Omaha vs Minneapolis (Ely: fit in, hotels, houses)

[maverick_72]

I am thinking of moving to either Minneapolis or Omaha due to better job opportunities. I have worked in teaching, hotels or construction. I have plenty of experience in all 3 careers and can do any of them.
However, I cannot decide which city is the best place to move since both cities are COMPLETELY different.
Many years ago I moved to Seattle from Phoenix. When I arrived in Seattle I was almost correct on all the internet research I gathered before moving there -- such as housing, job market, demographics, crime, etc. But I just didn't look at the social part of it -- which killed my desire to live there. 99% of the people up there are very, very liberal. I am very conservative and I didn't bond well socially. After a year I left Seattle. It is a beautiful city, but I just didn't fit in.

I ended up in Florida years later. But no jobs here any longer. I lived Chicago for 20 years but had to leave due to high cost of living and weak job market.
So I need to get on a plane and find out for myself what kind of "vibe" minneapolis and omaha has before I move to a place I will dislike. The brutal winters I can deal with --as long as there is strong social bonding, moderate cost of living, and a strong job market. I need all three. Any suggestions or opinions of these two cities? Anyone live there?
Thanks.

[west336]

This winter has hardly been brutal....who couldn't handle THIS?

Minneapolis is liberal, upstate is more conservative. I don't know much about Omaha's political vibe, but I wouldn't suggest the Twin Cities if you are a die-hard conservative because it's a liberal, progressive, open-minded city.

Go to Omaha first.

[asitshouldbe]

The job market isn't that good here, I would try Omaha first.

[codydog2]

If we are talking the actual city of Minneapolis, I think you will be happier in Omaha. It is generally more conservative. You could find some conservative areas here especially in the burbs and beyond. But in general the cities and close in suburbs are going to be pretty liberal leaning.

[xandrex]

Originally Posted by asitshouldbe

The job market isn't that good here, I would try Omaha first.

The job market is one of the best in the country right now. Unemployment was 5.7% in December...that's not too bad and the best we've seen since pretty much pre-recession.

That said, if you couldn't get along in Seattle due to politics, I doubt you'll do much better in Minneapolis. It's probably not as much of an in-your-face liberalism as Seattle, but it's probably about on par in beliefs. The suburbs have a lot more conservatives, so if that's your place to be, you'd have no trouble. I would assume Omaha is relatively red for a city and it's likely the same.

[maverick_72]

Who is "economically" correct? Xandrex or asitshouldbe? I am getting two opposite opinions.

I may as well buy a plane ticket to see for myself or it looks like I will be heading to Omaha.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by xandrex

The job market is one of the best in the country right now. Unemployment was 5.7% in December...that's not too bad and the best we've seen since pretty much pre-recession.

That said, if you couldn't get along in Seattle due to politics, I doubt you'll do much better in Minneapolis. It's probably not as much of an in-your-face liberalism as Seattle, but it's probably about on par in beliefs. The suburbs have a lot more conservatives, so if that's your place to be, you'd have no trouble. I would assume Omaha is relatively red for a city and it's likely the same.

The unemployment rate in Omaha was 4.7% in Dec. http://dol.nebraska.gov/infolink/LMA...ry%20Omaha.pdf

[WILWRadio]

I'm a conservative that possesses some libertarian beliefs. I've always found the Twin Cities to be a fairly welcoming place even though my personal beliefs are in the minority of the general population.

People in the Twin Cities are going to be a little more reserved than Omaha though I'd hardly classify the people in Minnesota as being unfriendly. Job market is good in the Twin Cities but very good in Omaha. I just read a report indicating that still more people are moving out of the Omaha area than are moving in which is odd since the population of the metro area seems to be growing.

I've lived in both cities. Culturally speaking Omaha is more conservative than the Twin Cities though in recent years it has become a little more left leaning as new residents from other areas of the country with different values have moved into the city. I used to call Omaha "Comaha" because it was the city that always sleeps, unlike NYC which is the city that never sleeps. But these days Omaha is not really a sleepy little hamlet or distant suburb of Chicago and instead seems to be developing some big city culture and entertainment albeit on a smaller scale representative of a metro area of 850,000 people.

The mass transit in Omaha is lousy. And they do a terrible job of clearing the roads in the winter. I can recall a simple one inch snowfall led to gridlock on ALL of the major highways and avenues in the city. Every time I had to leave work during a snow event I was able to drive about a half mile to a local restaurant and had to park my car and wait until the rush hour ended before I could move. Otherwise I would have sat in traffic for an hour without moving more than a mile.

The Twin Cities is a metro area of 3.6 million people and has the best cultural and entertainment facilities in the Midwest outside of Chicago. They are building a light rail system which complements and existing bus system which is fairly good especially when compared to the lack of a mass transit system in Omaha.

You'll probably find more lakes and forests near the Twin Cities if you like outdoor recreation. Western Iowa and eastern NE are not devoid of outdoor activities for enthusiasts but you will have to drive a little more to reach these places.

[Omahahonors]

Omaha actually has more people moving in than they do moving out by quite a lot. So much so that it has elevated the state to plus net migration despite the rural decline. The metro hit 865,000 in 2000 with a 13% growth rate or 1.168 million (combing both fast growing cities of Omaha and lincoln)with the two cities growing right at each other and closing the 23 mile space between the urban cores. Preliminary estimates from bizjournal reveal a growth estimate of 12100 in the last year July-July (not from the April 1 census 2010 release. This growth is just shy of 17000 with Lincoln included.

Omaha is not very conservative. Omaha gave Obama an electoral vote and has had a democrat for a mayor for 12 years and appears to probably never swing back.

None of this means that Omaha is better by any means. Just an attempt to clear the air on a few misnomers.

[WILWRadio]

Originally Posted by Omahahonors

Omaha actually has more people moving in than they do moving out by quite a lot. So much so that it has elevated the state to plus net migration despite the rural decline. The metro hit 865,000 in 2000 with a 13% growth rate or 1.168 million (combing both fast growing cities of Omaha and lincoln)with the two cities growing right at each other and closing the 23 mile space between the urban cores. Preliminary estimates from bizjournal reveal a growth estimate of 12100 in the last year July-July (not from the April 1 census 2010 release. This growth is just shy of 17000 with Lincoln included.

Omaha is not very conservative. Omaha gave Obama an electoral vote and has had a democrat for a mayor for 12 years and appears to probably never swing back.

None of this means that Omaha is better by any means. Just an attempt to clear the air on a few misnomers.

Omaha was more conservative when I lived there in the mid 1990's. As noted, it has changed quite a bit since that time.

The report that I read indicating that people were moving out of your area was related to the housing market in your area. It had something to do with the availability of houses and the article claimed that more people were moving out of the area than in. I found that hard to believe since I know the population of the Omaha metro area has grown considerably over the last decade.