What Is The Worst Town In Nebraska? (Omaha, Kearney: appointed, to move)

[mattpoulsen]

Whoever said, "anybody who says they love it probably hasn't been anywhere else." Is just completely off base. I have been in nearly every state in the U.S. and have been all over Europe. I choose to live in Nebraska. I have passed up bigger and probably more lucrative opportunities in other places, but I want to raise my family in Nebraska. Why is that so hard for people to understand?

[downthathighway]

Mattpoulson, You settled here for the best reason- "a place to raise the family" and What I have seen in my short time back here, I do agree. That was the first and most obvious thing I noticed here- the family values.
I've lived in about 20 states, this one is where I wished I had raised my kids, and regret my parents did not stay either. At the time, they needed an income to support a growing family. Farm income was declining and Omaha was not as prosperous.
For climate and family reasons, I plan to relocate again, but have felt right 'at home' here.(A pleasant surprise, I did not want to live in a big city, but Omaha is as safe and friendly as the rest of Nebraska)
Odd though, how high taxes are statewide.Luckily I found inexpensive housing here, because with the same income as before I moved here, this would have been a 'pay cut' due to higher income and sales taxes.

[mattpoulsen]

It should also be pointed out that there are actually very lucrative opportunities in Omaha and Lincoln. It just depends on your select area of expertise. Its more about the abundance of actual opportunities than the lack of opportunities. Omaha is really starting to boom and there are beginning to be more and more tech related jobs in the area. I talk about "tech" because science/technology is my general area of expertise...Omaha is also notoriously strong in other areas...banking, insurance, and etc. Its lagged in tech, but that's beginning to change. At any rate, its not as though I am passing up millions in other states to work on the farm in Nebraska. I just have to pick and choose a little more carefully in Nebraska, where if I'd move to California I would have an abundant amount of offers. Like I said, its more about the number of opportunities...which most people understand.

As far as taxes, yes the tax rate is higher than what you'd see on the coasts, but the price of an equivalent home is remarkably less. As a result, the actual amount you spend on housing (mortgage + taxes) ends up being a lot less in Omaha. People always say things like, "how can our taxes be higher than San Diego or Phoenix". Well, its because the valuations in those areas are multiples higher than they are in Omaha/Lincoln. As a result, the government in those areas can apply a reduced levy compared to what you see in the midwest. The bottom line is you pay a lot less in Omaha to live than you do in San Diego. And the difference in salaries DOES NOT make up for that housing difference.

[itsMeFred]

Stayed overnight in North Platte, which caught my attention.

Truth be told, if I had to live in a city, I'd be torn between Scottsbluf/Gering and North Platte. Though I'd pick a vital, small town like Chadron first. (You probably haven't seen much of Chadron as they aren't exactly big for tornados)

[vasoprano]

Originally Posted by itsMeFred

Truth be told, if I had to live in a city, I'd be torn between Scottsbluf/Gering and North Platte. Though I'd pick a vital, small town like Chadron first. (You probably haven't seen much of Chadron as they aren't exactly big for tornados)

Got an F0 in Scottsbluff in 2006

The problem with Nebraska - there are just too many great towns and beautiful country to choose from!

Personally, I would prefer to live in the country, somewhat outside corporate limits, but not too far.

When I moved to where I live now back in the early 70's (15 minutes south of Richmnond) there were 2 traffic lights. Now there is twice a day gridlock, a bank on every block, shopping centers all over the place, and 25 or 30 traffic lights in spitting distance alone.

To make matters worse, we never had a bank robbery, now we have bullet proof tellers cages and cameras at the intersections to get photos of the bank robbers when they make off with their loot, and bank robberies every week, sometimes twice a week.

I left NYC shortly after I graduated from college for a 'slower' lifestyle. Seems like I am back in it again, and don't like it one bit. The traffic count in front of my office is over 60,000. During off peak hours, it can take 10 minutes to get out of our parking lot.

With the 25 or thirty years I (hopefilly) have left, I'm looking for peace and quiet, and most importantly, an area I can enjoy. And IF I can find some property with a good sized pond, maybe even some fish stock

If you want taxes, move to Virginia. Everything is taxed, including your car. I pay over $1100.00 per year personal property tax on my Chevy Suburban, and that doesn't include tags!

[SCGranny]

Wow. I can't believe I read the whole thing!

I've lived a lot of places, and am looking to buy our last home - preferably a farmhouse in a very rural area where I can raise horses, some cattle, chickens, and have my garden. Because one of the places I found recently is in NW Nebraska, I thought I'd drop in on this CityData Forum, see what visitors' impressions were as well as locals'.

Wow. Again.

Do ya'll realize that what you are saying is pretty much what happens all over? The Eastern half vs Western half is a lot like the northern half vs the southern half of SC... big government expenditures for the more populous areas, some people wanting to hang on to their rural-ness while others want 24-hour everything, people acting like the other half is made up of lesser people. Wow.

I'm just very relieved that the county and the town where we are looking has not been mentioned here, at all, in 20 pages of posts! LOL I can't begin to imagine what some of ya'll might say about a town of less than 200, in a county that is losing population, that depends solely on agriculture and has no interstate running thru it.

I just did some internet ordering from a business in the county where we are thinking of looking, and there was some mess-up with my order, so they emailed me to call them within minutes of my placing the order. I did, and the lady was so polite (and it wasn't that big an order!) and friendly - the person on the other end of the phone and I got to teasing each other about our disparate weather. Very enjoyable 7 minutes while we worked out the problem. If folks are like her there, I'll have no problem.


Having been in customer service, I can tell you that no matter how tired, disgruntled, disgusted, hungry, or sore I've been, I've always been polite to customers. Some who are not should seek another line of work; not only are they damaging their business but they are hurting themselves in the long run. Responding to rude or tired customers in kind gets you nowhere, doesn't even make you feel good about yourself. So why not be kind? It costs nothing.

[tpabes]

SC granny glad you had a good experience, I'd say the majority of Nerbaskan's are that way, even in Lincoln and Omaha. If you do mind, may I ask where you are looking at? You might want to read this forum:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/nebra...-nebraska.html
It was made in response to this forum!

[kosnebbear]

SC granny, where have you been, as most of the customer service people I have had to deal with lately don't understand the English language and they are unable to think on their own today.

Welcome to Nebraska.

[itsMeFred]

I'm just very relieved that the county and the town where we are looking has not been mentioned here, at all, in 20 pages of posts!

I can guarantee someone hates it.

NW, though, huh...
I lived in Chadron for four and a half years while I was in college and wouldn't hesistate to go back. We lived south of Crawford for about a year and my husband grew up south of Harrison.
I would love to live up there again, truth be told.

[SCGranny]

Thanks, tpabes and kosnebbear!

I'm looking in Cherry County.
Y'know, some people don't understand why we'd do this - move so precipitously to a place so rural. I just engineered the largest development coups of my life - in five years have helped expand a town of 1800 to be able to accommodate 240,000 in the next 10 years... and make it all pay for itself without raising taxes. In fact, in five years, the written plan calls for the city to eliminate taxes.
Where all we had was two fast food restaurants and two family restaurants, gas stations, and tiny struggling businesses, we are on the cusp of a population explosion that is being completely controlled - soon we will have all of the big box stores and chain restaurants anyone could possibly want! The people are coming, knocking down our doors to get here.

Bluntly, Been there, did that, don't want to do it any more. When I moved here, we had chickens in the backyard and could have anything except a pig in town limits. Now we have gotten too big already. I planted fruit trees and flowers everywhere when we first moved here, and everyone loved my yard - no they want to pass ordinances to make me put in grass instead, and tell me how high it can grow... I once said that if they put another traffic light up (we had just one) it was time to go... now there are three and more to come, and I was right, time to GO!

We like animals and open spaces and peace and quiet. We don't mind railroad tracks, but prefer silence. We like to cross country ski and ride horses, hunt, and fish. We love snow and the heat affects us greatly here. The humidity makes the summers feel like you are breathing underwater, and the winter cold sink into your bones. I built my own greenhouse so I could grow plants and fruits and vegies year round, for my own use, and no one likes that anymore, either. We - unlike all of the snowbirds heading south - are heading Nawth.

We pretty much fit in anywhere; our Southern drawls are so different that in ID, UT, and NV they would sit next to us in restaurants to ask us to talk. We make lots of new friends that way! ;-)

And kosnebbear, I've been all over the country and I totally agree that people who cannot speak the language and have no intention of ever learning it or even trying to fit in do not belong in customer service - or anywhere - to represent a business. We have had such very bad problems locally with a lack of comprehension on what cleanliness or real cooking truly consist of that we rarely eat out any more. Both the Bear (my VSO of 25 years) and I can cook, and love to do so, so that isn't a problem!

I cannot tell you how jealous I am of ya'll right now - looking at all of the snowstorms parading across you, with more to come this week, I'm weeping green tears!