Possible relocating to Grand Island, NE - Good idea or bad idea? (Lincoln: apartments, violent crime)

[Earniefan]

Kosnebear,

That's the traumatic part, I wasn't even in G.I. My grandmother had picked me up in Ord and we were driving back to our farm outside Aurora I was five years old and I remember how bad the storm was, she had me lay my head on her lap and try to sleep because I was so scared. I remember very clearly what our cousin's house in G.I. looked like when we went to see the damage the next day. The scary part is that she almost drove us right into it, she was thinking of going to our cousin's house to wait out the storm because it was so bad, thankfully God led her home instead. I guess it's not just this storm that makes me cringe when someone mentions tornadoes, it's probably more from growing up and worrying that a tornado would come and take our home away, I've seen them do such strange things in my life.

That's so crazy that you were there in the middle of that, that night. I've never gotten to talk to anyone who was a part of it all. My cousin's told me their story but it wasn't much more than hiding under a card table with their friends. Anytime I was in Hall county and the weather turned bad I got my butt back across the river in a hurry, I had no intention of sticking around to see anything. I can't never understand people who chase tornadoes, I just want to get as far away as possible. Thankfully Wyoming doesn't have tornadoes, it gets funnels sometimes and everyone around here goes nuts but they have no idea what the real thing is like.

[kosnebbear]

Grand Island got beat up real bad that night. I will forever remember watching the clouds suck in to form the funnel cloud. That was something that I had never seen before. I knew that it was going to be a bad night and that as a Police Officer at the time that I had a job to do and that was to get into Grand Island and help any way that I could.

I also will never forget the looks of the people who lost everything and watching all of the people driving by not willing to stop and help. They just wanted to come see all of the misery that was left behind. Every since that time I will never go to a disaster like that just to look around. I will go there to help. I also what to say that the people of Grand Island all pulled together to rebuild Grand Island.

[aj7690]

I'm originally from Grand Island, I live in Hastings now. Grand Island has seen it's rougher patches with the meat packing plant especially through the 90's. Recently since the beginning of the century things have turned around, the city has grown nearly 3,000 people according to the census. The population is slowly approaching 50,000. It is considered the fastest growing 'non-metropolitan' city in Nebraska. You'll find plenty of things to do. The city last year passed 400 some lots for housing development which is a good sign. The crime rate has gone down as well. There is great diversity in GI which in my opinion some are still trying to embrace. But GI has a great school system, I went to Newell. Like a reply above, Newell is in a cleaner part of the city. There are several landmarks that make GI unique. Here are some links.

Grand Island Nebraska Home Page
theIndependent.com | Grand Island Independent
Welcome - Grand Island Visitors Guides

[jkiss03]

I lived in GI until just a little over 2 years ago. Grand Island is an okay place to raise kids. Personally St. Paul is better and I don't even live there anymore. We now live in Lincoln. The schools already mentioned are probably the schools in the better neighborhoods. As far as people being friendly it just really depends. When we moved south we couldn't believe how nice everyone was compared to the people in Nebraska.
We had kids in elementry, middle school and high school. Barr middle school is a decent school...Senior high is a horrible school in my opinion. The teachers there don't care, there are alot of drugs, and the hispanic population practically runs the school. It was nothing for kids to have brown power wrote on their locker but administration does nothing. Kids are able to skip school and parents don't even know until 2 weeks later when they recieve a letter in the mail..
My kids also attended St. Paul schools and the principal there was awesome. It is a much smaller community but friendly. The housing there is pretty decent.
Good luck with your decision.

[chiefz]

I have lived in Nebraska all my life, mostly central and eastern, and the best thing I have found to deal with the snow is either a 4x4 pickup or a front wheel drive car. Either way have good tires. I would agree with the others to live outside of Grand Island. You will probably find cheaper rent and/or housing if you are interested in buying. Also, the smaller school would be good.

[mjm]

I have to say that I disagree about the city schools. From personal experience as a child, 1-R and Cedar Hollow outside of town are MUCH better than anything you will find in town. And Northwest for high school - I agree with an earlier post that Grand Island Senior High is a horrible school with some serious problems.
There is a major drug problem in town, but that is fairly easy to avoid. Drug addicts don't like to be bothered and generally stick to their own. When you come for a visit, the worse parts of town will be obvious. But even the worst isn't all that bad.
I also was here that night in 1980. I was only in elementary school at the time but I will never forget any of that night. I was in the neighborhood of Meves Bowl, those of you who were there know what that means!
Also, I have no idea what your political opinions are, but you should know that Grand Island is a very, VERY Republican city.
I would also agree with the first poster, Hastings is worth looking into. FSI is close to the highway and the commute would be short. I live and work in GI and my commute is 20 minutes, which is all of the time it takes to get to Hastings anyway.
Winter hasn't been much to worry about for a very long time. It is short.
And housing is considerably cheaper if you look outside of city limits.
Good luck!

[kosnebbear]

mjm,

Did you live along East Bismark Road then?

[Salta]

Hello to everybody. I am also thinking to move to GI.
If anybody tells me how is life there for young people I would be very grateful.
Mainly I am interested if there are any art campaigns, exhibitions, theaters, ... What about night life?

[kosnebbear]

Well GI would not be my first choice if all you are interested in is the night life. You do have the Stuhr Museum which has art displays, there are several movie theaters in the area, but not much in the way of plays or stage shows. You do get to go to the Husker Harvest Days which is west of Grand Island if you are interested in farming exhibitions. After all if you move to GI you need to remember it is Nebraska and not New York.

[mattpoulsen]

Does GI still have the Picadilly (sp.?) Theatre? I grew up about an hour from GI and I remember visiting this dinner theatre when I was in grade school with my family. I can't really remember how good it was, but at the time its seemed nice. Anybody know about this? I'm willing to bet its closed down.