Papillion Creek Wetland Restoration

I've grown up in and around the Papio Creek Watershed and have a personal connection to the area.  I am an avid hunter and conversationalist.  I've watched as urbanization has crept into the watershed and destroyed pristine wildlife habitat.  After talking to one of the few remaining local farmers, I learned that the floodplains used to be home to the great Papio Creek Wetlands.  Thousands of birds annually used this critical stopover while migrating.  Unfortunately, the Creeks have been impounded by a massive flood control system of dykes that have dried up almost all of the wetland.  As a result, the creek itself has irregular water flows and has become heavily polluted.  Today, the floodplain is used primarily for agriculture and industrial waste.

What I propose doing, is blowing strategic holes in the dykes in the proposed area, and letting the creek retake its floodplain. Wetlands would help clean up the water coming out of the Omaha metro before it enters the Missouri River. It would also help regulate the flow of water, meaning more stable flows.  This would help native flora and fauna-including the endangered Topeka Shiner-and provide a slice of 'nature' in the middle of the city.  Obviously, as a waterfowl hunter, I have a penchant for ducks and geese.  The restoration of this habitat would benefit them greatly, and who knows, if geography allowed it, perhaps a slice of the wetlands could be reserved for hunting waterfowl.  Many Omaha area hunters have to travel a long distance to find suitable public hunting grounds.

The shaded areas are where I propose restoring the Papillion Creek Floodplains back to their original state.  Existing Infrastructure (power lines) is marked in yellow. 

Omaha Mass Transit

Omaha is a fast growing mid-sized city in the heart of the country.  The city itself has just over 400k residents and the metro is about double that size.  Currently, Omaha is a very car-centric city and congestion is a minimal problem.  You can travel anywhere in the city in under 20 minutes.  As Omaha continues to grow, we will eventually hit a sprawl wall.  Congestion will increase and the city will need some form of public transportation system to alleviate the added stress to the city's infrastructure.

Our city needs to start planning and thinking about how it will deal with future problems brought on by growth.  There is presently no need for any type of public rail infrastructure in the city.  However, once the metro area passes the 1 million population barrier, the city should expect rapid growth, as the city will suddenly appear on large multinational corporations' radar.  The 1 million population mark will bring an influx of jobs and people that Omaha's current infrastructure will be unable to handle. 

I've taken the liberty to draft 2 different plans for public rail in Omaha.  The first plan is a heavy rail (subways) based concept.  The second utilizes existing rail corridors and light rail while minimizing the use of heavy rail (subways).

NOTE: Both concepts utilize 'alternate routes'.  These are routes that would NOT be built, but could be if one of the original proposed routes was deemed to costly or impractical.  For example, on the 1st proposed plan, the Pink Line is an alternate route for the Red Line.  If the Red Line was deemed impractical, than the Pink Line would become 'Plan B'.

Omaha Skyscraper

This is another concept I've been working on for some time.  If I make it big someday I'd love to help build another skyscraper in Omaha (we're kinda lacking).  Anyway, this concept was inspired by my two favorite buildings: the Wrigley Building in Chicago for the exterior and the Chrysler Building in New York for the spire.  I like the old art deco/Gothic revival style.  I'm not a big fan of the modernist and now the post modernist architecture that has come to dominate city skylines.  I think what Omaha really lacks is an old school gem of a skyscraper.  For some reason, we as Americans, and especially here in Nebraska like to tear down the old- Jobbers Canyon-and replace it with the new-TD Ameritrade Park-instead of preserving it-Old Market-which has proven that history & the accompanying charm hold economic and societal value.  I think our society doesn't care about our history relative to other cultures.  We prefer our sterilized generic present, instead of a rich tradition filled environment.  Currently, the First National Bank Tower is our primate edifice and it definitely harkens back to the past in its design, but we need an icon.  I think this rough rendering is a good place to start.  The goal is for the structure to have some of the charm and character of architecture past.  The tower would be approximately 630' high from the tip of the spire to the street.

The potential lot is currently a parking lot between Dodge & Capitol.

Wallace Wade Stadium Expansion

Expanded Wallace Wade Stadium

Wallace Wade Stadium is the home of the Duke Blue Devils' Football team.  I became interested in this old school horseshoe after playing some NCAA 09 Dynasty Mode as Duke's coach and also after visiting Durham, and the stadium in 09'.  I should note I am an avid Husker at heart, but I like designing and creating things, and Duke's old bowl was the perfect blank template for my imagination.  Besides, Nebraska is already working on this. 

Monarch Stadium

Here's a concept for an on campus football/futbal stadium for my alma mater, Papillion Lavista High School.  I designed the concept in Google SketchUp and rendered the following images from that model.

Download Model

View from Southeast

My First Blog

So I've thought about doing this for awhile, but why now?  Well I guess the impetus started the other day listening to the radio and catching the Foo Fighters new single 'These Days'.  I started thinking about death (like a lot of people do) and life and stuff...cool right?  I've been on antidepressants the last couple years and my life has been dramatically changed (for the better I hope) and my thinking is not what it used to be.  I'm don't mull over death and life like I did in before Setraline (zoloft) but it has an odd way of creeping back into my thoughts now and then when a stimulus provokes it.  But I digress, while the song leaves one feeling somewhat melancholy, it did make me think about what the essence of a human being is: their memories.  The other impetus for me starting this blog is David Choe's 'Thumbs Up' on Vice.  Check it out if you haven't.  Basically the way he lives his life is one big piece of art.  He lives life, which is so inspiring.  After some introspection, I realized that the reason why I fear death is the loss of memory.  The moments, the knowledge, feelings, emotions, stories that are forever lost to history when one passes on.  It is not the person that I miss, but the essence of that person.  Memories are what make a person, memories are the soul of a human being.  My fear is that what I have inside me, the memories, the ideas, knowledge, perspective, feelings, emotions, etc. essentially my soul and the memory of me will be lost forever when I die.  It has happened to the billions that have come before us.  Fortunately, the Internet promises to be a medium for the average man to gain relative immortality.  I hope that this is the medium through which I can preserve myself to an extent.  It is a selfish thought, but also a necessary one, in some ways it is a coping mechanism.