There are so many good things happening on the transportation front in Omaha. Mayor Fahey recently announced plans and funding for an essential East-West link between the Keystone Trail and downtown which will use dedicated bike lanes. Everyone who lives here knows how important that is. The Young Professionals just completed their Bus Challenge and Activate Omaha has the Bicycle Commuter Challenge in full swing. Omaha recently announced their downtown master plan where pedestrians and cyclists are well accounted for.

Now there is another opportunity to build a positive future for our city. The Metropolitan Area Planning Agency (MAPA) now has a Long Range Transportation Plan survey available for the public to complete. The responses from this survey will be used in updating the Long Range Transportation Plan for the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area for year 2035.

Go to www.mapacog.org and find the link for the survey at the top of the homepage. The 15 question survey covers a multitude of transportation topics and respondents can use this as a platform to make suggestions about the future of transportation in the metro area.

The MAPA Long Range Transportation Plan will provide a vision for the metropolitan area’s future transportation system. Additionally, projects must be identified in the Long Range Plan to be eligible to receive federal funding.

Please take a few minutes to help out. Thanks.

With the help of UrbanVelo I was introduced to the Streetsblog Network. The network is a gathering place for web surfers from around the country to discuss and share information about sustainable transportation, smart growth and livable streets. Think of it as one-stop shopping for transportation policy goodness.

The network is a daily news source, online community and political mobilizer for the Livable Streets movement. We are part of a growing coalition of individuals and organizations in cities around the world working to transform our cities by reducing dependence on private automobiles and improving conditions for cyclists, pedestrians and transit riders.

Streetsblog’s purpose is twofold: to create a place where people who blog on smart growth, livable streets and sustainable transportation issues can come together and learn from each other. And to provide a clearinghouse for information related to the transportation bill, or “TEA,” that directs the spending of hundreds of billions of federal dollars. The next such bill is set to come up for reauthorization in 2009.

According the the blog’s editor, “If there is going to be a grassroots movement for change in local and federal transportation policy, then our readers will be among the most active and knowledgeable participants in that movement.”

You’ve got to check it out. I’m amazed at the depth of information to be found. There are crazy links to every imaginable piece of relevant information. And there is a glossary of teams with comprehensive explanation and links to more.

Corey and I took a focused approached to yesterday’s Green Home Tour, hosted by the Green Omaha Coalition. We really wanted to learn more about water conservations, especially the control of runoff.

We decided to make an adventure out of the tour, so we decided to walk the two miles to the water conservation house. We set out early in the afternoon, and enjoyed a beautiful Dundee day. We were getting a little winded from the hilly route, and were pretty glad to finally arrive at our destination.

It was a pleasant suprise to find that the tour was apparently a hit. The house was crowded with visitors of all ages, all wanting to learn more about home water conservation. There was a convenient handout (printed on FSC Certified paper of course) which highlighted all of the tools and techniques used in the home. At all major stopping points (kitchen, bath, garden & gutters) there were helpful volunteers ready to answer questions.

Many of the interior changes we have already made, including faucet aeroators and flow controllers. We have made many eco-friendly cleaning product decisions as well.

But in the kitchen we were impressed with some common sense suggestions. Lined up on the kitchen counter were big boxes of Baking Soda and Powder, along with a big jug of vinegar. It was a helpful reminder that much of our home cleaning needs can be solved the old fashioned way. If anyone knows of a good book for teaching about homemade cleaners, please let me know. Also in the kitchen, the home owner had a water pitcher next to the sink which she used to capture grey water before it was wasted down the drain. She collects the water and takes it out to the garden to water plants. The coolest thing in the bathroom were all of the plants in and around the shower. It was such a cool idea to bring life and green into this usually ’sterile’ environment. Placing a bucket in the shower as the water temperature is set is another good way to capture waste water.

We were most interested in the rain garden (PDF 5mb) found in the front yard. We have erosion issues at our home because of the slope of our property. We have done a lot of research, and are doing the math right now (yes, math is required) to determine the right size and placement of ours. All of the literature we have read suggests that the garden should be densly planted, but it was good to see that the sample home was planted more scarcely. We are trying to save money and don’t want to have to rush out and buy a bunch of plants for the garden.

On that note (sorry for all of the random thoughts), we stopped by Pageturner’s Used Books in Dundee on the walk back and I picked up a really helpful book on plant propagation. It is exactly what I have been looking for. I wanted to find a way to multiply my and my neighbors plants in order to fill in our gardens. Plus we are going to start our complete vegetable garden from seed next year, and can use all the tip we can get so our time is well spent.

Anyway, whereas we didn’t spend the whole afternoon on the tour like many of the participants clearly did, we had a great time and learned a lot. If you aren’t already a member, please join the GOC and recieve their regular updates with other educational events.

Earlier this year we sold one of our cars, which liberated our lifestyle and our pocket book. But, there are occasionally challenges to overcome. Earlier this week my beautiful wife made a beautiful decision in overcoming one such challenge.

I needed the car to visit a prospective client. The meeting came up on short notice, and there wasn’t the opportunity to reschedule. Corey had an appointment at the salon scheduled at the same time, which she didn’t want to miss because this is one of the few treats that we budget for each month.

We considered our options; dropping her off early, asking a neighbor/friend for a ride, or canceling the visit. Then, out of the blue, Corey volunteered to walk.

She immediately got excited about the idea, reminding me that she walks a couple of miles everyday for her part-time dog-walking job. But this was a different story. Her salon is in Dundee proper, maybe 3 miles from our house. After her appointment, she had to immediately go and walk the dogs. Her total walk would be about 8 miles, and it was going to be a hot and humid Nebraska day.

Corey’s choice to walk reminds me of another that she made earlier this year. When our friend Mark gave us the book, ‘How to Live Well Without a Car‘, I’m sure he thought that I would be the only one in the house to read it. (Mark and I are always dorking out on commuting on bikes) But Corey dove into the book right away, and within days had resolved to sell out SUV.

That day she logged a couple of hours of walking, traversing our hilling neighborhood from one side to the other. Her smiling face and healthy glow shined brighter than the newly applied highlights in her hair.

She has completely adopted our simple and sustainable lifestyle approach. She is willing to adapt to our evolving needs, and she does so with a beautiful resolve which I respect so much.