Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-02-06
THINGS THAT OMAHA NEEDS
Points in which the ea.s City Lags
Behind Commercial Rivals
HssT-oLAss HO1tL HEADS The LIST
wuIism c Norris Gives some Express
sions 60 His Opinions Formed
After an Extensive Tour
Of the west.

william c. Norris and Z T. Heyden re-
turned Tuesday from southern California
as guests Of James Porter OF Reinbsci.
Ia. in his private car Elsie. In speaking
OF the trip Mr.. Norris said that although
southern California is the ideal winter
home. Omaha remains first in his affections
He says:
1t is beyond belief that the wealth Of
Omaha should leave It so far behind kan
sas City and Los Angeles In the matter Of
a first-clasR hotel. Omaha can never hope
to get the advertising il is entitled to until
its wealthy people awake to the crying
need Of a arst-class hotel why should
some Of our wealthy men withhold their
millions, simply because an up-to-date hotel
win not pay them 30 per cent on the in
vestment on the jump Why. in some Of
the cities l have been in in the west I
know that certain enterprising citizens have
made up a subscription OF a million dollars
| for hotel and ali they asked or hoped to
receive was ? per cent on the investment
/ feeling and knowing that what they would
receive directly from the investment would
| be nothing compared to the indirect re-
/ turns. II is too bad Omaha has not some
such men among it's bankers and wealthy
/ business men.
more Boulevard Construction.
Another short-sighted policy l am sure
Omaha Is pursuing is the limited amount
| q Is spending on its boulevard system. We
here have made the right start but fear
the citizens DO not fully appreciate what
boulevards mean to a great city. Kansas
City and Los Angeles are doing wonders
along this line. and Omaha should at leas;
double its energies in this direction.
Another thing Omaha should have Is a
sightseeing car. 10 run daily on our street
car lines. We have something here OF in
terest to show our visitors. our stock yards,
our parks. the fort, water works. etc And
II We can't arrange 10 give tourists a few
hours OF entertainment and al the same
time advertise Omaha. we should not think
ii strange that Kansas City draws mos,
al the transoontinental tourists and Omaha
fails to get its share. because IL is no,
made known TO the general public and
tourists. Even e. Paso. Tex. gets a great
deal Of advertising in this way.
Another remarkable thing that strikes
me in comparing other cities with Omaha
is the very low price Of real estate here
For instance. our best business property /,
selling for. say $3.50 per foot. while ir
Kansas City and Los Angeles the pric,
ranges from A-ooo to 5000 per foot
Omaha today offers better opportunities
Ior investors, IN my opinion. than any NJ
the western cities. because q has all N.
natural advantages one could wish for am
its real estate values are away below an,
. OF the other cities.
Hotel the First Need.
But first. before we can hope TO pu
ourselves in the class with up-to-ds;e cities
we must have q hotel. and a good one
one that will draw the travelling public
and nothing travels 30 quickly as the repu
tation of hotel. We should not expec
. TO build a hotel that viii pay the investor
their money back in four or FIVE years
/ but one that will give 10 its patrons thei
fun moneys worth and the investors TO b,
, satisfied with such returns as government
bonds paw.
These are some Of the good things tina
could be pushed by our large and able
bodied Commercial club or Real Estate ex
change.
Governor Boies of Iowa was one OF oul
party and. although this governor is get
ting away up in years. he enjoyed the triI
immensely.
Il looked at a great many propositions
offered me in city property investment
along the Pacific coast. but the only thin
. that looked good to me was valley land II
the San Joaquin valley. in which myself
and Mr.. Heyden made some Investments.