I’m looking for information about Sarpy County. It looks suburban Omaha and votes Republican. I also notice it’s population is growing fast. My questions are:
1) Is this growth due to Omaha’s growth? Or more like “white flight”?
2) Are the people moving in younger? Nonwhite? Educated?
3) What type of voters live here? Religious voters? Typical suburbanites? Country club Republicans?
Omaha has had pretty steady growth for a Midwestern city.
Nebraska does not permit cities to cross county lines. Omaha has a significant city limit along the Douglas-Sarpy line. Downtown Omaha is somewhat southerly in Douglas County). It is difficult to expand to the east because of the Missouri River, and being in Iowa.
The angle of the Missouri River is NNW to SSE which blocks direct northward expansion. And consider that Carter Lake is in Iowa. The old river course was further to the west than the modern course. Omaha can expand south, and be moving away from the river.
The rail yards were to the north of downtown, on flatter land (though more significant yards are in Council Bluffs). This land is now industrial, and also includes the Omaha airport. While convenient for railroad workers, merchants, etc. would prefer to live to the west. North Omaha is the center of the black population in Omaha.
US 6 runs through downtown. I-80 runs through the southern part of the city, in effect forming a bypass, but that would also favor growth. I-80 cuts southwest through the western part of Sarpy as it heads towards Lincoln.
Central Omaha is south of the US-6 and Downtown, while North Omaha is north. South Omaha is south of Central Omaha.
Another factor in Sarpy's growth is Offutt AFB south of Bellevue, which was established as the HQ of the Strategic Air Command after WWII, largely due to its central location in North America away from the coasts. After the 911 attacks, President Bush was flown to Offutt. There are around 12,000 military and civilian personnel that work at the base, along with 22,000 dependents. This likely produces a conservative outlook (i.e. pro Defense).
From a map it looks like Omaha has swept down to a point at Offutt, but it may be more the areas growing together, and Bellevue annexing up to the county line.
The other area of growth is where I-80 turns southwest into Sarpy. So you have growth westward from (South) Omaha that makes a turn into Sarpy around Papillon and Chalco. Gretna is also beginning to grow.
Nebraska law permits cities to annex unincorporated territories AND cities with less than 10,000 persons, so long as they are in the same county. Omaha annexed a couple of cities (Millard and Elkhorn) before they could get to 10,000 and refused to not grow. Ralston (in Douglas) agreed not to grow, and was left alone. Ralston built an arena and is now in financial straits. It has been suggested that if Ralston sought annexation to Omaha, that Omaha might refuse.
About 10 years ago, a legislator filed a bill that would permit cities to annex across county lines. Legislators and mayors from Sarpy were outraged, and even the mayor of Omaha was unfavorable. So there is a legal distinction that sets Sarpy-ians apart.
