[ManOnTheMoon]

Originally Posted by MountainMen

Omaha does have smog in the city, mostly near the interstate interchanges, but it's not from second hand smoke. Smog is caused when car exhaust mixes with sunlight.

The people on this board who say smoking's not a problem in Omaha probably either live in West Omaha or they are smokers themselves. 9 out of 10 Omahans fall into those two categories.

There's a difference between smoking being very apparent in the city, and it affecting every facet of city life.

[Busguy2010]

Oh, here we go Yes, the non-smoking community which is so very small that there is an unmistakeable second-hand haze about the city, have been battling this problem for quite some time now. The smokers are now looked upon so harshly that they've been driven inside all of the metro appartment complexes looking to cause no more conflict. But look! Now the non-smoking community found another thing against the smokers... That thick looming cigarette haze is too much to just stand by and accept. Yes yes, I believe thats presicely how it's been.

[Omahahonors]

Originally Posted by Busguy2010

Oh, here we go Yes, the non-smoking community which is so very small that there is an unmistakeable second-hand haze about the city, have been battling this problem for quite some time now. The smokers are now looked upon so harshly that they've been driven inside all of the metro appartment complexes looking to cause no more conflict. But look! Now the non-smoking community found another thing against the smokers... That thick looming cigarette haze is too much to just stand by and accept. Yes yes, I believe thats presicely how it's been.

LOL.. I agree, that is the absolute weirdest thing I've ever heard. I am having a hard time finding Omaha data, but I have found Nebraska to be near the median average.

Nebraska[1]
A) In Nebraska, 18.4% of the adult population (aged 18+ years)—over 245,000 individuals—are current cigarette smokers.
B) Nebraska's ranks 26th among the states.

A) Among youth aged 12–17 years, 11.0% smoke in Nebraska. The range across all states is 6.5% to 15.9%.
B) Nebraska ranks 27th among the states.

A) Rating point data were available for 42 states and the District of Columbia. Best Practices recommendations translate into an average of 800 targeted rating points (TRPs) in effective youth and 1,200 gross rating points (GRPs) in effective general audience antitobacco media campaigns per quarter.
B) Nebraska's major media market(s) aired an average of 106 youth TRPs and 631 general audience GRPs per quarter in 2008.
C)Nebraska ranks 11th among the states for the number of youth TRPs
D)and 8th among the states for the number of general audience GRPs aired.

[1]Smoking and Tobacco Use :: State Data :: 2010 State Highlights: Nebraska :: Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) :: CDC

[MountainMen]

Yea, I've found the air outside Omaha, throughout the rest of Nebraska, to be very clean. The cigarette problem is in Omaha.

[MountainMen]

Originally Posted by Omahahonors

LOL.. I agree, that is the absolute weirdest thing I've ever heard.

Seriously? That's the weirdest thing you've ever heard? Have you been trapped under a rock your whole life?

[DavidGeorge]

Originally Posted by MountainMen

Omaha does have smog in the city, mostly near the interstate interchanges, but it's not from second hand smoke. Smog is caused when car exhaust mixes with sunlight.

The people on this board who say smoking's not a problem in Omaha probably either live in West Omaha or they are smokers themselves. 9 out of 10 Omahans fall into those two categories.

I'm neither a smoker nor do I live in West Omaha.

Please tell me what I'm supposed to think about smoking.

Thanks!

[MountainMen]

Originally Posted by DavidGeorge

Please tell me what I'm supposed to think about smoking.
Thanks!

I think this was a rhetorical request, but...

-Smoking is a habit primarily of the ignorant and uneducated.
-Smoking is often associated with other crimes such as littering, which can be one of the worst things for a cities image. Littering brings down property values and increases taxes when a city has to pay someone to clean the litter.
-Tobacco use costs Americans $50 billion in health care costs alone.
-Cigarettes are cancer-causing. 1 out of 3 cancer deaths are a direct result of cigarette smoking.
-Second-hand smoke is even more dangerous to your health than smoking the actual cigarette. Second hand smoke contains 250 toxic chemicals, including arsenic and benzene.
-The surgeon general of the United States has said there is no safe level of cigarette smoke.

[thexx]

Can we please keep this to, you know, apartments? I've been doing some research on apartments myself (My family and I might be moving here) and Apartments for Rent | An Apartment Finder & Guide for Rentals - ForRent.com seems like a good place to look. I've been checking out the places you said, and Stonegate seems to be pretty quiet and peaceful if you and your family were looking for that.

[DavidGeorge]

Originally Posted by MountainMen

I think this was a rhetorical request, but...

-Smoking is a habit primarily of the ignorant and uneducated.
-Smoking is often associated with other crimes such as littering, which can be one of the worst things for a cities image. Littering brings down property values and increases taxes when a city has to pay someone to clean the litter.
-Tobacco use costs Americans $50 billion in health care costs alone.
-Cigarettes are cancer-causing. 1 out of 3 cancer deaths are a direct result of cigarette smoking.
-Second-hand smoke is even more dangerous to your health than smoking the actual cigarette. Second hand smoke contains 250 toxic chemicals, including arsenic and benzene.
-The surgeon general of the United States has said there is no safe level of cigarette smoke.

You need to get your facts straight.

[ManOnTheMoon]

Originally Posted by MountainMen

I think this was a rhetorical request, but...

-Smoking is a habit primarily of the ignorant and uneducated.
-Smoking is often associated with other crimes such as littering, which can be one of the worst things for a cities image. Littering brings down property values and increases taxes when a city has to pay someone to clean the litter.
-Tobacco use costs Americans $50 billion in health care costs alone.
-Cigarettes are cancer-causing. 1 out of 3 cancer deaths are a direct result of cigarette smoking.
-Second-hand smoke is even more dangerous to your health than smoking the actual cigarette. Second hand smoke contains 250 toxic chemicals, including arsenic and benzene.
-The surgeon general of the United States has said there is no safe level of cigarette smoke.

The bolded are ones I question. First, "Smoking is a habit primarily of the ignorant and uneducated." This is conjecture. Plenty of people, I would wager most smokers, know that smoking is unhealthy. It's still a lifestyle choice.

"Second-hand smoke is even more dangerous to your health than smoking the actual cigarette. Second-hand smoke contains 250 toxic chemicals, including arsenic and benzene." This I definitely take issue with. There was concern as recent as a few years ago that there was no measurable risk associated with second-hand smoke, and now suddenly, it's worse than smoking? There's certainly a health risk posed by SHS, but you're only at about a 30% increased risk of coronary heart disease (compared to non-smokers,) where the active smoker is at an 80% increased risk.* That doesn't equate to being more dangerous.

Only about 10% of lifelong smokers will get lung cancer** the health risks are very, very, very overblown. You could argue, rather intelligently, that 50% of smokers being killed by their habit** is high, but I think it goes to the credit of the quality of life in this country. There simply isn't much else to kill you. Heart disease is still the number one killer, with smoking being a huge contributing factor, but there's an outstanding vilification of smoking, as if people are unwillingly forced to indulge, as if poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle aren't equal, and often exacerbating things to consider.

*Secondhand Smoke - Worse Than We Thought

**Smoking's Many Myths Examined | LiveScience

Now, to cut a tangent short. To the OP, I would not take these concerns seriously. There isn't an epidemic of smoking in Omaha, and if you weren't specifically looking for it, you wouldn't notice it. You can end up in some dingy, dirty apartments, which is certainly possible, but that's not a reflection on the city being inundated with smoke. Have you been, or are you planning to come to Omaha to check out these apartments?