[GSL-NE]

I have had a change of plans and will be moving to Omaha this summer. I am from GI. What are some differences, other than the fact that Omaha is much larger? Are the people different? What about cost of living?

[DavidGeorge]

I've got some good friends who were going to move to Grand Island, from Omaha, last summer. They were shocked to find out that the cost of housing in Grand Island was actually higher. I know that's not true across the board with ALL housing, but that gives you an idea.

[ManOnTheMoon]

Grand Island is a little less "cosmopolitan" than Omaha, although I wouldn't use that word to describe Omaha, either. Much more blue-collar, in my opinion. Not a whole lot goes on in Grand Island, it's quiet for a city its size.

Something I think should be mentioned-- Grand Island has a huge drug subculture, something not present in Omaha.

[iamjacobm]

Depends where you live. f you move to a suburb you may not notice much different. Similar life style and generally similar people. If you move more in the city you will notice how much more vibrant and how much more diverse the city is than GI.

I do have to disagree that Omaha isn't very "cosmopolitan." For a metro of less than a million it has some really great big city attractions!

You should love it though Omaha has a ton of things to do and is a great place to live!

[HandBanana]

Clearly the difference is that one is an island.

[Calvinist]

Originally Posted by HandBanana

Clearly the difference is that one is an island.

And quite grand, from what I hear.

[ManOnTheMoon]

Originally Posted by iamjacobm

Depends where you live. f you move to a suburb you may not notice much different. Similar life style and generally similar people. If you move more in the city you will notice how much more vibrant and how much more diverse the city is than GI.

I do have to disagree that Omaha isn't very "cosmopolitan." For a metro of less than a million it has some really great big city attractions!

You should love it though Omaha has a ton of things to do and is a great place to live!

It's all relative, I suppose. I don't think anyone will argue that Omaha is on the top-tier of cosmopolitan cities, but compared to much of the US, and indeed, compared to Grand Island, Omaha would seem very "big city" in comparison.

[Omahahonors]

Omg... You have to be kidding..

Omaha grew by 98.5k to 901k (only 23 miles of emptiness between omaha and lincoln. grew by 135k to 1,200k).
Grand island by 6k to 71k (only 15 miles to Hastings and 35 to Kearney. grew by 11k to 150k).

Omaha has two division 1 universities, one of which has been rated the top graduate school in the midest for seven staight years. Omaha also has one of the nation's finest med schools in unmc. All three campuses are within 5 miles of each other either in or next to downtown (nevermind the countless other college and university options). Just 50 miles from downtown Omaha is a third division 1 university: the University of Nebraska - Lincoln.

Omaha is rated one of the nation's top three best hospice cities as there has been continuous construction in research, new hospitals or major expansions. This decade saw several billion dollars worth of hospice construction.

Omaha's downtown is dense with several high-rise condo towers (two of them are brand new, 12 and 15 stories on the riverfront in downtown). Several corporate skyscrapers, including 5 fortune 500 companies, 9 fortune 1000 companies, many regional headquarters, 3 of the nation's top architectural firms, a google campus, one of the world's best urban renewal projects (midtown crossng) that has an element hotel, a fine dining hotel, several hundred condos and apartments along with several upper class stores and resteraunts. A large park in downtown, a reknown Old Market District, a booming Nodo District, a booming riverfront on both CB and Omaha sides (is adjacent to downtown), a few marinas, a large-scale walking/biking trails and etc.. A very large greenspace with an amphetheatre and several new buildings adjacement is being built adjacent to the ped bridge on the river in CB. The capital district includes the new 15 story hotel and many new stores, clubs etc that would serve as an extension (bridge) to the old market and Nodo stores. West downtown is seeing a renassance of renewal including stores and new housing (a connect between downtown/nodo and midtown). <-- All of this I'm talking about is in or adjacent to downtown

Omaha also has had thousands of new row houses, condos and apartments appear in downtown. Omaha always has major events through one of many large-scale, architecturally sound in both look and stability - that includes:
Qwest center - one of world's leading concert ticket sales, large conventions, olympic trials, NCAA sporting events and tournaments (including national titles), with a 600 room hilton attached and another soon to be announced 15 story full service hotel.

Civic auditorium where the omaha beef play, more concerts, sporting events and general purpose use. A world class performing arts center where the nation's top acts stop by and perform ($90 mil facility), a $135 mil baseball facility for div1 baseball, aaa baseball, college world series, UFL football, major music festival all scheduled annually. A third large arena next to the casinos and Bass Pro shop in cb (connected by an award winning design ped bridge), independent film companied and theatre, few nation-wide recognized clubs, another major cooncert center (nevermind the arenas) at the cove and sokol auditorium, growing gay scene, 3 of nation's top festivals, jazz on the green, river city roundup, almost daily farmer's markets in downtown, busses and shuttles with a proposed streetcar.

I'm not even close to being finished with the omaha downtown options (let alone the rest of the city). Outside of downtown, Omaha has one of the world's best zoos, three major skylines almost adjacent to each other (downtown, midtown and UNMC) with Old Mill having several high-density buildings including a 12-story leed-platinum (applied) TD Ameritrade headquarters being constructed, a 10 story FNB building and many 3-5 story buildings. Old Mill would be a nice downtown for many cities under 250k. Aksarben Village is right next to UNO and UNMC that includes a new 10 story BCBSNE, another 10 story building and many high-density condo and apartment buildings. All along Dodge st you see construction of 3-8 story buildings (exception of larger in aksarben village, midtown, UNMC and downtown).

Adjacent to Omaha are some fast-growing, important suburbs. Papillion is building a 9,000 seat baseball stadium for the AAA Omaha Royal's affiliate team and has a 1mil square foot outdoor mall that will soon see expansion. La Vista has the PayPal operations center and other national/international regional heaquarters with Cabela's and convention space all next to each other on I-80 and a proposed upper-class outlet center. Bellevue (state's third largest city after Omaha and Lincoln) has Offut AFB with many defense and space related contractors and corporations and Bellevue University Headquarters.

Grand Island is a great city with a great future. It has an IFL team like Omaha in the Nebraska extreme, a hockey team like the Omaha Lancers, Heartland Events Center and the Nebraska State Fair Grounds. Like Omaha, GI has grown considerably more the last 4 years than most years within its history. GI will break 50k by the time the OMB re-classifies metropolitan areas in 2013 which will allow it to serve as Nebraska's third metropolitan statistical area (two if they finally combine Omaha and Lincoln). The point is that omaha is considerably more cosmopolitan - so much so that it receives national recognition. I simply do not know how you get that Omaha is a larger GI, unless you only visited Bellevue or Millard areas.

[harshbarj]

Originally Posted by Omahahonors

Omg... You have to be kidding..

Omaha grew by 98.5k to 901k (only 23 miles of emptiness between omaha and lincoln. grew by 135k to 1,200k).
Grand island by 6k to 71k (only 15 miles to Hastings and 35 to Kearney. grew by 11k to 150k).
.....

Your forgetting the bicycle events in the city and the expanding bicycle infrastructure. Omaha is host to the Owl Ride, the largest nighttime bicycle ride between chicago and denver. Omaha is also close to the end of the BRAN every year.

I too agree that Omaha is not simply a larger GI, anymore than Chicago or New York is a larger Omaha.

[Calvinist]

Originally Posted by harshbarj

Your forgetting the bicycle events in the city and the expanding bicycle infrastructure. Omaha is host to the Owl Ride, the largest nighttime bicycle ride between chicago and denver. Omaha is also close to the end of the BRAN every year.

I too agree that Omaha is not simply a larger GI, anymore than Chicago or New York is a larger Omaha.

wooo hooo! let's ride bikes at night!!!!