Abstract
The Near North Side neighborhood of North Omaha has faced much turmoil during its one hundred and sixty years of existence. A once thriving and culturally significant community has been reduced to an area plagued with violence, poverty, and substandard housing. Through years of racial oppression and quarantine, peaking with the proposal and construction of the city’s North Freeway, the small community has slowly become a helpless shadow of its former self. In the last two decades, the city’s Urban Development Board, along with few city officials and willing members of the community, have attempted to correct the missteps and injustices of the past. These partnerships have aided in increased maintenance of old parks, proposed creation of new greenspaces, the construction of upscale single family housing in place of dilapidated multifamily and cramped housing, and created a revamped front for the historical business district along 24th and Lake Streets in hope of revitalizing the community and restoring the faith and trust of community members towards city officials. This extending of the olive branch may have come far too late. The North Freeway not only cut through the heart of this predominantly Black community, suffocating its business district, but it also continues to leave horrible byproducts like pollution, and increased rates of poverty, and crime. This study will look at the evolution of the Near North Side, its problematic relationship with the North Freeway, and an outlook on its future, given Omaha’s present trend towards being more of a pedestrian and community friendly city.