I’m in the early stages of investigating a job opportunity that would take me from Houston, TX to Omaha, NE. I’ve got a couple of small kids with another on the way and want to make sure that a move like this would be the right thing for the family.
So what say you Slowtwitchers? Is Omaha a cool place? What’s to like and what’s not to like?
Thanks.
My sister lives in Bellevue, just south of Omaha. She really likes it, and raised two boys there, with one off to college and another still in high school. The public schools seem pretty decent, and Bellevue is a nice area. Not sure about other areas of Omaha.
Spot
I went to Creighton Law School in Omaha. I absolutely loved it. I was very apprehensive and thought it would be horrible, but, Omaha is a fantastic city. The college world series takes place in Omaha. If you are at all a baseball fan, this is the best. Omaha has one of the best zoos in the country. Also, the Omaha opera and symphony are world class. Manhiem Steamroller is from Omaha and does concerts there every year. The school system is excellent. The city is one of the largest telecommunication centers in the country, so, it is very high tech and early adopters of high speed internet, wifi, fiber optics, etc. It is also a huge location for conventions b/c it is centrally located, so, there are a lot of attractions. Weather is pretty good. The summers are not too bad and the winters are mild.
The multisport community was small, but, was growing. It is my understanding from friends that still live there that it has grown quite a bit. I loved Omaha and would not hesitate for a minute to move back to Omaha.
Grew up 30 minutes from Omaha, lived there 30 years, Houston now with Phoenix in between.
I like Houston (not love-Phoenix was love), but Houston is paradise compared to Omaha.
Weather: you will be on your trainer at least 5 months a year. Not so much snow (some) but ICE, slush, salt crusted CRAP cracked roads and ridiculous arctic freeze winds. Summer means high heat and humidity, maybe one month less than Houston.
Multisport community: think small pond, more like dripping spring. Maybe 30 “serious” FOP’ers, 100 more MOP and BOP’ers, and very small race fields, maybe 3 decent local races a year. Try to find a race (or a training partner) on a Big Red Cornhusker football day…
Proximity to bigger cities for racing or lifestyle: Kansas City 3 hours, St. Louis 7 hours, Chicago 8 hours, Denver 9 hours, Minneapolis 8 hours, uh, it’s just a long ways to the big towns (and that’s at 75 mph on non-weather-inhibited roads).
Travel: not great, but not terrible. Epply Airfield has Southwest Airlines but you’ll always be doing multiple stops to your destination (or back again).
Umm, Omaha is still “small town” mentality–nothing, NOTHING cosmopolitan about it (and I WAS in the symphony). If that’s what you like or want for your family–go for it.
Why did Omaha originate? Think cattle and trains. Yep, still pretty important.
It’s been said before: good place to grow up (safe, values, community). Nice place to escape from when you’ve grown up.