There is a problem with Omaha’s best urban neighborhood: It’s loud, drunk and single-use. Correction. That’s only on Friday and Saturday night. The problem with Omaha’s best urban neighborhood: It’s silent, empty and single-use.

While originally having many diverse purposes, the Old Market neighborhood now is mainly articulated around one function: entertainment (and the odd antique shop). This would be tolerable if Omaha had other similar neighborhoods. They don’t – and neither do most American cities. That is precisely why we can’t be surrendering our best places over exclusively to entertainment.

We should not be disconnecting our downtowns from all other aspects of life. And, while it’s tempting to pursue entertainment as a vehicle of downtown revitalization, it will only get you so far. Proposals for entertainment districts occasionally sprout up in City Council meetings as the next big thing. While it certainly is tempting in its efforts to capitalize on people’s passion for retail, sports, food and drink, it is a development prospect that should be viewed with skepticism.

You’ll find two types of entertainment districts: overnight and naturally-occurring. (Read more about the differences here.) To its credit, Omaha has the better of the two – a naturally-occurring district composed of many different businesses, buildings, landlords and decision-makers. The area has the ingredients of other successful places, but it’s hard not to feel that something is missing.