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Orange postcards that 5,000 Omaha households are receiving to participate in a survey aimed at planning a future Omaha. (Courtesy of City of Omaha)
OMAHA — A random sampling of about 5,000 Omaha households is receiving orange postcards in their mailboxes as part of an effort to guide future growth of Nebraska’s most populated city.
The postcards contain directions on how to tap into a roughly 12-minute survey designed to gauge what Omahans want their city to look like over the next two decades.
It’s part of the “We Make Omaha” initiative that’s been holding events and gathering information. The end goal: produce a 20-year master plan that will shape policies and land-use decisions influencing quality of life, housing, development and transportation. The existing plan has served Omaha for about three decades.
The orange postcards mark the latest outreach to solicit opinions.
Decisions we make through the comprehensive plan will shape Omaha for decades. This survey gives residents a direct opportunity to influence those decisions and help ensure the plan reflects what matters most to the community.
– Omaha Mayor John Ewing Jr.
Josie Schafer, who heads the Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, said her team is assisting the City of Omaha in the survey effort. She believes it is the first large-scale survey associated with Omaha’s planning operations.
Over the next few days, the 5,000 households should be receiving a second postcard urging participation. The first went out to them earlier this month.
As of mid-week, about 200 households had completed the survey, said Schafer, who is hoping for at least 1,000 responses to assure what she said is an acceptable margin of error for the findings. A third reminder postcard will hit mailboxes in February.
Coordinators are hoping to have all responses by the end of February and expect to report results in early May.
Recipients of the postcards, which provide a code to access an online survey, were randomly selected but include a cross-section of neighborhoods, said Schafer. Responses are confidential and will be anonymized before analysis.
Printed surveys can be requested. The surveys also are offered online in Spanish, and other translations are available, coordinators said.
In addition to the postcards, an “open access survey” is offered online to people who aren’t in the sample group. As of mid-week, about 500 people had responded to that offering. Schafer said the open-access option will offer an opportunity for additional opinions and comparisons to the sample group.
Among the survey questions: What amenities help you enjoy a place? What type of homes would you prefer to live in? What types of development should the city prioritize? In two words, describe Omaha today.
“The decisions we make through the comprehensive plan will shape Omaha for decades,” said Mayor John Ewing Jr. “This survey gives residents a direct opportunity to influence those decisions and help ensure the plan reflects what matters most to the community.”
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