Possible move to Blair, NE (Omaha, York: houses, college, property tax)

[momlady530]

Hello all. My husband may be getting a job in the Blair, NE area. We have done research on the area, though only online, and Blair seems like a nice place to live and raise children. We like the idea of a smaller town where our children can play and feel safe, but close enough to a larger city and all the cultural opportunities Omaha has to offer. Can anyone share information about Blair? Your help and info is greatly appreciated!

[Gunluvver2]

Not that it makes a difference to me but do you realize that there is a Nuclear Power Plant within a few miles of Blair? BTW the elctricity costs in Nebraska areamong the lowest in the USA?

[tpabes]

Well I have only visited Blair. They have a huge dealer of cars there called Woodhouse. They literally have a car mountain, kinda a sight to see. Blair seems like a really nice town. There is a small college there, and is growing into a bedroom communtiy of Omaha. Wild guess is that the population is nearing the 7,000 or 8,000 mark by now. Read that Walmart was coming awhile ago. You can be in the northwest part of Omaha in a very short amount of time. Here is a link to the local paper, it might give you somemore insight on the town.
Washington County Pilot-Tribune & Enterprise

[momlady530]

Originally Posted by Gunluvver2

Not that it makes a difference to me but do you realize that there is a Nuclear Power Plant within a few miles of Blair? BTW the elctricity costs in Nebraska areamong the lowest in the USA?

I am fully aware of the plant there as my husband is hoping to be hired at that same plant. Nuclear power plants do not bother me nearly as much as other plants. And thanks for the info about the electricity costs. That will be a welcome change from the $260 we pay monthly for our 1100 square foot home here in upstate New York.

[momlady530]

Originally Posted by tpabes

Well I have only visited Blair. They have a huge dealer of cars there called Woodhouse. They literally have a car mountain, kinda a sight to see. Blair seems like a really nice town. There is a small college there, and is growing into a bedroom communtiy of Omaha. Wild guess is that the population is nearing the 7,000 or 8,000 mark by now. Read that Walmart was coming awhile ago. You can be in the northwest part of Omaha in a very short amount of time. Here is a link to the local paper, it might give you somemore insight on the town.
Washington County Pilot-Tribune & Enterprise

Thanks for the reply. I've read these message boards over and over again trying to find info about Blair and haven't found much. Since it wasn't listed as one of the worst towns in Nebraska, I guess that means it isn't horrible.

[Dave1215]

It just on the north side of Omaha, so you have all the benefits of the metro with small town living. Its in a different county than Omaha so no danger of annexation. Specific to the town itself I can't comment.

[SCGranny]

Dave, are you sure about the annexation? Are the laws different in NE than anywhere else?
I know of many cities that span two, even four, counties!

[Dave1215]

Originally Posted by SCGranny

Dave, are you sure about the annexation? Are the laws different in NE than anywhere else?
I know of many cities that span two, even four, counties!

Current Nebraska law forbids a city from annexing across county lines. Omaha would love for that law to change, but I can't imagine any legislator outside of Omaha's representative supporting such a move. I know all of the legislators around Omahas area would fight hard as would almost every rural legislator in the state.

[momlady530]

Dave,
Not being annexed into Omaha would be a concern for us. One of the reasons we want to move west is to escape endless suburbs and sprawl. I want wide open spaces, not 20,000 houses that look the same. Nebraska seemed to fit that requirement.

[star_gazer]

Okay, first off... I'd like to say that, if you're looking for small town living... yet want to remain relatively close to a larger city to visit once in a while... Blair is a fabulous choice. It should be known that it is not 'just on the north side' of Omaha. It is -18- miles north of I-680... through rural metro (aka "a country mile north" ).

With that in mind, it will be a couple of generations before Omaha 'sprawl' meets Blair... yet I'd like to address this "whew... Omaha cannot annex Blair? Well then, we're okay" attitude. Here's a reality check: Elkhorn was already 'annexed' by Omaha sprawl. It didn't lose it's small town identity by being annexed by the city of Omaha... it already had lost it by being overrun by miles of suburban residential development around it. The 20,000 homes were coming/came anyway... Omaha's annexation did nothing to expedite it... it simply tapped the property tax revenue which it rightly should (given virtually everyone living on it's perimeter is using it's roads/infrastructure anyway).

As for Fort Calhoun... remember the winds rarely blow out of the east. Blair should be just fine.