SHOWCASING THE 2019 COMMUNITY: THE STORY OF CENTRAL CITY
November 21, 2019
NOVEMBER 2019 WEBINAR
Central City's City Administrator, Chris Anderson, and Economic Development Director, Miles McGinnis, shared the story of Central City's journey. They shared about their starting point, the 2010 Census, where the realized Central City, Nebraska was seeing a population decline resulting in a decrease in household size, loss of employees, aging housing stock, and statewide trends. They created strategies for the vision for 2020 to include creating new housing opportunities, improving parks & town attractiveness, creating first class sports facilities, investing in the infrastructure, and marketing/image development.
The 80th HomeNE Learning Network featured Jean Van Iperen, who discussed Columbus, Nebraska’s housing challenges and the city’s proactive strategies to address them. Jean highlighted the city’s 7% population growth and a shortage over 4 years of 387 homes, prompting efforts like zoning reform, streamlined permitting, and investment in new developments, including a 238-unit apartment complex. The city is also planning a new housing study, exploring affordable housing options, and considering mixed-use projects to meet evolving community needs. Participants were encouraged to revisit past webinars for insights and to attend the upcoming session on June 19th featuring Michelle Cole. The session emphasized the value of small takeaways from presentations and invited community members to share their stories for future webinars.
What comes after a successful housing project? Megan Weaver of Wakefield Progressive joins us to talk through the "after". Wakefield has had a number of successful housing initiatives over the past 12 years, but what is next? Megan is asking the question in hopes that the HomeNE Learning Network can give her a hand.
Dana Village in Blair, Nebraska is a unique project that shows how one man can change the world. Through a need to rid the Omaha area of homelessness, Ed Shada embarked on a journey to start Dana Village. Learn how one man is making a difference in Eastern Nebraska, assisting kids ageing out of the foster care system to get on their feet and find a path that works for them.
