[churchalpha]

We will be relocating to Offutt AFB and I was wondering if anyone had any input into good residential areas. We are looking to buy a house ($200,00- 300,00) and we have 3 children ages 6, 5 & 2, so school systems is a big factor for us. We are an active family and love the outdoors biking, swimming, and skating. Neither my husband nor I have ever been to Nebraska so anything would help us right now. This will be our permanent settlement since my husband will retire in 3 years. Thanks Omaha! See you soon!

[Dave1215]

Based on the home price range and the age of kids i would put Papillion high on the list:

Best Affordable Suburbs 2009 : Nebraska - BusinessWeek

City of Papillion, NE

Best Places to Live: Top 100 - Papillion, Neb. (6) - Money Magazine

[Go Ne]

All of the school districts are good, and I'm sure with that money you can get a pretty good home.

[Omaha Rocks]

Bellevue is closes to Offut. Papillion lies right to the west of Bellevue, though the only way you can tell when you're going from one to the other is a sign.

Both lie south of the Omaha Metro, and very much have a "suburbs" feel.

[jwconne]

Yes, look at Papillion (Hwy 370) area. Forbes rated the city #3 in the top 100 cities to live in 2008. We have a great lake to bike, hike and fish (Walnut Creek Lake) and many miles of bike trails to take you anywhere in Omaha. Its one of the safest places in the metro. You can be anywhere in Omaha within 15-20 minutes depending on traffic. Offut Air Base is straight down 370 about 5 miles. Good Luck !!! Oh ya, Sarpy County has lower taxes....

[churchalpha]

Thank you for helping narrow down some possibilities. It is going to be a big change for us; we have been living in Las Vegas for the past 11 years!

[Go Ne]

Originally Posted by Omaha Rocks

Bellevue is closes to Offut. Papillion lies right to the west of Bellevue, though the only way you can tell when you're going from one to the other is a sign.

Both lie south of the Omaha Metro, and very much have a "suburbs" feel.

Don't you mean its south of the Omaha city proper?

[Omaha Rocks]

Originally Posted by Go Ne

Don't you mean its south of the Omaha city proper?

Yeah, basically that's what I mean.

South as opposed to North.

Sorry I didn't make that clearer.

[Omahabound]

I just PCS'ed to OAFB myself. I was looking in the $200K range but have no children so I had more options. For the price range, you should be able to easily find a home to fit your needs.

Obviously what people expect in a neighborhood is all subjective but the most appealing areas I found were west of Hwy 75 and from just north of Cornhusker to anyplace south of there whether in Bellevue or Papillion. You still have some older areas in and around those locations but they all have good schools (from what I hear) and quick access to shopping.

The big decider for me was proximity to base. My philosophy is that I go to work 5 days/week and go out for fun 2 days/week so I prefer to live closer to work.

Papillion has a nicer/cleaner new edge to it overall but Bellevue is closer. A real nice area is Shadowlakes (Papillion) but it's a little upper scale and you may have a problem finding a home for $300K that fits your family. Great for shopping and views over man-made lakes in a developing subdivision if you can find a house in your price range and can wait for a house to be built.

[Dave1215]

Originally Posted by Omahabound

Papillion has a nicer/cleaner new edge to it overall but Bellevue is closer. A real nice area is Shadowlakes (Papillion) but it's a little upper scale and you may have a problem finding a home for $300K that fits your family. Great for shopping and views over man-made lakes in a developing subdivision if you can find a house in your price range and can wait for a house to be built.

Great recommendation... if ShadowLake does not fit the bill then move less than 2 miles west to the housing areas around Walnut Creek (mapquest).. still have the access to water...

Overview of both the Shadow Lake and Walnut Creek area... This covers the area just south of Highway 370 with 72nd Street on the East and 108th Street on the West:
note: The High School (Papillion LaVista South "Titans") is on the SE corner of 108th and Highway 370 (upper left corner of the map) and serves both areas.
The Junior High is Papillion Junior High Titans


Here is just the Shadow Lake area (72nd to almost 84th)....
note: a large nice mall is on the SW corner of 72nd and Highway 370 (upper right corner of the map)
Elementary school would be Bell Elementary (opens this next year)


Here is just the Walnut Creek area (84th to 108th)...
note: Elementary school would be either Patriot Elementary (western side - just opened last year) Walnut Creek Elementary (eastern side)


Walnut Creek area has quite a few subdivisions that make up the Walnut Creek area. The home values in these range from a low of $175,000 (Walnut Creek Hills) to a high of $1,000,000 (Walnut Creek Estates). Lots of options in the $225,000 - $300,000 range.



Here is the list of the subdivision names:

• Barrington Place
• Edgewater Estates
• Edgewater on the Park
• Grandview
• RiverChase
• Savanna Shores
• Southhampton
• Summit Ridge
• Walnut Creek Estates
• Walnut Creek Hills
• Walnut Creek Hills South