographical advantages such as mountains or a coast.

[Rover]

I agree with this. Omaha and OKC aren't really competitors. OKC's primary competitors are and always will be Tulsa and DFW.

Omaha is a peer city of OKC however and is a great example of how built environment can make a city desirable and attractive without geographical advantages such as mountains or a coast.

Just curious, do you spend a lot of time in Omaha driving and walking around? You sound pretty sure Omaha is clearly better...but then again, you seem to think all cities are better than OKC

[HangryHippo]

UrbanNebraska, do you have any good images of Omaha's airport terminal and the area around it?

[ljbab728]

UrbanNebraska, do you have any good images of Omaha's airport terminal and the area around it?

I'm not UrbanNebraska, but here are a few I found very easily.

[UrbanNebraska]

UrbanNebraska, do you have any good images of Omaha's airport terminal and the area around it?

Eppley isn't much to write home about. Its best asset is that it is really close to downtown.





There is a plan for a major expansion when the passenger numbers hit certain thresholds. The first phase includes a parking garage expansion.



Further improvements are a long ways out. Our passenger numbers peaked pre-recession at 4.4 million and have settled around 4.2 million the last couple years. These next phases would kick in at 4.8, 5.4 and 7 million. So a long long ways off.

[Spartan]

Eppley is bad. I've flown in or out of it four times now. It's probably the worst airport I have seen.

[UrbanNebraska]

Eppley is bad. I've flown in or out of it four times now. It's probably the worst airport I have seen.

Flying home from College Station soon. I'll sure be disappointed if Easterwood is better than Eppley!

Get to fly into Love direct on SW for that trip though, thank goodness for the Wright Amendment going away. No more pesky stops in STL.

[HOT ROD]

to answer the original question titled of this forum: No. Omaha is not OKC's new competitor. OKC's size and scale is larger (or equal) in most every regard.

HOWEVER, Omaha is a great mid-sized middle-of-the-nation city that IMO packs well above its weight. Omaha seems to know how to capitalize on its strengths so much so that you don't even 'remember' its weaknesses. Omaha seems to 'get' urban living and has a better grip on downtown development than does OKC; I think OKC has more in terms of scale but Omaha's fits a downtown environment better (historic restoration, new projects built to the property line with retail on the bottom). It would be interesting to hear what Omaha is doing on the parking front? Is OKC 'alone' with developing all above grade, monster garages?

As for airport, despite arguably being worse Omaha's airport is better used than the more desireable WRWA. Some of this is expected since OMA is the ONLY major airport in NE and its catchment area is quite large going into surrounding states; not to mention OMA's primary sector requires LOTS of travel to Chicago and New York. But the one thing I do like about Omaha's airport is there is a plan to make it better/modern (like a huge Wichita airport) and not just a facelift like what we did. Something tells me that OMA will be well positioned to grow above it's 4.5M annual mark with the new terminal while OKC likely may continue to sit around 4-5M pax even with the East expansion and TSA reconfiguration; the downstairs (and back-end) is what really needs to be fixed and there is no plan for it.

One can argue over who has this or that store or bigger freeways; but I'd say that OKC's infrastructure is better all in all since OKC is a bigger city/metro even though it might be sexy if OKC's new I-40 had Omaha's 14 lanes (including HOV exits for the downtown section); now that would have been forward planning and explicative of a $660M (or whatever cost it ended up being) highway relocation. One can argue about bigger/more skyscrapers in OKC.

But my biggest takeaway from Omaha is despite being a middle city that in many ways is worse than OK/OKC, Omaha shrugs it off and packs well above its weight such that we're even having this conversation. That's what I think OKC can learn the most from Omaha - who cares there is a major city 200 miles away, be the best OKC can be and don't settle for 2nd best. Be more like Omaha - set the trend for your own self, do what will make YOU successful. OKC is doing this with MAPS but I wish the private sector and the boys-in-charge would adopt this strategy along with the civic leadership - just think if the same effort that went into getting the OKC Thunder was common place with OKC development? OKC would definitely be leagues ahead of most everywhere else around here in terms of development, quality and quantity of said development, and Omaha might be writing on their forum how they could become more like OKC (than the other way around).

[bchris02]

to answer the original question titled of this forum: No. Omaha is not OKC's new competitor. OKC's size and scale is larger (or equal) in most every regard.

HOWEVER, Omaha is a great mid-sized middle-of-the-nation city that IMO packs well above its weight. Omaha seems to know how to capitalize on its strengths so much so that you don't even 'remember' its weaknesses. Omaha seems to 'get' urban living and has a better grip on downtown development than does OKC; I think OKC has more in terms of scale but Omaha's fits a downtown environment better (historic restoration, new projects built to the property line with retail on the bottom). It would be interesting to hear what Omaha is doing on the parking front? Is OKC 'alone' with developing all above grade, monster garages?

As for airport, despite arguably being worse Omaha's airport is better used than the more desireable WRWA. Some of this is expected since OMA is the ONLY major airport in NE and its catchment area is quite large going into surrounding states; not to mention OMA's primary sector requires LOTS of travel to Chicago and New York. But the one thing I do like about Omaha's airport is there is a plan to make it better/modern (like a huge Wichita airport) and not just a facelift like what we did. Something tells me that OMA will be well positioned to grow above it's 4.5M annual mark with the new terminal while OKC likely may continue to sit around 4-5M pax even with the East expansion and TSA reconfiguration; the downstairs (and back-end) is what really needs to be fixed and there is no plan for it.

One can argue over who has this or that store or bigger freeways; but I'd say that OKC's infrastructure is better all in all since OKC is a bigger city/metro even though it might be sexy if OKC's new I-40 had Omaha's 14 lanes (including HOV exits for the downtown section); now that would have been forward planning and explicative of a $660M (or whatever cost it ended up being) highway relocation. One can argue about bigger/more skyscrapers in OKC.

But my biggest takeaway from Omaha is despite being a middle city that in many ways is worse than OK/OKC, Omaha shrugs it off and packs well above its weight such that we're even having this conversation. That's what I think OKC can learn the most from Omaha - who cares there is a major city 200 miles away, be the best OKC can be and don't settle for 2nd best. Be more like Omaha - set the trend for your own self, do what will make YOU successful. OKC is doing this with MAPS but I wish the private sector and the boys-in-charge would adopt this strategy along with the civic leadership - just think if the same effort that went into getting the OKC Thunder was common place with OKC development? OKC would definitely be leagues ahead of most everywhere else around here in terms of development, quality and quantity of said development, and Omaha might be writing on their forum how they could become more like OKC (than the other way around).

I completely agree with this.

Other than live music (which OKC should improve in drastically within the next few years) and better retail, I can't really think of actual amenities Omaha has that OKC doesn't. The difference is the way those amenities are packaged in Omaha. They really have the urban design and placemaking thing down. They have done a better job, in my opinion, of building a city for people instead of for cars. While OKC was building Lower Bricktown, Omaha was building Midtown Crossing.





Honestly, Midtown Crossing doesn't have anything OKC doesn't have. Myriad Gardens is a much nicer urban gathering place in my opinion than Turner Park. However, the way its packaged together in such a compact, cohesive urban setting creates an amazing vibe and is something for OKC to strive for. There is mixed-use development including retail and luxury housing surrounding Turner Park. Why not front Myriad Gardens with retail and housing? Like the canal, Myriad Gardens is such a valuable asset that isn't being used to its potential.

What OKC really needs to do is create a vision for what kind of downtown the city wants and then put standards into place to guide development in that direction. Variances should not be granted. Downtown OKC needs to be a human-centered environment. Something like Lower Bricktown should not be allowed to happen again. The city needs to stop accepting mediocre developments that detract from the overall vision of a more vibrant, urban downtown, which the city has a long history of doing for one reason or another. A lot of people here and on OKCTalk understand that but things will not change until City Hall and people with weight like Larry Nichols understand it.

[TU 'cane]

Omaha seems nice and underrated, from what I'm able to discern.
Hopefully I can make it up there one day.

I will say this: it'll be cities like Omaha that pressure and even catch right up to OKC if OKC doesn't keep it's momentum over the coming years. Again, from what I'm able to discern here and browsing around about it.

[shartel_ave]

Omaha doesn't stand a chance catching up with OKC, not now not never

[Bunty]

Omaha doesn't stand a chance catching up with OKC, not now not never

Likely so for OKC, if it keeps growing at the same rate, but if anybody said the same thing about Tulsa in 1990 or 2000, he or she got proven wrong.

[Rover]

Competitor for what?

[Jake]

What defines “catching up?”

[progressiveboy]

Omaha doesn't stand a chance catching up with OKC, not now not never

Omaha has 4 Fortune 500 companies, Berkshire Hathaway, Mutual of Omaha, Union Pacific Corporation and Kiewit Corporation. Also, Omaha is home to five Fortune 1000 companies which include TD Ameritrade, Valmont Industries, Werner Enterprises , Green Plains, and Intrado. Omaha has a worldwide fantastic zoo, Henry Doorly along with an aquarium ranked in the Top 5. Even though the population of Omaha is not as large as OKC, it seems to have a lot more corporate headquarters and companies doing business in Omaha. It seems that OKC is the one that needs to catch up!

Source wikipedia.

[BG918]

Omaha has 4 Fortune 500 companies, Berkshire Hathaway, Mutual of Omaha, Union Pacific Corporation and Kiewit Corporation. Also, Omaha is home to five Fortune 1000 companies which include TD Ameritrade, Valmont Industries, Werner Enterprises , Green Plains, and Intrado. Omaha has a worldwide fantastic zoo, Henry Doorly along with an aquarium ranked in the Top 5. Even though the population of Omaha is not as large as OKC, it seems to have a lot more corporate headquarters and companies doing business in Omaha. It seems that OKC is the one that needs to catch up!

Source wikipedia.

Omaha also has a better art museum in the Joslyn.

[HangryHippo]

Omaha has 4 Fortune 500 companies, Berkshire Hathaway, Mutual of Omaha, Union Pacific Corporation and Kiewit Corporation. Also, Omaha is home to five Fortune 1000 companies which include TD Ameritrade, Valmont Industries, Werner Enterprises , Green Plains, and Intrado. Omaha has a worldwide fantastic zoo, Henry Doorly along with an aquarium ranked in the Top 5. Even though the population of Omaha is not as large as OKC, it seems to have a lot more corporate headquarters and companies doing business in Omaha. It seems that OKC is the one that needs to catch up!

Source wikipedia.

Not to mention their medical system, which is turning into a monster.

[chssooner]

Nm,

[Pete]

Omaha doesn't stand a chance catching up with OKC, not now not never

The last post on this thread was seven years ago.


Love to see other American cities improving, especially in terms of new urbanism. Omaha is a city hope to visit in the near future along with Des Moines.

If there is any competition with OKC (which is hard to see) that's a good thing. We always need to be upping our game.

[Decious]

The last post on this thread was seven years ago.


Love to see other American cities improving, especially in terms of new urbanism. Omaha is a city hope to visit in the near future along with Des Moines.

If there is any competition with OKC (which is hard to see) that's a good thing. We always need to be upping our game.

Thank you for your sense of discernment, Pete.

[stlokc]

Just clicked on this thread because I assumed there must be some new news, otherwise why "reopen" something like this long since forgotten?

I find that I don't understand the meaning of the word "compete" in the context of these discussions. Omaha and OKC aren't really in the same orbits. I would assume Omaha positions itself alongside Kansas City, Des Moines, maybe Minneapolis, the Midwest cities with whom it shares more population patterns and history. I can't believe that Omaha and OKC are really ever "competing" for very many things.

I will say this. I've only ever driven through Omaha (twice), so have little experience with the town proper, but in the last ten years of work in three different fields (health care, hospitality, franchise development) I have encountered many more corporate "players" at conferences and the like in all three fields from Omaha than from OKC. Looking at their corporate headquarters and economic vitality, I would say Omaha punches above the weight of what its population would suggest.

OKC is the larger city and has some strengths but Omaha continues to innovate and grow and good for them. As Pete says, we should always be looking at what other cities are doing. There are always lessons that can be learned.

[shartel_ave]

I saw the old thread and I have a lot of family in Omaha and Sioux City so I thought I would talk some smack about Omaha.

It gets so cold in Omaha in the winter and it sticks around.

[UrbanNebraska]

Our new downtown parks renovation is the same architect as Myriad Gardens, our new tallest tower is the same architect as Devon Tower, and our new streetcar will connect our Midtown to our warehouse district.

I wouldn't imagine that we are directly competing for all that many jobs or people, but we may be copying your notes a bit.

[Laramie]

Omaha and Oklahoma City:

Omaha (4 Fortune 500 companies) Riverfront Park (72 acres)

Oklahoma City (2 Fortune 500 companies) Scissortail Park (70 acres)

NBA Oklahoma City Thunder: Valuation - 1.63 billion U.S. dollars

The difference population wise is Omaha and Oklahoma City is one city boasts MSA population of 971,637 and the other 1,441,647; with inner city populations of 487,300 and 687,725 respectively.

Omaha's Charter established a Mayor-Council form of government, with an elected Mayor as chief executive and an elected legislative body known as the City Council.

Omaha's Revenue:

Revenue is responsible for the daily administration of the General Fund, Debt Service Fund, special revenue funds, and general obligation bond funds. The division also coordinates the City's centralized billing procedures, and collects monies pertaining to permits, fees, licenses, various taxes, and other miscellaneous revenues that are not assigned to the City Treasurer by law. It also collects fines for non-moving Traffic Code violations, including parking tickets and administers the Keno-Lottery game.


What is the sales tax rate in Omaha, Nebraska?

The minimum combined 2022 sales tax rate for Omaha, Nebraska is 7%. This is the total of state, county and city sales tax rates. The Nebraska sales tax rate is currently 5.5%. The County sales tax rate is 0%. The Omaha sales tax rate is 1.5%.


Oklahoma City has a Council-Manager government. This form of government combines the strong political leadership of elected officials with the strong managerial experience of an appointed manager. All authority to set policy rests with a nonpartisan Mayor and City Council.

Oklahoma City's Revenue:

Sales tax (4.125%) is the primary source of revenue for the City of OKC's General Fund, which pays for the City's day-to-day operations. Use tax is also an important source of revenue.

Oklahoma City's overall sales tax rate, which stays the same under MAPS 4, is 8.625% (8.975% in Canadian County and 8.875% in Cleveland County, because of county sales taxes). Of that, 4.125% belongs to the City. The rest belongs to the state or county.

MAPS penny sales tax Initiatives: By funding the projects with a limited term, one-cent sales tax, the projects were built debt free. The U.S. Conference of Mayors noted, “Using a pay-as-you-go structure allowed Oklahoma City to build world-class facilities without the burden of debt for future generations and city leaders. Oklahoma City citizens made the historic decision to invest their own money in the city they called home.”

Attractions:

Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium (Area: 130 acres): 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily The Zoo is open year-round except Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Face masks are encouraged.

Admission: Adults (ages 12 and over): $29.95
Children (ages 3-11): $22.95
Seniors (65 and over): $28.95
Children (2 and under): FREE
Military Adult (12 and over): $28.95
Military Child (ages 3-11): $21.95

Oklahoma City Zoo & Botanical Gardens (Area: 130 acres):

Adult Ticket Price: $28 (ages 12-64)
Child Ticket Price: $25 (ages 3-11) Children two and under are FREE, a ticket is required for entry.
Senior Ticket Price: $25 (ages 65 and older)
The Oklahoma City Zoo offers a 50% discount on general admission to military members
and up to 4 family members with valid military ID.

Omaha's NCAA Men's College World Series ($88.3 million)

Entering Saturday’s Game 1 of the College World Series Final, the men’s College World Series was averaging 1.04 million viewers across the ESPN family of networks — up 17% from last year. That includes an audience of 1.35 million for Mississippi-Arkansas on Wednesday, the largest for the men’s CWS prior to the Final since 2018 (Oregon State-Mississippi State: 1.57M).

Oklahoma City's NCAA Women's College World Series ( $25 million economic impact)

ESPN’s viewership, according to a company spokesperson, has been consistently strong for much of the past decade. Last year, when the University of Oklahoma won its fourth title in the past decade, full series viewership was 1.2 million and the best-of-three finals was watched by an average of 1.9 million people. Those figures were 12% and 16% higher, respectively, than in 2019 — and 41% and 34% above 2018.

.