Info needed on Northern/NW Omaha (Papillion, Blair: work, crime, universities)

[momlady530]

We may be moving to the Omaha area sometime in April. I posted a question in the Nebraska forum about about Blair, but I thought I would gather information about Omaha. I need information about northern or northwest Omaha. Where should we live? Schools are a priority. I've read in other posts that northern Omaha is kinda ghetto-ish, so that may be out of the question for us. When my husband interviewed there, someone suggested living in nw Omaha as there were lots of newer developments. How are the schools there? Yes, I am aware that Papillion was rated as one of the best places to live, and while I would love to live there, I'm afraid it is a bit too far from where my husband would work. We would have to remain within 30 min. or so of Fort Calhoun. Thanks!

[Dave1215]

The worst part of Omaha from a poverty and crime perspective is in the northeast part of Omaha. The northwest part of Omaha is more traditional suburban and middle with some upper class. Then the blend of those two areas has some more traditional urban/mixed use traditional neighborhoods that are very nice.

So, you will find a mix of all so just be very careful when searching a specific area.

72nd Street is a traditional north/south boundary between Urban and Suburban. East of 72nd is more Urban and then as you get closer to 42th-24th-16th you need so really watch for the higher crime areas. West of 72nd is the more traditional suburban area.

[kbeiting]

Where will your husband be working? Blair/Ft. Calhoun are beautiful small communities on the north end of Omaha proper--Papillion is on the other side of the community, as far North as you can go. Ages of kids, activities, do--is he going to the power plant?

[star_gazer]

Northwest Omaha/680 area is actually going through something of a residential and retail boom lately. If you're expanding your search area... you'll want to consider the Bennington area/school district as well.

[momlady530]

Originally Posted by kbeiting

Where will your husband be working? Blair/Ft. Calhoun are beautiful small communities on the north end of Omaha proper--Papillion is on the other side of the community, as far North as you can go. Ages of kids, activities, do--is he going to the power plant?

My husband would be working at the plant there (fingers crossed). I have three children, ages 7 1/2, 5, and 8 months. We would ideally like to live in a smaller town but are keeping our options open. I was just wondering about the areas in NW Omaha. What are some of the good school districts around there?

[tpabes]

Momlady, I know when we were talking about Blair, you mentioned you were worried about sprawl and annexation. Bennington would be a terrific area for you, but is in danger in the future of being annexed and "sprawl" will get to it soon. If I remember right other than the Bennington school district, most of NW Omaha is Omaha public schools. If you go west enough it may be Elkhorn Public schools, but then you are running into a long commute again. Correct me if I'm wrong guys, I didn't think Millard School extended that far north.

[Dave1215]

Originally Posted by tpabes

Correct me if I'm wrong guys, I didn't think Millard School extended that far north.

Here is a Millard School District Map. It's fairly jagged, but farthest North appears to be 132nd & Blondo

[momlady530]

You guys are such a wonderful source of information! I've looked up some Omaha public schools and they seem a little iffy. Those Millard schools look pretty good, but I'm not sure if I would want my kids going to a high school with more people than many towns. Elkhorn schools rated excellent, but that may be quite a drive. Are Omaha schools really that bad?

[ehenningsen]

Omaha schools really are not bad in most locations, Omaha has 430,000 people in it's city limits as of 2006, and so it really depends on the location, but one thing is for sure, with effort OPS is an opportunist school system..

OPS is a good school system, Omaha is a fairly large city and with any large city there are schools in locations where the population is better off than others, and with Westside, Elkhorn, Millard, and Ralston High schools covering a large portion of the well-off area's and OPS covering ALL of the depressed area's, it's really an unfair comparison, OPS does very well and if a kid was to take advantage of their education, they will do very well..

Even our colleges and Universities in the area are very respected..

[star_gazer]

If you're worried about the school population being larger than most small towns you're familiar with... then you can pretty well rule out all the larger metropolitan Omaha area school districts. Even Elkhorn High (for example) has a student body over 1,000 now (having been 'corrupted' by the surrounding area's annexation by Omaha )... growing at among the fastest rate of any metro district. It really is... the next Millard school district in terms of growth.

Omaha schools really are not bad in most locations, Omaha has 430,000 people in it's city limits as of 2006, and so it really depends on the location, but one thing is for sure, with effort OPS is an opportunist school system..

OPS is of course among the larger school districts in the nation, covering an enormous area... within it's many, many schools... you'll find some very good ones... and ones which struggle with issues which go far beyond the classroom (if only they could pack them all in 'one room'... I'm sure all of their problems would be solved. ).

Bennington would be a terrific area for you, but is in danger in the future of being annexed and "sprawl" will get to it soon.

As would be the case with north/northwest Omaha in general... but here we are talking about it's merits.