The City of Omaha, FUSE, 75 North Revitalization Corp., and Canopy South are working together to build the social infrastructure that makes neighborhoods thrive. North Omaha has faced decades of redlining, disinvestment, and the construction of Highway 75, which displaced thousands of residents and businesses and split neighborhoods apart. 75 North and Canopy South have made major strides in developing mixed-income housing and expanding access to workforce pathways and community resources. Community leaders now want to strengthen the neighborhood’s public life by increasing resident participation, encouraging intergenerational connection, and rebuilding trust in civic systems so residents fully benefit from ongoing revitalization.
Beginning in Fall 2026, FUSE Executive Fellow Avery McDougle will lead a 90-day listening tour with city departments, residents, youth and senior groups, workforce and childcare providers, employers, and place-based organizations, while reviewing neighborhood plans and task force recommendations. McDougle will then look for ways to coordinate programming and activate underused spaces as community hubs, aligning the work with the Mayor’s “”Year of the Neighbor,”” the comprehensive plan, and Highway 75 reconnecting communities efforts. McDougle will be embedded at the City with a formal dotted-line relationship to 75 North and Canopy South. By Fall 2027, deliverables will include a public life and engagement framework, an action plan for community priorities, a neighborhood activation and communication strategy, a community hub and partnership strategy, and a sustainability and replication framework.
