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AARON KLOKE | MCRP
portfolio
City of Casper, Wyoming_Summer 2012
City of Crete, Nebraska_Fall 2012
Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador_Summer 2013
City of Crete, Nebraska_Summer & Fall 2013
City of Omaha, Nebraska_Fall 2013 & Spring 2014Professional Project
City Planning Internship
Discover Alborada Park
Crete Visioning Plan
1
2
7
11
14
Planning Internship
Content
Page 1 | City of Casper Internship
Historical Case Data Development Review Photo Inventory
My largest project of the summer was to
review historical cases, such as easements
and exactions, while populating a digital
database to be used by several other city
departments. This project allowed me
to familiarize myself with the legal and
administrative side of land use and zoning.
In addition to working with historical
case data, I was given the opportunity
to present recommendations concerning
development review to city council.I also
wrote and developed a set of ordinance
amendments outlining outdoor lighting
standards,allowing me to come full circle
and appreciate all aspects planning policy
and the development review process.
One of my final projects was to produce
a photo inventory of downtown assets
including buildings, parklets, and open
space. This gave me the opportunity
to understand the many elements that
comprehensively make up any downtown
or city district.
My internship under the Community Development Dept. of the City of Casper was
my first real time experience working in a planning and development environment.This
opportunity allowed me to explore all aspects of current planning and development
review from the city perspective.
Planning Internship
City of Casper, Wyoming
Summer 2012
Page 2 | Crete Visioning Plan
Crete Visioning Plan
City of Crete, Nebraska
Fall 2012
University of Nebraska - Lincoln_College of Architecture
Interdisciplinary Studio_Fall 2012
HIRD PLACE
Church
GolfCourse
Pool
Doane
College
Other
CHILD MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION
20
10
0
0-2 3-10 11-20 >20
Miles
Diversity
Culture/History
SchoolSystemThe
People/Com
m
unity
Doane
College
Sm
allTow
n
Atm
osphere
VolunteersM
edicalFacilities
Don’tKnowOther
5%
0%
/Com
m
unity
Doane
CollegeSm
allTow
n
Atm
osphere
Em
ploym
ent/Industry
Safe
Com
m
unity
Dont’Know
Other
COMMUNITY SURVEY
2% walk
84% by vehicle
14% by bicycle
Has obtained a bachelor’s or master’s degree
and is 55 years old
Has a household income over
$100,000 and is employed
full-time
Believes that Crete’s most
unique characteristic is its
diversity
Is proud of Crete’s diversity, sense of community, and the
people that make it up
Wants more community building, neigh-
borhood integration, and more green
space.
Spends most of their free time in Lincoln and other
nearby communities outside of Crete
Feels that Crete is a safe place to
live
Has not visited a local park within
three months
Spends money downtown one to three times a week and
frequently visits Foodmart, True Value, and other shop-
ping or retail
Believes Crete
needs a vision and
better leadership
The goal of this project was to create a visioning plan for the City of Crete that
would lead the city to identify goals and strategies to pursue an environment
that reflects its rich history, stimulates innovation, and develops social,
environmental, and economic assets for the community.
In the Fall of 2012, students worked through a process which consisted of
inventory and analysis, frameworking, design, and implementation phases. I
would later, along with landscape architecture student Heather Tomasek, be
hired to work on specific projects that would maintain the momentum of the
Crete visioning plan.
To the right is a diagram used to summarize the findings of a survey which my
team designed, administered, and analyzed to inform our inventory gathering
process.
Page 3 | Crete Visioning Plan
Economic Analysis
Elizabeth Goll_M ARCH
Lisa Major_M ARCH
Chris Rokahr_M ARCH
Aaron Kloke_M CRP
Brian Anderson_L ARCH
Coelette Gruber_M CRP
A trade area is the geographic area from which the community draws the
majority of its retail trade customers. It usually extends beyond the munici-
pal boundaries. The general criteria is that the majority of trade area resi-
dents shop in the community.
Reilly’s Law of Retail Gravitation can help a community determine its retail
trade boundaries. It is appropriate for shopping goods (furniture, medical
services and automobiles, etc.), which are the goods and services bought
after comparing price, quality and style.
This argues people are attracted to bigger places to do their shopping, but
the time and distance they must travel influences their willingness to shop
there. Below are the distances of Crete’s retail pull in directions toward ma-
jor communities surrounding Crete.
Lincoln - 3.6 miles
Milford - 14 miles
Wilber - 7.5 miles
Friend - 13 miles
CR
Lo
fo
us
so
pe
na
Lo
du
fic
ho
th
An
M
Tr
Re
Pr
In
He
Re
CRETE
ECONOMIC BASE ANALYSIS CONTINUED
After looking over the location quotient numbers and analysis. We know
that Crete’s main exporting, basic industries are that of Manufacturing and
Transportation & Warehousing. By comparing the employment for all in-
dustries and Crete and the employment in just the basic sectors, we can
see the strength of these sectors and the strength of Crete’s main economic
engines. The final ratio for the economic base is 1.77. This indicates that for
every job created in the basic sectors of manufacturing and transportation
& warehousing, .77 jobs are created in other non basic industries to support
it. The greatest way to boost a communities economy is to support basic
economies and then support supply chains for these basic economies.
Location Quotients have told us more than our basic industries. Three more
industries have been identified that are not able to support the local de-
mand, the greatest one being professional & business services at .1. This
means that 90% of the demand for these services within Crete are being
supplied by outside firms, leading to money leaving Crete.
SU
To
49
ho
in
tu
br
ag
Bu
th
Un
cr
in
br
pl
co
Th
pl
tim
EMPLOYMENT EXPLAINED
The four graphs to the left share a great deal of information and what can
be concluded from them can help us understand what to focus on in the fu-
ture economic development of Crete. The employment availability is shown
as a percentage of Nebraska’s employment availability. We can see that
there has been a great decline over the past years. This data may seem to be
in conflict with the Industry data. The industry data does show an increase
in employment in specific sectors. But, when considering that the first graph
is shown as a percentage of Nebraska’s employment, we can see that Crete
may be adding jobs but anywhere near the rate that the rest of Nebraska is.
The first graph, on employment availability, compared to the unemploy-
ment chart also provides interesting conclusions. Notice that the two charts
are inversely related. As less jobs are available, unemployment goes up. This
inverse relationship seems to be at a disconnect after 2005. It is difficult to
say what is going when looking at this. If jobs are being added, yet unem-
ployment is rising, it may be due to residents outside of Crete accepting
jobs within Crete. This could be the case as Crete’s unemployment rate is
calculated for Crete residents only while available jobs can be occupied by
residents of Crete or residents outside of Crete.
Crete’s per capita income is shown as a percentage of Nebraska’s. This per
capita income has plateaued since 2000. This could be due to the rapid in-
crease in population by residents and laborers that are taking lower paying
jobs and the stagnation of the availability of higher paying jobs.
UNEMPLOYMENT PER CAPITA INCOME
INDUSTRYEMPLOYMENT POSITIONS
82%
80%
78%
76%
4%
5%
74%
3%
100%
72%
2%
90%
70%
1%
80%
68%
0%
70%
1990
1990
1990
1995
1995
1995
2000
2000
2000
2005
2005
2005
2010
2010
2010
Manufacturing has
increased only slightly
since 2000 and is the
greatest employer of all
industries.
Finance and Insurance
employment has increased
due to a large number
of small firms and a few
medium sized firms.
Construction employment
as relatively increased
greatly since 2000.
Crete’s unemployment rate has
consistently been lower than Nebraska’s
aside from 2008.
Unemployment has increased, probably
due to the Great Recession, always
consistent with the state of Nebraska
With dramatic population increase
and job availability stagnation,
unemployment has increased,
even to the point where in 2008,
unemployment was higher than the
Nebraska average.
Employment is measured as a percentage of Nebraska’s
employment. Crete saw a decline in the availability of jobs
throughout this time period.
For the past five years, Crete has seen a plateau in
job availability while their population has increased
dramatically.
Retail employers have
increased, but being small
firms, they have not em-
ployed a large amount of
employees per firm.
Transport and
Warehousing
has increased
employees due
to larger firms in
recent years.
Health care employment
has increased slightly
since 2000.
Between 1990 and 2000, Crete experienced declining
per capita income. Beginning in 2000, Crete’s per capita
income has plateaued through the years. This plateau
may be explained by Crete’s rapid growth between 2000
and 2010. 2008 saw the highest per capita income since
2000.
Elizabeth Goll_M ARCH
Lisa Major_M ARCH
Chris Rokahr_M ARCH
Aaron Kloke_M CRP
Brian Anderson_L ARCH
Coelette Gruber_M CRP
A trade area is the geographic area from which the community draws the
majority of its retail trade customers. It usually extends beyond the munici-
pal boundaries. The general criteria is that the majority of trade area resi-
dents shop in the community.
Reilly’s Law of Retail Gravitation can help a community determine its retail
trade boundaries. It is appropriate for shopping goods (furniture, medical
services and automobiles, etc.), which are the goods and services bought
after comparing price, quality and style.
This argues people are attracted to bigger places to do their shopping, but
the time and distance they must travel influences their willingness to shop
there. Below are the distances of Crete’s retail pull in directions toward ma-
jor communities surrounding Crete.
Lincoln - 3.6 miles
Milford - 14 miles
Wilber - 7.5 miles
Friend - 13 miles
CRETE PROD
Location quot
for its own use
us which type
source of con
percentage of
national empl
Location Quo
dustries. Score
ficient. Each c
however, if th
there may be
Analysis:
Manufacturin
Transportatio
Real Estate an
Professional a
Information
Health Care
Retail
CRETE
ECONOMIC BASE ANALYSIS CONTINUED
After looking over the location quotient numbers and analysis. We know
that Crete’s main exporting, basic industries are that of Manufacturing and
Transportation & Warehousing. By comparing the employment for all in-
dustries and Crete and the employment in just the basic sectors, we can
see the strength of these sectors and the strength of Crete’s main economic
engines. The final ratio for the economic base is 1.77. This indicates that for
every job created in the basic sectors of manufacturing and transportation
& warehousing, .77 jobs are created in other non basic industries to support
it. The greatest way to boost a communities economy is to support basic
economies and then support supply chains for these basic economies.
Location Quotients have told us more than our basic industries. Three more
industries have been identified that are not able to support the local de-
mand, the greatest one being professional & business services at .1. This
means that 90% of the demand for these services within Crete are being
supplied by outside firms, leading to money leaving Crete.
SUMMARY
Today, Crete is
49.9 % of the
housing is als
industry along
turing industr
braska infrastr
agricultural ba
Bunge Mills. T
the past years
Unfortunately
crease in jobs
industries, ma
bring a positiv
ployers have i
communities’
This may be w
place. Nearly 6
time, we see n
EMPLOYMENT EXPLAINED
The four graphs to the left share a great deal of information and what can
be concluded from them can help us understand what to focus on in the fu-
ture economic development of Crete. The employment availability is shown
as a percentage of Nebraska’s employment availability. We can see that
there has been a great decline over the past years. This data may seem to be
in conflict with the Industry data. The industry data does show an increase
in employment in specific sectors. But, when considering that the first graph
is shown as a percentage of Nebraska’s employment, we can see that Crete
may be adding jobs but anywhere near the rate that the rest of Nebraska is.
The first graph, on employment availability, compared to the unemploy-
ment chart also provides interesting conclusions. Notice that the two charts
are inversely related. As less jobs are available, unemployment goes up. This
inverse relationship seems to be at a disconnect after 2005. It is difficult to
say what is going when looking at this. If jobs are being added, yet unem-
ployment is rising, it may be due to residents outside of Crete accepting
jobs within Crete. This could be the case as Crete’s unemployment rate is
calculated for Crete residents only while available jobs can be occupied by
residents of Crete or residents outside of Crete.
Crete’s per capita income is shown as a percentage of Nebraska’s. This per
capita income has plateaued since 2000. This could be due to the rapid in-
crease in population by residents and laborers that are taking lower paying
jobs and the stagnation of the availability of higher paying jobs.
UNEMPLOYMENT PER CAPITA INCOME
INDUSTRYEMPLOYMENT POSITIONS
NW
SW
W
82%
80%
78%
76%
4%
5%
74%
3%
100%
72%
2%
90%
70%
1%
80%
68%
0%
70%
1990
1990
1990
1995
1995
1995
2000
2000
2000
2005
2005
2005
2010
2010
2010
Manufacturing has
increased only slightly
since 2000 and is the
greatest employer of all
industries.
Finance and Insurance
employment has increased
due to a large number
of small firms and a few
medium sized firms.
Construction employment
as relatively increased
greatly since 2000.
Crete’s unemployment rate has
consistently been lower than Nebraska’s
aside from 2008.
Unemployment has increased, probably
due to the Great Recession, always
consistent with the state of Nebraska
With dramatic population increase
and job availability stagnation,
unemployment has increased,
even to the point where in 2008,
unemployment was higher than the
Nebraska average.
Employment is measured as a percentage of Nebraska’s
employment. Crete saw a decline in the availability of jobs
throughout this time period.
For the past five years, Crete has seen a plateau in
job availability while their population has increased
dramatically.
Retail employers have
increased, but being small
firms, they have not em-
ployed a large amount of
employees per firm.
Transport and
Warehousing
has increased
employees due
to larger firms in
recent years.
Health care employment
has increased slightly
since 2000.
Between 1990 and 2000, Crete experienced declining
per capita income. Beginning in 2000, Crete’s per capita
income has plateaued through the years. This plateau
may be explained by Crete’s rapid growth between 2000
and 2010. 2008 saw the highest per capita income since
2000.
Sources:
CommunityEconomicAnalysis:AHowToManual;Hustedde,Shaffer,
&Pulver
pal boundaries. The general criteria is that the majority of trade area resi-
dents shop in the community.
Reilly’s Law of Retail Gravitation can help a community determine its retail
trade boundaries. It is appropriate for shopping goods (furniture, medical
services and automobiles, etc.), which are the goods and services bought
after comparing price, quality and style.
This argues people are attracted to bigger places to do their shopping, but
the time and distance they must travel influences their willingness to shop
there. Below are the distances of Crete’s retail pull in directions toward ma-
jor communities surrounding Crete.
Lincoln - 3.6 miles
Milford - 14 miles
Wilber - 7.5 miles
Friend - 13 miles
ECONOMIC
Economic ba
omy can be d
basic sector i
factors. Manu
ered to be ba
usually expo
clientele is lo
strengthenin
the basic sec
est when it d
local econom
its size. Crete
Both of these
an estimate,
Understandi
mands could
CRETE PRODUCTION AND EXPORTATION
Location quotients indicate if a community produces more than is needed
for its own use and is selling the excess to nonlocal markets. It can also tell
us which types of businesses are not accomodating local needs and are a
source of consumption leakage. This type of analysis takes into account the
percentage of local employment activity in relation to the percentage of
national employment activity in specific industries.
Location Quotient scores greater than one (LQ > 1) indicate exporting in-
dustries. Scores less than one (LQ < 1) indicate this industry is not self suf-
ficient. Each community need not be completely self-sufficient in all sectors,
however, if the location quotient is less than one in an industry, it suggests
there may be a gap in the local economy.
Analysis:
Manufacturing 4.69
Transportation & Warehousing 1.51
Real Estate and Leasing .16
Professional and Business Services .10
Information .23
Health Care .75
Retail .74
SUMMARY
Different rou
tained. Poten
sional & busi
strong facilit
in outside m
services that
based servic
The citizens o
and upholds
tail could ho
LB 840 is a fa
more. The fin
structure. Pu
longer lastin
developmen
ture sustains
Lastly, LB 840
phisticated fo
ECONOMIC BASE ANALYSIS CONTINUED
After looking over the location quotient numbers and analysis. We know
that Crete’s main exporting, basic industries are that of Manufacturing and
Transportation & Warehousing. By comparing the employment for all in-
dustries and Crete and the employment in just the basic sectors, we can
see the strength of these sectors and the strength of Crete’s main economic
engines. The final ratio for the economic base is 1.77. This indicates that for
every job created in the basic sectors of manufacturing and transportation
& warehousing, .77 jobs are created in other non basic industries to support
it. The greatest way to boost a communities economy is to support basic
economies and then support supply chains for these basic economies.
Location Quotients have told us more than our basic industries. Three more
industries have been identified that are not able to support the local de-
mand, the greatest one being professional & business services at .1. This
means that 90% of the demand for these services within Crete are being
supplied by outside firms, leading to money leaving Crete.
SUMMARY
Today, Crete is a manufacturing town and it always has been, with currently
49.9 % of the local economy being manufacturing. Transportation & Ware-
housing is also a main industry probably due to this being a complementary
industry alongside the exportation of manufactured goods. The manufac-
turing industry’s stength is mainly due to its proximity to main hubs of Ne-
braska infrastructure and transportation. The majority of manufacturing is
agricultural based food manufacturing such as Farmland, Nestle-Purina, and
Bunge Mills. This has driven Crete’s economy and employment numbers in
the past years.
Unfortunately, in recent years Crete has witnessed has seen a sharp de-
crease in jobs availability compared to the State of Nebraska and its top
industries, manufacturing and transportation & warehousing have failed to
bring a positive increase in job opportunities. While industry firms and em-
ployers have increased in Crete, they have not kept up with other Nebraska
communities’output of jobs.
This may be why we currently see a disconnect between home and work-
place. Nearly 69% of Crete’s workforce does not work in Crete. At the same
time, we see nearly 55% of Crete’s residents working outside of Crete.
EMPLOYMENT EXPLAINED
The four graphs to the left share a great deal of information and what can
be concluded from them can help us understand what to focus on in the fu-
ture economic development of Crete. The employment availability is shown
as a percentage of Nebraska’s employment availability. We can see that
there has been a great decline over the past years. This data may seem to be
in conflict with the Industry data. The industry data does show an increase
in employment in specific sectors. But, when considering that the first graph
is shown as a percentage of Nebraska’s employment, we can see that Crete
may be adding jobs but anywhere near the rate that the rest of Nebraska is.
The first graph, on employment availability, compared to the unemploy-
ment chart also provides interesting conclusions. Notice that the two charts
are inversely related. As less jobs are available, unemployment goes up. This
inverse relationship seems to be at a disconnect after 2005. It is difficult to
say what is going when looking at this. If jobs are being added, yet unem-
ployment is rising, it may be due to residents outside of Crete accepting
jobs within Crete. This could be the case as Crete’s unemployment rate is
calculated for Crete residents only while available jobs can be occupied by
residents of Crete or residents outside of Crete.
Crete’s per capita income is shown as a percentage of Nebraska’s. This per
capita income has plateaued since 2000. This could be due to the rapid in-
crease in population by residents and laborers that are taking lower paying
jobs and the stagnation of the availability of higher paying jobs.
PER CAPITA INCOME
INDUSTRY
SESW
S
W E
100%
90%
80%
70%
1990 1995 2000
2005
2005
2005
2010
2010
2010
Manufacturing has
increased only slightly
since 2000 and is the
greatest employer of all
industries.
Finance and Insurance
employment has increased
due to a large number
of small firms and a few
medium sized firms.
Construction employment
as relatively increased
greatly since 2000.
ably
a
With dramatic population increase
and job availability stagnation,
unemployment has increased,
even to the point where in 2008,
unemployment was higher than the
Nebraska average.
e of Nebraska’s
vailability of jobs
past five years, Crete has seen a plateau in
ability while their population has increased
ally.
Retail employers have
increased, but being small
firms, they have not em-
ployed a large amount of
employees per firm.
Transport and
Warehousing
has increased
employees due
to larger firms in
recent years.
Health care employment
has increased slightly
since 2000.
Between 1990 and 2000, Crete experienced declining
per capita income. Beginning in 2000, Crete’s per capita
income has plateaued through the years. This plateau
may be explained by Crete’s rapid growth between 2000
and 2010. 2008 saw the highest per capita income since
2000.
ECO
RETAIL TRADE AREA
A trade area is the geographic area from which the community draws the
majority of its retail trade customers. It usually extends beyond the munici-
pal boundaries. The general criteria is that the majority of trade area resi-
dents shop in the community.
Reilly’s Law of Retail Gravitation can help a community determine its retail
trade boundaries. It is appropriate for shopping goods (furniture, medical
services and automobiles, etc.), which are the goods and services bought
after comparing price, quality and style.
This argues people are attracted to bigger places to do their shopping, but
the time and distance they must travel influences their willingness to shop
there. Below are the distances of Crete’s retail pull in directions toward ma-
jor communities surrounding Crete.
Lincoln - 3.6 miles
Milford - 14 miles
Wilber - 7.5 miles
Friend - 13 miles
RETAIL PU
Crete’s pul
ditionally p
its size. Cre
Both of th
an estimat
Understan
mands cou
CRETE
THE COMMUNITY ECONOMY SIMPLIFIED
The graph attempts to diagram several aspects of a community’s econ-
onomy. First, the community is intimately linked with the rest of the world
through the inflow of goods like agricultural goods and the outflow of
goods. Second, the community uses resources to produce the output it sells.
These resources can be available locally or purchased elsewhere. Third, the
size and power of the processor is determined essentially by the inflow of
outside income, the lack of leakage of income, and the volume of resources
used to produce the community’s output.
INDUSTRY
FIVE STRA
- Attractin
Crea
- Capturin
Wha
- Encoura
Entr
- Helping
Inve
- Using ai
LB 8
N
NW NE
SESW
S
W E
Through the City of Crete visioning plan, it was my job to
provide a solid foundation of understanding of Crete’s economic
climate. In addition to standard economic indicators like
employment and income, employee migration throughout the
region was also explored which led to a surprising revelation in
understanding what Crete’s citizens and employees want out of
their town. The overall findings led to the identification of key
goals and projects and informed strategic recommendations.
EMPLOYMENT POSITIONS
UNEMPLOYMENT
INDUSTRY
PER CAPITA INCOME
PRODUCTION & EXPORTATION
RETAIL PULL
Downtown Frameworking & Proposals
DOWNTOWN FRAMEWORK
Elizabeth Goll_MARCH
Lisa Major_MARCH
Chris Rokahr_MARCH
Matt Macchietto_LARC
HeatherTomasek_MARCH
Dennis Krymuza_MARCH
Zach Klebba_MARCH
Aaron Kloke_CRPL
Brian Anderson_LARC
Coelette Gruber_CRPL
Jacob Kophamer_LARC
Sarah Hanzel_CRPL
Nate Krohn_LARC
KimWilson_PROF
“A‘grassroots’initiative led byCrete Community Breakfast Group that will result
in a plan to revitalize this small rural town and impact change in the county.”
DOANE DOWNTOWN CAMPUS PERSPECTIVE
“A‘grassroots’initiative led byCrete Community Breakfast Groupthat will result
in a plan to revitalize this small rural town and impact change in the county.”
University of Nebraska - Lincoln_College of Architecture
Interdisciplinary Studio_Fall 2012
Elizabeth Goll_M ARCH
Lisa Major_M ARCH
Chris Rokahr_M ARCH
Matt Macchietto_LARC
HeatherTomasek_LARC
Dennis Krymuza_M ARCH
Zach Klebba_M ARCH
Aaron Kloke_M CRP
Brian Anderson_LARC
Coelette Gruber_M CRP
Jacob Kophamer_LARC
Sarah Hanzel_M CRP
Nate Krohn_LARC
KimWilson_PROF
MAIN STREET
UNIFORM GARBAGE CAN
AND BENCHES
UNIFORM GARBAGE CAN
AND BENCHES
UNIFORM GREEN
INFILL
PLANTER WITH
SEATING SPACE
PARKLET
EXPANDED SEATING AREA
PARKLET
EXPANDED DINING AREA
CURRENT
45 DEGREE PARKING
LANE
PLANTER WITH
MALUS PRAIRIFIRE CRABAPPLE STREET
TREE AND
COTONEASTER ADPRESSUS BUSHES
EXPANDED CORNER WITH
CRIMESON SPIRE OAK
STREET TREE
TWO LANE TRAFFIC
CURRENT STREET LIGHTS
WITH FLOWER BASKET
CURRENT CONCRETE
SIDEWALK
MALUS PRAIRIFIRE CRABAPPLE
STREET TREE
CURRENT STREET LIGHTS
WITH FLOWER BASKET
WITH FLOWER BASKETS
EXPANDED CORNER WITH
CRIMESON SPIRE OAK
STREET TREE
MAINSTREET
12 th
3
2
CREATING GREEN INFILL
BY USING PAKLET
FOR EXPANDED
OUTDOOR DINING
CREATING GREEN INFILL
BY USING PARKLET
FOR EXPAMDED
OUTDOOR SEATING
CREATE GREEN INFILL BY
USING PLANTER WITH
SEATING SPACE
CREATE GREEN INFILL BY USING PLANTER WITH SEATING SPACE
3
2
2 CREATING GREEN INFILL BY USING PARKLETS FOR EXPAMDED OUTDOOR SEATING2
CREATING GREEN INFILL BY USING PAKLET FOR EXPANDED OUTDOOR DINING1
Illustrations by Colette Gruber, Heather Tomasek,
Dennis Krymuza, Matthew Macchietto, & Lisa Major
Page 4 | Crete Visioning Plan
Page 5 | Crete Visioning Plan
Strategic Implementation
The final phase of this visioning plan was to identify projects
and provide designs to show the potential results of successful
projects. My job was to develop general guidelines for successful
project implementation by identifying timelines, actors and
stakeholders, and sources of financing and resources.
ProjectFocus Funding & Support Implementation & Action
Complete
Streets and
Infill
11th Street Streetscaping (1 - 2 years)
•	 Develop a complete green street corridor system throughout the city.
•	 Connect destinations and green belt trail system to encourage use of green spaces.
•	 Using complete street programming that encourages all modes of transportation, walking, biking, and automobile.
•	 Create an appealing entrance into Crete that transition the environment from rural to urban.
•	 Reflect the natural ecologies of the region.
•	 Lessen the dominance of industrial factors through natural vegetation and landscaping
•	 Increase pedestrian walkability along corridors.
•	 Design a space to attract the development of commercial and professional business infill along Hawthorne Avenue that
may not be suitable for downtown.
•	 Use creative financing strategies to attract new businesses into Crete and into the Neighborhood Professional District.
•	 Establish a flexible zoning code in order to allow for a multifunctional avenue with a combination of uses to serve as a
welcoming avenue stretching into the center of Crete.
•	 Organize this Neighborhood Professional District with unique design standards to allow it to evolve into a distinctive
area for Crete’s commercial businesses.
Hawthorne Avenue (6 - 8 years)
Iris Avenue (6 - 8 years)
Local development corporations are semi public entities which work to-
wards community development projects. Often times these are projects
that may be neglected by the local government but which are in demand
by the community. These entities are semi public because their purpose is
to generate community economic development, not to realize a profit. Be-
cause they have a strong private affiliation, they are often more effective in
dealing with prospective firms than the local government is.
An example may be a development corporation helping a manufacturing
firm to rehabilitate abandoned factories or constructing new ones and leas-
ing this space to them. Development corporations also make loans to busi-
nesses for constructing new plants, purchasing land or equipment, paying
relocation costs, and so on. A primary activity of local economic corpora-
tions in the United States has been the floating of private purpose tax ex-
empt bonds. The possibilities are endless when considering the extent as to
which a development corporation can take part of and affect a communi-
ties economy.
Local development corporations are also important because they are often
capable of receiving state and federal assistance that may not be available
to the municipality or local government.
The Crete Area Improvement & Development Corporation has the ability to
have a much more significant role than it traditionally has and the capac-
ity for this group to build off of the success of the Economic Development
Board is great.
Form-based codes are a method of regulating development to achieve a spe-
cific urban form. They create a predictable public realm primarily by control-
ling physical form, with a lesser focus on land use, through city or county regu-
lations.
These regulations have been developed specifically to empower communi-
ties both to enable and to require better development patterns and individual
projects. They are a cutting-edge tool for helping improve the quality of our
built environment and our communities, as well as for fighting sprawl and all
detrimental effects.
Form-based codes are based on spatial organizing principles, such as the rural-
to-urban transect, that identify and reinforce urban hierarchy. Envisioning and
regulating places in this way enable a sense of continuity throughout the com-
munity with smooth and often imperceptible transitions between regulatory
zones rather than the hard-edge separation and buffering between single use
zones that is common in places regulated by conventional zoning codes.
More specifically, these codes regulate the details that are most important for
the successful implementation of walkable, human-scaled neighborhoods,
focusing primarily on urban, while also addressing use and other necessary
factors. These details include certain aspects of the buildings as they form the
walls of the public space, including their placement, height, width, and the
particular way they interact with the public space. They also include the design
and layout of streets and blocks, typically requiring narrower streets laid out in
an interconnected, gridded network to accommodate pedestrians and bicy-
clists, as well as automobiles and transit. In addition, they regulate the location
of parking to create beneficial impacts, such as protecting pedestrians from
The value of volunteer labor will be great when beginning to think about
redeveloping Crete’s parks, trails, and the Big Blue River. Many parks and
recreation departments have officially organized“Friends of”volunteer
groups. These groups organize special events, raise money, schedule work-
days and partner with local businesses. They also contact the media and
legislature to get the word out on issues important to parks. These groups
are made up of volunteers who help shore up park projects, programs, and
management. Many times these kinds of groups are formed to advocate
for specific areas or projects. In the case of Crete, this may culminate into
a groups which support the cleanup of the Big Blue River, urban trees, or a
trail system. Often times, funds raised by these friends groups, through spe-
cial events or other activities, are used for improvements and programming.
While Crete does not have a parks and recreation department and it may
not have the resources to fund the necessary types of activities, it does have
a Parks Board. It is up to this Parks Board to organize these types of volun-
teer projects and guide the City of Crete in properly budgeting general
funds in order to finance development projects which will result in tangible
and meaningful outcomes for the citizens of Crete.
The land located in the project area is owned by a variety of
private citizens and the City of Crete. Before it can be devel-
oped it can be acquired through an assortment of means.
Donate
There have been examples of people who donate their land
to a municipality. Sometimes property owners will do this as
a charity for conservation efforts, public recreation, or to re-
linquish land that has low development potential but create
property taxes.
Developer
A developer could purchase the land. Illustrated by the lack
investment on the East side of Crete it is unlikely it would be
purchased in its current state.
City
The City can act as developer and start to create more condu
cive market conditions if they first buy the property. Throug
the process of annexation, the City of Crete can establish the
area as part of the City limits. Annexation would increase the
property tax base for the City, allow for City services to be
extended into the study area, and create an urban growth
boundary. Annexation is a legal process which is undergone
through the Crete Planning Commission, City Council, and
Saline County.
There are a series of tools that a City can use to control the
form and quality of new development that occurs on the ou
skirts of town. A Planned Unit Development (PUD) and form
based codes are two of these tools.
Planned Unit Development
A Planned Unit Development (PUD) has its own unique zoni
ProjectsFocus Funding & Support Implementation & Action
CDBG Funds
Crete Area Improvement and De-
velopment Corporation Funding
Property Tax Incentives
Tax Increment Financing
Private Financing
Crete Area Improvement and
Development Corporation Bond
Financing
City of Crete Bond Financing
City of Crete
Doane College
City of Crete
CAIDC
Chamber of Commerce
City of Crete
Crete Public Schools
New South N
Acquisition1
Regulating3
•	 Meet future needs for growth that thoughtfully and e
•	 Establish a roadway network that is integrated into th
reinforces intersection nodes.
•	 Encourage a new walkable neighborhood that incorp
the open space network.
•	 Ensure gradual transition between residential land us
•	 Preserve agricultural land, steep slopes, and drainage
Crete Area Improvement &
Development CorporationForm-Based Codes Volunteerism
moving traffic, while minimizing negative impacts, and they regulate an
appropriate mix of compatible uses and building types, enabling diverse,
vibrant places.
Finally, because they regulate these details to the level necessary to ensure
adherence to the community’s vision, form-based codes can also provide a
streamlined development review and approval process requiring little or no
subjective review, thus encouraging appropriate development.
Yet, while form-based codes differ radically from conventional zoning in
many ways, they are similar in a few ways. Form-based codes also isolate
noxious uses, such as heavy manufacturing and airports, and they gener-
ally only regulate private buildings as they affect the public good, leaving
plenty of room for individual tastes and styles. As necessary, they may also
contain provisions similar to conventional zoning for such issues as noncon-
forming uses and affordable housing.
Focus Project Funding & Support Implementation & Action
11th Street Streetscaping
Complete
Streets &
Infill
Hawthorne Avenue
Iris Avenue
Page 6 | Crete Visioning Plan
Strategic Implementation
In addition to providing
guidelines to pursue projects,
we sought to educate city
officials and citizens on tools
and programs that may lead
to the realization of outlined
goals. These tools and programs
included form-based codes,
business incubators, a facade
grant program, and a downtown
association.
Elizabeth Goll_M ARCH
Lisa Major_M ARCH
Chris Rokahr_M ARCH
Matt Macchietto_LARCH
HeatherTomasek_LARCH
Dennis Krymuza_M ARCH
Zach Klebba_M ARCH
Aaron Kloke_M CRP
Brian Anderson_LARCH
Coelette Gruber_M CRP
Jacob Kophamer_LARCH
Sarah Hanzel_M CRP
Nate Krohn_LARCH
KimWilson_PROFESSOR
“A‘grass roots’initiative led by Crete Community Breakfast Group that will
result in a plan to revitalize this small rural town and impact change in the county.”
Sources:
Burayidi,M.A.(Ed.).(2011).Downtowns:RevitalizingtheCentersofSmallUrbanCenters.NewYork,NY:Routledge.
Klemp,R.L.(Ed.).(2000).MainStreetRenewal:AHandbook.London:McFarland&Company,Inc..
Lyons,T.S.,&Hamlin,R.E.(2001).CreatinganEconomicDevelopmentActionPlan.London:PraegerPublishers.
Parolek,D.,Parolek,K.,&Crawford,P.(2008).Form-BasedCodes:AGuideforPlanners,UrbanDesigners,Municipalities,andDevelopers.
Hoboken,NJ:JohnWiley&Sons,Inc.
ProjectsFocus Funding & Support Implementation & Action
Downtown
Doane Downtown Campus and Open Space (2 - 4 years)
Private Funding
LB 840 Grants
General Funds
CAIDC Funding
City of Crete bond funds
Saline County bond funds
Private Donors
Non Profit Organization Fund
City of Crete funding
Donor Money
TIF Funds
CDBG funds
Private funding
LB 840 Funds
Private Funding
General Funds
CAIDC Funding
TIF Funds
CDBG Funds
USDA Funds
Nebraska DED Funds
LB 840 Grants Economic Development Board
Downtown Association
Doane College
City of Crete
Economic Development Board
Downtown Association
Multicultural Committee
Downtown Businesses
Chamber of Commerce
Downtown Association
CAIDC
City of Crete
Downtown Businesses
Saline County
City of Crete
City of Crete
City of Crete
Downtown Association
Private developers
City of Crete
Downtown Association
CAIDC
Downtown Businesses
Doane College
Chamber of Commerce
Multicultural Committee
•	 Work with Doane College to develop an appropriate campus that can not only serve the interests of Doane College, but also
the community of Crete and the downtown. Doane College has an exceptional opportunity to serve as a catalyst for a wildly
successful downtown Crete .
•	 Create a multicultural committee, one which could be facilitated by Doane College, to address the disconnect between Crete’s
diverse communities.
•	 Work with downtown businesses and the Chamber of Commerce to enable and invigorate an organized entrepreneurial spirit
between downtown businesses in which ideas and skills are exchanged.
•	 Create a facade grant program, administered by the Economic Development Board, the City of Crete, and a Downtown Associa-
tion. This low cost initiative would be an appropriate use of LB 840 funds as it provides for infrastructure improvement as a part
of an overall economic development strategy.
•	 Implement downtown design standards. This will ensure that any facade treatments, redevelopment of older buildings, and
construction of new buildings integrate with the inherent character and fabric of downtown Crete.
Business Facades ( 1 - 2 years )
Downtown Streetscaping & Walkability (2 - 4 years)
Library ( 2-4 years)
Civic Infill (8 - 10 years)
High Density Housing (8 - 10 years)
Downtown Economic Revitalization ( 6 months - 10 years)
•	 Create a pedestrian friendly downtown so that walking from one location to another is an enjoyable, practical, and efficient
mode of transport. This may include the provision of pedestrian amenities such as flowers, landscaping, benches, interesting
lighting, banners, brick pavers, and street trees as well as reducing traffic speeds and making streets easier to cross.
•	 Request bond measure through voter ballot. Issuance by City of Crete and or Saline County.
•	 Implement facility and programs which have a comprehensive purpose for the entire community.
•	 Maintain the civic edge along Linden Avenue.
•	 Library’s footprint should be sensitive to its surroundings and maintain a harmonious relationship with City Park.
•	 Maintain historic buildings in civic area along 13th & Linden.
•	 Develop programs, facilities, and places that are dedicated to the benefit of the community.
•	 Work towards developing a cohesive district with a single civic purpose. Current housing in the area is not suitable for this pur-
pose.
•	 Maintain the civic edge along Linden Avenue, 11th Avenue, Juniper Avenue, and 7th Street.
•	 Determine housing feasibility and demand through market analysis.
•	 Understand the future users of downtown in order to provide appropriate housing for potential tenants.
•	 Develop mixed income housing options.
•	 Maintain close proximity to daily needed amenities.
•	 Develop high density housing in order to use land efficiently and maintain an urban character.
•	 Economic Development Board should establish a focus on downtown revitalization dictated by community input.
•	 Hire an economic developer to implement downtown revitalization and work towards business retention and expansion
throughout all of Crete.
•	 Establish downtown leadership and organization of stakeholders, business leaders, and citizens.
•	 Invest in public infrastructure to ensure complete streets and the overall beautification and function of downtown.
•	 Take advantage of Doane College and allow them to be a catalyst for economic and social development.
•	 Attract new businesses and visitors to Crete through branding.
•	 Establish phases through which the goals can be met incrementally.
Nebraska DED Economic Gardening Grants
Nebraska Advantage Act
Nebraska Progress Loan Fund
Historic Preservation Grants
Nebraska DED Site and Building Development Fund
Building Entrepreneurial Communities Act Grant
Nebraska Angel Sidecar Fund
Nebraska Microenterprise Development Act Grants
Nebraska Community Foundation Hometown Competitiveness Assistance
Tax Increment Financing
Property Tax Abatement
Impact fee rebates
Employee training programs
Loan guarantees
Deferred tax payments
Sales tax rebates
LB 840 loans
LB 840 grants
Clawback provisions for incentive
Commercial revenue bonds
Business incubator
Entrepreneurial education
HUD Community Development Block Grants
USDA Development Grants
USDA Community Facilities Grants
USDA Rural Community Development Initiative Grants
USDA Rural Business Enterprise and Opportunity Grants
USDA Rural Cooperative Development Grants
USDA Business and Industry Loan Guarantees
EPA Small Business Innovation Research Program
HUD Brownfields Economic Development Initiative
A business incubation program is a tool for encouraging the formation, sur-
vival, and growth of new enterprises. This kind of program would take the form
as a building that has been subdivided for rental to a number of small fledg-
ling businesses and offers flexible work spaces and low-cost support services
to these tenants. This gives the tenants the opportunity to conduct business
at a much lower cost than in conventional market rate spaces because incuba-
tor firms can share fixed costs such as centralized clerical and administrative
services, business assistance, and rent. They would also share common spaces
such as a conference room.
The overall purpose of a business incubation program is to promote the success
of small businesses by helping them minimize overhead, find needed financ-
ing, improve management skills, pool resources and risk, and ultimately move
out into the world to function on their own. In other words, the incubation pro-
gram’s mission is to help entrepreneurs overcome obstacles they face to acquir-
ing the resources they require to business success. This support is commonly
offered during the first two to five years of the new firm’s existence, the most
crucial period in its ultimate survival.
Incubation programs can be owned and operated by public, non profit, or for-
profit organizations. If an incubation program were to be implemented, many
different entities could have a hand in its success. As of right now, Doane Col-
lege has expressed interest in establishing a student ran business within their
proposed downtown campus.With Crete’s already existent entrepreneurial spir-
it and Doane’s commitment to business entrepreneurship, a likely partnership
between the college, the downtown association, and the City of Crete could
emerge.
A downtown associat
vised to carry out the
teer organization to ca
businesses, and ultim
problems. This sort of
ness owners and stake
City of Crete. The invo
important for success
are unquestionably int
zation that is strictly d
has been the isolation
large problems that e
has taken a toll on Cre
lack of canopy sharing
Merchant unity is vital
effort is important in
matching design stand
ness owners tend to h
ment of their downtow
ing in unity and with a
A downtown associati
to the aesthetic prope
tation of downtown de
construction. Uniform
the downtown a recog
rest of Crete. A uniform
something that the as
sistent placement of b
Main street; an initiativ
such as a downtown a
There are many quick
plish in a short amoun
sion strategies often w
two purposes. First, aw
recipients and, second
made in a downtown.
mote the downtown. A
outstanding physical i
forts, and employees.
Another quick win that
gram guided by the do
ness retention initiativ
owners with entrepre
business owners or in
to learn from their mo
Lastly, the role of a dow
mining realistic market
and can be managed
market draw and know
With the recent constr
town association shou
to satisfy demands for
would not only create
a relevant and attractiv
Tax increment financin
the public costs associ
lic costs of developme
public portions of the r
tion). This may include
(streets, water and sew
redevelopment less fi
costs of development
to make redevelopme
ample, TIF funds can b
for land assembly and
buildings.
Essentially, the proper
geted to repay the pu
creased popularity as
state and federal subsi
Overall, it provides a m
ing areas by allowing
increases to repay the
While TIF may not be
mentation of a TIF dist
agement of business in
Tax IncremBusiness Incubator Development Tools & Sources of Funding
Local State Federal
Downtow
A facade grant program is an excellent opportunity to revitalize one of the most important assets to a small town: its downtown.The primary objective of this pro-
gram would be to revitalize and restore the central business district by preserving the existing store fronts. In addition, this program could provide extra incentive
to building owners for structural repairs and rehabilitation. Funding may include signage, painting, storefront repairs, and canopy replacement or repair, among
other things.
The goals of this program would be many: 1.)To prevent deterioration, 2.)To eliminate conditions that may be detrimental to the safety, health, and welfare of the
users of downtown, 3.) To renovate and preserve special properties of historical values, 4.) To benefit the entire downtown by preserving a pleasing and aestheti-
cally acceptable downtown, 5.) To preserve existing building stock, 6.) To make downtown a viable, cultural, and economic asset to the city of Crete.
A facade grant program could be implemented in accordance with a Downtown Association and the Crete Economic Development Board with use of LB 840
funds. The City of Crete’s Economic Development Plan’s purpose is to recruit, improve, and redevelopment. This includes the revitalization of Crete’s community.
This would be an appropriate use of LB 840 as it provides an investment to private infrastructure and improves downtown’s image which is, in a sense, a public as-
set. This public asset is essential for the attraction for downtown economic development. Not only does this improve the image of downtown, self-improvement
of a downtown is the best form of retail retention.
This facade grant program should be in accordance with downtown design standards. It is also advised that facade grants are matching grants in that private
property owners should be asked to contribute a specified percentage of the amount of the total cost of facade revitalization.
Facade Grant Program
Focus Project Funding & Support Implementation & Action
Downtown
Doane Downtown Campus &
Open Space
Business Facades
Library
Civic Infill
High Density Housing
Downtown Economic
Revitalization
Downtown Streetscaping &
Walkability
Page 7 | Discover Alborada Park
Discover Alborada Park
Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Summer 2013
Page 8 | Discover Alborada Park
Biodiversity
Geography
Cultural Elements Alborada
History
Art
Galapagos culture is comprised the rich flora and fauna of the islands range of visual and performing arts
Galapagos Culture
The Discover Alborada Park Plan, a
service learning project, was created to
help residents realize a variety of possible
design enhancements to the park that will
better serve the historic neighborhood in
Puerto Ayora. The underlying goal of the
plan was to express the historic, cultural,
and artistic foundations of the Alborada
neighborhood.
Throughoutthecommunitydesignprocess,
we worked hard to gain public input
and engage neighborhood stakeholders,
leaders, and artists. My responsibility was
to understand this community’s values and
cultural underpinnings in order to ensure
that our designs and recommendations
accurately reflected what’s most important
to this historical neighborhood.
Community Engagement
Page 9 | Discover Alborada Park
Throughout the process we recognized several obstacles
such as property line disputes, conflicting programming of
space, and the future construction of a new road. Our final
recommendations incorporated changes to the tennis courts,
park entrances, children’s playground, and an art program while
Illustrative Plan by Heather Tomasek
Strategies for Success
also appreciating the obstacles at hand, leading us to provide
strategic recommendations to the neighborhood as to how to
successfully achieve the goals that we laid out.
Design Proposals
Page 10 | Discover Alborada Park
Illustrations by Nate Krohn & Heather Tomasek
Page 11 | City of Crete Internship
City Planning Internship
City of Crete, Nebraska
Summer & Fall 2013
Audit of the Crete Economic
Development Program
Economic Feasibility Comprehensive Planning
Through this project, it was my
responsibility to review the Crete
Economic Development Program’s
projects, funding mechanisms, oversight,
and administrative processes. Results of
my recommendations include greater
oversight of the administrative process,the
use of alternative and more sophisticated
funding mechanisms, and the adoption
by the committee of a strong strategic
component to the program’s charter.
Followingrecommendationsforsouthern
expansion through the student visioning
plan,Iwasaskedbycitycounciltoevaluate
the economic feasibility of recreation
and green space expansion to serve as a
catalyst for residential development. In
addition, fellow intern Heather Tomasek
worked on the site design to understand
the physical feasibility of the recreation
space.
The City of Crete hired a private planning
firm to perform a comprehensive plan, a
housing study, and a blight study to begin
implementing tax increment financing. I
served as a liaison between the city and the
planners to communicate what was found
in the student visioning plan and worked
to make recommendations concerning the
public engagement process.
My internship with the City of Crete followed the success of our student visioning
plan.The objective of this position was to work on specific projects that would maintain
the momentum of the visioning plan from the previous fall.
Cons
•	Price is greater than we expected.
•	Onsite well.
•	Southern location, not centrally located
•	Consumption of farmland.
•	Located	within	floodplain.
ood
velop
stream
nt property
green belt in South
nd the community
orhoods.
s complex,
of land in Tuxedo
Rotary Park.
town	with	a	
•	How will this be paid for and can the City of
Crete afford it?
•	Growing Hispanic population with a growing
demand for greater recreation.
•	Current	demands	exceed	size	of	existing	field	
capacity
Other things to consider...
Page 12 | City of Crete Internship
City of Crete Comprehensive Planning Program
Online Citizen Survey
The City of Crete Planning Commission is currently conducting a Comprehensive Planning
Program to determine both the present and future needs of the Community for the next 10 and 25
years. An important activity of this Planning Program is to ask you about the needs and wants of
the Community. Please take five minutes to complete an online survey and give us your feedback.
Participants will be given a chance to enter a drawing to win $25!
If you would prefer to fill out a physical copy of the survey, you can collect a copy at City Hall.
Take the survey now! Go to: www.crete-ne.com
H O2
During my internship with the City of Crete, I worked on a project called the
Southern Development. It entailed doing a feasibility study and design proposal for
40 acres that could be developed into a Sports Complex with trails that ran along a
stream corridor with connections to the northern neighborhood.
Program for this proposal included a range of baseball, softball, and little league
ball fields, two concession stands, a flexible soccer | flag football field, parking,
playground and picnic areas. . To the right is a portion of our research of user
groups and the economic value they bring into the city, above is the framework
plan and final design. This proposal was presented to the Mayor, and City Council
Members during a City Council Meeting.
Illustration by Heather Tomasek
Feasibility Analysis and Comprehensive Planning
To the right is a flyer for an online survey
as part of the public engagement phase
of Crete’s comprehensive planning effort.
This flyer was designed to be distributed
to 500 elementary students with the
intention that they may share with their
families.This effort resulted in a threefold
increase in survey participants.
The City of Crete was given the
opportunity to purchase forty-five acres
of farmland to develop into recreation
space for a thriving baseball and softball
community. It was found that the average
player valued an acre of sports recreation
at a perceived market value of $13,408.
$9,000
$129,960
$74,000
$18,000
$22,800
90
232
184
150
240
users
users
users
users
users
Economic Value
Local Users
T-Ball
Softball Ages 7 - 18
T-ball Ages 3 - 6
Softball
Flag Football Ages 5 - 10
Flag Football
Baseball Ages 7 - 18
Baseball
Soccer Ages 3 - 10
Soccer Ages
Page 13 | City of Crete Internship
Step 1
Step 3
Step 5
Step 2
Step 4
Step 6
Step 7
LB 840 APPLICATION PROCESS If application is denied, the applicant
has the ability to appeal to advisory
board at a public hearing
Next Step in Process
Negotiations Not Accepted
NotRecommended
Negotiations Accepted
RecommendAsAmended ApplicationRecommended
Applicant goes to Director with idea
Isapplicantandprojecteligible?
No Yes
Application is submitted
Director does a review & analysis of application
The applicant and Director enter into negotiations
Application is presented to economic advisory
committee by Director
Application goes to public hearing and advisory
committee executive session for financial
determination and recommendation
Application goes to City Council
Is the application accepted?
No
Yes
May reenter into negotiations
The economic development program’s largest initiative was to
work with and fund private organizations through grants and
loans. My adopted recommendations to this initiative’s process
seen below in the flow chart resulted in a program that used
funds more efficiently and effectively, and made for a more
transparent program.
Alloftheprogram’sprojectswerealsoreviewedinfulldetail.Many
of these projects were contentious among Crete’s residents.This
provided for me a strong lesson in working among controversy
in a tactful manner.
Program Audit
Money:Howmuchandwherediditgo?
Total Expenses $524,692.52
Total Revenue $706,142.28
Administrative 2% Recruitment 0%
Promotion/Tourism 2%
Infrastructure 68%
PublicInfrastructure55% PrivateInfrastructure45%
Development 28%
ProjectsinDetail
Crete Glass | store front renovation
City of Crete Community Center | HVAC system, gym floor, roof
Dittmer & Dittmer | sprinkler system, 10% for facade
Ensure proper oversight and checks & balances of Economic Development Program
Pay close attention to LB 840 guidelines issued by NDED, state statutes, and city ordinances
“No member of the citizens advisory review committee shall be…an official or employee of any qualifying business
receiving financial assistance under the economic development program.” Nebraska State Statute 18-2715
“Improvement and redevelopment of the community’s public facilities and infrastructure and revitalization of our
community.”
No documentation as to why application was denied
No attached audit requirements and lack of follow up on ‘facade beautification’
Adhere to purpose, vision, and goals of the program
Provide consistent documentation and recorded reasoning behind decisions
Page 14 | Professional Project
Professional Project
City of Omaha, Nebraska
2013 - 2014
Exploring the Neighborhood Preferences of a Segment of Millennials in Omaha, Nebraska
By Aaron Kloke
This project, in partial fulfillment for the degree of MCRP,
sought to understand the particular demands of Millennials in
regards to the makeup and design of Omaha neighborhoods
and districts.
Page 15 | Professional Project
Elements
IdentifyingTrends
Focus Groups
Demographic Profile
Interviews
Surveys
National trends were reviewed to
achieve an understanding of Millennials’
circumstances, preferences, demands, and
changing lifestyles and how these may
affect the future built environment of
America. It was found that Millennials,
while still strongly desiring the single-
family home, prefer more dense and
mixed-use neighborhoods.
A series of focus groups brought Omaha
Millennials together resulting in several
conversationsconcerningwhatMillennials
love about their neighborhoods and what
could be done to make them better.
The concepts of accessibility, proximity,
and walkability were explored in great
depth and resulted in a foundation of
understanding Millennials’ transportation
habits.
A general profile of Omaha Millennials
was developed to understand where
exactly this demographic is clustering,
what they look like demographically,
and where they are moving. The profile
showed an increasingly diverse group,
stricken with student loan debt, that
tends to cluster around rental housing in
central locations.
A series of interviews were conducted
with a variety of local leaders, designers,
bankers, developers, and real estate
professionals to obtain an important
perspective on the housing and real
estate market in Omaha. In addition to
learning about Omaha markets, a unique
set of conflicts that Millennials face
when looking for a home was identified,
deemed the “triangle of conflict”.
An online survey was administered to
157 Millennials to understand what this
generation wants out of its neighborhoods.
The survey showed a group of Millennials
that aligned with Millennials on a national
scale. A visual preference survey was also
administered to forty-two individuals to
explore the urban forms and spaces that
Millennials are most attracted to. It was
foundthatthedivisionbetweenthebenefits
of suburban and urban neighborhoods is
complex and that what the neighborhood
provides in terms of safety and vibrancy is
very important.
Page 16 | Professional Project
Hot Spot Cluster Analysis
Figure 4. Gi* Cluster Analysis of 22 to 34Year Olds in Douglas County
I-680
72ndSt
52ndSt
60thSt
50thSt
60thSt
42ndSt
36thSt
N120thSt
W Maple Rd
W Dodge Rd
W Center Rd
Underwood Ave
Dodge St
Leavenworth
California St
I-80
Hot Spots
Cold Spots
99% Confidence
95% Confidence
90% Confidence
99% Confidence
95% Confidence
90% Confidence
City Limits
Identifying the Millennial Demographic
This project led me to create a demographic profile of this
unique group.Age-related census data was gathered to obtain an
understanding of this group’s changing ethnic diversity, income,
education,and debt obligations.In addition,I sought to identify
clusters to obtain a grasp of where Millennials are choosing to
live currently and why.
The map below shows one method known as a hot spot analysis
using a GIS spatial statistics tool called Gi* (star). This was
calculated based on census data showing population percentage
of 22 to 34-year-olds of block groups.
This analysis identified hot spots, or clusters of block groups
with high percentages of Millennials and did so with confidence
intervals at three levels, 99%, 95%, and 90%, as denoted by the
red to light orange colors.This method of analysis also identified
cold spots, or clusters of block groups with low values, also
shown at three confidence intervals. These areas are essentially
dead zones where Millennials are sparsely located.
Page 17 | Professional Project
Quantitative Research
Sources of qualitative research included an online survey and
a visual preference survey.The online survey included thirty-
five questions which sought to gauge what Millennials
demanded out of their neighborhood. The visual preference
survey showed twenty-four photos that represented different
Visual Preference Survey34
Office
17
-5
median -2 -1.4
-2 +1-4 -1 +2-3 0 +3 +4 +5
18
-5
median +2 +1.4
-2 +1-4 -1 +2-3 0 +3 +4 +5
Streetscape
19
-5
median +3 +3.1
-2 +1-4 -1 +2-3 0 +3 +4 +5
20
-5
median +1 +.5
-2 +1-4 -1 +2-3 0 +3 +4 +5
24
-5
median +4 +3.4
-2 +1-4 -1 +2-3 0 +3 +4 +5
Streetscape
23
-5
median -2 -1.9
-2 +1-4 -1 +2-3 0 +3 +4 +5
22
-5
median +2 +2
-2 +1-4 -1 +2-3 0 +3 +4 +5
Townhouse
21
-5
median +1 +1
-2 +1-4 -1 +2-3 0 +3 +4 +5
mean
mean
mean
mean
mean
mean
mean
mean
The Online Survey 24
Sidewalks and places to walk
Being within a 15-minute commute
Access to neighborhood community spaces like sidewalks,gardens,
and neighborhood parks
Being with an easy walk of other places and things in the community
Privacy from neighbors
Easy access to the highway
Human activity on neighborhood streets and sidewalks
An established neighborhood with older homes and trees
Living in a place that is away from it all
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Being able to buy as large of a house as you can
Diversity of people with different incomes
A new neighborhood with recently built homes
Public transportation access
Living in a community with a mix of different types of housing
A large yard
Living in a place that is the center of it all
Diversity of people of a different race
Percentage of People That FeelTheseAreVery or Somewhat Important
Figure 10. Neighborhood Characteristics of Importance
urban environments. Participants were asked to give a gut reaction
to the photos. The result helped me to begin understanding what
makes a desirable environment for this unique demographic.
Page 18 | Professional Project
Severalmethodsofqualitativeresearchwerealsoperformedincludingfocusgroupsand
interviews.Throughout this project, I worked to foster a relationship with the Greater
Omaha Young Professionals group. This relationship resulted in the opportunity to
conduct a focus group with several members and a chance to engage thirty-eight other
members at a public meeting to discuss urban design in Omaha. Additional focus
groups took place among other young professional groups and personal contacts. In
addition to focus groups, I performed interviews with a variety of local professionals
to gain a supply-side perspective of the issue at hand.
To the right is a collection of themes that were identified using a text analytics
software after requesting 113 individuals to complete one simple task: Describe your
ideal neighborhood. This resulted in a very rich set of qualitative data describing the
ideal environments that this demographic would like to live in.While all themes were
identified as important, the most important themes are darker while less important
themes are lighter.
Public Engagement
large lot
active street life
open space
safe
trees
10 minute drive
local businesses
front porches
friendly
local events
close proximity
mixed races
neighborhood events
walking dogs
people
easy bike ride
grocery stores
open space
walking distance
downtown area
community pride
community
cleanliness
sidewalks
parking
quality
neighborhood connection
physicial connection
safety
neighborhood character
connectedness
crime
green space
schools
parks
yards
trails
access to highway
close to work
walkability
proximity to downtown
proximity to bars and food
centrality
AARON KLOKE | MCRP
aaronkloke@gmail.com
akloke@huskers.unl.edu
(402) 366-7236

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Portfolio

  • 1. AARON KLOKE | MCRP portfolio
  • 2. City of Casper, Wyoming_Summer 2012 City of Crete, Nebraska_Fall 2012 Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador_Summer 2013 City of Crete, Nebraska_Summer & Fall 2013 City of Omaha, Nebraska_Fall 2013 & Spring 2014Professional Project City Planning Internship Discover Alborada Park Crete Visioning Plan 1 2 7 11 14 Planning Internship Content
  • 3. Page 1 | City of Casper Internship Historical Case Data Development Review Photo Inventory My largest project of the summer was to review historical cases, such as easements and exactions, while populating a digital database to be used by several other city departments. This project allowed me to familiarize myself with the legal and administrative side of land use and zoning. In addition to working with historical case data, I was given the opportunity to present recommendations concerning development review to city council.I also wrote and developed a set of ordinance amendments outlining outdoor lighting standards,allowing me to come full circle and appreciate all aspects planning policy and the development review process. One of my final projects was to produce a photo inventory of downtown assets including buildings, parklets, and open space. This gave me the opportunity to understand the many elements that comprehensively make up any downtown or city district. My internship under the Community Development Dept. of the City of Casper was my first real time experience working in a planning and development environment.This opportunity allowed me to explore all aspects of current planning and development review from the city perspective. Planning Internship City of Casper, Wyoming Summer 2012
  • 4. Page 2 | Crete Visioning Plan Crete Visioning Plan City of Crete, Nebraska Fall 2012 University of Nebraska - Lincoln_College of Architecture Interdisciplinary Studio_Fall 2012 HIRD PLACE Church GolfCourse Pool Doane College Other CHILD MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION 20 10 0 0-2 3-10 11-20 >20 Miles Diversity Culture/History SchoolSystemThe People/Com m unity Doane College Sm allTow n Atm osphere VolunteersM edicalFacilities Don’tKnowOther 5% 0% /Com m unity Doane CollegeSm allTow n Atm osphere Em ploym ent/Industry Safe Com m unity Dont’Know Other COMMUNITY SURVEY 2% walk 84% by vehicle 14% by bicycle Has obtained a bachelor’s or master’s degree and is 55 years old Has a household income over $100,000 and is employed full-time Believes that Crete’s most unique characteristic is its diversity Is proud of Crete’s diversity, sense of community, and the people that make it up Wants more community building, neigh- borhood integration, and more green space. Spends most of their free time in Lincoln and other nearby communities outside of Crete Feels that Crete is a safe place to live Has not visited a local park within three months Spends money downtown one to three times a week and frequently visits Foodmart, True Value, and other shop- ping or retail Believes Crete needs a vision and better leadership The goal of this project was to create a visioning plan for the City of Crete that would lead the city to identify goals and strategies to pursue an environment that reflects its rich history, stimulates innovation, and develops social, environmental, and economic assets for the community. In the Fall of 2012, students worked through a process which consisted of inventory and analysis, frameworking, design, and implementation phases. I would later, along with landscape architecture student Heather Tomasek, be hired to work on specific projects that would maintain the momentum of the Crete visioning plan. To the right is a diagram used to summarize the findings of a survey which my team designed, administered, and analyzed to inform our inventory gathering process.
  • 5. Page 3 | Crete Visioning Plan Economic Analysis Elizabeth Goll_M ARCH Lisa Major_M ARCH Chris Rokahr_M ARCH Aaron Kloke_M CRP Brian Anderson_L ARCH Coelette Gruber_M CRP A trade area is the geographic area from which the community draws the majority of its retail trade customers. It usually extends beyond the munici- pal boundaries. The general criteria is that the majority of trade area resi- dents shop in the community. Reilly’s Law of Retail Gravitation can help a community determine its retail trade boundaries. It is appropriate for shopping goods (furniture, medical services and automobiles, etc.), which are the goods and services bought after comparing price, quality and style. This argues people are attracted to bigger places to do their shopping, but the time and distance they must travel influences their willingness to shop there. Below are the distances of Crete’s retail pull in directions toward ma- jor communities surrounding Crete. Lincoln - 3.6 miles Milford - 14 miles Wilber - 7.5 miles Friend - 13 miles CR Lo fo us so pe na Lo du fic ho th An M Tr Re Pr In He Re CRETE ECONOMIC BASE ANALYSIS CONTINUED After looking over the location quotient numbers and analysis. We know that Crete’s main exporting, basic industries are that of Manufacturing and Transportation & Warehousing. By comparing the employment for all in- dustries and Crete and the employment in just the basic sectors, we can see the strength of these sectors and the strength of Crete’s main economic engines. The final ratio for the economic base is 1.77. This indicates that for every job created in the basic sectors of manufacturing and transportation & warehousing, .77 jobs are created in other non basic industries to support it. The greatest way to boost a communities economy is to support basic economies and then support supply chains for these basic economies. Location Quotients have told us more than our basic industries. Three more industries have been identified that are not able to support the local de- mand, the greatest one being professional & business services at .1. This means that 90% of the demand for these services within Crete are being supplied by outside firms, leading to money leaving Crete. SU To 49 ho in tu br ag Bu th Un cr in br pl co Th pl tim EMPLOYMENT EXPLAINED The four graphs to the left share a great deal of information and what can be concluded from them can help us understand what to focus on in the fu- ture economic development of Crete. The employment availability is shown as a percentage of Nebraska’s employment availability. We can see that there has been a great decline over the past years. This data may seem to be in conflict with the Industry data. The industry data does show an increase in employment in specific sectors. But, when considering that the first graph is shown as a percentage of Nebraska’s employment, we can see that Crete may be adding jobs but anywhere near the rate that the rest of Nebraska is. The first graph, on employment availability, compared to the unemploy- ment chart also provides interesting conclusions. Notice that the two charts are inversely related. As less jobs are available, unemployment goes up. This inverse relationship seems to be at a disconnect after 2005. It is difficult to say what is going when looking at this. If jobs are being added, yet unem- ployment is rising, it may be due to residents outside of Crete accepting jobs within Crete. This could be the case as Crete’s unemployment rate is calculated for Crete residents only while available jobs can be occupied by residents of Crete or residents outside of Crete. Crete’s per capita income is shown as a percentage of Nebraska’s. This per capita income has plateaued since 2000. This could be due to the rapid in- crease in population by residents and laborers that are taking lower paying jobs and the stagnation of the availability of higher paying jobs. UNEMPLOYMENT PER CAPITA INCOME INDUSTRYEMPLOYMENT POSITIONS 82% 80% 78% 76% 4% 5% 74% 3% 100% 72% 2% 90% 70% 1% 80% 68% 0% 70% 1990 1990 1990 1995 1995 1995 2000 2000 2000 2005 2005 2005 2010 2010 2010 Manufacturing has increased only slightly since 2000 and is the greatest employer of all industries. Finance and Insurance employment has increased due to a large number of small firms and a few medium sized firms. Construction employment as relatively increased greatly since 2000. Crete’s unemployment rate has consistently been lower than Nebraska’s aside from 2008. Unemployment has increased, probably due to the Great Recession, always consistent with the state of Nebraska With dramatic population increase and job availability stagnation, unemployment has increased, even to the point where in 2008, unemployment was higher than the Nebraska average. Employment is measured as a percentage of Nebraska’s employment. Crete saw a decline in the availability of jobs throughout this time period. For the past five years, Crete has seen a plateau in job availability while their population has increased dramatically. Retail employers have increased, but being small firms, they have not em- ployed a large amount of employees per firm. Transport and Warehousing has increased employees due to larger firms in recent years. Health care employment has increased slightly since 2000. Between 1990 and 2000, Crete experienced declining per capita income. Beginning in 2000, Crete’s per capita income has plateaued through the years. This plateau may be explained by Crete’s rapid growth between 2000 and 2010. 2008 saw the highest per capita income since 2000. Elizabeth Goll_M ARCH Lisa Major_M ARCH Chris Rokahr_M ARCH Aaron Kloke_M CRP Brian Anderson_L ARCH Coelette Gruber_M CRP A trade area is the geographic area from which the community draws the majority of its retail trade customers. It usually extends beyond the munici- pal boundaries. The general criteria is that the majority of trade area resi- dents shop in the community. Reilly’s Law of Retail Gravitation can help a community determine its retail trade boundaries. It is appropriate for shopping goods (furniture, medical services and automobiles, etc.), which are the goods and services bought after comparing price, quality and style. This argues people are attracted to bigger places to do their shopping, but the time and distance they must travel influences their willingness to shop there. Below are the distances of Crete’s retail pull in directions toward ma- jor communities surrounding Crete. Lincoln - 3.6 miles Milford - 14 miles Wilber - 7.5 miles Friend - 13 miles CRETE PROD Location quot for its own use us which type source of con percentage of national empl Location Quo dustries. Score ficient. Each c however, if th there may be Analysis: Manufacturin Transportatio Real Estate an Professional a Information Health Care Retail CRETE ECONOMIC BASE ANALYSIS CONTINUED After looking over the location quotient numbers and analysis. We know that Crete’s main exporting, basic industries are that of Manufacturing and Transportation & Warehousing. By comparing the employment for all in- dustries and Crete and the employment in just the basic sectors, we can see the strength of these sectors and the strength of Crete’s main economic engines. The final ratio for the economic base is 1.77. This indicates that for every job created in the basic sectors of manufacturing and transportation & warehousing, .77 jobs are created in other non basic industries to support it. The greatest way to boost a communities economy is to support basic economies and then support supply chains for these basic economies. Location Quotients have told us more than our basic industries. Three more industries have been identified that are not able to support the local de- mand, the greatest one being professional & business services at .1. This means that 90% of the demand for these services within Crete are being supplied by outside firms, leading to money leaving Crete. SUMMARY Today, Crete is 49.9 % of the housing is als industry along turing industr braska infrastr agricultural ba Bunge Mills. T the past years Unfortunately crease in jobs industries, ma bring a positiv ployers have i communities’ This may be w place. Nearly 6 time, we see n EMPLOYMENT EXPLAINED The four graphs to the left share a great deal of information and what can be concluded from them can help us understand what to focus on in the fu- ture economic development of Crete. The employment availability is shown as a percentage of Nebraska’s employment availability. We can see that there has been a great decline over the past years. This data may seem to be in conflict with the Industry data. The industry data does show an increase in employment in specific sectors. But, when considering that the first graph is shown as a percentage of Nebraska’s employment, we can see that Crete may be adding jobs but anywhere near the rate that the rest of Nebraska is. The first graph, on employment availability, compared to the unemploy- ment chart also provides interesting conclusions. Notice that the two charts are inversely related. As less jobs are available, unemployment goes up. This inverse relationship seems to be at a disconnect after 2005. It is difficult to say what is going when looking at this. If jobs are being added, yet unem- ployment is rising, it may be due to residents outside of Crete accepting jobs within Crete. This could be the case as Crete’s unemployment rate is calculated for Crete residents only while available jobs can be occupied by residents of Crete or residents outside of Crete. Crete’s per capita income is shown as a percentage of Nebraska’s. This per capita income has plateaued since 2000. This could be due to the rapid in- crease in population by residents and laborers that are taking lower paying jobs and the stagnation of the availability of higher paying jobs. UNEMPLOYMENT PER CAPITA INCOME INDUSTRYEMPLOYMENT POSITIONS NW SW W 82% 80% 78% 76% 4% 5% 74% 3% 100% 72% 2% 90% 70% 1% 80% 68% 0% 70% 1990 1990 1990 1995 1995 1995 2000 2000 2000 2005 2005 2005 2010 2010 2010 Manufacturing has increased only slightly since 2000 and is the greatest employer of all industries. Finance and Insurance employment has increased due to a large number of small firms and a few medium sized firms. Construction employment as relatively increased greatly since 2000. Crete’s unemployment rate has consistently been lower than Nebraska’s aside from 2008. Unemployment has increased, probably due to the Great Recession, always consistent with the state of Nebraska With dramatic population increase and job availability stagnation, unemployment has increased, even to the point where in 2008, unemployment was higher than the Nebraska average. Employment is measured as a percentage of Nebraska’s employment. Crete saw a decline in the availability of jobs throughout this time period. For the past five years, Crete has seen a plateau in job availability while their population has increased dramatically. Retail employers have increased, but being small firms, they have not em- ployed a large amount of employees per firm. Transport and Warehousing has increased employees due to larger firms in recent years. Health care employment has increased slightly since 2000. Between 1990 and 2000, Crete experienced declining per capita income. Beginning in 2000, Crete’s per capita income has plateaued through the years. This plateau may be explained by Crete’s rapid growth between 2000 and 2010. 2008 saw the highest per capita income since 2000. Sources: CommunityEconomicAnalysis:AHowToManual;Hustedde,Shaffer, &Pulver pal boundaries. The general criteria is that the majority of trade area resi- dents shop in the community. Reilly’s Law of Retail Gravitation can help a community determine its retail trade boundaries. It is appropriate for shopping goods (furniture, medical services and automobiles, etc.), which are the goods and services bought after comparing price, quality and style. This argues people are attracted to bigger places to do their shopping, but the time and distance they must travel influences their willingness to shop there. Below are the distances of Crete’s retail pull in directions toward ma- jor communities surrounding Crete. Lincoln - 3.6 miles Milford - 14 miles Wilber - 7.5 miles Friend - 13 miles ECONOMIC Economic ba omy can be d basic sector i factors. Manu ered to be ba usually expo clientele is lo strengthenin the basic sec est when it d local econom its size. Crete Both of these an estimate, Understandi mands could CRETE PRODUCTION AND EXPORTATION Location quotients indicate if a community produces more than is needed for its own use and is selling the excess to nonlocal markets. It can also tell us which types of businesses are not accomodating local needs and are a source of consumption leakage. This type of analysis takes into account the percentage of local employment activity in relation to the percentage of national employment activity in specific industries. Location Quotient scores greater than one (LQ > 1) indicate exporting in- dustries. Scores less than one (LQ < 1) indicate this industry is not self suf- ficient. Each community need not be completely self-sufficient in all sectors, however, if the location quotient is less than one in an industry, it suggests there may be a gap in the local economy. Analysis: Manufacturing 4.69 Transportation & Warehousing 1.51 Real Estate and Leasing .16 Professional and Business Services .10 Information .23 Health Care .75 Retail .74 SUMMARY Different rou tained. Poten sional & busi strong facilit in outside m services that based servic The citizens o and upholds tail could ho LB 840 is a fa more. The fin structure. Pu longer lastin developmen ture sustains Lastly, LB 840 phisticated fo ECONOMIC BASE ANALYSIS CONTINUED After looking over the location quotient numbers and analysis. We know that Crete’s main exporting, basic industries are that of Manufacturing and Transportation & Warehousing. By comparing the employment for all in- dustries and Crete and the employment in just the basic sectors, we can see the strength of these sectors and the strength of Crete’s main economic engines. The final ratio for the economic base is 1.77. This indicates that for every job created in the basic sectors of manufacturing and transportation & warehousing, .77 jobs are created in other non basic industries to support it. The greatest way to boost a communities economy is to support basic economies and then support supply chains for these basic economies. Location Quotients have told us more than our basic industries. Three more industries have been identified that are not able to support the local de- mand, the greatest one being professional & business services at .1. This means that 90% of the demand for these services within Crete are being supplied by outside firms, leading to money leaving Crete. SUMMARY Today, Crete is a manufacturing town and it always has been, with currently 49.9 % of the local economy being manufacturing. Transportation & Ware- housing is also a main industry probably due to this being a complementary industry alongside the exportation of manufactured goods. The manufac- turing industry’s stength is mainly due to its proximity to main hubs of Ne- braska infrastructure and transportation. The majority of manufacturing is agricultural based food manufacturing such as Farmland, Nestle-Purina, and Bunge Mills. This has driven Crete’s economy and employment numbers in the past years. Unfortunately, in recent years Crete has witnessed has seen a sharp de- crease in jobs availability compared to the State of Nebraska and its top industries, manufacturing and transportation & warehousing have failed to bring a positive increase in job opportunities. While industry firms and em- ployers have increased in Crete, they have not kept up with other Nebraska communities’output of jobs. This may be why we currently see a disconnect between home and work- place. Nearly 69% of Crete’s workforce does not work in Crete. At the same time, we see nearly 55% of Crete’s residents working outside of Crete. EMPLOYMENT EXPLAINED The four graphs to the left share a great deal of information and what can be concluded from them can help us understand what to focus on in the fu- ture economic development of Crete. The employment availability is shown as a percentage of Nebraska’s employment availability. We can see that there has been a great decline over the past years. This data may seem to be in conflict with the Industry data. The industry data does show an increase in employment in specific sectors. But, when considering that the first graph is shown as a percentage of Nebraska’s employment, we can see that Crete may be adding jobs but anywhere near the rate that the rest of Nebraska is. The first graph, on employment availability, compared to the unemploy- ment chart also provides interesting conclusions. Notice that the two charts are inversely related. As less jobs are available, unemployment goes up. This inverse relationship seems to be at a disconnect after 2005. It is difficult to say what is going when looking at this. If jobs are being added, yet unem- ployment is rising, it may be due to residents outside of Crete accepting jobs within Crete. This could be the case as Crete’s unemployment rate is calculated for Crete residents only while available jobs can be occupied by residents of Crete or residents outside of Crete. Crete’s per capita income is shown as a percentage of Nebraska’s. This per capita income has plateaued since 2000. This could be due to the rapid in- crease in population by residents and laborers that are taking lower paying jobs and the stagnation of the availability of higher paying jobs. PER CAPITA INCOME INDUSTRY SESW S W E 100% 90% 80% 70% 1990 1995 2000 2005 2005 2005 2010 2010 2010 Manufacturing has increased only slightly since 2000 and is the greatest employer of all industries. Finance and Insurance employment has increased due to a large number of small firms and a few medium sized firms. Construction employment as relatively increased greatly since 2000. ably a With dramatic population increase and job availability stagnation, unemployment has increased, even to the point where in 2008, unemployment was higher than the Nebraska average. e of Nebraska’s vailability of jobs past five years, Crete has seen a plateau in ability while their population has increased ally. Retail employers have increased, but being small firms, they have not em- ployed a large amount of employees per firm. Transport and Warehousing has increased employees due to larger firms in recent years. Health care employment has increased slightly since 2000. Between 1990 and 2000, Crete experienced declining per capita income. Beginning in 2000, Crete’s per capita income has plateaued through the years. This plateau may be explained by Crete’s rapid growth between 2000 and 2010. 2008 saw the highest per capita income since 2000. ECO RETAIL TRADE AREA A trade area is the geographic area from which the community draws the majority of its retail trade customers. It usually extends beyond the munici- pal boundaries. The general criteria is that the majority of trade area resi- dents shop in the community. Reilly’s Law of Retail Gravitation can help a community determine its retail trade boundaries. It is appropriate for shopping goods (furniture, medical services and automobiles, etc.), which are the goods and services bought after comparing price, quality and style. This argues people are attracted to bigger places to do their shopping, but the time and distance they must travel influences their willingness to shop there. Below are the distances of Crete’s retail pull in directions toward ma- jor communities surrounding Crete. Lincoln - 3.6 miles Milford - 14 miles Wilber - 7.5 miles Friend - 13 miles RETAIL PU Crete’s pul ditionally p its size. Cre Both of th an estimat Understan mands cou CRETE THE COMMUNITY ECONOMY SIMPLIFIED The graph attempts to diagram several aspects of a community’s econ- onomy. First, the community is intimately linked with the rest of the world through the inflow of goods like agricultural goods and the outflow of goods. Second, the community uses resources to produce the output it sells. These resources can be available locally or purchased elsewhere. Third, the size and power of the processor is determined essentially by the inflow of outside income, the lack of leakage of income, and the volume of resources used to produce the community’s output. INDUSTRY FIVE STRA - Attractin Crea - Capturin Wha - Encoura Entr - Helping Inve - Using ai LB 8 N NW NE SESW S W E Through the City of Crete visioning plan, it was my job to provide a solid foundation of understanding of Crete’s economic climate. In addition to standard economic indicators like employment and income, employee migration throughout the region was also explored which led to a surprising revelation in understanding what Crete’s citizens and employees want out of their town. The overall findings led to the identification of key goals and projects and informed strategic recommendations. EMPLOYMENT POSITIONS UNEMPLOYMENT INDUSTRY PER CAPITA INCOME PRODUCTION & EXPORTATION RETAIL PULL
  • 6. Downtown Frameworking & Proposals DOWNTOWN FRAMEWORK Elizabeth Goll_MARCH Lisa Major_MARCH Chris Rokahr_MARCH Matt Macchietto_LARC HeatherTomasek_MARCH Dennis Krymuza_MARCH Zach Klebba_MARCH Aaron Kloke_CRPL Brian Anderson_LARC Coelette Gruber_CRPL Jacob Kophamer_LARC Sarah Hanzel_CRPL Nate Krohn_LARC KimWilson_PROF “A‘grassroots’initiative led byCrete Community Breakfast Group that will result in a plan to revitalize this small rural town and impact change in the county.” DOANE DOWNTOWN CAMPUS PERSPECTIVE “A‘grassroots’initiative led byCrete Community Breakfast Groupthat will result in a plan to revitalize this small rural town and impact change in the county.” University of Nebraska - Lincoln_College of Architecture Interdisciplinary Studio_Fall 2012 Elizabeth Goll_M ARCH Lisa Major_M ARCH Chris Rokahr_M ARCH Matt Macchietto_LARC HeatherTomasek_LARC Dennis Krymuza_M ARCH Zach Klebba_M ARCH Aaron Kloke_M CRP Brian Anderson_LARC Coelette Gruber_M CRP Jacob Kophamer_LARC Sarah Hanzel_M CRP Nate Krohn_LARC KimWilson_PROF MAIN STREET UNIFORM GARBAGE CAN AND BENCHES UNIFORM GARBAGE CAN AND BENCHES UNIFORM GREEN INFILL PLANTER WITH SEATING SPACE PARKLET EXPANDED SEATING AREA PARKLET EXPANDED DINING AREA CURRENT 45 DEGREE PARKING LANE PLANTER WITH MALUS PRAIRIFIRE CRABAPPLE STREET TREE AND COTONEASTER ADPRESSUS BUSHES EXPANDED CORNER WITH CRIMESON SPIRE OAK STREET TREE TWO LANE TRAFFIC CURRENT STREET LIGHTS WITH FLOWER BASKET CURRENT CONCRETE SIDEWALK MALUS PRAIRIFIRE CRABAPPLE STREET TREE CURRENT STREET LIGHTS WITH FLOWER BASKET WITH FLOWER BASKETS EXPANDED CORNER WITH CRIMESON SPIRE OAK STREET TREE MAINSTREET 12 th 3 2 CREATING GREEN INFILL BY USING PAKLET FOR EXPANDED OUTDOOR DINING CREATING GREEN INFILL BY USING PARKLET FOR EXPAMDED OUTDOOR SEATING CREATE GREEN INFILL BY USING PLANTER WITH SEATING SPACE CREATE GREEN INFILL BY USING PLANTER WITH SEATING SPACE 3 2 2 CREATING GREEN INFILL BY USING PARKLETS FOR EXPAMDED OUTDOOR SEATING2 CREATING GREEN INFILL BY USING PAKLET FOR EXPANDED OUTDOOR DINING1 Illustrations by Colette Gruber, Heather Tomasek, Dennis Krymuza, Matthew Macchietto, & Lisa Major Page 4 | Crete Visioning Plan
  • 7. Page 5 | Crete Visioning Plan Strategic Implementation The final phase of this visioning plan was to identify projects and provide designs to show the potential results of successful projects. My job was to develop general guidelines for successful project implementation by identifying timelines, actors and stakeholders, and sources of financing and resources. ProjectFocus Funding & Support Implementation & Action Complete Streets and Infill 11th Street Streetscaping (1 - 2 years) • Develop a complete green street corridor system throughout the city. • Connect destinations and green belt trail system to encourage use of green spaces. • Using complete street programming that encourages all modes of transportation, walking, biking, and automobile. • Create an appealing entrance into Crete that transition the environment from rural to urban. • Reflect the natural ecologies of the region. • Lessen the dominance of industrial factors through natural vegetation and landscaping • Increase pedestrian walkability along corridors. • Design a space to attract the development of commercial and professional business infill along Hawthorne Avenue that may not be suitable for downtown. • Use creative financing strategies to attract new businesses into Crete and into the Neighborhood Professional District. • Establish a flexible zoning code in order to allow for a multifunctional avenue with a combination of uses to serve as a welcoming avenue stretching into the center of Crete. • Organize this Neighborhood Professional District with unique design standards to allow it to evolve into a distinctive area for Crete’s commercial businesses. Hawthorne Avenue (6 - 8 years) Iris Avenue (6 - 8 years) Local development corporations are semi public entities which work to- wards community development projects. Often times these are projects that may be neglected by the local government but which are in demand by the community. These entities are semi public because their purpose is to generate community economic development, not to realize a profit. Be- cause they have a strong private affiliation, they are often more effective in dealing with prospective firms than the local government is. An example may be a development corporation helping a manufacturing firm to rehabilitate abandoned factories or constructing new ones and leas- ing this space to them. Development corporations also make loans to busi- nesses for constructing new plants, purchasing land or equipment, paying relocation costs, and so on. A primary activity of local economic corpora- tions in the United States has been the floating of private purpose tax ex- empt bonds. The possibilities are endless when considering the extent as to which a development corporation can take part of and affect a communi- ties economy. Local development corporations are also important because they are often capable of receiving state and federal assistance that may not be available to the municipality or local government. The Crete Area Improvement & Development Corporation has the ability to have a much more significant role than it traditionally has and the capac- ity for this group to build off of the success of the Economic Development Board is great. Form-based codes are a method of regulating development to achieve a spe- cific urban form. They create a predictable public realm primarily by control- ling physical form, with a lesser focus on land use, through city or county regu- lations. These regulations have been developed specifically to empower communi- ties both to enable and to require better development patterns and individual projects. They are a cutting-edge tool for helping improve the quality of our built environment and our communities, as well as for fighting sprawl and all detrimental effects. Form-based codes are based on spatial organizing principles, such as the rural- to-urban transect, that identify and reinforce urban hierarchy. Envisioning and regulating places in this way enable a sense of continuity throughout the com- munity with smooth and often imperceptible transitions between regulatory zones rather than the hard-edge separation and buffering between single use zones that is common in places regulated by conventional zoning codes. More specifically, these codes regulate the details that are most important for the successful implementation of walkable, human-scaled neighborhoods, focusing primarily on urban, while also addressing use and other necessary factors. These details include certain aspects of the buildings as they form the walls of the public space, including their placement, height, width, and the particular way they interact with the public space. They also include the design and layout of streets and blocks, typically requiring narrower streets laid out in an interconnected, gridded network to accommodate pedestrians and bicy- clists, as well as automobiles and transit. In addition, they regulate the location of parking to create beneficial impacts, such as protecting pedestrians from The value of volunteer labor will be great when beginning to think about redeveloping Crete’s parks, trails, and the Big Blue River. Many parks and recreation departments have officially organized“Friends of”volunteer groups. These groups organize special events, raise money, schedule work- days and partner with local businesses. They also contact the media and legislature to get the word out on issues important to parks. These groups are made up of volunteers who help shore up park projects, programs, and management. Many times these kinds of groups are formed to advocate for specific areas or projects. In the case of Crete, this may culminate into a groups which support the cleanup of the Big Blue River, urban trees, or a trail system. Often times, funds raised by these friends groups, through spe- cial events or other activities, are used for improvements and programming. While Crete does not have a parks and recreation department and it may not have the resources to fund the necessary types of activities, it does have a Parks Board. It is up to this Parks Board to organize these types of volun- teer projects and guide the City of Crete in properly budgeting general funds in order to finance development projects which will result in tangible and meaningful outcomes for the citizens of Crete. The land located in the project area is owned by a variety of private citizens and the City of Crete. Before it can be devel- oped it can be acquired through an assortment of means. Donate There have been examples of people who donate their land to a municipality. Sometimes property owners will do this as a charity for conservation efforts, public recreation, or to re- linquish land that has low development potential but create property taxes. Developer A developer could purchase the land. Illustrated by the lack investment on the East side of Crete it is unlikely it would be purchased in its current state. City The City can act as developer and start to create more condu cive market conditions if they first buy the property. Throug the process of annexation, the City of Crete can establish the area as part of the City limits. Annexation would increase the property tax base for the City, allow for City services to be extended into the study area, and create an urban growth boundary. Annexation is a legal process which is undergone through the Crete Planning Commission, City Council, and Saline County. There are a series of tools that a City can use to control the form and quality of new development that occurs on the ou skirts of town. A Planned Unit Development (PUD) and form based codes are two of these tools. Planned Unit Development A Planned Unit Development (PUD) has its own unique zoni ProjectsFocus Funding & Support Implementation & Action CDBG Funds Crete Area Improvement and De- velopment Corporation Funding Property Tax Incentives Tax Increment Financing Private Financing Crete Area Improvement and Development Corporation Bond Financing City of Crete Bond Financing City of Crete Doane College City of Crete CAIDC Chamber of Commerce City of Crete Crete Public Schools New South N Acquisition1 Regulating3 • Meet future needs for growth that thoughtfully and e • Establish a roadway network that is integrated into th reinforces intersection nodes. • Encourage a new walkable neighborhood that incorp the open space network. • Ensure gradual transition between residential land us • Preserve agricultural land, steep slopes, and drainage Crete Area Improvement & Development CorporationForm-Based Codes Volunteerism moving traffic, while minimizing negative impacts, and they regulate an appropriate mix of compatible uses and building types, enabling diverse, vibrant places. Finally, because they regulate these details to the level necessary to ensure adherence to the community’s vision, form-based codes can also provide a streamlined development review and approval process requiring little or no subjective review, thus encouraging appropriate development. Yet, while form-based codes differ radically from conventional zoning in many ways, they are similar in a few ways. Form-based codes also isolate noxious uses, such as heavy manufacturing and airports, and they gener- ally only regulate private buildings as they affect the public good, leaving plenty of room for individual tastes and styles. As necessary, they may also contain provisions similar to conventional zoning for such issues as noncon- forming uses and affordable housing. Focus Project Funding & Support Implementation & Action 11th Street Streetscaping Complete Streets & Infill Hawthorne Avenue Iris Avenue
  • 8. Page 6 | Crete Visioning Plan Strategic Implementation In addition to providing guidelines to pursue projects, we sought to educate city officials and citizens on tools and programs that may lead to the realization of outlined goals. These tools and programs included form-based codes, business incubators, a facade grant program, and a downtown association. Elizabeth Goll_M ARCH Lisa Major_M ARCH Chris Rokahr_M ARCH Matt Macchietto_LARCH HeatherTomasek_LARCH Dennis Krymuza_M ARCH Zach Klebba_M ARCH Aaron Kloke_M CRP Brian Anderson_LARCH Coelette Gruber_M CRP Jacob Kophamer_LARCH Sarah Hanzel_M CRP Nate Krohn_LARCH KimWilson_PROFESSOR “A‘grass roots’initiative led by Crete Community Breakfast Group that will result in a plan to revitalize this small rural town and impact change in the county.” Sources: Burayidi,M.A.(Ed.).(2011).Downtowns:RevitalizingtheCentersofSmallUrbanCenters.NewYork,NY:Routledge. Klemp,R.L.(Ed.).(2000).MainStreetRenewal:AHandbook.London:McFarland&Company,Inc.. Lyons,T.S.,&Hamlin,R.E.(2001).CreatinganEconomicDevelopmentActionPlan.London:PraegerPublishers. Parolek,D.,Parolek,K.,&Crawford,P.(2008).Form-BasedCodes:AGuideforPlanners,UrbanDesigners,Municipalities,andDevelopers. Hoboken,NJ:JohnWiley&Sons,Inc. ProjectsFocus Funding & Support Implementation & Action Downtown Doane Downtown Campus and Open Space (2 - 4 years) Private Funding LB 840 Grants General Funds CAIDC Funding City of Crete bond funds Saline County bond funds Private Donors Non Profit Organization Fund City of Crete funding Donor Money TIF Funds CDBG funds Private funding LB 840 Funds Private Funding General Funds CAIDC Funding TIF Funds CDBG Funds USDA Funds Nebraska DED Funds LB 840 Grants Economic Development Board Downtown Association Doane College City of Crete Economic Development Board Downtown Association Multicultural Committee Downtown Businesses Chamber of Commerce Downtown Association CAIDC City of Crete Downtown Businesses Saline County City of Crete City of Crete City of Crete Downtown Association Private developers City of Crete Downtown Association CAIDC Downtown Businesses Doane College Chamber of Commerce Multicultural Committee • Work with Doane College to develop an appropriate campus that can not only serve the interests of Doane College, but also the community of Crete and the downtown. Doane College has an exceptional opportunity to serve as a catalyst for a wildly successful downtown Crete . • Create a multicultural committee, one which could be facilitated by Doane College, to address the disconnect between Crete’s diverse communities. • Work with downtown businesses and the Chamber of Commerce to enable and invigorate an organized entrepreneurial spirit between downtown businesses in which ideas and skills are exchanged. • Create a facade grant program, administered by the Economic Development Board, the City of Crete, and a Downtown Associa- tion. This low cost initiative would be an appropriate use of LB 840 funds as it provides for infrastructure improvement as a part of an overall economic development strategy. • Implement downtown design standards. This will ensure that any facade treatments, redevelopment of older buildings, and construction of new buildings integrate with the inherent character and fabric of downtown Crete. Business Facades ( 1 - 2 years ) Downtown Streetscaping & Walkability (2 - 4 years) Library ( 2-4 years) Civic Infill (8 - 10 years) High Density Housing (8 - 10 years) Downtown Economic Revitalization ( 6 months - 10 years) • Create a pedestrian friendly downtown so that walking from one location to another is an enjoyable, practical, and efficient mode of transport. This may include the provision of pedestrian amenities such as flowers, landscaping, benches, interesting lighting, banners, brick pavers, and street trees as well as reducing traffic speeds and making streets easier to cross. • Request bond measure through voter ballot. Issuance by City of Crete and or Saline County. • Implement facility and programs which have a comprehensive purpose for the entire community. • Maintain the civic edge along Linden Avenue. • Library’s footprint should be sensitive to its surroundings and maintain a harmonious relationship with City Park. • Maintain historic buildings in civic area along 13th & Linden. • Develop programs, facilities, and places that are dedicated to the benefit of the community. • Work towards developing a cohesive district with a single civic purpose. Current housing in the area is not suitable for this pur- pose. • Maintain the civic edge along Linden Avenue, 11th Avenue, Juniper Avenue, and 7th Street. • Determine housing feasibility and demand through market analysis. • Understand the future users of downtown in order to provide appropriate housing for potential tenants. • Develop mixed income housing options. • Maintain close proximity to daily needed amenities. • Develop high density housing in order to use land efficiently and maintain an urban character. • Economic Development Board should establish a focus on downtown revitalization dictated by community input. • Hire an economic developer to implement downtown revitalization and work towards business retention and expansion throughout all of Crete. • Establish downtown leadership and organization of stakeholders, business leaders, and citizens. • Invest in public infrastructure to ensure complete streets and the overall beautification and function of downtown. • Take advantage of Doane College and allow them to be a catalyst for economic and social development. • Attract new businesses and visitors to Crete through branding. • Establish phases through which the goals can be met incrementally. Nebraska DED Economic Gardening Grants Nebraska Advantage Act Nebraska Progress Loan Fund Historic Preservation Grants Nebraska DED Site and Building Development Fund Building Entrepreneurial Communities Act Grant Nebraska Angel Sidecar Fund Nebraska Microenterprise Development Act Grants Nebraska Community Foundation Hometown Competitiveness Assistance Tax Increment Financing Property Tax Abatement Impact fee rebates Employee training programs Loan guarantees Deferred tax payments Sales tax rebates LB 840 loans LB 840 grants Clawback provisions for incentive Commercial revenue bonds Business incubator Entrepreneurial education HUD Community Development Block Grants USDA Development Grants USDA Community Facilities Grants USDA Rural Community Development Initiative Grants USDA Rural Business Enterprise and Opportunity Grants USDA Rural Cooperative Development Grants USDA Business and Industry Loan Guarantees EPA Small Business Innovation Research Program HUD Brownfields Economic Development Initiative A business incubation program is a tool for encouraging the formation, sur- vival, and growth of new enterprises. This kind of program would take the form as a building that has been subdivided for rental to a number of small fledg- ling businesses and offers flexible work spaces and low-cost support services to these tenants. This gives the tenants the opportunity to conduct business at a much lower cost than in conventional market rate spaces because incuba- tor firms can share fixed costs such as centralized clerical and administrative services, business assistance, and rent. They would also share common spaces such as a conference room. The overall purpose of a business incubation program is to promote the success of small businesses by helping them minimize overhead, find needed financ- ing, improve management skills, pool resources and risk, and ultimately move out into the world to function on their own. In other words, the incubation pro- gram’s mission is to help entrepreneurs overcome obstacles they face to acquir- ing the resources they require to business success. This support is commonly offered during the first two to five years of the new firm’s existence, the most crucial period in its ultimate survival. Incubation programs can be owned and operated by public, non profit, or for- profit organizations. If an incubation program were to be implemented, many different entities could have a hand in its success. As of right now, Doane Col- lege has expressed interest in establishing a student ran business within their proposed downtown campus.With Crete’s already existent entrepreneurial spir- it and Doane’s commitment to business entrepreneurship, a likely partnership between the college, the downtown association, and the City of Crete could emerge. A downtown associat vised to carry out the teer organization to ca businesses, and ultim problems. This sort of ness owners and stake City of Crete. The invo important for success are unquestionably int zation that is strictly d has been the isolation large problems that e has taken a toll on Cre lack of canopy sharing Merchant unity is vital effort is important in matching design stand ness owners tend to h ment of their downtow ing in unity and with a A downtown associati to the aesthetic prope tation of downtown de construction. Uniform the downtown a recog rest of Crete. A uniform something that the as sistent placement of b Main street; an initiativ such as a downtown a There are many quick plish in a short amoun sion strategies often w two purposes. First, aw recipients and, second made in a downtown. mote the downtown. A outstanding physical i forts, and employees. Another quick win that gram guided by the do ness retention initiativ owners with entrepre business owners or in to learn from their mo Lastly, the role of a dow mining realistic market and can be managed market draw and know With the recent constr town association shou to satisfy demands for would not only create a relevant and attractiv Tax increment financin the public costs associ lic costs of developme public portions of the r tion). This may include (streets, water and sew redevelopment less fi costs of development to make redevelopme ample, TIF funds can b for land assembly and buildings. Essentially, the proper geted to repay the pu creased popularity as state and federal subsi Overall, it provides a m ing areas by allowing increases to repay the While TIF may not be mentation of a TIF dist agement of business in Tax IncremBusiness Incubator Development Tools & Sources of Funding Local State Federal Downtow A facade grant program is an excellent opportunity to revitalize one of the most important assets to a small town: its downtown.The primary objective of this pro- gram would be to revitalize and restore the central business district by preserving the existing store fronts. In addition, this program could provide extra incentive to building owners for structural repairs and rehabilitation. Funding may include signage, painting, storefront repairs, and canopy replacement or repair, among other things. The goals of this program would be many: 1.)To prevent deterioration, 2.)To eliminate conditions that may be detrimental to the safety, health, and welfare of the users of downtown, 3.) To renovate and preserve special properties of historical values, 4.) To benefit the entire downtown by preserving a pleasing and aestheti- cally acceptable downtown, 5.) To preserve existing building stock, 6.) To make downtown a viable, cultural, and economic asset to the city of Crete. A facade grant program could be implemented in accordance with a Downtown Association and the Crete Economic Development Board with use of LB 840 funds. The City of Crete’s Economic Development Plan’s purpose is to recruit, improve, and redevelopment. This includes the revitalization of Crete’s community. This would be an appropriate use of LB 840 as it provides an investment to private infrastructure and improves downtown’s image which is, in a sense, a public as- set. This public asset is essential for the attraction for downtown economic development. Not only does this improve the image of downtown, self-improvement of a downtown is the best form of retail retention. This facade grant program should be in accordance with downtown design standards. It is also advised that facade grants are matching grants in that private property owners should be asked to contribute a specified percentage of the amount of the total cost of facade revitalization. Facade Grant Program Focus Project Funding & Support Implementation & Action Downtown Doane Downtown Campus & Open Space Business Facades Library Civic Infill High Density Housing Downtown Economic Revitalization Downtown Streetscaping & Walkability
  • 9. Page 7 | Discover Alborada Park Discover Alborada Park Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador Summer 2013
  • 10. Page 8 | Discover Alborada Park Biodiversity Geography Cultural Elements Alborada History Art Galapagos culture is comprised the rich flora and fauna of the islands range of visual and performing arts Galapagos Culture The Discover Alborada Park Plan, a service learning project, was created to help residents realize a variety of possible design enhancements to the park that will better serve the historic neighborhood in Puerto Ayora. The underlying goal of the plan was to express the historic, cultural, and artistic foundations of the Alborada neighborhood. Throughoutthecommunitydesignprocess, we worked hard to gain public input and engage neighborhood stakeholders, leaders, and artists. My responsibility was to understand this community’s values and cultural underpinnings in order to ensure that our designs and recommendations accurately reflected what’s most important to this historical neighborhood. Community Engagement
  • 11. Page 9 | Discover Alborada Park Throughout the process we recognized several obstacles such as property line disputes, conflicting programming of space, and the future construction of a new road. Our final recommendations incorporated changes to the tennis courts, park entrances, children’s playground, and an art program while Illustrative Plan by Heather Tomasek Strategies for Success also appreciating the obstacles at hand, leading us to provide strategic recommendations to the neighborhood as to how to successfully achieve the goals that we laid out.
  • 12. Design Proposals Page 10 | Discover Alborada Park Illustrations by Nate Krohn & Heather Tomasek
  • 13. Page 11 | City of Crete Internship City Planning Internship City of Crete, Nebraska Summer & Fall 2013 Audit of the Crete Economic Development Program Economic Feasibility Comprehensive Planning Through this project, it was my responsibility to review the Crete Economic Development Program’s projects, funding mechanisms, oversight, and administrative processes. Results of my recommendations include greater oversight of the administrative process,the use of alternative and more sophisticated funding mechanisms, and the adoption by the committee of a strong strategic component to the program’s charter. Followingrecommendationsforsouthern expansion through the student visioning plan,Iwasaskedbycitycounciltoevaluate the economic feasibility of recreation and green space expansion to serve as a catalyst for residential development. In addition, fellow intern Heather Tomasek worked on the site design to understand the physical feasibility of the recreation space. The City of Crete hired a private planning firm to perform a comprehensive plan, a housing study, and a blight study to begin implementing tax increment financing. I served as a liaison between the city and the planners to communicate what was found in the student visioning plan and worked to make recommendations concerning the public engagement process. My internship with the City of Crete followed the success of our student visioning plan.The objective of this position was to work on specific projects that would maintain the momentum of the visioning plan from the previous fall. Cons • Price is greater than we expected. • Onsite well. • Southern location, not centrally located • Consumption of farmland. • Located within floodplain. ood velop stream nt property green belt in South nd the community orhoods. s complex, of land in Tuxedo Rotary Park. town with a • How will this be paid for and can the City of Crete afford it? • Growing Hispanic population with a growing demand for greater recreation. • Current demands exceed size of existing field capacity Other things to consider...
  • 14. Page 12 | City of Crete Internship City of Crete Comprehensive Planning Program Online Citizen Survey The City of Crete Planning Commission is currently conducting a Comprehensive Planning Program to determine both the present and future needs of the Community for the next 10 and 25 years. An important activity of this Planning Program is to ask you about the needs and wants of the Community. Please take five minutes to complete an online survey and give us your feedback. Participants will be given a chance to enter a drawing to win $25! If you would prefer to fill out a physical copy of the survey, you can collect a copy at City Hall. Take the survey now! Go to: www.crete-ne.com H O2 During my internship with the City of Crete, I worked on a project called the Southern Development. It entailed doing a feasibility study and design proposal for 40 acres that could be developed into a Sports Complex with trails that ran along a stream corridor with connections to the northern neighborhood. Program for this proposal included a range of baseball, softball, and little league ball fields, two concession stands, a flexible soccer | flag football field, parking, playground and picnic areas. . To the right is a portion of our research of user groups and the economic value they bring into the city, above is the framework plan and final design. This proposal was presented to the Mayor, and City Council Members during a City Council Meeting. Illustration by Heather Tomasek Feasibility Analysis and Comprehensive Planning To the right is a flyer for an online survey as part of the public engagement phase of Crete’s comprehensive planning effort. This flyer was designed to be distributed to 500 elementary students with the intention that they may share with their families.This effort resulted in a threefold increase in survey participants. The City of Crete was given the opportunity to purchase forty-five acres of farmland to develop into recreation space for a thriving baseball and softball community. It was found that the average player valued an acre of sports recreation at a perceived market value of $13,408. $9,000 $129,960 $74,000 $18,000 $22,800 90 232 184 150 240 users users users users users Economic Value Local Users T-Ball Softball Ages 7 - 18 T-ball Ages 3 - 6 Softball Flag Football Ages 5 - 10 Flag Football Baseball Ages 7 - 18 Baseball Soccer Ages 3 - 10 Soccer Ages
  • 15. Page 13 | City of Crete Internship Step 1 Step 3 Step 5 Step 2 Step 4 Step 6 Step 7 LB 840 APPLICATION PROCESS If application is denied, the applicant has the ability to appeal to advisory board at a public hearing Next Step in Process Negotiations Not Accepted NotRecommended Negotiations Accepted RecommendAsAmended ApplicationRecommended Applicant goes to Director with idea Isapplicantandprojecteligible? No Yes Application is submitted Director does a review & analysis of application The applicant and Director enter into negotiations Application is presented to economic advisory committee by Director Application goes to public hearing and advisory committee executive session for financial determination and recommendation Application goes to City Council Is the application accepted? No Yes May reenter into negotiations The economic development program’s largest initiative was to work with and fund private organizations through grants and loans. My adopted recommendations to this initiative’s process seen below in the flow chart resulted in a program that used funds more efficiently and effectively, and made for a more transparent program. Alloftheprogram’sprojectswerealsoreviewedinfulldetail.Many of these projects were contentious among Crete’s residents.This provided for me a strong lesson in working among controversy in a tactful manner. Program Audit Money:Howmuchandwherediditgo? Total Expenses $524,692.52 Total Revenue $706,142.28 Administrative 2% Recruitment 0% Promotion/Tourism 2% Infrastructure 68% PublicInfrastructure55% PrivateInfrastructure45% Development 28% ProjectsinDetail Crete Glass | store front renovation City of Crete Community Center | HVAC system, gym floor, roof Dittmer & Dittmer | sprinkler system, 10% for facade Ensure proper oversight and checks & balances of Economic Development Program Pay close attention to LB 840 guidelines issued by NDED, state statutes, and city ordinances “No member of the citizens advisory review committee shall be…an official or employee of any qualifying business receiving financial assistance under the economic development program.” Nebraska State Statute 18-2715 “Improvement and redevelopment of the community’s public facilities and infrastructure and revitalization of our community.” No documentation as to why application was denied No attached audit requirements and lack of follow up on ‘facade beautification’ Adhere to purpose, vision, and goals of the program Provide consistent documentation and recorded reasoning behind decisions
  • 16. Page 14 | Professional Project Professional Project City of Omaha, Nebraska 2013 - 2014 Exploring the Neighborhood Preferences of a Segment of Millennials in Omaha, Nebraska By Aaron Kloke This project, in partial fulfillment for the degree of MCRP, sought to understand the particular demands of Millennials in regards to the makeup and design of Omaha neighborhoods and districts.
  • 17. Page 15 | Professional Project Elements IdentifyingTrends Focus Groups Demographic Profile Interviews Surveys National trends were reviewed to achieve an understanding of Millennials’ circumstances, preferences, demands, and changing lifestyles and how these may affect the future built environment of America. It was found that Millennials, while still strongly desiring the single- family home, prefer more dense and mixed-use neighborhoods. A series of focus groups brought Omaha Millennials together resulting in several conversationsconcerningwhatMillennials love about their neighborhoods and what could be done to make them better. The concepts of accessibility, proximity, and walkability were explored in great depth and resulted in a foundation of understanding Millennials’ transportation habits. A general profile of Omaha Millennials was developed to understand where exactly this demographic is clustering, what they look like demographically, and where they are moving. The profile showed an increasingly diverse group, stricken with student loan debt, that tends to cluster around rental housing in central locations. A series of interviews were conducted with a variety of local leaders, designers, bankers, developers, and real estate professionals to obtain an important perspective on the housing and real estate market in Omaha. In addition to learning about Omaha markets, a unique set of conflicts that Millennials face when looking for a home was identified, deemed the “triangle of conflict”. An online survey was administered to 157 Millennials to understand what this generation wants out of its neighborhoods. The survey showed a group of Millennials that aligned with Millennials on a national scale. A visual preference survey was also administered to forty-two individuals to explore the urban forms and spaces that Millennials are most attracted to. It was foundthatthedivisionbetweenthebenefits of suburban and urban neighborhoods is complex and that what the neighborhood provides in terms of safety and vibrancy is very important.
  • 18. Page 16 | Professional Project Hot Spot Cluster Analysis Figure 4. Gi* Cluster Analysis of 22 to 34Year Olds in Douglas County I-680 72ndSt 52ndSt 60thSt 50thSt 60thSt 42ndSt 36thSt N120thSt W Maple Rd W Dodge Rd W Center Rd Underwood Ave Dodge St Leavenworth California St I-80 Hot Spots Cold Spots 99% Confidence 95% Confidence 90% Confidence 99% Confidence 95% Confidence 90% Confidence City Limits Identifying the Millennial Demographic This project led me to create a demographic profile of this unique group.Age-related census data was gathered to obtain an understanding of this group’s changing ethnic diversity, income, education,and debt obligations.In addition,I sought to identify clusters to obtain a grasp of where Millennials are choosing to live currently and why. The map below shows one method known as a hot spot analysis using a GIS spatial statistics tool called Gi* (star). This was calculated based on census data showing population percentage of 22 to 34-year-olds of block groups. This analysis identified hot spots, or clusters of block groups with high percentages of Millennials and did so with confidence intervals at three levels, 99%, 95%, and 90%, as denoted by the red to light orange colors.This method of analysis also identified cold spots, or clusters of block groups with low values, also shown at three confidence intervals. These areas are essentially dead zones where Millennials are sparsely located.
  • 19. Page 17 | Professional Project Quantitative Research Sources of qualitative research included an online survey and a visual preference survey.The online survey included thirty- five questions which sought to gauge what Millennials demanded out of their neighborhood. The visual preference survey showed twenty-four photos that represented different Visual Preference Survey34 Office 17 -5 median -2 -1.4 -2 +1-4 -1 +2-3 0 +3 +4 +5 18 -5 median +2 +1.4 -2 +1-4 -1 +2-3 0 +3 +4 +5 Streetscape 19 -5 median +3 +3.1 -2 +1-4 -1 +2-3 0 +3 +4 +5 20 -5 median +1 +.5 -2 +1-4 -1 +2-3 0 +3 +4 +5 24 -5 median +4 +3.4 -2 +1-4 -1 +2-3 0 +3 +4 +5 Streetscape 23 -5 median -2 -1.9 -2 +1-4 -1 +2-3 0 +3 +4 +5 22 -5 median +2 +2 -2 +1-4 -1 +2-3 0 +3 +4 +5 Townhouse 21 -5 median +1 +1 -2 +1-4 -1 +2-3 0 +3 +4 +5 mean mean mean mean mean mean mean mean The Online Survey 24 Sidewalks and places to walk Being within a 15-minute commute Access to neighborhood community spaces like sidewalks,gardens, and neighborhood parks Being with an easy walk of other places and things in the community Privacy from neighbors Easy access to the highway Human activity on neighborhood streets and sidewalks An established neighborhood with older homes and trees Living in a place that is away from it all 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Being able to buy as large of a house as you can Diversity of people with different incomes A new neighborhood with recently built homes Public transportation access Living in a community with a mix of different types of housing A large yard Living in a place that is the center of it all Diversity of people of a different race Percentage of People That FeelTheseAreVery or Somewhat Important Figure 10. Neighborhood Characteristics of Importance urban environments. Participants were asked to give a gut reaction to the photos. The result helped me to begin understanding what makes a desirable environment for this unique demographic.
  • 20. Page 18 | Professional Project Severalmethodsofqualitativeresearchwerealsoperformedincludingfocusgroupsand interviews.Throughout this project, I worked to foster a relationship with the Greater Omaha Young Professionals group. This relationship resulted in the opportunity to conduct a focus group with several members and a chance to engage thirty-eight other members at a public meeting to discuss urban design in Omaha. Additional focus groups took place among other young professional groups and personal contacts. In addition to focus groups, I performed interviews with a variety of local professionals to gain a supply-side perspective of the issue at hand. To the right is a collection of themes that were identified using a text analytics software after requesting 113 individuals to complete one simple task: Describe your ideal neighborhood. This resulted in a very rich set of qualitative data describing the ideal environments that this demographic would like to live in.While all themes were identified as important, the most important themes are darker while less important themes are lighter. Public Engagement large lot active street life open space safe trees 10 minute drive local businesses front porches friendly local events close proximity mixed races neighborhood events walking dogs people easy bike ride grocery stores open space walking distance downtown area community pride community cleanliness sidewalks parking quality neighborhood connection physicial connection safety neighborhood character connectedness crime green space schools parks yards trails access to highway close to work walkability proximity to downtown proximity to bars and food centrality
  • 21. AARON KLOKE | MCRP aaronkloke@gmail.com akloke@huskers.unl.edu (402) 366-7236