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Vision for Lincoln should play on city's strengths, not others'

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By RON CERNY and JOSE J. SOTO

Monday, Feb 19, 2007 - 03:39:11 pm CST

Concerns have been expressed publicly and privately regarding Vision 2015. A small group of influential residents meeting behind closed doors, purporting to create a vision of the future for the entire community, should beget concern, trepidation and suspicion. 

Granted, their efforts are well-intended, thought-provoking and generally welcomed.  They fall short, however, of being the broad-based and encompassing effort that focuses on the totality of what Lincoln should be for everyone.  The broader needs of the community cannot be subservient to the wishes of a few, which advance the interests of fewer, at the expense of the community at large. 

Lincoln is described as “a great place to live and raise a family,” “safe,” “clean,” “good schools,” “friendly,” “a big small town.”

Story Photo

That’s what makes Lincoln special.  Vision 2015 seems to model Lincoln’s future on building like in Omaha, or Indianapolis, or Kansas City.  We believe that a vision for the future should build on Lincoln’s strengths and make it a great city for all residents. 

Lincoln’s future does not reside solely in the realms of entertainment, college youth and downtown.  These are important, but there are activities, populations, and areas in Lincoln that are sorely in need of concerted attention and investment of resources from the same concerned government, civic and business leaders promoting Vision 2015.  Moving ahead on Vision 2015 without addressing extant social needs is like ladling on the gravy before serving the potatoes.

The “quality of life” in Lincoln extends far beyond 2015’s “10 Pillars.”  Thus, we humbly offer a parallel “10 Pillars for Lincoln’s Future” we think are needed to substantively support, enhance and sustain a higher quality of life in Lincoln. These goals do not financially benefit any one group but could make the great city of Lincoln a benchmark of what a city should be.

Education: Our future is integrally tied to the educational attainment of our youth.  Let’s make the necessary investment to ensure a 100 percent graduation rate from high school.  Not only must we commit to not leaving them behind, we must promise to take and integrate every child into the future of this community.

Childcare: Every parent, guardian and friend of youth in this community deserves access to safe, nurturing, quality, appropriate, affordable child care alternatives that are neighborhood-based, family-oriented, and which promote inter-generational contact. 

Transportation: Lincoln needs to develop reliable, convenient and affordable public transportation.  The benefits are many: reduced traffic and environmental impact, and increased economic opportunities and accessibility for Lincoln’s residents.

Serving the underserved — Various places in Lincoln are promoted as “community” resources when in fact they are not readily accessible to many residents.  They are too far, too expensive, or too uninviting socially or culturally.  Let’s stop to assess the availability, accessibility, affordability and quality of recreational, social and community resources throughout the community.

Teen Community Center: A public/private initiative needs to direct attention to the social, cultural, recreational and entertainment needs of 15- to 19-year-olds in Lincoln.  The broad goal would be to establish a center as a teen-governed, teen-operated entity with adult guidance.

Long-range street planning: The planning for existing and new main streets and arterials in Lincoln must focus on the best interests of the entire city, not the narrower interests of neighborhoods or small groups of residents. 

Parks and trails: Points of pride are Lincoln’s public parks and extensive trail system that residents can use, many for free.  Tight budgets and private interests cannot continue to reduce the public’s accessibility to green space in Lincoln.

Citywide wireless: Anyone with access to a computer or wireless device should be able to surf the Web anywhere in the city limits.  Additionally, public/private efforts should focus on ensuring “digital inclusion” and move swiftly to help residents who are not online gain access with affordable hardware, software, tech support and wireless high-speed internet service. Access to technology can improve lives.

Interactive/inclusive government: We envision a city government that is truly interactive, accessible and inclusive. The technology and avenues of communication exist to ensure that every interested resident is informed about and can provide input to the development of public policy, projects and decision making by our civic leadership. Instant polls, online forums and improved direct access to our decision makers will go far to ensure “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from (Lincoln).” 

Your ideas: This 10th pillar, purposefully undefined, represents an open-ended, ongoing, unscripted and welcoming process to solicit input, incorporate new ideas and engage the community in creating the future. Residents impacted by the decisions of government, business and civic leaders should be the ones dictating Lincoln’s future, a privilege that should not be abdicated to, nor usurped by, a handful of  residents. A community vision, demands community input.

Yes, we also want to improve the quality of life in Lincoln.  We want Lincoln to evolve toward greatness. However, we also want that migration to reflect the character that makes Lincoln unique.  Integral to achieving that greatness is ensuring equal attention to, and advancing development of, the ten pillars outlined above. We must all participate in creating the 20/20 Vision of our future, and we cannot allow a “them” vs. “us” mentality to jeopardize an enhanced quality of life for everyone.

Ron Cerny has chosen to stay in Lincoln for over 20 years.  Jose J. Soto is a concerned citizen who has chosen to live in Lincoln for the past 28 years.


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Street Pillar wrote on February 19, 2007 8:27 am:
" Widen all you want - just don't widen S. 27th. "
Kay Davis wrote on February 19, 2007 9:25 am:
" You have made some great points. Let's hope people wake up to the fact that our community is much more than new buildings and projects. It is about community building and neighbors helping neighbors. "
MB wrote on February 19, 2007 9:44 am:
" I think "Street Pillar" is forgetting the part about not focusing on narrow interests of neighborhoods or special groups. We need what is best for Lincoln as a whole, and I think these pillars address that better than the 2015 Vision Group. "
Dave M wrote on February 19, 2007 9:55 am:
" Boy talk about NIMBY. What other road offers a better (and much needed) midtwon N-S corridor? Lincoln is the only city of its size I know of that has no way to go through it except on cramped residential streets hamstrung by ridiculously speed limits and dozens of stoplights. This inability to efficiently move throughout the city seriously hampers the ability of businesses to attract customers from all over the area. We need a smooth-flowing limited-control corridor both N-S and E-W through the middle of the city. 27th or 40th are the only even vaguely sensible options for the former. "
WL wrote on February 19, 2007 10:11 am:
" Plain and simple. Income/revenue come before wants and pleasure. Draining the retireds misely pension accounts is helping no one, especially when alot of cities retireds don't have to pay tax on their pension and sending the property tax thru the roof on fixed income. If you didn't go to high school or college I can understand your thinking. "
Richard wrote on February 19, 2007 11:44 am:
" While the 2015 group is - and has been - open to anyone and everyone, I would like to ask these two just how is it "exclusive" rather thatn "inclusive"? Are they involved? What about the people that they write about - are they involved? Too often people like Cerny and Soto shoot down the very people who are trying to make this a better community. I am not a member of the 2015 group, but I support them and congratulate them for their efforts. I, for one, am very tired of the Cernys and the Sotos of the world griping and complaining that nothing is done to help their plight. Well, I have been helping for over 40 years only to see that the people who are the recipients of such help only complain, want more and more and they do very little to help themselves. Regarding your street comments, do you really think that destroying one neighborhood will be for the better good - of whom? Your comments are hypocritical. You want to "save" one group while "destroying" another. I am very disappointed in both of you now that I have seen your real motivation. The people you want to destroy are many of the same people who have volunteered their time and given their money to your causes. I hope they realize what you are really after. I will cancel all of my contributions to your causes. Why would I want to help those who want to destroy me? "
Husker Neocon wrote on February 19, 2007 11:46 am:
" How, indeed, will we fund all of these programs? Lincoln is 9million in the red, and more social programs will make it better? A lot of these ideas will cost millions. Lincoln's education system already gets millions of dollars, yet test scores go down. The teachers cant instill values that should have been done at home. Throwing more money at it doesnt help "
Roger wrote on February 19, 2007 11:58 am:
" This opinion piece smacks of "Lincoln is a small town and should stay that way. Go away business, young grads, make room for more retirement homes". Note that these two offer no real specifics in their "10 wishlist items". At least the 2015 group does. Sounds to me like their real agenda is to provide more money and services to cater to Lincolns aging populace. "
John wrote on February 19, 2007 12:12 pm:
" Many of the comments are forgetting about the positive points of being nimbies. If these neighborhoods didn't protect their best interests - which, by the way, protects everyone's best interests - then we would have a city filled with urban decay, more urban blight and more TIFF money going to a tax base that many have you want ruined. Besides, we already have a north/south corridor - the west beltway and it has about 32 less stoplights! "
Woah wrote on February 19, 2007 12:12 pm:
" Both the op-ed, and the comments, are pretty melodramatic. I don't see any reason why we can't accomplish the goals of the op-ed at the same time as the 2015 ideas. The 2015 pillars are narrower, because they are aimed at revitalizing the heart of the city and its business prospects. Most of the op-ed pillars are also great ideas (I'm not going to touch widening 27th). Public transit, citywide wireless, interactive government. These are all great ideas. It would be pretty wonderful if I could take some revamped public transit downtown, sit in the new downtown plaza or revamped Haymarket, open my laptop and get involved in city decision-making. I hope all 20 pillars are accomplished by 2015. "
Couple a points wrote on February 19, 2007 2:52 pm:
" 1. None of these pillars are possible without the economy being tended to here. The University should be held to make that happen. The economic, business, Science/Technology and Engineering departments should lead this effort. 2. Lincoln spends way more time fretting over change then execution of it. the world passes this town by. A real town sees change like 2015 in about a year after concept. Too slow! "
Peggy Olson wrote on February 19, 2007 6:00 pm:
" Lincoln is a great place with great potential. Some need to go to the Mill and pick up a decaf,inhale, exhale and then think about what Denver is doing in regards to mass transit. It is so nice to go to a Nuggets or Rockies game on the light rail from various locations including the 'burbs.

We need to get back to building community and this does not have to be a choice of business over community or vise versa. Vision 2015 is supposed to be an opportunity for people to do just that: create a vision. Soto and Cerny are moving us in that direction.

As I look at the kind of place I want to live in, great mass transit is a key element. I'm sorry I missed the "O" Street trolley days. This is a draw to Lincoln not a hand out. Let's use this process to build community not continue the rant. "
Just a thought wrote on February 19, 2007 7:00 pm:
" While these additional ten pillars are great in concept, they are a bit vague and idealistic. What city is not struggling to improve education and access to government? These are not specific, attainable goals; they are an ongoing process, of which the city can seek as we build a stronger, more compelling and diverse infrastructure. The 2015 goals are much more concrete and address a problem that many Licolnites are safely sheltered from - Lincoln includes little to no incentive for young, college graduates to stay here. As my own graduation approaches I am forced to recognize that Lincoln does not have opportunities to compliment my degree, nor do I have any chance of sustaining my own small business. A new arena, a high-rise, a city square may not directly lead to more opportunities for college graduates, but they do act as catalysts for future growth that will give many a reason to stay. Lincoln cannot continue to act as a manufacturer of college graduates, to then simply send these graduates off as valuable assets to other communities. While many Lincolnites revile at the thought of going downtown, let alone improving downtown, one must remember that downtown is the world of the university student and while the suburbs are also important to sustain, you are losing your graduates as they leave downtown, not the suburbs, for more promising urban environments. "
Big Chief wrote on February 19, 2007 8:39 pm:
" Subway anyone? "
case and point... wrote on February 20, 2007 10:13 am:
" Let's use downtown Omaha as an example. The Haymarket and downtown area in Lincoln could benefit greatly from an arena/conference facility as well as several high-rise/revamped buildings to draw businesses and residences. The old market in Omaha was beginning to become very plighted as of 10 years ago. Then Omaha's city council made several great decisions. 1. Allow an arena to be built and have it mostly funded by Qwest communications. 2. Make a east-west route for people to get downtown and back with little or no traffic issues. 3. Spend money rennovating and sprucing up downtown, let developers go crazy and turn that area into something that resembles what Kansas City, Denver or Minneapolis have. Let's use these same principals in Lincoln's situation. 1. Build an arena/convention center and allow the Haymarket to be further developed. 2. Do two things: Widen multiple streets (INCLUDING A MAJOR NORTH/SOUTH STREET) and create a very standard and well ran public transportation system. We have two north/south bypasses so to speak. 84th Street and HWY 77. Those two are miles apart. What about something in the middle? Residents that live along 27th street and 40th street knew when they moved in or bought those houses that living next to a major street is going to be an issue and that it could be widened in the future. They now are crying because it needs to be done. We all know why 27th street which is clearly the wisest choice is not being done. The "upper-class" citizens that live along 27th from South street to HWY 2 won't have it along with Lincoln Country Club. You know what? People living along 84th street have had to deal with it. People living along 56th street have had to deal with it. It is now your turn. 3. Startran does a very mediocre job of creating a feasible city-wide transportation system. You look at larger communities and they have one of several alternatives. "L" systems, subways or a wide-spreading bus system. There isn't a bus in Lincoln that runs within 3 miles of my home. Something is wrong with that. Let's use other communities as guidelines where these same things have worked in the past. Maybe we'll actually move forward for once rather than the trend over the past 10 years of losing businesses and taking steps backward!!! "
Odd logic wrote on February 21, 2007 8:22 am:
" I find these kinds of arguments against moving specific projects forward odd. The authors have set themselves up against a straw man that they easily knock down. But are they fairly comparing their fruits? Who wouldn't be against the general categories they mention? The purpose of the plans that were thrown around in the 2015 process were not of the same category. They were redevelopment projects that were identified, or built upon, through very public processes that were ratified by various elected bodies - UNL master plan, Downtown Master Plan, Antelope Valley plan, ect... So the smoke filled corridors of the rich power brokers (as if Lincoln had a mobilized group of wealthy people engaged in civic life - ha!) We have a representative democracy that at some point has to make decisions, and identify priorities and implement action between various future development plans. The goal of these specific 2015 projects, if I am correct, is to identify priorities that will be catalysts and in turn will generate economic development and growth for our city so that we will have the funds available to address the quality of life issues that you argue for. For the sake of your laudable goals, don't kill the goose (strategic, public / private economic development) that lays the golden egg that would help pay for your humanistic vision of grass roots community development. It is NOT an us vs them equation - but to acknowledge that truth would destroy the basis for your simplistic argument. "
ted wrote on February 22, 2007 12:57 pm:
" Nice ideas, very socialist, who's going to pay for all this? Like childcare, why is this an economic responsibility for all the taxpayers? Shouldn't the parents think about the costs of having kids before they begin a family? Why is childcare my problem? I already paid for my child, public schools, and welfare, etc. "
Sorry but wrote on August 1, 2007 8:33 am:
" We all know that 27th st would be the best choice to widen. all the traffic that is going South needs a 2 lane road. 27th St is the right choice. "

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