Lincoln v Omaha / Ohio v Nebraska / Moving Questions (Columbus, Center: transplants, car insurance)

[ToughDame]

I'm thinking about moving from Columbus, Ohio to Nebraska. I've never been to Nebraska, but there's a job opening there that I am considering. Has anyone been to Ohio or made the move from Ohio to Nebraska or vice versa?

What's the difference between the two areas? How expensive might the move from Ohio to Nebraska be?

Where's the best place to live? (Lincoln v Omaha) Could someone suggest suburbs or safe places to live in Lincoln and Omaha? I've been told that I could work out of a company office from either location.

Also, is there much to do out in Nebraska by way of entertainment. I'm a home body....but I do like to get out of the house. I lived in the middle of nowhere in Arkansas and didn't care for it. I had to travel miles to everything.

I'm just wondering if Lincoln and Omaha are good locations to get to places like malls, grocery stores, movies, theatre productions, etc.
All responses are appreciated.

[Raphael07]

Omaha has more of a feel of a true city where as Lincoln is more of a big small town/college town so to speak. Both have amazing downtown areas if you wanted to live there, and Omaha hosts the College World Series if you like baseball. And as for suburbs... do you want a small town outside of the city, or a true suburb?

As for cost, Nebraska is cheaper than Ohio, so you should be fine in that respect.

[ToughDame]

Thanks for the response. I was looking for a true suburb but I am open to considering a nice city outisde Lincoln. Sounds like Omaha might be more my pace, but I'm not sure I've never been to the state. Can anyone tell me if people commute from Omaha to Lincoln? If they do what's rush hour like and how long might a commute from Omaha take to downtown Lincoln? Thanks again --

[iamjacobm]

The commute if you live in a SW Omaha suburb to DT Lincoln can be done in 45 mins. There really isn't a "rush hour" between the cities the flow never gets interrupted from sheer commuter volume. It is almost done with the expansion to 3 lanes each direction which makes for very hassle free trips when it isn't a Husker football home game.

Both cities have very nice malls, grocery stores and parks. Movie theaters are the same pretty much everywhere. Lincoln has one art house theater and Omaha has two if that is your thing.

Theater wise Omaha has more to offer. From Broadway productions to a very very good community theater as well as events like Shakespeare on the Green.

Lincoln for it's size is pretty good though. The Lied Center is a really nice facility that pulls national acts and the Pinewood Bowl puts on a lot of shows with local actors.

Really both are very accessible to each other for things to do. It probably bails down to what you want your commute to look like.

Goodluck!

[mb1547]

Originally Posted by ToughDame

I'm thinking about moving from Columbus, Ohio to Nebraska. I've never been to Nebraska, but there's a job opening there that I am considering. Has anyone been to Ohio or made the move from Ohio to Nebraska or vice versa?

What's the difference between the two areas? How expensive might the move from Ohio to Nebraska be?

Where's the best place to live? (Lincoln v Omaha) Could someone suggest suburbs or safe places to live in Lincoln and Omaha? I've been told that I could work out of a company office from either location.

Also, is there much to do out in Nebraska by way of entertainment. I'm a home body....but I do like to get out of the house. I lived in the middle of nowhere in Arkansas and didn't care for it. I had to travel miles to everything.

I'm just wondering if Lincoln and Omaha are good locations to get to places like malls, grocery stores, movies, theatre productions, etc.
All responses are appreciated.

I think you need to come out for a visit before you decide where to live. The Omaha metro area is around 1 million people, and the Lincoln metro area is around 300,000--these aren't tiny little towns in the middle of nowhere, with no shopping or entertainment. Lincoln and Omaha are under an hour apart. Omaha is more of a major, sprawling city, and Lincoln is a larger city that has more of a smaller, college town vibe to it.

Although Lincoln currently has a very nice but smaller performing arts center that gets broadway shows, etc. (Upcoming Lied Center Events | Performing Arts Theater Events Midwest Lincoln Nebraska (NE) - Lied Center for Performing Arts), the city is in the process of building a new major arena in its Haymarket district (arty area downtown with galleries, boutique shopping, restaurants, and entertainment). The new arena will bring Lincoln closer to matching what's available in Omaha. I personally think Lincoln is much prettier than Omaha--lots of bike trails, green space, parks, beautifully landscaped gardens, and public art. We live in the country within commuting distance of Lincoln, and we drive to both Omaha and Lincoln for different events.

As far as safe place to live--I don't think there's really an unsafe area in Lincoln--just a few not so terrific neighborhoods. North Omaha has it's problems, but I'd ask questions in the Omaha forum for more information.

[ToughDame]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their help. It is greatly appreciated.

[Nebraska mom]

Both are good choices.... There is some suburbs in the middle of Lincoln and Omaha that you may want to look into.. In general I would tell you all suburbs in Nebraska are very friendly, family oriented places to live. We have very little crime here and "everyone knows everyone" in a small town. I would suggest living in a suburb, you get the true meaning of what its like to live "the good life."

[SCGranny]

I lived in downtown Columbus, OH for 4 years; loved the 'metro life" - Lincoln may be smaller but it is quite nice; warm and friendly feel, very clean (could be the wind! LOL). There's lots to do in both Omaha and Lincoln, but the UNL area in Lincoln reminds me of the OSU area - with much more polite and friendlier students and businesses. I spent an hour talking to one business owner, another 45 minutes talking to another - all very comfortable and friendly, not near as fast paced and aggressive as Columbus.

I think you'd like it here. Omaha is a little more aggressive and fast paced than Lincoln (at least in my limited experiences there) - but there's a lot of 'transplants' from all over in Omaha. Check out the pictures in the "sticky" at the top of the Nebraska forum for a 'feel' of the places out here.

[harshbarj]

The fact you're from Columbus, Ohio tells me you'd likely like Omaha better. It's closer to the size of Columbus and more likely to have what you would expect coming from a larger city. Also depending on where in Columbus you lived, you may be happier in the eastern side of Omaha as it has a more urban feel to it and you're not as dependent on the car. You may even be close enough to walk to a few places.

[ImaCitiGirl]

I'm from Omaha and I lived in Columbus, OH for 10 years. I've also lived in Chicago, DC and Cleveland. From the moment that I set foot in Columbus for my interview at Bank One back in the summer of '91 I knew I would love the city. It is a lot like Omaha, just bigger. There are plenty of things to do in Omaha depending on the types of things you like to do. Just remember that since Omaha is smaller, the events are going to be smaller. If I'm looking for things to do, I just check the internet and look for the various community calendars.

I'm not at all familiar with Lincoln so I'll defer that to those who have lived there.

As far as the cost of living, I have found that it just depends. Nebraska taxes are crazy out of control if you ask me. We've got one of the highest cell phone tax/fees in the country. In Ohio (at least when I lived there) it only cost about $42 a year to put a sticker on your car. Here' it's based on the value of your car which means the cost to keep current plates on your car can be ridiculously high. My car is 10 years old and I still had to pay $92 to get new plates. My car insurance is higher. My property tax is higher here than it was in either Cleveland or Columbus. So when people say the cost of living is lower here I would tend to beg to differ.

Flip side of that, if you've got kids, we've got great schools all over the city and in the burbs. I'm a product of North Omaha schools (Go Vikings!) and I have an undergraduate degree from UNO and a master's degree from Northwestern University in Illinois. There's been tons of redevelop in a lot of the older neighborhoods on the Northside and in the downtown/river front area. In the summer time there are tons of Farmer's markets all over the city. We've got great restaurants and boast one of the best zoos in the country. Go visit the Air and Space Museum, the Offut Air show, the Kennel Dog show, the Wildlife (drive thru zoo) near Cumberland, NE (between Omaha and Lincoln).

Omaha has tons of walking trails and is fast becoming a safe bike friendly community. Like all cities we've got our issues, but I really think you'd like living here.

Not sure about your age but I'm long past the age where I find bars and clubs appealing so I'll also leave that kind of night life for someone else to tackle.

I know I'm kinda late to this thread but whatever you've decided to do, I wish you much success and good luck! If you're already here, welcome to Nebraska!