All you hear, is parking, parking, parking. Evaluations show Lincoln doesn't have enough parking downtown. Instead of adding parking in place of existing businesses, and thus creating more less usable space, planner ought to concentrate on ways to ELIMINATE THE NEED for parking. The idea to add 800 residential units is great. Now remember, the people who move into those units will do so, because in part, they will be motivated by saving on gas by walking to various downtown destinations. Except if the plan holds its own, there will be FEWER destinations and MORE garages.

Downtown needs to increase residential and commercial density, DECREASE the space underused as parking lots, provide MORE shopping opportunities including, and this is crucial, GROCERIES, and do everything to encourage people to leave their cars behind.

Lincoln already has a solid bus net that can provide transportation from almost anywhere in the city. It's time to capitalize on the existing system - with an overhaul, of course, that will make it more attractive to daily commuters. Every single student at UNL has a bus pass, but does every student use it? For me, the only thing wrong with the bus system is how few runs are available and how long some of them take.

Another idea - already expressed by a previous post - a commuter train to Omaha. At least, I'd like to see this investigated. Knowing how many people commute to work in either direction, this might be a desirable option. The train would have to have several stops in each city, but not in between.

The Downtown Master Plan Study largely ignores the Antelope Valley Project as if it did not exist. It surely does exist right now and will loom larger in the future.

After a new arena is built, Pershing could be remodeled into a music hall for smaller scale musical concerts on two floors. The lower level and the main floor would make two nice areas for music, perhaps more than two areas. Add in acoustic, visual, and seating improvements. Small scale concerts for new or rising stars of music.

The Rococco Theater would be great for this sort of thing, but with apartments above, there is enough resistance to a music club or music theater there. Maybe Pershing would be the right size to subdivide into two or more musical halls.

As businesses rise along the Antelope Valley project, maybe a musical club or two could occupy some of that space. Lincoln's answer to the big city venues. Something for people of all ages would be the key to the new downtown and Antelope Valley.

My answers are all over the place and contradictory for a reason. There is more than one right answer out there. Be creative, Lincoln! Not everything costs hundreds of millions. Some of it could be as simple as just creating an environment to lure in our own Bourbon Street or SoHo neighborhood.

I keep thinking about our beloved city. Maybe I'll have to do something to help by putting my words into action myself.

The thing Lincoln needs is more for young single people to do. The city does a wonderful job with children (Children's Museum), elderly (Senior Centers), young teens (recreation centers), and married couples. What entertainment and services are available for those in between those years or statuses?

We have a dominance of local country and blues bands and places for them, but few venues for other kinds of bands for outdoor concerts or for bars. Rock bands that are not pop music bands are few. There are other kinds of music not represented here but in big cities only. Our minority populations may have some ethnic music we don't normally hear either. Be sure they all have a place at the entertainment table. It would show how diverse our city is to visitors and residents alike.

If the arena and a downtown entertainment district (Cabela's state legislative bill if passes would help more than Cabela's - it would help downtown if we sought that designation) make it possible for us to have wider entertainment choices in music and other forms of entertainment -- it cannot come soon enough!

The majority is well served. Just don't ignore the needs of any minorities who could provide the spice we need to enliven our downtown area.

Why don't we turn all of the downtown streets, except 9^th, 10^th, K, and L into two-way streets? Equal number of lanes going each direction. A center turn lane.

This piecemeal two-way is confusing everyone that goes downtown, most especially our visitors. Stop the madness and make it uniform throughout downtown.

I see that the Downtown Master Plan sites a new train station one block behind the current station.

Since you'd be building from scratch, I do hope that it can be a state of the art multimodal transportation and tourism center. A place where people can buy airline tickets, coordinate car pooling, catch an intercity bus, a charter bus, rent a limosine, board a tourist bus, board any StarTran bus, be a future trolley or light rail center, catch a taxi 24/7, board a passenger or commuter train, take a van to or from the airport in Lincoln or Omaha, rent a car from several rental car agencies, serve as a hiking/biking trail head, and have a Flexcar location (see my earlier words on Flexcar).

The city and state could collaborate in locating a new city and state tourist information center within this new depot. Have one of those From Nebraska stores within the station to shop at, create a Nebraska-based restaurant/food court (Runza, Valentinos-To-Go, Amigos), add a few local tourism agencies, and have a Cornhusker AAA satellite location too.

Have interactive kiosks for tourists to locate and reserve any area hotel/motel room and for people to track the current location of a city bus interactively.

I also hope the station is as beautiful to look at as it is functional. New train stations do not have to look bland if the building is constructed with quality materials. How about add some murals by local artists, inside and outside the station of what our region has for tourists to gawk at or learn about?

Some examples would be to have brick sculpture, murals, or mosaics that would showcase recognizable features and people who came from our state. Places such as the State Capitol, Chimney Rock, Nine-Mile Prairie, Pine Ridge, Sand Hills, waterfalls within our state, the Platte River, Fairview mansion, Frank House, Norris Home, and Fontenelle Forest. People such as George Norris, Henry Fonda, Johnny Carson, Marlon Brando, Nick Nolte, Gerald Ford, Malcolm X, etc. All of these would be located both inside and outside of the train/multimodal transportation station. Interpretive text would explain what these are and where they are from.

This transportation and tourism center would be a wonderful way to combine resources that already exist with services that could not otherwise afford to locate and build their own specialized building. A synergy between all of these things under one roof would keep the building a very active place to be around the clock.

The large park proposed near SW Downtown south of the Haymarket is a very large site. It could be the site of the new arena and convention center. The northern portion is just south of M Street, which would be closer to O Street than the proposed site near R Street.

Imagine how huge the arena and convention center could be on that site! The Capital Parkway West bridges going through the middle of the site could be a problem, but a lower portion of the building(s) or a linear open space could go underneath the overpasses. Just a thought.

There are more options than just one, is the point of all of my words. Think creatively, Lincoln.

I see many comments relating to not enough parking garages downtown, but how about the traffic flow going into these parking garages from main arterials. One example: If the Harris Overpass is being reconstructed, would it be possible to have an offshoot of road from this overpass go directly into the neighboring garage(s)? Then traffic is not slown for the cars behind waiting for the car up front to pull into the garage.

Downtown Minneapolis has such an exquisite example of this off one of their main interstates.

I like the idea of the public square, but we need that plus a large downtown area park. The plans show an area south of the Haymarket for open space that looks large enough for a public event space - assuming this won't become a lake or something else filling it. Why not have it become a nice public event space?

I would prefer to see more local merchants downtown that create viable retail anchors which are created in our downtown and spread through the world, but if we have to have national merchants then a Trader Joes is okay. National merchants, if they must be there, should be ones we would never get in here otherwise. Something that Omaha and our whole region does not yet have and maybe never will.

Again, I am really objecting to the single use buildings I see in the plan. No plan for high-rise apartments over stores and offices. This does not seem to be a mixed-use plan but rather a retail plan.

We do need more and better retail anchors for sure, but we need a more cosmopolitan downtown with a mixture of architectural styles and uses. The ability to buy anything you can buy in a mall and then some. More tourist venues like an Imax theater. Encouraging a wider mix of people from all walks of life and all sorts of ability and disability levels.

Give us more than Centrums and Grand Theaters with their backsides to 'O' Street. Retail can fit in as skinny as six feet of space by tens of feet, as they do in shopping malls. This would wrap retail around blocks and be affordable to smaller entrepreneurs. Narrow retail spaces would cover up those bare walls I see throughout downtown, some of which has been there forever. Think South 12th south of 'N' (Tier One buildings' west side) for one.

Sometimes we think that one large project will rescue downtown when we need to think of a whole series of projects from tiny to large.

Provide one-quarter percent less local sales tax in the downtown and Haymarket districts to draw shoppers in. Provide a permanent break on taxes for merchants for staying in the downtown district. Try some things that hasn't been done to death everywhere. How about a free trade zone? Provide for and always regulate common health and safety standards, but deregulate the downtown otherwise to encourage innovative thinking from lower income merchants.

We are a long ways from overbuilding parking structures. Until everyone can find a parking space in the Central Park (Centrum) garage while visiting the Grand movie theatres, there will never be enough parking spaces.

The Grand is losing business because the good deal of 3 hours free parking in the Centrum garage cannot be fulfilled because it is an oversold garage and is always FULL. You are nearly two blocks from the Grand front door in that garage anyway. A garage directly across from the Grand, with parking enough for all Grand theatre patrons offering 3 hours of free parking, would ensure the success of the Grand. Don't forget having retail in the lower floor or two of the parking garages.

A downtown area outdoor amphitheater would be nice for summer concerts and plays. Maybe one of the larger open spaces near downtown could hold one?

No matter where it is built, a permanent indoor farmer's market complex would be a nice addition. Farm produce, some eating establishments, a fish market, and some flower selling vendors.

A parking garage above or below it large enough to park all visitors to the indoor market. Sub-Basements and partial first floor parking garage, first to third floor farmer's market, third and fourth floor eating establishments, fifth through tenth floors office space, eleventh through 21st floors apartment complex.

Whenever a parking garage is built, there should be multiple uses above or below it. Real estate downtown should hold more than one use. We could put so much more downtown and still park all of the vehicles. Retail first floor, offices second through tenth, apartments 11th and above. Things like that.

I like the idea of diving 9th and 10th Streets under 'P' Street, but how about under 'M', 'N', and 'Q' Streets as well? Will these tunnels adversely affect any merchants or potential ones along 9th or 10th Streets? I guess there will be access to those streets by ramps up to them from 9th and 10th?

Dream big Lincoln, but dream smart. Don't put all of your eggs into one basket. Start with the smaller projects first. Save money for the bigger projects, just like the rest of us.

I like the idea of streetcars and trolleys. Of light rail and yes, even a subway if possible. Of bike lanes and trails. Over the next 30 years, we will need one of the above for downtown, just to make it livable and allow us to cut through the ever thicker vehicle traffic.

In the here and now though, we need more parking garages. Huge parking garages.

We need a much better mini-bus system too with more frequent arrivals. Fewer large buses in turn, so that we can afford to make them arrive more frequently or run longer into the evening.

Has anyone considered a Flexcar type of program for downtown people who do not wish to buy and maintain their own vehicle? Flexcar is a service in Portland, Oregon; Washington, D.C.; Seattle, Washington; and Los Angeles to name a few.

Flexcar has a fleet of rental cars parked in designated lots that allow people to rent a car or van in their neighborhood by using a toll free phone number or web site to reserve a vehicle. This would be perfect for downtown residents. They could use a member key card to unlock a car and use it for as long as they need to.

For reference: http://www.flexcar.com/

I went to a conference two months ago here at the Cornhusker with people from all over the country. Living here all my life thus far, I don't see what people from out of state see. Here is what they told me.

They were amazed that there were crews that went around and cleaned up the downtown, planted things, raked leaves, etc. Just how clean downtown is, compared to their trash strewn downtowns.

They were shocked that Lincoln had an urban area like this. They didn't think the downtown would be that big. They didn't think Lincoln was nearly a quarter of a million people. Nebraska has farm state and small state written all over it. We need to provide venues that show a more cosmopolitan face to both tourists and to natives alike. There should be more than just bars to see.

The interstate is located so far away from everything that you can go through Nebraska and not see much of anything. Including not seeing any hills by driving down the Platte valley, but that is off-topic.

Most conferences don't allow people to really get out of the hotel and if they do, they only go to the Haymarket to the bars - recommended by the hotel. Why can't people planning these conferences plan outings in the downtown area for all of those out of state people to see and do things in the day and night?

I don't think anyone mentioned the Grand theaters, yet I know there were movie showings that would have coincided with the evenings and would have gotten them out of the hotel.

Some actually said that they felt safer walking downtown at night than anywhere they've been. Needless to say, be sure that is not just a perception but a reality too. Be sure the downtown has a police presence at all hours.

I hate that downtown is known only for its bars. There should be attractions that appeal to all ages, not just for the children at the Children's Museum and the bars for all of the drunks.

If you don't work downtown, there is nothing there in the daytime except places to eat - all north of 'O' it seems. The movie theaters have a few showings in the daytime, but otherwise the sidewalks roll up until the evening.

People who used to be aware of downtown now never go there. They can't get out of their cars and move their ever increasing waistlines a half block or more from where they want to go. If they can't park on the block they are going to right by the business, they aren't going.

How do you change that behavior?

The reason Omaha's Civic Auditorium is there still is because of the Music Hall within. This was separate from the old Arena portion and the Music Hall still attracts concerts. My reason for having Lincoln's proposed new arena to have several smaller music theatres surround the arena portion of the building.

Expand the Haymarket into Downtown and points south.

The former City Mission is now a nice Mission Arts building. Do not demolish all of that hard work that made an ordinary historical building extraordinary.

Rethink the businesses allowed in that block though, because you come into Lincoln on 'O' Street overpass and you see a XXX place, a few bars, pawn shops, and many are on that Mission Arts block.

Upscale it like the Mission Arts project did and people might have a better impression. Encourage a district like Haymarket for that block. It will fit in better with the Old City Hall across the street.

Yesterday, I attended a nice FREE outdoor concert in Stransky Park near LGH West. It lasted all afternoon!

A few donation containers (to recoup costs) went around and they were over half full of money. Now this park is not quite one block in size and had all of this going on with people milling in and out.

How hard would it be to find not quite one block of space downtown to replicate that, complete with a free concert schedule? One should be able to go to free concerts (with donations to recoup costs allowed) throughout this city, including downtown, from spring to fall. This beats going to a bar for music any day!

Oh and Stransky Park was built due to a generous donation of the Stransky family. It has an ongoing maintenance fund. It is beautiful, complete with a man-made waterfall!

In effect, Stransky is a privately supported park (no tax money) open to the general public! Take note, city hall! Aren't there any rich people that want to give back to this community, besides the Stransky's?

This would satisfy entertainment, recreation, and beauty all in one place! Put that in your report.

Space wasting place:

The entire square block south of Gold's Galleria. Parking yes, but surface only. Nothing else there and nothing else to look at.

Could this be: Another parking garage site? A city library site? A downtown grocery store site? The possibilities are endless for this underused site. Add floors to the Central Park (former Centrum) parking garage to replace the parking on this site.

Why can't downtown and this whole city have far more totally accessible housing? I am talking about zero threshold showers, handicapped van accessible parking slots, proper clearances for wheelchairs to turn around, etc.

All curb cuts made easier and wider in the directions of the pedestrian crossings. All major pedestrian crossings with countdown to red light audible and visual. All major curb cuts and crosswalks given first priority for snow removal, simultaneous to the street itself being cleared.

I think we will continue to lose handicapped people to other cities, because they have to be on a waiting list for public housing when they really want to live where everyone else lives in public and private housing. Just make all housing (homes, condos, and apartments) totally accessible when built or remodeled. Public or private, all have the same standard.

Some would like to contribute their mental talents to make this city even greater. They are really like everyone else. As this city and the nation ages, we should have this accessibility. After all, you too may become disabled.

From an able bodied person with handcapped friends. Write me at my e-mail address if totally accessible apartments are a part of future downtown plans. It would be a lot closer to where they work.

I would like to comment on the possibility of a new arena downtown. It should be built with an arena floor area equal to the Qwest Center in Omaha and seat at least as many, if not more, than Quest. Whether Lincoln likes it or not, it is in cometition with Omaha and Qwest. Some comments say to hold the size down. Sure you don't want to over build, but you don't want to under build. Pershing Center probably looked big enough when it was built, but Lincoln has outgrown it. And Lincoln will continue to grow.

Also, as I recall, when the State Legislature was considering funding for the Devany Center, Senator Terry Carpenter wanted it built with seating for over 20,000. If it had been built that large, Lincoln might not have lost the State Wrestling Meet.

Also, any plans for a new arena should look at the State Fair Grounds for a location, as well as the Haymarket Area. If the State Fair wants to build some kind of events center there, it could be combined with a new arena to make a first class facility. It could be used in conjunction with the Devany Center there (such as the state high school meets). Also the Fair Grounds already has parking. Even if it needed to be upgraded, it might be cheaper than building parking in the Haymarket area. And the Fair Grounds are already set up to move large numbers of vehicles in and out.

And finaly, if a new arena is built, why does the Pershing Center need to be taken out of use as an arena? After all, Omaha didn't close the Municipal Auditorium when Qwest was opened.

1. People should exercise more. The majority of people here won't even walk. They'll drive around a parking lot 3 or 4 times to park 10 spots closer to the entrance of a building.
2. People should eat healthier foods in smaller portions. The majority of people here eat high calorie, high carb foods at all you can eat buffets or burger joints.
3. People should support local merchants who offer specialized unique quality products and services. The majority of people here shop mainstream chains for lower priced, lower quality, oversaturated products.
4. People should embrace art and culture. The majority of people here decorate their homes and lawns with Husker Football paraphernalia and call artistic sculptures "eyesores".
5. People should dress with style. The majority of people here dress in sweatshirts, jeans and tennis shoes. (Note: "majority" is losely based on my general observations. But I'll bet if you took a survey or just looked around, you'd see I'm not that far off.)

1. The overall plan for the downtown area should include a comprehensive conference center. Topeka Kansas has a good example of what can be done. They converted portions of the old state fair grounds, built a new convention center and hotel, and were able to provide conference facilities with ample parking for over 1000 participants. All facilities were accessible via sky walks in case of bad weather. We see this as a positive option to use existing facilities and space that currently exist.
2. With the Univesity of Nebraska in the downtown area, we suggest that Lincoln follow the lead of several other college townsin developing a college shopping area. The Haymarket is a step in the right direction, but the area directly adjacent to the University could be developed for the college community, ie; coffee shops, ice cream parlors, unique card shops, clothing boutiques, pizza parlors, etc. Get away from the movie theater/bar mode. We have seen successful areas in Ames, Nashville (near Vanderbilt University), Portland Oregon, just to name a few.

Some of the improvements I consider important to the downtown area all deal with quality-of-life issues and sustaining this balance between business, residential and services.

• If I had to pick one thing that I would like to address downtown, it would be to provide an atmosphere for pleasant outdoor dining/congregating. Several restaurants and bars downtown have nice areas for patrons to sit outdoors, but the areas are not attractive when so much traffic noise makes it impossible to enjoy. The Haymarket is particularly bad when large trucks travel through the area but the problem is as bad in other downtown areas where there is little buffer between traffic and outdoor sitting areas. I realize that the traffic problem downtown will only get worse when the Antelope Valley project continues in earnest, but the long-term goal should consider the ambiance for outdoor seating.
• Pedestrian friendly crosswalks. This may have more to do with driver education than anything, although I have heard people with disabilities complain that the walk sign is too short for them to cross the street. It can be dangerous to cross the street in downtown Lincoln and I am cautious about turning cars whenever I cross the street, mostly because I have had a couple of close calls when cars nearly hit me when I was crossing, legally, in a crosswalk.
• I think it is critical to keep an event center downtown. I recognize the limitations that Pershing Auditorium possesses in today’s climate, especially since the Quest Center in Omaha opened. I think Lincoln needs either a much-improved Pershing or a new event center with adequate parking and that center needs to stay downtown.
• There seem to be some blighted areas downtown that could use some help. We’ve seen some good examples on Lincoln Mall and around Klein’s Grocery but more needs to be done east of downtown.
• I’m not sure how many bars are too many downtown, but it seems like there are probably enough if not too many right now, considering a new one is opening up soon on the corner of 14th and O streets. A study should consider how many bars are necessary and what types of other businesses or services are needed and create a plan to encourage the type of growth that will sustain a viable and versatile downtown area. With the growth of residential units downtown, a grocery may be one logical candidate, but that should be studied.
• The study should consider improving Capitol Mall and extending it to the north (filling in the gap between M Street and P Street). At the least, the plan should consider improvements to the mall – which appears to have been neglected by the City at times.
• The study should consider the amount of parking that is necessary as the residential population grows downtown. While I wish to someday live downtown, I would not do so without adequate protected parking that would be located conveniently to my residence.
• As road work is plotted downtown, it would be nice to have biking lanes so that motorists and bicyclists can both use the street in a safe manner. These lanes could also be considered throughout the community.