[Bosco55David]

Originally Posted by 2Adam29

generally, my interest drops off by 90% if a development has three digits in a cross-street address.

34th and Dodge = I care.
134th and Maple = couldn't care less.

I like the idea of a compact urban city, with individuality. Here's my discription of why I don't care for West Omaha. picture yourself as a tourist, driving straight down Dodge through the city from Council Bluffs. When downtown your nose would be pressed against the glass of your car staring intently at the buildings and people as a thriving urban scene engulfs you and fills your senses. you drive out of downtown and your enthusiasm wanes. You reach 50th and notice the city looks "quaint" here. You like this part, but it doesn't make you sit on the edge of your seat. Reach 72nd and you've become accustomed to the surroundings a bit more and start seeing chain stores. a sure sign that suburbs are approaching. you hit the I-680 interchange and suddenly the most interesting thing is the road itself. The buildings are almost meaningless anymore. The expressway itself distracts you almost completely with the exception of the occassional building a few stories taller than highway 6. Then the road levels off, and you notice not every block has buildings anymore. a little further on and cornfields will replace the housing developments. Now you've left the city limits, and the rolling hills of wheat welcome you for your remaining three hours on to Grand Island.

While there is individuality to West Omaha, there isn't enough of it. There isn't a focal point, and there aren't landmarks tall enough to see from any considerable distance. I like being able to look for the downtown skyline, or the UNO clock tower, to tell quickly and easily where in the city I am. As long as I can find one, I won't get lost, and the Grid based system that is abandoned out west helps me manouver the city with casual effort. There's little diversity. Partially due to lack of affordable housing for the lower class, and partly because people can move out west to avoid "those" people who are less pleasent and not as refined. Now of course not everyone is of that opinion, but it is an understandable one, I want my family to be safe + (low income = blue collar crime) = don't move into low income neighborhoods. I get it, but don't support it. It's just me.

I'd keep talking, but this is getting wordy and I'm getting tired.

Great post! My feelings exactly.

[Dave1215]

You want to see some great old homes with character - drive around the 24th & Lake neighborhood (this is coming from an old white suburbanite).... I love that area for the homes... I think its right at 20th & Lake is one of my favorite - old big gray stone house.... Was just up there a couple of days ago and took a little extra time to drive around and look at them again.

[vpandora]

I think how strong the divide is depends upon your own personal experiences and your willingness to go outside your comfort zone and try new things.

I grew up in Millard south of Harrison Street. My fiance is from North Omaha, and we live in Lavista. He grew up believing Millard people were all rich and snotty (which I am neither) and when we first started dating, he didn't think he'd ever move to my part of town, but he has come to appreciate it. We both enjoy neighborhoods with character, but something must be said for convinience. I like that I can get the majority of my errands done without driving all over town. I also enjoy that I don't have to hassle with TRAFFIC! Living in Lavista most of my errands are kept to the Lavista/Papillion/Ralston and sometimes Bellevue area. I rarely go to Millard because of the traffic hassle. It just seems like the streets are better planned in my current area. And I LOVE interstate access. It gets heavy usage because even though I live in Lavista, I work near Epply Airport, I take classes in Elkhorn at Metro, and to visit my fiances parents we have to drive to North O.

Still, it saddens me that every time a new shopping development goes up, the same old stores go in - Target, Payless, Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot... an Applebees, a Jimmy Johns, etc... I don't think its necessary that all these places be spaced out every 2 miles (maybe increasing the distance to 5 miles would be ok for me!)

When we go out, we rarely stick to our part of town. I love going downtown, and have been hanging out in the Old Market since I learned to drive myself there! We recently went to see Slumdog Millionare at Filmstreams. We could have seen that movie anywhere, but we wanted to check out the theater first to break us in to seeing artier, independent films. I love checking out the free art galleries like the Hot Shops, and the Artists Cooperative Gallery. I shop the Omaha farmers market on occasion. I've spent hours in the downtown library doing genealogical research (for that matter I've spent hours at Fort Omaha in the Douglas County Archives). We also enjoy driving through the unique neighborhoods and even explore the cookie cutter parts of town, and we are amazed at how quickly things are being developed. And even though it seems very homogenized, there are hidden little gems tucked away everywhere.... you just need to be willing to explore. It seems very unfortunate to me that some people impose imaginary geographical boundaries around themselves.