What's Lincoln like? (Omaha, Nebraska City, Union: new house, transferring to, neighborhoods)

[Bdeauxja]

I may be moving w/husband and kids to Lincoln, NE in August. I know nothing about the area except what I find on the web. Frankly, I'm not very excited. I love mountains, trees, and a little warmer weather. But I do love old homes, family friendly areas, walking, painting and classical music. Can anyone offer some insight into the area? Good neighborhoods? Schools? Home-schooling? (I do both.) Thanks!

[tpabes]

Lincoln is very family friendly and has a very good trails systems. With the college here, you might be suprised with the opportunities for painting and classical music. There are some very nice older neighborhoods in the city. Also many newer suburban type neighborhoods on the north and south ends of the city, where Lincoln has really grown lately. Lincoln Public schools are good, and there are also some private schools in town. To me Lincoln, seems to have more of a small town feel to it.

[Bdeauxja]

Tpabes - Could you name some of the neighborhoods with the older homes? Are there some to stay away from?

[TheMac]

Bdeauxja-

There is a nice area of town with a bunch of old houses in the Sheridan St. area. Probably 1920's-1930's era houses. Many of them are very large and expensive (for Lincoln) as that was the "old money" part of town. You'd probably find houses in the mid-200's to the upper 300's range there.

Just west of that area is the area called "Irvingdale" which has many older type houses too, but they aren't quite as gigantic. Probably find many houses in the 100's range there. Neither area is bad to live in.

Look into houses in the "near south" area too. Alot of older houses that is becoming more popular.

[tpabes]

I don't live there so I don't know the exact names, the Sheridan St was one of the areas I was talking about. I'm thinking another area is called the country club area, but don't quote me on that.

Probably the only areas to avoid are just south of downtown and just east of the university, but these areas are not really that bad.

[aerahrtlu]

The neighborhoods with older homes are hit and miss. There's some great homes in a country club area on S.27th St as well as the Sheridan St neighborhood mentioned above.
Be careful of neighborhoods directly south and north of O Street (From 9th St to 33rd Street). Not all areas, but a good portion of these are spoty.
If you want an older home, I'm sorry to say, but you'll have to experience the neighborhood yourself. There are SO many hits and SO many misses in older homes neighborhoods that it's hard to tell you all of them.
I've lived in Lincoln my whole life. I grew up on the Northeast side of town and so I'm, of course, fond of it.
If you give me a price range of houses that you can afford, I could try to help you find a neighborhood that you may like.
Are older houses what you're into? If so, normally they run pretty high compared to the Lincoln average.

[Moving South?]

Check out the zip codes 68502 (south Lincoln), 68510 (east Lincoln south of O Street) and 68506. There are some new houses in those areas, but overall, they're the neighborhoods with the older houses.

All of Lincoln is pretty safe, although one of the previous posts about being south of downtown and east of the university is correct. My daughter lives east of the university with four other girls and they manage. They're smart and alert and not stupid.

Sheridan Blvd has the 'old money' old houses and they are cool. But there could be some 'money pits' in there. Country Club area is cool, but expensive for what you get.....you're paying extra for the address.

My neighborhood is south of A Street between 56th & 70th Street (68506 zip) and there are some cool houses from the 60's in there. Mine was built in 1968 and I love it (although I may be transferring to Dallas in may).

[Gigaspeed]

Of course, if you like "warm weather" you'll definitely have it in August! Lincoln really is a nice, family friendly city. And if you like "walking" you'll be surprised by all of the trails in town. They are everywhere, and hit almost every part of town (and numerous in the outer edges). I believe others in this thread have accurately stated neighborhood areas that are hit and miss. There are a lot of nice older homes in the vicinity of 20th and Van Dorn. There are varying sizes too in that area.

Omaha is just a rock skip away if you need a change of pace. There are a lot of entertaining things to do there too, but it's always nice to come home to Lincoln! You'll have to visit Nebraska City (an hour away to the East) for Apple Jack festivities in the fall. The Arbor Lodge is a great place to visit if you like trees! I think you'll enjoy your time here...really! And if you have to have mountains Colorado is only 10 hours away. And the natives there LOVE anyone from Big Red land!!

[momtomykids]

The State Capitol building is great fun for a family to explore. It has great mosaics and reflects lots of history for the state. As someone stated earlier, being a college town gives it lots of advantages you just may have to look a little more to find them as at times publicity is spotty to non existant. Be sure to check with the smaller colleges in town for the events they host. Check out Union College or Nebraska Weslyan.
I have a niece in the 25th and A area and they really like it.

[jm31828]

I've lived in Lincoln for ten and a half years now. I guess in short Lincoln feels like a bigger town, but not at all like a "city". It has all the basic things you need- a couple of shopping malls, all of the standard big box stores (Target, Shopko, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc.) but is really lacking in variety for shopping options. As others have said it's a safe, clean town- there are so many newly developed areas of town it really does look new and well kept in many areas.

My own impression is that it's a "nice", comfortable town, but is really quite dull- we are looking to leave to move on to a bigger city if possible. I highly recommend it if you're looking for a quiet, laid-back type of place, but if you do want a place that is on the move or has a lot going on, I would say to think twice about Lincoln.