According to the Nebraska Department of Labor, in March 2008 the unemployment rate in Omaha was 3.9 percent. Between 2000 and 2005 Omaha's job growth was 0.70 percent. In 2006 the sales tax rate was seven percent, with income tax at 6.68 percent. That same year the median family income was $56,869, with a 1.80 percent housing price gain.[3]
In 1870 Omaha began its role as a wholesale jobbing center for the United States. The wholesale jobber purchased goods directly from the manufacturer, transported these goods via the railroads, and sold them directly to small businesses through traveling salesmen. Omaha jobbers handled a wide variety of wholesale products along the Great Platte River Road and beyond, including groceries, dry goods, hardware, fruits, paper, and liquor.[5] The city created a market house and a food-oriented warehousing district to meet the needs of this sector of the economy.
The meatpacking industry, built in conjunction with the Omaha Stockyards, started to grow in the 1890s, and provided financial strength to the city through the 1970s. A fierce rival of Chicago's Union Stock Yards, the Omaha Stockyards were third in the nation for production by 1890.[9] The "Big Four" meat packers during this time were Armour, Wilson, Cudahy, and Swift. There were several breweries established throughout the city during this period. In 1947 they were second only to Chicago in worldwide ratings. Omaha overtook Chicago as the U.S.'s largest livestock market and meat packing industry center in 1955, a title which it held until 1971.[10] The 116-year-old institution closed in 1999.[11]
Businesses
There were several small-scale meatpacking operations in Omaha during this period. Large plants in Omaha included Armour, Cudahy, Swift and Morris, along with several smaller companies. All together they employed over 13,000 men by the 1950s.[12]
The Missouri River provided the initial source of revenue for young Omaha, as fur trappers such as Manuel Lisaused the area to build their inland empires with local Native American tribes. As steamboats started pouring in goods manufactured in the Eastern United States, thousands of tons of goods came through the city. However, the problem of transporting materials for the growing Midwestern United States needed to be addressed, which luckily opened the doorways to the city's major growth engine in its earliest years. The second period of growth in Omaha, from approximately 1865 through the 1880s, is attributed solely to the city's railroad connections, which drew almost all significant rail traffic from the Pacific Northwest through the area. By the 1870s, Omaha had seven major rail lines.
Major bus lines and airlines have traveled through the city for almost 100 years. Several major highways and bridges come into the city as well.[13]
Early businesspeople who were important to the growth and development of the city include a variety of bankers, investors, promoters, lawyers, and entrepreneurs. Omaha is said to have been founded by William D. Brown, the entrepreneur behind the Lone Tree Ferry which brought settlers across from Council Bluffs, Iowa. Alfred D. Jones was a surveyor and lawyer who first platted the city. Later the brothers Edward and John A. Creighton traveled west from their native Ohio planting telegraph wires along the way. Their contributions to the city's growth were innumerable, with varied backgrounds in banking, investing and philanthropy. Similarly, the Kountze family's impact on the city was immense. Augustus and his brother Herman founded the bank that became the First National of Nebraska, which today is the largest independent bank in the U.S., and is still headquartered in Omaha. Gilbert Hitchcock and Edward Rosewater were among the many influential newspaper editors in the city, founding empires that promoted, molded and drove economic development. Frederick Krug, Frederick Metz and Gottlieb Storz were all early beerbrewers, with counterparts in the meatpacking industry included Edward Cudahy, Sr. among others.[14]
According to Newsweek magazine, "Omaha is where the blue-collar work of the information economy is done. Phones are answered, money is counted, and data are processed. Six national fiber optic networks converge here."[18]
The telecommunications industry has gravitated to Omaha over the last 30 years. After the U.S. government relocated the Strategic Air Command here following World War II, the city became home to one of the world's most advanced and secure phone systems. Other factors in the city's success include the city's location in the Central Time Zone, making it more convenient to call either coast during the work day, as well as local speech patterns, described as "pure American," making it easily understood everywhere. Nebraska state regulators granted local phone companies wide latitude to deploy new services rapidly. Furthermore, Omaha's Metropolitan Community College created telecommunications-related courses and training programs. Since the early 1980s, several large hotel and travel reservation operations, including those for Marriott, Hyatt, Radisson and Westin hotels as well as the traffic information center for Greyhound Bus Lines, have all been located in the city.[1] After the AT&T breakup, US West, the phone company whose 14-state territory includes Nebraska, adopted the slogan "Dial 800 and get Omaha" to promote its services.[18] Worldwide telecommunications company West Corporation was founded in Omaha in 1986, and it is currently still headquartered there. Other nationwide companies with major call center operations located in Omaha include PayPal, Cox Communications, and Aflac.
Omaha was one of the first U.S. cities to develop a fiber optic network. Over the past 10 years, its telecommunications foundation has expanded into a thriving information technology sector.[18] Today, the city has several educational facilities focused on information technology and telecommunications, including the University of Nebraska's Peter Kiewit Institute, Creighton University's Joe Ricketts Center in Electronic Commerce and Database Marketing, the Creighton Institute of Information Technology Management, and programs at Bellevue University.
According to USA Today, Omaha is ranked eighth among the nation's 50 largest cities in both per-capita billionaires and Fortune 500 companies.[23]Warren Buffett, nicknamed the "Oracle of Omaha", was ranked as the richest people in the world in 2017. Other influential businesspeople in the area include Cathy Hughes, owner of Radio One.
Retail
Omaha is home to three major shopping malls: Westroads Mall,[24]Oak View Mall,[25] and Village Pointe, an outdoor shopping mall located in far west Omaha. Village Pointe houses some of Omaha's finer national retailers, such as Coach, Inc. and Apple Inc.[26] Shadow Lake Towne Center is another large scale outdoor shopping mall located in the suburb of Papillion. Several smaller scale shopping centers are located throughout the city. One Pacific Place and Regency Court Mall are upscale shopping centers in the Regency neighborhood. Borsheim's Fine Jewelry62,500-square-foot (5,810m2) store is located in Regency Court Mall.[27] Sorensen Park Plaza, Aksarben Village, Midtown Crossing, and Rockbrook Village are other major shopping centers in the Omaha area.
Located near Crossroads Mall on 72nd and Dodge, Nebraska Furniture Mart is the largest home furnishings store in North America.[28]
Although Downtown Omaha was once the city's major retail district, most retail locations are now located in Midtown and West Omaha. However, the Old Market District has several local specialty shops and clothing stores and boutiques. The NoDo development has brought national retailers back to downtown with Urban Outfitters[citation needed] and American Apparel[30] opening in the Slowdown development.[31]
In West Omaha — parts of which were covered in cornfields as recently as 2002, several commercial districts and high wealth neighborhoods have developed. A mixed-use development in the southwest portion of the city called Coventry will be a complex of mansions, commercial development, and retail/restaurants. Projects are also under way for improving North Omaha.[38] In the Midtown area, Mutual of Omaha is redeveloping an area bordering 31st to 33rd streets and Dodge to Harney streets that is called Midtown Crossing at Turner Park.[39] Featuring condominiums, apartments and an Element Hotel,[40] The area will also host an urban style movie theater with restaurant and bar/club included, a grocery store, restaurants, a dry cleaners, a health club and other shops and services. After renovating and expanding the public Turner Park, the development seeks to become a catalyst for further redevelopment in the area.[41] Another mixed-use project in Midtown is situated on the site of the former Ak-Sar-Ben Colesium. Aksarben Village is a huge complex consisting of University of Nebraska at Omaha's Aksarben Campus containing learning centers and dorms, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NE's new Headquarters, First Data's Omaha offices, a neighborhood grocer, restaurants, shops, a hotel, lounges, bars, clubs, a movie theater, residential areas, and several other medium and small business offices.
Also, in 2009, Omaha released a new master plan for Downtown's development over the next 30 years. It divides several unique districts, The Downtown Center, North Downtown, the Entertainment district, the North and South Riverfront, the Joslyn District, The Park East/Farnam District, and the Old Market District. The Entertainment district will include the CenturyLink Center Omaha and the TD Ameritrade Park. Also, there is a proposed area for several soccer or baseball fields. A large Part of the new Master Plan is the prediction of 8 new office towers in the next 30 years.
Another positive economic note for Omaha is that out of all major U.S. cites, it was least affected by the 2008 economic recession.
Census data in Douglas County from 2000 shows more than 7,800 families living below the poverty line. This is about 6.7 percent of families. In 2007, the director of a statewide poverty advocacy group was quoted as saying, "In Omaha, you start talking about low-income issues, people assume you’re talking about minority issues..."[4] As of October 2007, the city of Omaha, the 42nd largest in the country, has the fifth-highest percentage of low-income African Americans in the country.[42]
Omaha is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 10 mi (15 km) north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 40th-most populous city, Omaha's 2020 census population was 486,051.
The CHI Health Center Omaha is an arena and convention center in the central United States, located in the North Downtown neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska. Operated by the Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority (MECA), the 1.1-million-square-foot (100,000 m2) facility has an 18,975-seat arena, a 194,000 sq ft (18,000 m2) exhibition hall, and 62,000 sq ft (5,800 m2) of meeting space.
The City of Oklahoma City uses Special Zoning Districts as a tool to maintain the character of many neighborhood communities.
The following is a list of neighborhoods and commercial districts in Sioux City, Iowa.
The history of Omaha, Nebraska, began before the settlement of the city, with speculators from neighboring Council Bluffs, Iowa staking land across the Missouri River illegally as early as the 1840s. When it was legal to claim land in Indian Country, William D. Brown was operating the Lone Tree Ferry to bring settlers from Council Bluffs to Omaha. A treaty with the Omaha Tribe allowed the creation of the Nebraska Territory, and Omaha City was founded on July 4, 1854. With early settlement came claim jumpers and squatters, and the formation of a vigilante law group called the Omaha Claim Club, which was one of many claim clubs across the Midwest. During this period many of the city's founding fathers received lots in Scriptown, which was made possible by the actions of the Omaha Claim Club. The club's violent actions were challenged successfully in a case ultimately decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, Baker v. Morton, which led to the end of the organization.
Midtown is a geographic area of Omaha, Nebraska that is a culturally, socially and economically important area of the city. It is home to major research centers, national corporations, several historic districts, and a number of historic residences.
The culture of Omaha, Nebraska, has been partially defined by music and college sports, and by local cuisine and community theatre. The city has a long history of improving and expanding on its cultural offerings. In the 1920s, the Omaha Bee newspaper wrote, "The cultural future of Omaha seems as certain of greatness as the commercial future... The symphony orchestra, the Art institute, the Community Playhouse and other organizations are on firm foundations and Omaha is destined to be not only a bigger, but a better city, both financially and culturally." Reviewing Omaha's contemporary arts scene in 2007, the New York Times hailed the city as having "a kind of cultural awakening".
Sports in Omaha, Nebraska are supported by a high attendance at events and tax support from the City of Omaha. Omaha, Nebraska is home to several professional sports teams and modern sports venues.
The Livestock Exchange Building in Omaha, Nebraska, was built in 1926 at 4920 South 30 Street in South Omaha. It was designed as the centerpiece of the Union Stockyards by architect George Prinz and built by Peter Kiewit and Sons in the Romanesque revival and Northern Italian Renaissance Revival styles. In 1999 it was designated an Omaha Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Union Stockyards were closed in 1999, and the Livestock Exchange Building underwent an extensive renovation over the next several years.
Jobbers Canyon Historic District was a large industrial and warehouse area comprising 24 buildings located in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, US. It was roughly bound by Farnam Street on the north, South Eighth Street on the east, Jackson Street on the south, and South Tenth Street on the west. In 1989, all 24 buildings in Jobbers Canyon were demolished, representing the largest National Register historic district loss to date.
Downtown Omaha is the central business, government and social core of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area, U.S. state of Nebraska. The boundaries are Omaha's 20th Street on the west to the Missouri River on the east and the centerline of Leavenworth Street on the south to the centerline of Chicago Street on the north, also including the CHI Health Center Omaha. Downtown sits on the Missouri River, with commanding views from the tallest skyscrapers.
Transportation in Omaha, Nebraska, includes most major modes, such as pedestrian, bicycle, automobile, bus, train and airplane. While early transportation consisted of ferries, stagecoaches, steamboats, street railroads, and railroads, the city's transportation systems have evolved to include the Interstate Highway System, parklike boulevards and a variety of bicycle and pedestrian trails. The historic head of several important emigrant trails and the First transcontinental railroad, its center as a national transportation hub earned Omaha the nickname "Gate City of the West" as early as the 1860s.
Railroads in Omaha, Nebraska, have been integral to the growth and development of the city, the state of Nebraska, the Western United States and the entire United States. The convergence of many railroad forces upon the city was by happenstance and synergy, as none of the Omaha leaders had a comprehensive strategy for bringing railroads to the city.
Regency is a neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska. Bound by West Dodge Road, South 96th Street, Pacific Street and Interstate 680, the development was the first major real estate development funded by Mutual of Omaha.
Tourism in Omaha, Nebraska, United States offers visitors history, sports, nature and cultural experiences. Its principal tourist attractions are the Henry Doorly Zoo and the College World Series (CWS). A 2003 study by a Creighton University economist estimated that the CWS added $33.8 million to the city's economy that year. With 1.1 million visitors annually, the Henry Doorly Zoo is Nebraska's most popular tourist attraction. In 2007 Omaha hosted the USA Roller Sports National Championships, along with 10,000 people who auditioned for the American Idol television show at Qwest Center Omaha.
Various ethnic groups in Omaha, Nebraska have lived in the city since its organization by Anglo-Americans in 1854. Native Americans of various nations lived in the Omaha territory for centuries before European arrival, and some stayed in the area. The city was founded by white Anglo-Saxon Protestants from neighboring Council Bluffs, Iowa. However, since the first settlement, substantial immigration from all of Europe, migration by African Americans from the Deep South and various ethnic groups from the Eastern United States, and new waves of more recent immigrants from Mexico and Africa have added layers of complexity to the workforce, culture, religious and social fabric of the city.
William A. Paxton was an American pioneer businessman and politician in Omaha, Nebraska. His life as a rancher and cattleman early in his life, as well as early work with the Union Pacific Railroad was highly regarded among his contemporaries; his success as a businessman later in his life led him to great wealth. His leadership is seen as an essential factor in Omaha becoming a prominent stockyards and meatpacking center. He is frequently referred to as "the real founder of South Omaha."
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