Possible relocating to Grand Island, NE - Good idea or bad idea? (Lincoln: low income, crimes)

[kosnebbear]

Matt the last that I heard and this from reading the GI newspaper that the Picadilly Thearter is closed. Someone purchased it and is building apartments inside it now.

[mjm]

Originally Posted by mattpoulsen

Does GI still have the Picadilly (sp.?) Theatre? I grew up about an hour from GI and I remember visiting this dinner theatre when I was in grade school with my family. I can't really remember how good it was, but at the time its seemed nice. Anybody know about this? I'm willing to bet its closed down.

Yes, it is closed. The Grand Island Little Theatre took over for a while, but they are no longer utilizing the building either. The building was sold May 2007, (for a measly $40,000!) the new owner is planning to put both a store and apartments in the building. There's a story about it in The Independent, 5/05/07 issue. I'd post the link, but I thought I saw somewhere that you weren't supposed to.(?)

And Salta, I'm really sorry, but I just can't think of anything positive or encouraging to tell you. Hopefully someone will think of something that I can't. I know GI isn't all that bad, I just grew up here. I know there is some reason why I keep moving back, I just can't remember what that is right now. Low cost of living would probably have to be the biggest benefit.

[Salta]

2 mjm:
Thank you for the sincere reply! It's a good chance for me to move to Grand Island, NE and probably it will happen soon. From this web site I understood that despite the absence of definite facilties it's a great chance to make friends with nice people in the region. Maybe this is the most important thing? Who knows ...

[mjm]

Originally Posted by Salta

2 mjm:
Thank you for the sincere reply! It's a good chance for me to move to Grand Island, NE and probably it will happen soon. From this web site I understood that despite the absence of definite facilties it's a great chance to make friends with nice people in the region. Maybe this is the most important thing? Who knows ...

Yes, I think you're right. There's nothing better than spending quality time with quality people, and we do have plenty of those around. When I've lived in bigger cities there was always a lot to do, but no one to do it with since no one would so much as give you the time of day. It is definitely easy to meet people around here, and they're always looking for some creative fun.

[eyetech]

I've enjoyed the posts on this thread! I, too, will be moving to Nebraska this month. I'm currently in a pretty area in Colorado, and was seriously trying to get a job in northern Idaho, or possibly Oregon, Washington or western Montana...all of these mainly because of the "beauty" of the areas. For now, I'm going to be in the Aurora/Grand Island area, and possibly Wood River to Hastings areas.

Someone on another thread mentioned the "character" of an area. I'd have to say that one can find character in the land anywhere, and we certainly do relate to climate and terrain differently. In the end, it's the people that make the community, though, and I intend to enjoy the beauty of Nebraska for awhile, and am really looking forward to getting to know the folks there!

[Yettiofneb]

I am not preaching from an ivory tower here, but I have a unique view of Grand Island in that I lived there for 20 years, and I studied immigration/migration in terms of anthropology at UNL and overseas.

Essentially, here is the deal with Grand Island:

1. Like certain other parts of the United States, Grand Island's demographics are nothing like they were 20 years ago. Grand Island is receiving a disproportionately high number of immigrants into the community. The result being an infusion of people unfamiliar or unwilling to conforms to American laws, let alone norms and values. For example, my sister or wife being "cat whistled" at a public place would be a rare occurance 20 years ago, but now is normal fare. Not to mention, acutual crimes being commited without regard for the safety of others, in particular DUIs, and of course violent crimes. Open the Grand Island Independent and read the police record, and note the HIGH number hispanic names while they comprise a minority of the population. As of late Muslim immigrants have made headlines there, where at the Conagra plant they required specil religious privelage not afforded Christian employees. In a nutshell, if you are a conventional Grand Island native you are fastly becoming a minority in your own hometown.

2. There is a depopulation of young and well educated people out of Hall county, and most of the state. Young people who are skilled and can contribute meaningfully to the community and economy are leaving for areas considered more urbane and safer. Anyone who says the crime rate is DOWN in Grand Island may want to check their facts! Murders, let alone double murders like the recent one, were a RARE occurance before the recent immigration upswing. With this depopulation of skilled workers and over abundance of immigrants competing against the native population for lower paying jobs, this has in turn depressed the upward mobility of native Grand Islanders; essentially allowing for a new lower class of "white trash".

3. Meth (need I say more)

I moved away from Grand Island. All of my family has since moved as well, due primarly to the issue of safety. If you are moving from a 3rd world country to Grand Island, it would be a move up. Otherwise, I would consider Kearney and Lincoln vastly superior places to live.

[mjm]

Originally Posted by Yettiofneb

...Like certain other parts of the United States, Grand Island's demographics are nothing like they were 20 years ago. ....[/font]

[/font]

I have to disagree with some of this. First of all, GI was exactly like this 20 years ago. It wasn't so much 30 years ago. Monforts opened in 1979, and the rest followed. Don't even try to tell me it wasn't like this 20 years ago because at that time I was a middle schooler living on the East side and I dealt with some really horrible things like you've described and more, every single day.

And the crime, yes, it is horrible. But the double-murderer was from Texas, not another country, and the man murdered the other day was of foreign descent and was killed by white people. The only foriegn offender was the man that killed his roommate (also an immigrant) during a fistfight. I feel that more than anything, the demographics of this area have caused the "rednecks" to be more racist than ever. And the racism is becoming a MUCH bigger problem.

The REAL problem is the meth, and that came to town about 20 years ago, and I think that's what you missed. If you did some studies on the meth use in GI, I think you'd find that most of the crime is related to that...and if you see a name in the paper that you assume is an immigrant because it is of hispanic origin, that doesn't mean a damn thing. Grand Island's hispanic population has been very well established for a very long time. Several families that I know have been here more than 50 years.

Another problem is that there are too many people that don't give a damn about this town and its people. Nobody wants to make this town any better, they just want to talk about how horrible it is and then run away and talk and talk about things they really didn't have all that much experience with...

[aj7690]

[quote=mjm;1147538]I have to say that I disagree about the city schools. From personal experience as a child, 1-R and Cedar Hollow outside of town are MUCH better than anything you will find in town. And Northwest for high school - I agree with an earlier post that Grand Island Senior High is a horrible school with some serious problems.
There is a major drug problem in town, but that is fairly easy to avoid. Drug addicts don't like to be bothered and generally stick to their own. When you come for a visit, the worse parts of town will be obvious. But even the worst isn't all that bad.
I also was here that night in 1980. I was only in elementary school at the time but I will never forget any of that night. I was in the neighborhood of Meves Bowl, those of you who were there know what that means!
Also, I have no idea what your political opinions are, but you should know that Grand Island is a very, VERY Republican city.
I would also agree with the first poster, Hastings is worth looking into. FSI is close to the highway and the commute would be short. I live and work in GI and my commute is 20 minutes, which is all of the time it takes to get to Hastings anyway.

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I have to disagree with the fact that GI city schools are bad schools. I attended Newell, and as I recall a lot of the curriculum was advanced, and several students in my class actually were sent to advance placement classes at the district office, but then that was my experience. I never had a bad experience in the GI schools even with the large influx of immigrants in the last ten years. My learning experience was always awesome with readily available technology and hands on learning. I'm speaking on behalf of the GI school district, the district is having to jump through several hoops because of educating immigrants. GI has seen continual increases in its writing scores in the lower grades, where the number of immigrants is higher. As a matter of fact 78 percent of Lincoln Elementary's students posted proficient on writing scores during the 2005-06 school year. I must say that's pretty good for a school where most of it's students are ESL.

[mjm]

Originally Posted by aj7690

I have to disagree with the fact that GI city schools are bad schools. I attended Newell, and as I recall a lot of the curriculum was advanced, and several students in my class actually were sent to advance placement classes at the district office, but then that was my experience. I never had a bad experience in the GI schools even with the large influx of immigrants in the last ten years. My learning experience was always awesome with readily available technology and hands on learning. I'm speaking on behalf of the GI school district, the district is having to jump through several hoops because of educating immigrants. GI has seen continual increases in its writing scores in the lower grades, where the number of immigrants is higher. As a matter of fact 78 percent of Lincoln Elementary's students posted proficient on writing scores during the 2005-06 school year. I must say that's pretty good for a school where most of it's students are ESL.

I'm glad you had good experiences, but I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. But from your post it seems that you only went to GI public schools. I don't think I would have realized the difference myself if I hadn't moved there from a school that was 2 years ahead of them. Yes, they are up against a lot of obstacles, and I have to agree with you that they probably do their best. Problem is, doing their best isn't good enough for my children. Nice to hear from someone with a different opinion and experiences, though!

[aj7690]

Originally Posted by mjm

I'm glad you had good experiences, but I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. But from your post it seems that you only went to GI public schools. I don't think I would have realized the difference myself if I hadn't moved there from a school that was 2 years ahead of them. Yes, they are up against a lot of obstacles, and I have to agree with you that they probably do their best. Problem is, doing their best isn't good enough for my children. Nice to hear from someone with a different opinion and experiences, though!

Everyone has their own experiences. And I imagine that GI does not recieve adequate funding. Like you said agree to disagree. Schools I will agree also face challenges with a large ratio of immigrants in schools because of students who are 'gifted' or have higher talents can get set back and not achieve their greatest full potential.