Omaha ranks 11th in downtown pandemic recovery among North American cities

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - A new study from the University of Toronto ranks Omaha among the top cities in North America for bouncing back after the pandemic.

What did they use to measure? Foot traffic patterns using smartphone location data across 47 months and 62 cities.

“If you talk about foot traffic, you’re capturing everything,” said lead researcher and professor Karen Chapple from the University of Toronto School of Cities. “You’re capturing the workers. You’re capturing the residents. You’re capturing the shoppers and visitors.”

University of Nebraska at Omaha economist Professor Zhigang Feng explained the benefits.

“Higher foot traffic usually means more customers visiting the business, right?” he said. “So there is more business. And there is certainly going to be economic growth or economic activity.”

Another upside of a city with consistent foot traffic is community well-being, he said.

“We all see people around. And then so we are feeling as though our community is vibrant. There are more events going on, people mentally or physically feel better now,” he said.

But not every downtown on the continent is seeing the same return. Data showed San Francisco’s foot traffic is just 32% of what it was prior to the pandemic. For reference, Omaha is 83% back, according to the study.

In some cases, cities with a high density of jobs like those in the technology industry lend themselves to working from home, meaning fewer people in the urban core.

Longer commute times in a city are also correlated to reduced foot traffic, according to the study’s findings.

“People’s values have really shifted in terms of how much they’re willing to commute,” said Chapple.

Other cities are doing even better than before, like Salt Lake City, which surpassed the foot traffic levels pre-pandemic. Bakersfield was ranked second followed by Fresno.

“Cities that bounce back the fastest are the ones that have carefully redeveloped their cities, their downtowns in the last few years,” she said.

Chapple pointed to San Diego as an example, which ranked three spots ahead of Omaha. But Omaha is on track to spend $8 billion in downtown redevelopment.

However, investment isn’t the only factor.

“The idea of feeling safe is a big factor,” said Professor Ernie Goss, Creighton University economist. “Des Moines, Kansas City, Saint Louis, Minneapolis, other medium to large cities in the region and compared to the rest of the nation Omaha, has done well.”

While these trends bode well for the metro, experts said sustained urban growth will come from investment in human capital meaning workforce development and education.

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